The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning of the Expression of Voice experience in adolescent girls using an existential-phenomenological interview approach and also to explore the impact of participation in an interview session talking about Voice. Two open-ended interviews were conducted. During the first interview, participants are asked to Please think of a specific time when you had something important to say, and although it was difficult, you did speak up and say what you thought. In as much detail as possible, describe that experience. During the second interview, each girl was asked if she '... feel[s] that being involved in this research - my coming to see you - has affected your thoughts, beliefs, or experiences with speaking up and expressing your voice, thereby considering her thoughts, emotions, cognitions and behaviors since the initial interview, talking about them, and noting any changes she may have noticed. Each interview was tape-recorded and transcribed by the investigator. The first interview was independently thematized (Jones, 1984) by the author and a doctoral colleague trained in Jones' (1984) analysis method. The second interview was marked and tallied for shared themes, also by the author and the same doctoral colleague. Interrater reliability of the themes reached 97% agreement for the overall sample. Individual transcription reliabilities ranged between 91-98%. Thematic analysis revealed six superordinate themes and four subthemes. The superordinate themes were Felt Strongly, I Hesitated, A Lot of Feelings, What's Going to Happen, I Have to Do This, and I Felt Better. The subthemes Emotional and Physical were part of superordinate theme A Lot of Feelings.

The purpose of my research is to examine the philosophic influences on three literary works: F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon, and Norman Mailer's An American Dream. Through an investigation of biographical, historical, cultural, and textual evidence, I will argue for the influence of several European philosophers---Friedrich Nietzsche, Søren Kierkegaard, and Martin Heidegger---on these authors and on the structures and messages of their works. I will discuss how the specific works I have selected not only reveal each author's apt understanding of the existential-philosophical crises facing the individual in the twentieth century, but also reveal these authors' attempt to disseminate philosophic instruction on the "art of living" to their post-war American readers. I will argue that Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Mailer address what they see as the universal philosophical crises of their generations in the form of literary art by appropriating and translating the existential concerns of existence to American interests and concerns. I will argue that Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Mailer's emphasis on the individual's personal responsibility to first become self-aware and then to strive to see the world more clearly and truly reflects their own sense of responsibility as authors and artists of their generations, a point of view that repositions these authors as prophets, seers, healers, so to speak, of their times. Finally, I will discuss how, in An American Dream, Mailer builds on the Americanized existential foundations laid by Fitzgerald and Hemingway through his explicit invocation of and subtle references to the art and ideas of his literary-philosophic predecessors---Fitzgerald and Hemingway.

The purpose of this study is to examine if eleven psychotherapists experience that their clients raise existential questions in psychotherapy situations. Further, how they understand and respond to the clients existential or spiritual/ religious experiences and needs. What skills therapists believe what they need to work with the existential questions, and the difficulties to face these experiences. Are there connections between existential needs and mental health, according to the therapists, and if so how to deal with them. The study has a qualitative approach. Eleven psychotherapists have been interviewed to investigate the existence of an existential dimension in psychotherapy, I have worked with the WHO questionnaire, WHOQOL-SRPB (WHO 2002). WHOQOL-SRPB is a measuring instrument designed to measure the existential health dimension in relation to self-rated health. The theories in the study are mainly taken from the object relation theory and psychology of religion. . The study illustrates that there is an existential dimension in psychotherapy. Considering the results of international studies on health, it indicates that the existential aspect needs to be taken very seriously in all health promotion, including psychotherapy. Further, therapy targeting and therapy method is not really an impediment, in existential issues, but it is the therapist's approach that primarily affects. Important tools are self-therapy and tutoring but mostly knowledge, education and practical training.

