Background The researcher's reflexive use of self forms part of a well‐established tradition in counselling and psychotherapy research. This paper reviews that tradition briefly, with particular reference to an approach known as ‘practitioner‐based research’ that has developed from it. In this approach, researcher‐practitioners use their therapeutic skills and judgement and thereby enrich their understanding of research participants, themselves and their relationship. Aim The paper aims to contribute to the practitioner‐based approach by showing how it can impact on data collection, using an example from a qualitative interview. Methodology A moment of interaction between a participant and a therapy researcher in a qualitative interview is examined, framed within psychotherapeutic intersubjectivity theory. The researcher's reflexive awareness of micro‐aspects of the relationship with the participant is reviewed, captured in their language and the split‐second daydreams or reveries that arose as they interacted. Findings The authors argue that the approach enhanced this small‐scale study by intensifying the researcher's engagement with the participant and enriching her understanding of their relationship and the subject under investigation. Implications The paper highlights the unique value and contribution that this approach offers to therapy research and practice.

In this paper, we present a synthesis of two doctoral theses where links are made between the intersubjective, relational dynamics seen in clinical supervision, and applied in practice to a framework for emotional labor in prison nurses. We explore the nature of intersubjectivity, from nursing and psychotherapeutic perspectives, and discuss the way in which it impacts on and influences relationships between nurses, prisoner patients, prison officers, and organizations within prison healthcare settings. The impact of this intersubjectivity is illustrated through the exploration of an intersubjective web that is created and informs interaction between the key actors within the prison nurse's practice, i.e., prison officers, prisoner patients, and the organization. We suggest that by being cognizant of the intersubjective web that influences these interactions, a more meaningful understanding of practice and relationships can be achieved. This deeper understanding can then be utilized to develop practitioners both professionally and personally. We conclude by promoting regular, formal clinical supervision as an ideal space within which to explore the way in which this intersubjective web influences relationships, impacts on emotional labor, and subsequently patient care and staff well being.

Practitioner and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has a teaching career spanning 45 years, 30 years as a therapist, manager of counselling services and counselling training programmes, freelance counsellor, clinical supervisor and trainer; has research interests in phenomena in micro-moments of practice and clinical supervision; published and co-edited books, chapters and peer-reviewed articles on therapeutic practice, clinical supervision and training. ORCiD:

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Background In contrast to dominant approaches to therapy research that look at outcomes and focus on large samples, another primary strand of research considers microphenomenal processes and focuses on small samples. This study contributes to the latter genre in regard to the implicit impact of language. Aim This study aims to apply relational psychotherapeutic thinking about empathic dialogue, specifically the concepts of reflective‐verbal language and reverie, to qualitative interviewing. Methodology An example from a small‐scale study about emotionally evocative language is reviewed in detail, focusing on the interviewer's phenomenological experience of her conversation with a participant in a qualitative interview. Findings The authors argue that the interviewer's reflexive awareness of her reveries and the reflective‐verbal nature of the research dialogue gave her an alternative perspective on the participant's (and her own) experience. Implications The study highlights the value within research and practice of maintaining awareness of language at a microphenomenal level, using techniques based on the principles of psychological therapy.