Doctoral Student Profile

Linda Kelly

Supervisors: Doug Curtis, Cate Curtis

Changes in the therapeutic alliance with suicide bereaved adults as a result of a workshop intervention
Following on from my Masters research into the coping strategies and needs of adults bereaved by suicide, I am interested to know why participants in this and other studies have expressed a strong preference to talk to someone who has personally experienced the suicide of a loved one, rather than to a counsellor or psychologist without that first-hand experience.    The aim, therefore, is to improve the therapeutic interventions available to adults bereaved by suicide, by discovering the gaps between what the professional and voluntary helper presently provides in terms of therapeutic interventions, and what the bereaved perceive to be appropriate content or quality of the therapy or therapists.