Consent Form for Participation in Practice-Based PhD Research 

 

Title  

 

The Irish Catholic Maternal: Articulating Embodied Research Practice with the Philosophy of Luce Irigaray  

 

Researcher  

 

Name: Marie Theresa Crick 

Institution: Goldsmiths, University of London  

Contact: mcric003@gold.ac.uk 

 

1. Purpose of the Research  

 

This research is part of my practice-based PhD, which explores embodied methodologies and affective terrains related to Irish Catholic maternal shame and trauma. The sessions include embodied workshops and listening and reading groups, designed as collaborative and reflective spaces.  

 

2. What Participation Involves 

 

Participation is voluntary and unpaid. You may withdraw from the embodied workshops and listening and reading groups at any point without providing a reason. 

 

The sessions are designed to be open to participants of all genders, abilities and lived experiences.   

 

Participation is always situated within a durational framework, designed to foster deeper engagement, reflection and support. This structure allows participants to gradually immerse themselves in the research and provides space for collective exploration. 

 

Engagement begins with Listening and Reading Groups, which form the foundational layer of the sessions. Participants are introduced to key Irish literature texts, philosophy such as Luce Irigaray’s concept of “shared air,” and practices of breath awareness. These sessions invite participants to reflect on their own lived experiences and how they resonate with the themes of the research.  

 

Participants are invited to bring their own texts to share, but please note that abusive or violent material, that includes racist, sexist, homophobic, fascist, or any hate speech content will not be permitted.  

 

Participation in Embodied Workshops, which I term Embodied Circular Readings is invited after engagement in the listening and reading groups. These workshops involve embodied practices such as movement, script readings, engagement with film work and breathwork inspired by conscious connected breathing. Participants interact with scripted readings and interwoven filmic materials, exploring ways of attending to shame, trauma and relationality in an open and supportive environment.  

 

Participants are invited to engage in the workshops at their own pace and in ways that feel most comfortable to them. Participants are free to leave and return as needed, and support will be provided for any difficult emotions that arise during the sessions.  

 

Participants are encouraged to express any questions or concerns about the sessions or the research, before, during or after participation. Participants are welcomed to share any information they feel necessary before the session, for example if they would like to signpost that they have PTSD. 

 

Ethical research is central to the practice, where ethics are not understood as avoiding difficult but as creating frameworks for engaging with complex and potentially distressing topics. Drawing on my notion of the “feminine-to-come,” these sessions approach ethics as a space for participants to engage in courageous conversations, confront biases and challenge perspectives constructively. This definition comes from the oxford review. The embodied workshops and listening and reading groups are spaces of openness and risk that invites transformative potential. Inspired by community practice concepts of “brave spaces,” such as those explored by Brian Arao, Kristi Clemens and Adrienne Maree Brown’s Emergent Strategy. The aim is to create environments that embrace adaptation, transformation and resilience. A “brave space” acknowledges that discomfort may arise but is structured to ensure participants feel supported while engaging with these challenges. 

 

Adrienne Maree Brown’s principles of Emergent Strategy, particularly the emphasis on intentional adaptation and relationship building, inform my approach. Embodied workshops and reading and listening groups are designed as dynamic spaces, allowing participants to co-create their engagement in real-time. This relational ethic helps participants navigate the complexity of topics such as Irish transgenerational trauma, institutional abuse, dementia and maternal shame. 

 

Grounding Techniques: The facilitator, Marie Theresa will draw on her own experiences with trauma and chronic illness and she will incorporate grounding techniques at the beginning and throughout the sessions to help participants regulate their emotions. These techniques include breathwork, mindful moment and guided visualisation. 

 

Flexibility and Adaptability: Workshops will remain flexible, with the structure allowing for moments to pause, adjust the direction, or even change course entirely if distress arises. Brown’s concept of adaptive facilitation encourages this fluidity to meet the participants where they are. 

 

Creating Spaces of Active Witnessing and Mutal Support 

 

In all sessions, active witnessing will be encouraged, where participants are invited to observe and validate each other’s experiences without judgement. This approach fosters a collective atmosphere of support, where vulnerability is met with care and understanding. 

 

A Relational and Emergent Approach 

 

Building on Adrienne Maree Brown’s emphasis on relationship building and emergent strategies, the workshops and listening and reading groups will evolve based on participants’ needs. This adaptive and relational approach allows the practice to remain sensitive to the affective terrains being traversed, creating spaces where risk is navigated ethically, and transformation can occur within these structures. 

 

By naming these potential outcomes and building this framework, the research prioritises safety, care and learning while still providing opportunities for participants to engage with difficult but meaningful experiences. 

