The Research Relationship: Negotiating Multiple Selves and Boundaries in Exploring Sensitive Topics

Abstract

This article considers responsibilities and challenges inherent in the research relationship, from the position of a researcher who is also a counselling practitioner. It draws on my experience of undertaking a qualitative interview-based doctoral research study with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, engaging critically with the debates in the research literature concerning researcher–practitioner role boundaries and comparable (and distinct) areas of practice between research and counselling. I suggest that within well-held, monitored boundaries, practitioner identities and contextual knowledge are invaluable to the research relationship and that a collaborative fluidity can operate between researcher and professional (in this case, counsellor) identities rather than them being in conflict. Though the issues addressed here arise from the researcher as counselling practitioner, I believe they have a wider relevance for all qualitative researchers. What happens in the research relationship is complex, involving the various identities (personal and professional selves), emotions, and subjectivities of both researchers and research contributors. Our personhood in research can help to generate rich sources of understanding and at the same time demands our critical reflexivity to interrogate our subjectivities and their influence. In undertaking research which asks individuals to reflect in detail and depth on intimate areas of their lives, researchers need to be prepared for the potential emergence of distress and feel equipped, through training, support, and contextual-based knowledge, to be able to respond appropriately. It calls for reflexive relational competence at the heart of qualitative research.