The aim of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the potential of making meaning in illness to contribute to emotional healing. The present medical model with its focus on "cure" restricts patients' access to their own healing abilities. A more healing approach recognizes the contribution of patients' inner strength to the healing process as well as incorporating conventional medical treatment. The study approach is henneneutic in that it examines the meaning that participants made of their illness experience, autobiographical in that it draws on my own life, and phenomenological in that it focuses on lived experience. This research study shows nurses how patients can be supported as they develop internal strength and make personal meaning in their life through the struggle of dealing with illness.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Clark University, 1910. / Bibliography: p. 469-483.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1995. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-363).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universiteit Utrecht, 1995.

Thesis (M.A.)--Liberty University Graduate School of Religion, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universiteit Utrecht, 1995.

M.A. / Prisons in the South African context are considered to be places of correction for deviant individuals. The perception of the functioning of a correctional space is the correction of a particular type of functioning and the construction of another. One of the underlying assumptions of a penal system is the notion of a subject who is able to undergo a process of normalisation. This dissertation is directed towards the exploration of a different type of space that has been created within the correctional system at the Diepkloof Prison. It will be suggested herein that creative workshops, run within the prison by an outside facilitator, have succeeded in subverting the normalising discourse of the penal system, and have helped to facilitate a different type of healing experience within the confines of the institutional space. In order to place the discussion of the workshopping process within a sound theoretical framework, various theoretical questions regarding the shift from modernist to postmodern psychology are explored in some depth. It will be argued that the ideas emerging from social constructionist and narrative psychology, deconstructionist notions of language and subjectivity, as well as post-structuralist ideas on disciplinary power, offer a theoretical framework from within which to understand the healing process that occurs in the workshops themselves.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Psychology

This study explores the facilitation of healing for First Nations people living in the province of British Columbia. The purpose of the study is to develop a reasonably comprehensive scheme of categories that will describe, from the perspective of First Nations people, what facilitates healing. The research method involved interviews with 50 adult First Nations volunteers who were long-term residents of British Columbia and also in a position to observe what facilitated their own healing for them . The Critical Incident Technique (Flanagan, 1954) was utilized to elicit 437 incidents from 50 participants. Fourteen categories emerged from an analysis of the incidents reported. Several procedures were used to examine the soundness and trustworthiness of the categories. The results indicate that healing can be facilitated in the following ways: participation in ceremony, expression of emotion, learning from a role model, establishing a connection with nature, exercise, involvement in challenging activities, establishing a social connection, gaining an understanding of the problem, establishing spiritual connection, obtaining help/support from others, self care, setting goals, anchoring self in tradition, and in helping others. A preliminary examination of the healing outcomes of these facilitating events suggests that an effective healing program for First Nations people would invoke empowerment, cleansing, balance, discipline, and belonging. Narrative accounts were analyzed for the purpose of revealing an organization for the categories. Four divisions of categories emerged as a result of this analysis: separating from an unhealthy life, obtaining social support and resources, experiencing a healthy life and living a healthy life. Further analysis of the narratives revealed five overall themes which serve to enhance the categories and outcomes presented in this research. Those themes entail: A broad spectrum of healing resources are available to First Nations people, First Nations people have a different way of seeing the world which has to be understood before effective counselling services can be provided, First Nations people expect that whatever is healing should help them to attain and/or maintain balance, self transcendence followed by connectedness is a common route to healing for First Nations people, and First Nations people are seen to act as agents of their own healing. The findings of this study contribute to the field of counselling psychology by providing a reasonably comprehensive scheme of categories and themes that describe, from the perspective of First Nations people, what facilitates healing. This study suggests promising developments in First Nations healing that have implications for both research and practice.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill., 1998. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-139).