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore surgical nurses’ experiences of being confronted with patients’ existential issues when caring for patients with cancer, and to examine whether an educational intervention may support nurses in addressing existential needs when caring for patients with cancer. Previously recorded discussions from supervision sessions with eight healthcare professionals were analysed (I), written descriptions of critical incidents were collected from 10 nurses, and interviews with open questions were conducted (II). An educational intervention on existential issues was pilot tested and is presented in Studies III and IV. The intervention was the basis of a pilot study with the purpose of testing whether the whole design of the educational intervention, including measurements instruments, is appropriate. In Study III and IV interviews with 11 nurses were conducted and 42 nurses were included in the quantitative measurements of four questionnaires, which were distributed and collected. Data was analysed using qualitative secondary analysis (I), hermeneutical analysis (II), and mixed methods using qualitative content analysis and statistical analyses (III-IV). Results in all studies show that existential issues are part of caring at surgical wards. However, although the nurses were aware of them, they found it difficult to acknowledge these issues owing to for example insecurity (I-III), a strict medical focus (II) and/or lacking strategies (I-III) for communicating on these issues. Modest results from the pilot study are reported and suggest beneficial influences of a support in communication on existential issues (III). The results indicate that the educational intervention may enhance nurses’ understanding for the patient’s situation (IV), help them deal with own insecurity and powerlessness in communication (III), and increase the value of caring for severely ill and dying patients (III) in addition to reducing work-related stress (IV). An outcome of all the studies in this thesis was that surgical nurses consider it crucial to have time and opportunity to reflect on caring situations together with colleagues. In addition, descriptions in Studies III and IV show the value of relating reflection to a theory or philosophy in order for attitudes to be brought to awareness and for new strategies to be developed.

Samtidigt som traditionella religioner är på tillbakagång vänder sig allt fler människor till den magi och mysticism som kännetecknar new age. Forskningen har hittills närmat sig detta fenomen genom korrelationsstudier, demografiska kartläggningar och analyser av vad new age-anhängare tror på. I denna explorativa, induktiva studie berättade i stället fem kvinnor i halvstrukturerade intervjuer om vad deras new age-tro betytt för dem. Koncentrering av bärande utsagor i dimensionerna betydelse, tro relaterad till icke-tro, kunskapskällor och ontologi genererade fyra faktorer: existentiell trygghet som skyddar mot osäkerhet under livets gång och hämmar ångest inför livets oundvikliga slut; upphöjdhet genom insikter och medvetenhet som icke-troende saknar; antiintellektualism som betonar känslor och intuition på bekostnad av förnuft och logik; relativism som stipulerar att var och en har sin egen sanning. En funktionell modell som tydliggör hur faktorerna relaterar till varandra diskuteras, liksom resultatets integrering i ett teoretiskt ramverk och riktlinjer för framtida forskning. / In a time when traditional religions are declining, contemporary man increasingly turns to New Age magic and mysticism. So far, research has approached this phenomenon in correlational studies, demographic surveys, and analyses of experience narratives. In this explorative, inductive study, five women described the gains of their New Age faith. Concentrating leading statements in the dimensions value, belief related to non-belief, sources of knowledge, and ontology generated four factors: existential safety that protects against uncertainty through life and inhibits anxiety regarding life’s inevitable end; loftiness through insights and awareness that non-believers lack; anti-intellectualism emphasizing emotion and intuition at the expense of reason and logic; relativism that stipulates that truth is a matter of individual choice. A functional model illustrating how the factors relate to each other is discussed, as well as theoretical integration and suggestions for future research.

