Bereavement counselling in Uganda and Northern Ireland: a comparison

ABSTRACT

Therapeutic interventions for bereavement in Northern Ireland and in the Sub-Saharan African country of Uganda are compared. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Ugandan (n = 18) and Northern Irish (n = 20) therapists. These were thematically analysed. The findings focused on: the counselling context, the characteristics of counsellors, the characteristics of clients and counselling practices. Whilst there were many similarities in practice, core differences arose from the demands of these regions’ predominately collectivist or individualist settings. Findings suggest that counselling interventions require adjustment to reflect cultural practices where there is less emphasis on an individualised ego, and where bereavement responses must concur with social norms.

KEYWORDS:

• Bereavement
• counselling
• Uganda
• Northern Ireland
• cross-cultural

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. Lorna Montgomery works as a social work lecturer in Queen’s University, Belfast, and also practices as a counsellor in a local voluntary agency in Belfast. She worked for 5 years as a counsellor in an international NGO in Uganda, and it was here that her interest in therapeutic interventions for bereavement and in culturally relevant counselling practices developed. Other research interests include adult safeguarding policy and practice.

Dr. Valerie Owen-Pugh is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, and a Tutor in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Leicester's Vaughan Institute of Lifelong Learning. Her research interests include: counselling and psychotherapy in society, interpersonal relations in counselling and psychotherapy, and counselling and psychotherapy training.