Counselling in prison.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What is the phenomenon of counselling in prison?
IRAS ID
333352
Contact name
Anita Rampat
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 28 days
Research summary
As a researcher and practising counsellor with experience working in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies in a male prison in Southwest London, I intend to carry out a small-scale study for educational purposes to understand counselling in prison.
This study will focus on two questions
1. What is it like to practice counselling in prison?
2. What is it like to receive counselling in prison?
The broadness of these two questions reflects the research question ‘What is the phenomenon of counselling in prison?’
This study will interview between 4-6 counsellors and 4-6 prisoners per prison, one male and one female, English prisons. The interviews will give people a chance to talk about counselling. And using a word-based method that breaks down the responses to provide insight into themes and create an understanding of counselling in prison.
The existing knowledge examines different therapy provisions in prison, such as peer support, chaplaincy talking services, and drug and alcohol, depression, suicide or anxiety, art or music from a stance of effectiveness. However, the knowledge gap in the literature rarely includes the voices of the two people- the therapist and the client about what it is to practice and receive. To add to the knowledge gap, we often think of a therapist as a psychologist. However, there is another type of therapist—a counsellor. There is minimal current and past literature references to counsellors in prison, which is first, out of date, and only looks at the views of counsellors working in a prison setting, with nothing to do with the therapy relationship or their practice. Additionally, there is a lack of academic literature that also speaks to clients and asks them about the therapy they have received.
Therefore, this small-scale study aims to understand what it means to practice and receive counselling.REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/EE/0085
Date of REC Opinion
9 Apr 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion