An exploration of the influence of years of clinical experience, gender, and background training on counsellors' ways of knowing

This study utilized a phenomenological perspective to explore the world of four therapist/counsellors, two male and two female. The goal of the study was to describe the counsellors' ways of knowing, with an emphasis on exploring how these ways had been influenced by gender, years of clinical experience, and type of background training. The study was subjective in nature, and utilized the process of in-depth interviews to provide a richness of information. Direct excerpts from the counsellor's interviews were analyzed from the perspective of the counsellors' (a) processes: early development, entrance into counselling, and influence of background training; and (b) outcomes: focus in counselling, roles and relationships established, and counsellors'! ways of knowing. Five main themes arising from these topics were discussed. The overall theme that emerged was that despite gender, type of training, or years of clinical experience, each counsellor used a process of intuitive and cognitive thinking in his/her counselling process, but to different degrees and in different ways. The males functioned more from an intuitive mode; the females froma cognitive mode. Early life experiences and the development of the counsellors! "natural way" seemed to be the major contributing factor to each counsellor's preferred processing style.