 

Unpacking the term “care” 

 

The concept of care is mentioned often in this practice and research. Care is a multifaceted and deeply contested concept, one that can embody both nurture and harm depending on context, intention and reception. What one person experiences as care – acts of attention, protection or support – might be perceived by another as control, intrusion, or even abuse. This duality underscores the need for reflexivity when invoking care within research and practice. Drawing on feminist ethics, care is not universal or neutral term but one shaped by power dynamics, histories and cultural norms. 

 

Joan C. Tronto and Berenice Fisher's work on the “moral boundaries of care” emphasizes that care is relational and requires an ongoing negotiation of needs, responsibilities and boundaries. In the context of the research and practice, care is about creating spaces where vulnerability is met with attentiveness rather than judgement, where the autonomy of participants is respected. The sessions adopt an approach informed by decolonial and feminist frameworks, which frame care as a process of “active listening” and mutual respect, rather than prescriptive action. These spaces are not a space where I offer a resolution or to ‘fix” emotions. By centring transparency, agency and consent, the sessions aim to create conditions for participants to define what care means for them within the shared space of research. 

 

3. Potential Risks and Safeguards 

 

  • Some materials may evoke strong emotional responses. The facilitator will provide signposts throughout the sessions and encourage participants to take breaks or step away as needed. 

  • Resources for mental health and emotional support will be provided (e.g., contact details for counselling services and helplines, please see all these resources below).    

  • Please note that workshops and listening and reading groups are shaped by the unique contributions and dynamics of the participants who arrive. This participatory framework often creates environments that are fluid and responsive, allowing for the emergence of unknown and unexpected interactions. While the sessions are carefully facilitated to maintain a supportive and respectful atmosphere, the evolving nature of participant engagement means each session remains unknown to the facilitator, Marie Theresa Crick.  

 

Physical Spaces and Accessibility  

  • All sessions are conducted with attention to accessibility, and the physical environment will be adapted to ensure this. 

  • Exit points will be clearly identified at the start of each session, allowing participants to leave and return as needed. 

  • Participants are invited to bring cushions and aids for enhanced comfort during the workshops and listening and reading sessions. 

  • Lighting may be lower in all events and participants will be made aware of this and to be careful not to move if they do not feel able to navigate the space safety. Films will be projected during the events, and there may be flashing lights. There will be warnings shared. 

  • Paper and pens will be used to document stories, comments and responses.  

  • In institutional spaces such as Goldsmiths University, additional support systems will be available, including security personnel and trained mental health practitioners on-site, providing a safety net for addressing any immediate concerns that may arise during the workshops. For spaces without such support structures, the facilitator will take steps to ensure participants have access to emergency contacts and helplines for emotional or psychological support, which will be included in the session materials. 

  • Some sessions may take place in outdoor natural environments such as gardens or woodland areas. These natural spaces help with the reflective and grounding elements of the practice. 

  • Outdoor sessions will be planned with safety in mind, ensuring the environment is accessible to all participants, free of hazards as much as possible or participants are made aware of any potential hazards, and that weather conditions are suitable. Exits points will be established and clearly communicated to participants at the outset. 

 

Discomfort and Distress 

 

Due to the affective terrains that are traversed such as Irish transgenerational trauma, the Catholic Church, institutional abuse, maternal trauma, dementia, water and breathing, participants directly or indirectly may find these topics distressing and triggering.  

 

Practice which attends to the body through embodied structures may be potentially difficult for some participants. The practice is more likely to be uncomfortable to participants who have experienced trauma or illness. The address is in place to make potentially participants as aware as possible of affective terrains and what embodied practice will involve. Please make sure you have read the address. The practice itself is set up to guide with as much care as possible to open potentials to share in a transformative way. The concept of care is situated here as unpacked and outlined above. 

 

 

4. Confidentiality and Data Use 

 

  • Your participation is confidential and any personal details will not be shared without your explicit consent. 

  • Vocal contributions may be used as part of the research,  

  • If you have any concerns regarding the use of your contributions, please let Marie Theresa know at any stage of the process.  

  • Participants can ask for your data to be withdrawn from the research up until the moment of submission for the viva voce.  If a participant notifies of their withdrawal, their data will be destroyed fully.  If the data has already been published, efforts will be made to remove all identifiable details of them from publications, but researcher cannot guarantee that this will be possible. 

  • Photographs and audio recordings will be made during occasional workshops and listening and reading groups. Participants will be made aware before the session starts if the session will be recorded in this format.  

  • The data collection will be undertaken using digital and cloud-based platforms, and a digital Canon camera and iPhone. 

  • None of the workshops will be filmed to keep with feminist care structures. 

  • Some material will be published online on www.mtcdigitalcreative.co.uk and in the thesis. Film work that contains the breaths will be public on You Tube and embedded on my website. Some material will be used in scripts for future performances and embodied workshops. Participants will be made aware of where their data will go. Other content which is not publicly published with remain in my Dropbox and iCloud storage. The thesis will be stored in Goldsmith’s online institutional research repository system for research outputs. Personal data of participants will be stored in a password encrypted document in the college’s cloud through One Drive for a maximum of 5 years from the publication of the thesis. After this date, this document will be deleted. 

