The Bleeding Edge of Research: Is there a need to focus on the impact of menstruation in psychodynamic training and practice?
We are embarking on a study titled “Bleeding Edge of Research” focusing on if there is a need to consider the impact of menstruation in psychodynamic/Psychoanalytical training and practice. Therefore, we are seeking participants who are, either trainee, practicing or retired psychodynamic and/or psychoanalytical therapists/counsellors to provide their unique perspectives.
Menstruation as a topic of psychodynamic inquiry is surprisingly absent from the literature and remains a mostly unexplored topic within psychodynamic practice. Therefore, we are keen to recruit as many participants as possible because this research could prove to be an instrumental first step in advancing our understanding of menstruation and its impact on female development from a psychodynamic perspective.
Our online questionnaire can be found here: https://forms.office.com/e/2FS2q7fTTh
Study Overview:
About the researchers:
Vicki Randell and Louise Champ-Hill are students in their final year of study for a Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling at Basingstoke Counselling Service and are both currently seeing clients as trainee counsellors. They are both students of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. This project and research report will contribute towards their Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling.
Title: Bleeding Edge of Research.
Purpose: Our objective for this research is to try and ascertain if there is a need to consider the impact of menstruation in psychodynamic training and practice? This question has been formulated following a review of the subject of menstruation within psychodynamic and psychoanalytical literature. Based on our findings we have identified a significant gap in previous research on menstruation in the field of psychodynamic and psychoanalytic theory, training, and practice. We have, therefore, selected this research question to begin a conversation on the significance of women’s experience of menstruation.
Participant Requirements:
The demographic of participants we require for this study is either trainee, practicing or retired psychodynamic and/or psychoanalytical therapists/counsellors who have had a direct experience of having or missed menstruation at any point in their lifetime. This will encompass anyone who identifies as female or has transitioned from female to non-binary or trans, including perimenopausal, menopausal, postmenopausal women.
Participation Involves:
Participants will be asked to complete an online questionnaire which we anticipate taking 30-40 minutes to complete. This questionnaire will be anonymised and will involve providing some personal demographics, followed by three main areas of exploration; early experiences of menstruation, adult experiences and clinical training and practice. The questionnaire once submitted will be sent to the research team automatically.
Further information.
Should you require any further details on our research project please feel free to contact us with any questions;
Contact Details:
Email:
vicki.r@basingstoke.counselling.org
louise.c@basingstoke.counselling.org
Thank you for considering this opportunity to participate in this research.
Yours Gratefully,
Louise Champ-Hill & Vicki Randell