Compassionate Interviewing: Meta-Communicating Care and Embracing Interruptions

Abstract

In March 2018, researcher Carolyn Ellis video recorded a short interview session with participant Jerry Rawicki for the purpose of describing the relationship that developed between them during their 9-year research collaboration. An excerpt from this interview is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj6IZx5vzlk . The authors present this video excerpt, the edited conversation from it, and discussion of what took place to explore the role that compassion might play in an interview relationship. They also suggest that in compassionate interviews, interruptions might be characterized as opportunities to know and participate in the life of the interviewee, rather than viewed as disruptive. Representing the perspective of the researcher and participant, this article demonstrates how compassionate relationships happen in real-life situations.