Overcoming Obstacles to Empathy: The Use of Experiential Learning in Addictions Counseling Courses

"I've Lived that Thing that We do with Families": Understanding the Experiences of Practitioners' Undertaking a Three-Year Open Dialogue UK Training Programme

Open dialogue is a systemically-based approach to mental healthcare, originating from Finland. Growing numbers of practitioners are being trained internationally, but little is known about the impact of such trainings within a UK setting. This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis of focus group data to explore the experiences of thirteen individuals undertaking a three-year UK open dialogue training. Four themes emerged: (1) a powerful experiential process; (2) personal therapeutic change; (3) deeper and more open relationships and (4) altered relationships to power in working practice. The findings suggest that open dialogue trainees experience greater depth in relationships with both clients and colleagues as a result of training, even participants who already had therapeutic training backgrounds. The findings also contribute to Transformational Learning literature regarding how experiential, non-hierarchical, dialogical teaching methods may enhance learning on therapeutic programmes and, therefore, lead to positive changes within clinical practice.

Effects of Simulation on Nursing Students' Dementia Knowledge and Empathy: A Mixed Method Study

The experience of living with dementia is multifaceted while unique to the individual. Dementia education must empower nursing students to recognize the complexity of the experience while also emphasizing the need for person centered care. Participation in Dementia Live^® provides nursing students a glimpse into the life of a person living with dementia incorporating common symptoms associated with dementia and time for reflection regarding the experience. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of dementia simulation on nursing students' dementia knowledge and empathy for people living with dementia. This convergent mixed methods study involved a convenience sample of 65 undergraduate nursing students. A pretest/posttest design was used to collect quantitative data while thematic analysis of focus group discussions was used for qualitative data collection. Quantitative results reported a significant increase in empathy. Qualitative findings supported the quantitative findings with themes identifying four of the six components of empathy. This study adds to the understanding of teaching and learning about dementia care and highlights the contributions a seven-minute simulation made to improve empathy.