 

 

Consent Declaration 

 

By signing below, you confirm that: 

 

  1. That you are over 18 years of age. 

  1. You have read and understood the purpose of this research and all the above details. 

  1. You have had the opportunity to ask questions and received satisfactory answers. 

  1. You understand the potential risks and the safeguards in place. 

  1. You understand that all the sessions take the framework of a “brave space” as described above. 

  1. You have read the address which accompanies this consent form. The address will be read again at the beginning of each session. 

  1. You have read the resources and helplines below, so you are aware of the support available if you need to access it. 

  1. You understand that your participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time. 

  1. You have signed up via Eventbrite to confirm your attendance. 

  1. You consent to your participation in this research. 

  1. You consent to your data being used in line with the guidelines above. You can also opt out of this by placing a cross below. 

 

Participants can choose whether they consent to anything shared in the sessions being documented in the thesis and how it will be used (anonymous or named). After each event, the researcher, Marie Theresa will contact participants to confirm your consent again. This will be a reflective space for participants to discuss the events with the researcher, and to document how the information will be written. This will continue the collaborative nature of the practice. These sessions will take place on Zoom or Microsoft Teams and will be recorded. The recording will remain private between the researcher and the participant. Filmed discussions via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, after the embodied workshops and listening and reading groups will be stored in Dropbox and iCloud. The recordings will only be available for me, and the participant that is recorded. This allows time between the sharing and the decision, thus allowing the embodied spaces to be processed. Participants will have access to the thesis before it is submitted for the viva voce (A viva voce is the final oral examination held at the end of the PhD), to see how the information will sit within the final PhD.  

 

 

Participant Name (Print): ____________________________________ 

Participant Signature: ______________________________________ 

Date: ___________________________________________________ 

 

 

Researcher Signature: ______________________________________ 

Date: ___________________________________________________ 

 

 

Please place a cross below if you do NOT consent to your data being used in this research. You can choose to share your data and remain anonymous. However, if you do NOT want any data shared in any format, please place a cross below: 

 

  

 

If you have any concerns, you can contact the researcher directly: 

 

Name: Marie Theresa Crick 

Institution: Goldsmiths, University of London  

Contact: mcric003@gold.ac.uk 

 

If you have further concerns you can contact the supervisors: 

 

Name: Dr Lynn Turner 

Institution: Goldsmiths, University of London  

 

Name: Dr Alice Andrews

Institution: Goldsmiths, University of London  

  

Please read the following page which contains key resources.  

Key resources: 

 

  1. The Trauma Foundaton 

  • A UK-based organisation providing therapy and support for individuals dealing with PTSD and trauma. 

  1. Mind (UK) 

  • Offers extensive resources for mental health, including information on PTSF and how to access support. 

  1. The PTSD UK Foundation 

  • A UK-based charity dedicated to raising awareness of PTSD and its effects. 

  1. Samaritans (UK) 

  • A 24/7 helpline for individuals in crisis or destress, including those affected by trauma. 

  • Phone: 116 123 

Ireland-Specific Resources: 

 

  1. Pieta House (Ireland) 

  • Provides support for individuals in crisis or distress, including individuals affected by trauma 

 

  1. HSE National Counselling Service (Ireland) 

  • Offers free and confidential counselling  

 

  1. Aware (Ireland) 

  • Supports individuals dealing with depression, anxiety and trauma-relation mental health challenges. 

 

4. The Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) 

  • Provides directories of certified counsellors and therapists specialising in PTSD and trauma in Ireland. 

Dementia focused charities: 

 

United Kingdom  

 

  1. Dementia UK 

  • Offers specialist support for families through their Admiral Nurses, as well as guidelines and best practices for dementia care. 

  • Phone: 0800 888 6678\ 

 

  1. Alzheimer’s Society (UK) 

  • Provides support and resources for people affected by dementia and their caregivers, with detailed guidance on consent and capacity. 

  • Phone: 0333 150 3456 

 

  1. Life Changes Trust Dementia Programme (Scotland) 

  • Aims to support people living with dementia in Scotland through creative engagement, funding, and resources to build a better quality of life. 

  • Phone: 0141 212 9600 

 

Ireland-Specific Resources:  

 

  1. Alzheimer Society of Ireland 

  • Provides support and resources for individuals living with dementia and their families, emphasizing person-centred care and advocacy. 

  • Phone: 1800 341 341 (Freephone) 

 

  1. Dementia Inclusive Communities Ireland (DICI) 

  • Advocates for inclusive communities and person-centred approaches to dementia care, supporting individuals living with dementia to actively engage in their communities.