What Happens When Therapy Fails? Therapist Information Sheet Research suggests that most people undertaking therapy have a helpful experience, but sometimes therapy goes wrong. (We use the term therapy to mean talking treatments, counselling, psychotherapy or psychological therapy). The University of Sheffield is conducting research in England into what happens when therapy fails or goes wrong and how therapy services could be improved. As part of this, we are asking the views of therapists who have worked with a client who has experienced the therapy as not helping them or making them feel worse. The following questionnaire is part of this study. If you think this research is relevant to you, we would be grateful if you would complete the questionnaire. Please read the following information first. What is the questionnaire about? The questionnaire asks for your views on a specific course of therapy which has ended and did not help a particular client or made them feel worse. At the end of the questionnaire you will also be asked if you would like to take part in an interview and/or group discussion. What do I need to do? The questionnaire is designed to take between 10-20 minutes, depending on the amount of information you provide. If you do not have time or do not wish to complete the whole questionnaire, please just complete the questions you want to. We need to know about your experiences with a particular client, rather than your views about therapy in general. If you would like to provide more detail than the space allows, please feel free to expand the space or provide more detail on additional sheets of paper. Please label which question any additional information relates to. If you prefer you can complete the questionnaire over the telephone. Please phone 0114 222 0753 and we can phone you back. Please continue to next page
What about confidentiality? You are not required to provide any identifying information unless you wish to. You will not be identifiable in any of the research reports produced from this study. We guarantee to keep your information confidential, but there are some exceptions to this and it is important that you know about them. The exceptions are: (a) If a research participant reports therapist s behaviour which continues to seriously endanger the health and safety of clients AND the identity of the therapist is known OR (b) If specific criminal offences have been committed (specifically, child protection offences, physical abuse of vulnerable adults, money laundering or terrorism-related offences) OR (c) If there is a serious risk of harm to the research participant, or to others. In these instances the researcher will discuss the situation with you, and with the Research Team. You will be told if the Research Team feel there is an issue where confidentiality may need to be broken, and kept informed of any actions the team have taken. For example, they may feel it necessary to inform the service where the therapist works, or the therapist s professional regulatory body. You will not be identifiable in any of the research reports produced from this study. How do I return the questionnaire? Your questionnaire can be returned by post or emailed to the address at the bottom of this page. Contact Details For further information or to return the questionnaire, please contact the project team at: Email: adept@sheffield.ac.uk Telephone: 0114 222 0753 Address: AdEPT, ScHARR, Freepost SF1314, Sheffield, S1 1AY If you have any concerns about the study then please contact Glenys Parry (Principal Investigator) at: Email: adept@sheffield.ac.uk Telephone: 0114 222 0753 Address: Glenys Parry, AdEPT, ScHARR, Freepost SF1314, Sheffield, S1 1AY. Please continue to complete the questionnaire
What Happens When Therapy Fails? Therapist Questionnaire Please consider one particular client (whom you no longer see for therapy) when completing these questions. (Tick the boxes or add text) 1. How often did you see your client? Once a week More than once a week Less than once a week It varied please specify 2. Were the sessions always at a regular time? Yes No If no, please give details 3. Were the sessions always at the same place? Yes No If no, please give details 4. What was the total duration of therapy? 3 months or less Between 3 and 6 months Between 6 months and 1 year Between 1 and 3 years More than 3 years 5. What kind of professional are you? Counsellor Psychotherapist Clinical Psychologist Psychiatrist Other please give details Page 1 of 7
6. What kind of therapy/counselling did you provide? (tick all that apply) Psychoanalysis Psychodynamic therapy Cognitive therapy Behaviour therapy Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT) Humanistic/Person-Centred therapy Experiential therapy Integrative/Eclectic therapy Group therapy Family therapy Marital/Relationship therapy Art therapy Drama therapy Music therapy Other specific type please give details 7. In what setting did you work? NHS GP practice/primary Care NHS mental health centre or hospital (Secondary Care) Voluntary organisation/charity University/College service Private therapy Other please give details 8. Were you in paid employment or working in a voluntary capacity? Paid employment Voluntary 9. How many hours/week did you work as a therapist at that time? 10. How many clients did you have at that time? Page 2 of 7
11. Can you please give us some details about therapy with this particular client, in particular how you felt it was unhelpful or harmful to them and how the therapy ended. If you would like to provide more detail than the space allows please feel free to expand the space or use additional sheets of paper. Page 3 of 7
