| Summary: | Estimates suggest 1 in 4 adults are diagnosed with a depressive episode at some point during their life; however, only one in four people with a diagnosis of depression in the UK receive any form of treatment. To address this, the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program was established, ensuring people accessing NHS treatment had choice. Initially the only therapy commonly available was Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), raising concern regarding client choice and prompting the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) to call for the development of a new evidence-based therapy called “Counselling for Depression” [CfD]. With regard to counselling, it is suggested that without knowing the client's view of their therapy there can be no effective evaluation of that therapy. In light of the above, the focus of this research is on the client's perceptions of CfD, the purpose of the study being two-fold; (1) to explore and evaluate CfD from the perspective of the client (2) to inform the counselling profession of what is taking place within this therapeutic approach as perceived by the client. This qualitative study, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis [IPA], focused on twelve clients' perceptions of CfD. Clients receiving CfD completed a Helpful Aspect of Therapy questionnaire after each counselling session and attended a semi-structured interview on completion of counselling. Findings identified four superordinate themes; a helpful process; Client’s view of a counsellor; Gains; and Negative aspects. As no previous study has considered CfD in this way, this study gives voice to the client enabling them to convey their understanding of what they perceive is effective therapy. In addition, this study makes a significant original contribution both to the knowledge base regarding CfD and its effectiveness, and to the professional practice of counselling.
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