Exploring Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance (EBSNA) from the perspective of School-Based Counsellors: A reflexive thematic analysis

About the study

This study is about exploring the perspective of school-based counsellors and counselling psychologists who work with secondary school aged children in UK schools or alternative provisions with regards to emotionally based school non-attendance (EBSNA).

I am a Counselling Psychology doctorate student, and I am looking for people to speak with to help us better understand the contributing factors of EBSNA as well as insights from counselling theory/practice of how best to support children and young people (CYP) who are experiencing EBSNA. There is little existing research on EBSNA from this perspective and with school absence rates increasing, it is important to know as much as possible regarding the phenomenon.

The intention of this research is to inform counselling practice as well as policy and support relevant school counselling campaigns.

I am looking to interview 6-10 people who are either school-based counsellors qualified to level four or above or counselling psychologists who work in UK schools or alternative provisions. Who have worked with at least one CYP who has experienced EBSNA for at least three counselling sessions. If this sounds like you, you might be eligible to take part, and I would be very interested in hearing from you.

What to expect

The one-to-one interview will take place via the online platform Microsoft Teams at an agreed date and time. The interview will last approximately 60-90 minutes. Interviews will be confidential and your identity will be protected.

How to get involved

To find out if you are eligible to take part or would like any further information, please contact me, Vivienne Evans, at evansv1@roehampton.ac.uk.

If participation is deemed eligible, taking part in the study will be treated on a first come first serve basis. Participation in this study is voluntary. You can withdraw your data up until data analysis, at which point it will be pseudonymised.

Please see here for more information.