12. Please rate how unhelpful or harmful you feel the therapy was (tick one box on the scale of 1 to 10) Unhelpful on the whole but some good came out of it 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extremely damaging with lasting negative effects 13. What access to support or supervision did you have at that time? (give brief details) 14. Did you discuss the therapy with anyone else, for example supervisor, colleagues? (give brief details) 15. What might have been helpful/useful to improve the therapy with this client? 16. Is there anything else you d like to tell us about the therapy with this client? Page 4 of 7
About you 17. Are you: Female Male Living in a gender other than that assigned at birth 18. What age are you? 19. What is your ethnic background? White Mixed (please give details) Asian/Asian British Black/Black British Chinese Other (please give details) 20. What is your sexual orientation? Heterosexual Homosexual Bisexual 21. Which part of England do you work in (Please tick one) 1. Avon, South Gloucestershire, 21. Kent and Medway 41. North Essex Wiltshire, North & North East Somerset and Bristol 2. Bedford and Luton 22. Lancashire 42. Northumberland, Newcastle & Tyne and Wear 3. Berkshire 23. Leeds 43. North East Hampshire 4. Birmingham and Solihull 24. Liverpool, Sefton and Kirkby 44. Nottinghamshire 5. Black Country (Sandwell, Wolverhampton, West Bromwich) 25. Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland 45. Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire 6. Bolton, Salford and Trafford 26. Lincolnshire 46. Pennine (Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside and Glossop) 7. Bradford and Cravern 27. London - Barnet, Enfield and Haringey 47. Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber 8. Cambridgeshire and 28. London - Camden and 48. Sheffield Peterborough Islington 9. Chester, Macclesfield, 29. London - Central and North 49. Somerset Crewe, Wirral & Nantwich West London 10. Cornwall 30. London - East 50. South Essex 11. Coventry &Warwickshire 31. London - North East 51. South Staffordshire and Shropshire 12. Cumbria 32. London - North West (incl. Tavistock & Portman) 52. South West Yorkshire and Barnsley 13. Derbyshire 33. London - South & Oxleas 53. Southern (Hampshire) (incl. Maudsley) 14. Devon 34. London - South East 54. Suffolk 15. Dorset 35. London - South West (incl. 55. Surrey St George's) 16. Dudley and Walsall 36. London - West 56. Sussex 17. Gloucestershire 37. Manchester 57. Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys and North Yorkshire 18. Halton, Knowsley, Wigan, 38. Norfolk and Waveney 58. Worcestershire St Helens and Warrington 19. Hertfordshire 39. North Staffordshire 20. Hull, Humber and East Ridings 40. Northamptonshire 59. Prefer not to say About your client Page 5 of 7
22. Were they: Female Male Living in a gender other than that assigned at birth 23. What age was your client? Older than me Younger than me About the same age 24. What was the ethnic background of your client? White Mixed (please give details) Asian/Asian British Black/Black British Chinese Other (please give details) 25. Had your client been given a medical diagnosis for a mental health difficulty? Don t know Yes No If yes, please give details 26. Was this the first time your client had used therapy? Yes No Don t know 27. As well as having therapy, what other sources of help did your client use for their mental health? Support from friends Support from family GP or someone else at GP practice Community Mental Health Team or someone else in Secondary Care (Social Worker, Community Psychiatric Nurse, Occupational Therapist, Psychiatrist, etc) please specify Voluntary Sector organisation (Samaritans, CRUSE, Citizen s Advice Bureau, Mind, etc) please specify which organisation Other please specify Don t know Page 6 of 7
Would you be willing to discuss your experiences in more detail? There are two other stages of the research study that you may be interested in taking part in and you can volunteer for both if you wish. However, unfortunately, we will not be able to contact everyone to take part. Taking part in an individual interview - this would involve describing your experiences in more detail to a researcher, either in person or over the telephone. The interview will be held in a place of your choosing. Taking part in a group discussion - this will involve meeting with the researchers and up to 10 other therapists in Sheffield. The researchers will present their findings from the interviews and will ask for your views on these. I am interested in taking part in an interview I am interested in taking part in a group discussion In order to contact you and to give you further information about the other stages of the research, please provide your contact details below. This will not commit you to any further involvement. Name: Address: Telephone number: E-mail: What is the best time and way to contact you? Consent Please tick the box to confirm that you have read the accompanying information sheet Please tick the box to confirm that you consent for the information you have provided to be used anonymously in the research. Signature Date Thank you for completing this questionnaire If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact the project team at: Email: adept@sheffield.ac.uk Telephone: 0114 222 0753 Address: AdEPT, ScHARR, Freepost SF1314, Sheffield, S1 1AY Page 7 of 7