Personality & The Emotional Effects of Eczema Uni Study

[ricksa82]

Hi,

My name is Rick Cox and i'm currently a third year Counselling Psychology student at the University of Derby in the United Kingdom and i’m conducting research in fulfilment of my independent study for my degree into personality and the emotional effects of eczema and to assess whether the requirement for a psychological treatment is necessary. So far I have support from a Dermatologist, The National Eczema Association and the Talk Eczema forums here. So if you or somebody you know suffers from eczema could you get the word around and consider giving the study a go.

You will be asked to complete a short initial general questionnaire followed by two fairly short questionnaires and lastly a questionnaire designed to get a good overview of your personality. All of the questionnaires are standardised questionnaires and have been chosen as what seems to be the best match for the study.
The information you provide will be treated with the strictest confidentiality in conformity with the British Psychological Society’s Division of Counselling Psychology Guidelines on Confidentiality and Record Keeping (2002), the Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009) and Ethical Principles for Conducting Research with Human Participants (2009) in requirement of the University of Derby.

I will check here quite often to make myself available for any questions about me and the study itself which will run until around mid/late March this year and I can offer an abstract and results of the study anytime after May 2nd this year.

The link to the actual study can be found here http://kwiksurveys.com?u=udbpsych

Thank you for reading and thank you very much to the people considering taking part

Rick

[ricksa82]

A big big thank you so far to everybody who has been taking part, the study is still running and I'm checking back and forth to answer any questions, ideas and suggestions you may have, the study is still running until around mid march

[Kel25]

Aww, I thought as there were no posts that no one had done it!!
Glad some have - I'm doing my level three at the minute so more than happy to help in any other ways if you need ot - will follow the link now though too

[ricksa82]

Thanks Kel, yeah also much appreciated, people are still doing it, and its just a case of getting the word around a bit more,
what study are you doing?

Thanks

[Kel25]

Level three in counselling, the one before the diploma.
Ive done the survey and its really good but, if you dont mind the feedback - there were a couple of questions where I had more than one answer but could only give one. For example - where do you suffer from eczema - I have it on hands, face, legs and arms which spanned several tick boxes but it would only let me tick one. Ist wsa the same with what else do you treat with, there ws vitamins, supplements, and emolients, I would have ticked all and a few more but couldnt.
Unless of course I've just been spectacularly dimwitted and not read somethign right in which case I apologise immediately!!!

[ricksa82]

Aah the independent route into counselling, and what seems to be a quite expensive route, and mostly person centred oriented?
Thanks and yes feedback welcome, I have been aware of that and its a drawback of using kwik surveys, along with the ads on the page and etc, so i was kinda silently hoping people would choose the worst affected areas and the most widely used treatment. Thanks for the feedback anyway and if there is anything else i can help you with, whether it be about the study or to exchange some counselling knowledge, opinions etc

[Kel25]

Thanks and yes it is PCA which I'm not 100% comfortable with but I'm not sure what you mean by independant - I'm doing it as a mature part time student at our local FE college - is that the same thing, are there other (cheaper) ways?? I paid £800 for the years course (told its Alevel level) and wont be able to afford to do the diploma at university to actually get qualified so if you know a better/quicker/cheaper way I would fill in surverys all day long in return for you telling me

[ricksa82]

I think they say the "independent route" into counselling is the alternative to a degree such as what i do, which like you say is usually ran at colleges, part time, one / two nights a week etc and mostly just one model. £800 sounds about right for the year and yes the diploma is quite a lot more.

I had considered carrying on with the "independent route" a couple of years ago after doing an intro to counselling (ABC or concepts i can't quite remember) again at a college whilst retaking English GCSE and doing an access in health and nursing on my way back into education. The access does what it says on the tin and does get you into uni, which was a good decision in the long run to go and do counselling psychology to degree level as you learn so much, and i mean SO much in comparison,

In hindsight, i was glad i chose the degree, as my thoughts about these "independent routes" spell more of a hinderance in some way as it is just mostly one model which you learn, granted its a good model when used by a good therapist but counselling is never one track and one approach. More you would tailor elements from differing approaches to suit the individual client. No model has been "proven" to work better than another in all of Karasous 400+ models of therapy, choose one!
Its all buzzwords like "integrative" and "eclectic" nowadays oh and not forgetting the new American "transtheoretical" (which is just their term for integrative!)

I don't mean to preach but if you are quite serious to get into counselling, try not to fall into the trap of relying on just one model, have an open mind, and push a little bit further in your reading than Pete Sanders!

[Kel25]

Thanks so much - i really appreciate your help.
To be fair I think its unlikely I'll get to university for a good while - if ever. I'm 34, have two kids and two jobs and its proving all I can manage just to go to college one day a week and read a bit of Yalmo at the minute. Plus I'd more than likely have to go through an Access course first anyway, by the time I get anywhere near qualified in anything I'll be well over 40 and probably on the verge of a nervous breakdown!!
And the reason I have two jobs is because I need the money, not for my love of working too so I just cant afford the dosh either.
But you're right - PCA is limited and frustrating and I'd love to explore integrative much much more. In fact what I'd like to do is a psychology degree and look at criminolgy too but hey - the world needs office managers too right??!
All the very best with your studies and thanks again x

[ricksa82]

You would no doubt have to make that start with an access course at a college somewhere as i don't think what we talked about with the independent route would be enough of a qualification to get into uni, and you would most likely do things in integrative after Uni at masters level. Understood about working and your children and things like that, people got to do what they got to do, and there are ways and means of doing something when you set your mind to it and break it all down into things that feel manageable.

Person centred has been seen as a bit of a "fluffy" approach, and clients hate it! As sometimes it seems the therapist is always circling the fringes when the client just wants an answer to something. Although as mentioned its been said the classic Rogerian approach in itself is very good, its just the people using the model nowadays! Have they told you to watch "The Gloria Videos" on Youtube, how ethical is that? and I bet our Gloria didn't know those videos were to be uploaded onto a social media website for all and sundry to see years later!

And what makes a good therapist?....."Experience" Although I guess an ex office manager helps!