Making the Implicit Explicit: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Client's Experience of Safety in Psychotherapy

Despite general acknowledgment of the significance of the client's safety in psychotherapy there is a dearth of empirical studies exploring the meaning and expression of this phenomenon and how it is experienced in the body. Using a semi-structured interview schedule, 10 Irish trainee psychotherapists were interviewed about their experience of safety as psychotherapy clients. The resulting qualitative data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and revealed four superordinate themes and 16 subordinate themes. The superordinate themes of (1) the language of safety; (2) safety as a process; (3) the transformative power of safety; and (4) the therapist's role in creating and maintaining safety produced a comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of safety in a therapeutic context. The findings have implications for psychotherapy training programs by identifying the elements necessary for creating and maintaining safety in the therapeutic relationship and building awareness of the meaning that safety has for psychotherapy clients.