Psychotherapists’ experiences of co-facilitating large encounter PCEP groups: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of six interviews

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite the available literature on facilitative conditions noted in numerous writings on encounter groups, cofacilitators’ experiences are substantially under-researched. This present study aimed to explore psychotherapists’ experiences co- 10 facilitating encounter groups with two or more co-facilitators. A subsidiary question was: How do therapists who have facilitated large encounter groups make sense of their experience of the encounter process? A large group in this study group is described as 30 to 300 individuals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six psychotherapists who had experience of facilitating large encounter groups. Their accounts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three main superordinate themes 20 emerged from analyzing the data. (1) Facilitator’s role identity; (2) Importance of managing dynamics between the encounter cofacilitation team members; (3) Working within the encounter group space and process. Future research should investigate the experience of encounter 25 group participants and compare it to that of co-facilitators.