Experience Of Distress And Use Of Psychological Therapy: Perspectives From Users Of An IAPT Service

This study explored the experiences of people who attended therapy at an IAPT
service. It focussed on how distress has been understood by people who have
had this experience, and how this understanding in turn shapes their experience
of psychological therapy.
Individual, semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine individuals who
had completed High Intensity therapy at an IAPT service. The data was analysed
using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, generating three themes:
“Looking to my self”, exploring identity and emotional world; “The role of others”,
exploring experience of distress in the context of relationships; and “’Outside
forces’: Contextual influences on the experience of distress”. The analysis
suggested that participants made sense of their distress in varying and complex
ways, with implications for their experience of therapy.
Findings are discussed with relation to the existing literature, and implications for
clinical practice are suggested.