Egzistencinis socialinio darbo modelis yra svarbus, įtakingas ir reikšmingas šiuolaikiniam socialiniam darbui. Kai kurių teoretikų nuomone, jis iki šiol nėra deramai išvystytas ir pritaikytas praktikai, nežiūrint to, kad jo principai ir teiginiai yra aktualūs socialiniame darbe. Dėl šio fakto yra būtina tirti egzistencinio modelio privalumus praktinėje profesinėje veikloje, jo integracijos su kitais modeliais galimybes, taip pat nustatyti jo taikymo trūkumus ir apribojimus. Tyrimo tikslas – išsiaiškinti ir įvertinti egzistencinio modelio taikymo perspektyvą šiuolaikinių socialinio darbo modelių kontekste. Tyrimo metodu buvo pasirinktas kokybinis lyginamosios turinio analizės metodas. Egzistencinis modelis buvo lyginamas su bihevioristiniu ir sistemų teorijos socialinio darbo modeliais pagal išskirtas kategorijas. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad egzistencinis modelis išsiskiria savo filosofiniu pagrindu, kuris nulemia šiuos nepanašumus ir netgi prieštaravimus su kitais dviem modeliais: žmogaus sampratą, kliento bruožai, esminės problemų priežastys, intervencijos tikslas, pokyčio kliento gyvenime traktavimas. Įvertinus egzistencinio modelio integravimo su kitais dviem modeliais galimybes, išaiškėjo, kad integravęs į savo teorinę bei praktinę konstrukciją sistemų teorijos probleminės situacijos įvykių analizės ir bihevioristinio modelio intervencijos metodus bei technikas, egzistencinis modelis tik laimėtų, praturtintų ir praplėstų savo teorinę ir praktinę dalis. Buvo nustatyti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Existential model of social work is important, weighty and significant for contemporary social work. Though some theorists point out that in spite of the relevance of the existential model it is not developed well and not fit to social work practice. Therefore it is necessary to search and analyse the advantages of the model and potentiality of integration with another models of social work as well as to identify the weaknesses. The aim of the research is to evaluate the perspective of the existential model in the context of contemporary models of social work. The method of the research is qualitative comparative content analysis. The existential model is to be compared with behavioural and system theory models according to the given categories. The results of the research show that the most obvious different between observed models is the philosophical background of the existential model. This background set even inconsistency in definition of such categories as conception of human, description of client, main aim of intervention and interpretation of changes in client’s situation. When a possibility of integration of existential and other two models was evaluated, it came clear, that existential model can benefit much for its theoretical frame and practice of including of the system theory’s point of analysis of problems as well as some behavioural intervention methods and techniques. There were find following advantages of the existential model: 1) explanation of... [to full text]

The death of one�s parents, irrespective of the age at which it occurs, is generally regarded as a life experience of considerable significance. The last few years of an elderly person�s life are often characterized by increasing frailty, declining health and loss of independence. Responsibility for the spiritual and physical care of parents during that period is undertaken by many adult children. Current research in this area is generally informed by the requirements of social policy, which, by identifying and addressing the inherent difficulties in this so-called informal caring, is designed to support carers in the community. The research reported in this thesis represents a departure from this mode of inquiry and seeks, rather, to explore the existential aspects of caring in this particular situation, from the carer�s perspective. To achieve this objective, an existential phenomenological approach informed principally by the philosophies of Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, and the adaptation of these philosophies by Schutz, Giorgi and van Manen to social science research, was developed to suit the particular requirements of the topic. In addition to the author�s autobiographic material, primary sources include conversations with five people who had been principal carers for their parents during their final illnesses. In all cases caring had ended with the parent�s death at least one year before the conversations took place. The principal secondary sources are Simone de Beauvoir�s memoir, A Very Easy Death, and Philip Roth�s account of his father�s illness and death, Patrimony: A True Story. In addition, the argument is supported throughout by reference to other literary works. From these sources a number of major existential themes, including temporality, hope, suffering, and knowing the body, have been explored in depth, in conjunction with relevant existential theories. Synthesis of these topics suggests that in this particular circumstance, for the people involved in the study, the phenomenon of caring can be understood as an unconditional engagement with the life and concerns of their parent at the end of life, and can be interpreted within an existential framework as representing an authentic way of Being.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Technology, Sydney, 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Philosophy, December 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Submitted, together with the author's Freud, Reich och den förtryckta sexualiteten, as thesis, Göteborgs universitet. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted: En interaktionistisk tolkning av psykoanalysen. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-62).