I am conducting a small-scale qualitative research piece for my master’s degree in professional counselling at Waverley Abbey College. The research examines the use of praise and encouragement in counselling. Wong suggests that ‘encouragement remains an understudied topic in positive psychology and counselling psychology’ (Wong, 2014). It also attracts a certain amount of controversy with different therapeutic modalities adopting a different stance towards its use.

This study seeks to uncover the in-the-moment decision-making process that a therapist adopts in deciding the appropriate use of praise and encouragement in session with a client. In this context, ‘praise’ will be defined as ‘verbal positive evaluations of another person’s products, actions, or traits, where the evaluations are based on the evaluator’s subjective standards (Bornstein and Bornstein, 2018). ‘Encouragement’ will be defined as ‘the expression of affirmation through language…to instill courage, perseverance, confidence, inspiration or hope in a person(s) within the context of addressing a challenging situation or realizing a potential’ (Wong, 2014).

The research aims are two-fold:

  1. To explore how integrative counsellors make in-the-moment decisions regarding the use of praise and encouragement with clients
  2. To understand the (perceived) phenomenological impact on the therapeutic relationship and client outcomes

What is involved

Participation involves a single semi-structured interview of 60-90 minutes, and questions will be provided in advance. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers. The purpose is to understand your lived experience of using praise and encouragement in practice. Interviews will be audio recorded using a pseudonym and later transcribed. No identifying details will be provided. Files will be stored securely in encrypted, password-protected files. The data protection requirements of Waverley Abbey College will be adhered to. Any direct quotes used in the write-up will be anonymised. A short debrief will follow the interview, and signposting will be provided if needed. Participants can pause or stop the interview at any time and/or withdraw consent from the process.

I’d be grateful to speak with anyone who fulfils the following criteria:

  • Qualified integrative counsellors with experience of working with more than one therapeutic modality
  • Qualified to diploma, degree or postgraduate level with at least one year’spost qualification experience
  • A member of either the BACP, ACC, UKCP or NCPS
  • Based in the UK and currently in practice.
  • Willing to conduct the interview in English online (via Microsoft Teams)
  • Working within private practice or a small agency setting, working with adults on an individual basis
  • Counsellors that offer long-term (or open-ended) therapy across a broad range of presenting issues

Data will be collected, stored and processed in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR law.

This research has been granted ethical approval by Waverley Abbey College and will be carried out in line with the BACP Research Ethics policy.

For more information, please contact me, Rachel Keen at: Rachel.Keen@waverleyabbeycollege.ac.uk

Please see here to view the Participant Information Sheet

Interviews will begin in September 2026

References

Bornstein, M. and Bornstein, M. (2018) The SAGE Encyclopaedia of Lifespan Human Development. 1st edn. SAGE Publications. Wong, Y.J. (2015) The psychology of encouragement: Theory, research, and applications. The Counseling Psychologist, 43 (2), pp. 178–216. DOI: 10.1177/0011000014545091.