Adventure-based experiences during professional training in psychology : a follow-up study

Abstract

Postgraduate counselling psychology training at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa (SA), is done according to the researcher-practitioner model. An important aspect that is addressed during the unfolding of the postgraduate counselling psychology programme is professional development, which consists of professional practice and personal growth. Professional practice addresses the legislative context of practising psychology in SA, while personal growth focuses on the “person” of the postgraduate counselling psychology students. During the programme personal growth is addressed through supervision, counselling and an adventure experience. The purpose of this research is to describe the personal growth of 19 students through an adventure experience in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, SA. The students participated in various adventure activities (archery, obstacle course, sea kayaking, sea rafting, abseiling), as well as in eight group debriefing sessions. At the end of the adventure experience the students reflected in writing on their adventure experience. The research was conducted from a descriptive phenomenological position and the written reflections analysed according to the Duquesne Phenomenological Research Method (DPRM). From the analysis it seems that the essence of the students’ personal growth pertained to students growing in awareness; challenging their boundaries; discovering uniqueness, creating trust amongst one another and demonstrating the ability to collectively establish group cohesion.