ScholarWorks@숙명여자대학교

초록

This study was conducted through a narrative inquiry to investigate the experiences of counselors during the course of their work in judicial divorce counseling and what meaning these experiences held for the counselors involved. The current researcher collected data through in-depth interviews with three participants over the course of three to five sessions, from April, 2019 through September 2019. The following meanings of their experience were identified: ‘finding a position as a counselor in a unfamiliar place’, ‘the pressure of responsibility’, ‘pitifulness and pain’ and ‘becoming a counselor through experiencing limitations’. In judicial divorce counseling, the subjects realized that counselors need to engage in active ‘arbitration’ to help resolve conflicts, in addition to ‘counseling’ and ‘treatment’; and such duties required flexibility in a various ways, (such as in terms of ‘strategy’ and ‘education’) in order to resolve problems and overcome obstacles as they arose. The participants recognized both the limitations of judicial divorce counseling as well as their own limitations, which motivated them as counselors to go further, creating a momentum in which they were able to grow professionally as counselors. A dual sense of both accomplishment and duty became the primary motivation to do a good job. This study revealed both the nature and meaning of counselors’ experiences in judicial divorce counseling. These findings are significant in that they have broadened our understanding of counselors and their work.

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