42-5 Analysis of a Relational Approach Counseling Process: A Case Experience Based on an Elementary School Teacher Dealing with Midlife Crisis Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the change process in counseling based on a relational counseling approach. Midlife transition is considered more and more as a normal part of life nowadays. According to social psychologists midlife crisis might occur during ages 40-65 for an individual. The term crisis is not appropriate because the experience is often accompanied by serious depression, excessive worrying and unhappiness. Owing to the uniqueness of the target population in this study, a convenient sampling method was adopted to select an elementary teacher who was dealing with midlife crisis with respect to his pursuit of status and career, and his personality difficulty. Thirteen 60-minute each, weekly in-depth interview sessions were conducted with the client participant. The entire interview was audio-recorded with the client's consent. Following each in-depth interview session, the recorded verbatim was hand typed. Subsequently qualitative analysis of the data was conducted. In addition, the MAXQDA software was used - a program that supports qualitative data analysis. The results of the study include the client's story, the counseling process, the client's change, and the impact the client experienced following the counseling intervention. Results and recommendations for future study are discussed. The findings provide deep understanding of the change in the counseling process for the client and they serve as the basis of supporting and promoting the relational counseling approach.

Keywords
counseling relationship ; midlife crisis ; process analysis ; qualitative research ; relational approach

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