Embodied narratives in becoming a counselling trainer: an autoethnographic study

ABSTRACT

This autoethnographic study addresses the newly appointed counselling trainer's question ‘How did I get here?’ The procedure is described, and findings are presented as partial narratives of the Wounded Dancer, poems and prose written from different voices. Themes are revealed of love, healing, risk taking, unconventionality, physicality and overcoming physical limitations. ‘Wounded healer’ stories are inscribed alongside ‘powerful body’/‘subversive body’ stories. The role of the father is considered in facilitating these stories, including the tomboy throwing off ‘definitions of what it means to be a girl’. The study is evaluated in terms of Richardson's (2000) criteria. One contribution to knowledge lies in the methodology's potential application to research-led learning and teaching with counsellor education.

Keywords:

• autoethnography
• embodied narratives
• counselling trainer

Notes

1. I have written about this as Illumination, within a creative model for research (Meekums, 1993). My model has some similarities with that of Moustakas (1990), who also includes this phenomenon in his understanding.