Manchester Arena: Making sense of terrorism as both community member and therapist

Abstract

On the 22nd May 2017, whilst attendees were leaving a concert at the Manchester Arena, an explosive device was detonated in the foyer, killing 23 people including the man responsible. The enduring psychological impact of terrorism is well documented in literature. Recent research also attempts to explore therapists’ double exposure to traumatic events, directly through their own experiences and vicariously through therapeutic work. The current study explores how therapists make sense of being both community member and therapist of those affected by the Manchester Arena bombing. It also aims to explore how this sense-making process influences their professional responses, if at all. A qualitative study was conducted in which four therapeutic professionals took part in semi-structured interviews. Questions were related to community membership and therapeutic work after the bombing. Transcript analysis was guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which allows for exploration of participant’s sense-making and the meaning that a life event holds. The analysis generated five master themes. These are (1) “Manchester values and community” which describes the shared values and beliefs of Manchester providing togetherness and collective growth; (2) “Making sense” which describes a changed emotional relationship with the city which prompted information gathering and continual sense-making; (3) “In, out and in-between” which describes a balance between shared experience and psychological distance; (4) “Navigating professional challenges” which describes professional duty and responsibility, as well as therapist support-seeking; and (5) “Power” which describes difficulties and divisions created by those in positions of power. These findings are discussed in relation to relevant current literature surrounding shared traumatic reality, post-traumatic growth and associated concepts. Implications for research are explored, highlighting the unique contribution of IPA and proposing avenues of future research. Implications for practise are advised, including increased timely and appropriate supervision, the implementation of group supervision and exploration of race in supervision.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Jo Shuttleworth (Supervisor), Terry Hanley (Supervisor) & Ola Demkowicz (Supervisor)