A Consensual Qualitative Research on Counselors’ Experiences in Counseling Child Abusers at Child Protection Agencies

The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of counselors who provide counseling to child abusers. To achieve this, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 counselors from child protection agencies, each with at least one year of experience in counseling child abusers. The collected data were analyzed using the consensual qualitative research method, resulting in four major domains, eight categories, and 34 subcategories. The four identified domains are: (1) characteristics of child abuser counseling, (2) counselors’ experiences in counseling child abusers, (3) the role of counselors in child abuser counseling, and (4) strategies for improving child abuser counseling. This study helps provide an in-depth understanding of counselors' experiences in working with child abusers and practical insights for novice counselors entering this field. It also helps serve as foundational data for improving child abuser counseling in the future.