Needing to respond; Responding to need: A thematic analysis exploring Educational Psychologists’ experiences of responding to critical incidents

Literature relating to Educational Psychologists’ (EPs) responses to critical incidents (CIs) is limited. There is a need for a current overview exploring factors which may impact or affect how an EP responds to a CI. Therefore, this research aims to explore what influences an EP’s response to a critical incident. Using a critical realist ontological and constructionist epistemological position semi- structured interviews were carried out with three practicing EPs about their experiences of responding to three different CIs. The interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) where six themes (The CI, The Educational Psychologist, Systems, Impacting factors on approach, Responding to need and the relational aspect and Post CI- The bigger picture) and 20 subthemes emerged from the data. Findings are discussed in relation to previous literature and the analysis of the interviews. Strengths and limitations of the study, outstanding questions and directions for future research are then summarised. The project concludes with an outline of the professional implications of the research in relation to the six themes.