Tracking narrative change in post-intervention focus groups for teachers: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT

Reliable and systematic qualitative methodologies to assess participants’ change after group interventions are scarce. This study outlines a methodolo5gical approach to use in focus groups, allowing the elicitation and coding of participants’ change talk after a group intervention. A Change Elicitation Script for Focus Groups was developed and its viability for evoking participants’ discussion around change was tested. Following a self-compassion intervention for teachers, participants’ dialogue was examined in three focus groups following a simplified version of Innovative Moments Coding System for groups. Results suggest that the Change Elicitation Script for Focus Groups effectively prompted participants’ discussion around change. The Innovative Moments Coding System for groups allowed to reliably identify, delimit, and categorize Innovative Moments throughout these dialogues. Although preliminary, this study puts forward a mixed-method methodology, applicable to the retrospective analysis of the process of change in post-intervention focus groups, from educational to clinical settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Change elicitation script
• focus groups
• group intervention
• narrative change
• retrospective assessment

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank to all of the participants of the FGs, for their availability and crucial contribution to the present study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2024.2378699

Additional information

Funding

This work has received funding and support from Sarah and John Rocklif and the Reed Foundation (UK) and supported by the Compassionate Mind Foundation (UK).

Notes on contributors

Joana Silva

Joana Silva is a PhD in Clinical Psychology and an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology and Education of University Portucalense (Porto, Portugal). She is also an integrated research member of CINTESIS@RISE, CINTESIS.UPT. She has conducted research in developmental psychopathology and mother-infant attachment. Recently, her main research interests are change mechanisms in psychotherapy, life transitions adaptation and change mechanisms in individual and group interventions.

João Batista

João Batista is PhD in Applied Psychology (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy) and is currently a researcher and psychotherapist at the School of Psychology of University of Minho (Braga, Portugal). His PhD focused on the change of self-narratives and relational patterns in depression. He has participated as a researcher in several granted projects, including the projects Narrative change in psychotherapy (PTDC/PSI/72846/2006) and Ambivalence and unsuccessful psychotherapy (PTDC/PSI-PCL/121525/2010). Currently, his main research interests are focused in process-outcome psychotherapy research, namely using a narrative-constructivist protocol in the treatment of complicated grief and in the development of written based interventions for different psychological problems.

Pablo Fernández-Navarro

Pablo Fernández-Navarro, PhD, is a lecturer in the School of Psychology, University of Granada and a health psychologist. He is interested in process and outcome research in clinical psychology, recently exploring learning, development and/or change processes in clinical and non-clinical populations.

Helena Ferreira

Helena Ferreira is a PhD student at the Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi) of the School of Psychology, at the University of Minho (Braga, Portugal). She is a member of the Psychotherapy and Psychopathology Research Unit of CIPsi. Her work deals with the tracking of ambivalence resolution throughout psychotherapy, by using the Ambivalence Resolution Coding System (ARCS).

Lara Palmeira

Lara Palmeira is an Associate Professor at Universidade Portucalense, Portugal. Her research focuses on contextual-behavioural psychological approaches (e.g., ACT, CFT, Mindfulness), specifically on the role of emotion regulation strategies in stigma and well-being in people with several health issues and also on the implementation and test of the efficacy of acceptance, compassion, and mindfulness-based group interventions in promoting mental and physical well-being. She is an integrated research member of CINTESIS@RISE, CINTESIS.UPT.

Isabel Albuquerque

Isabel Albuquerque is a teacher in Elementary Teaching and a researcher at the Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive and Behavioral Intervention (CINEICC) of the University of Coimbra. Her research interest areas are personal and professional teachers’ development, teachers’ well-being, personality development and the effects of compassion training in these areas.

Ana Galhardo

Ana Galhardo is an Auxiliary Professor at Instituto Superior Miguel Torga (ISMT) and an Integrated member of the Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive and Behavioral Intervention (CINEICC) of the University of Coimbra. Her research interests focus on (1) infertility and fertility issues; (2) the development, implementation and feasibility/efficacy study of psychological interventions based on mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) targeting several populations (e.g., people with infertility, people with an unmet desire for children, people with inflammatory bowel disease, people with breast cancer, teachers, firefighters) and settings; and (3) the development of new psychological assessment instruments and the translation and validation to the Portuguese population of self-report instruments.

Marina Cunha

Marina Cunha is an Assistant Professor at Instituto Superior Miguel Torga (ISMT), co-coordinator of the 2nd study cycle in Clinical Psychology, and coordinator of the Therapeutic Intervention Department. Integrated member of the Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive and Behavioral Intervention (CINEICC) of the University of Coimbra. Her research interests focus on (1) the identification of the risk or protector factor (e.g., attachment styles, temperamental factors, early emotion memories, shame, self-criticism, peer relationships, emotion regulation difficulties) of various psychological problems in adolescents and adults; (2) the development and efficacy study of psychological interventions based on mindfulness and compassion aimed at diverse populations (e.g., teachers, students, athletes, firefighters) and settings; and (3) in the development of new instruments for clinical assessment in adolescents and adults.

Margarida Pedroso Lima

Margarida Pedroso Lima is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Coimbra. Her research interests are related to personality, group phenomena, personal development and interpersonal relationships in young adults, adults and the elderly.

Marcela Matos

Marcela Matos is an Auxiliary Researcher at the Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention, University of Coimbra (UC). Currently, she is interested in developing, implementing and testing the efficacy of compassion-based psychological interventions in promoting mental and biophysiological health and well-being in different populations. She is an expert in compassion, shame and compassion-focused interventions.