Meaning in life and work among counsellors: a qualitative exploration

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that meaning in life is beneficial to mental and physical health. Furthermore, having a sense of meaning in work has also been found to generate greater well-being and job satisfaction. However, the literature has paid scant attention to exploring the manner in which meaning in life is experienced among professional care providers such as therapists and counsellors. The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide an in-depth understanding of the experience of meaning in life among counsellors whose work is oriented towards the cultivation of well-being in educational settings. Three themes emerged from the analysis of 46 interviews with Israeli counsellors: (a) the development of meaning in life and work, (b) the sources of meaning in life; and (c) the sources of meaning in the counsellors’ work. Implications for future research and practice regarding the experience of meaning are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Meaning in life
• Meaning in work
• Qualitative research
• Educational counselling
• Multiculturalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Pninit Russo-Netzer is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Counselling and Human Development, University of Haifa, Israel. Dr. Russo-Netzer is the founder and head of the “Compass” Institute for the Study of Meaning and the head of the Academic Training Program for Logotherapy (meaning-oriented psychotherapy) at Tel-Aviv University. Her main research and practice interests focus on meaning in life, positive psychology, spirituality and spiritual development, positive change and growth. She is the co-editor of the books Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (Springer, 2014), Clinical Perspectives on Meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy (Springer, 2016) and Search for Meaning in the Israeli Scene (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

Table 1. Themes, categories, subcategories and frequencies.

Dr. Mirit Sinai is a lecturer at the educational counselling department, Max Stern Yzreel Valley College, Israel. She has professional experience as an educational counsellor and as a supervisor for counsellors. Her main research interests focus on educational counselling, social justice and qualitative research.

Ms. Meytal Zeevi has a master's (MA) in psychology and serves as a research assistant at the University of Haifa, Israel.