Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 W54 / Master of Science / Educational Leadership

The medical model has been criticised for its failure to attend to individuals' experience of illness and the meaning they attribute to illness. HIV / AIDS has challenged its adequacy and brought the question of meaning in illness into sharp focus. This study aimed to understand what it means to live with HIV by exploring the fantasies, images and metaphors that make up the depth of such an experience. Phenomenology was deemed the appropriate approach, as it assigns epistemological significance to metaphor and ontological primacy to the lifeworld. An interview guide was fashioned from existing phenomenological literature and in-depth interviews were conducted with eight HIV -infected individuals. Five protocols were selected to constitute the study. In addition, an audio tape recording of one individual's metaphorical dialogue with HIV was obtained and transcribed. The three protocols with the richest content of imagery and metaphor were subjected to phenomenological explication. The remaining two protocols were used to support and clarify emergent meaning. A phenomenological explication of the data revealed a number of salient metaphors and themes. Upon being diagnosed with HIV, individuals were confronted with a socially and institutionally prescribed understanding of the disease; HIV as synonymous with AIDS and immediate death, HIV as sexual deviance, and HIV as myth. These metaphors influenced their conceptualisation and handling of HIV. Individual embodied metaphors included: embodying a heart of stone to live with HIV and perceiving HIV as a punishment from God, a demon from the Devil, a death sentence and a torture. Affectively, the experience of HIV was constituted as fear of physical disfigurement and exposure, anxiety, vulnerability, anger, betrayal, injustice and isolation. In a process of resolution and transformation, individuals imbibed positive metaphors with which to continue living with HIV. In order to cope with HIV, individuals seemed to negotiate a metaphorical space in which to dwell with their virus. This entailed establishing some form of dialogue with HIV or a Higher Power. This study revealed that metaphorical thinking about HIV /AIDS has a powerful impact on individuals' embodiment of their world. Metaphor is also an effective means Clf conveying and eliciting meaning in the experience of illness. Based upon these findings, it was suggested that metaphor be a prime focus for future research endeavours.

Thesis (M.A.-Psychology)--University of South Africa, 2001.

In this study the role played by metaphor in psychotherapy is investigated. Issues discussed, included the formulation of a definition of metaphor as well as an adequate theory of metaphor. The place metaphor holds in thought and learning; as well as how it has found its expression within some psychotherapeutic traditions are also discussed. The primary aim of the dissertation is to illustrate the versatility of metaphor, enabling it to be a significant and powerful tool in the hand of the psychotherapist. The application of various forms of metaphor is illustrated through case studies which offer a discussion of how the specific type of metaphor had been applied in psychotherapy. In conclusion, some recommendations are made with regard to further research within the fields of psychotherapy and neuropsychology. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This qualitative , critical-interpretivist study critically explored the career metaphors produced by a South African sample, by adapting the theoretical, methodological and analytical framework of a study conducted by El-Sawad (2005) on a British sample. The current study used metaphor analysis to explore the way in which a sample of South African's experience and conceptualise their careers within a context that has undergone (and continues to undergo) rapid social, economic and political change. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

In this study the role played by metaphor in psychotherapy is investigated. Issues discussed, included the formulation of a definition of metaphor as well as an adequate theory of metaphor. The place metaphor holds in thought and learning; as well as how it has found its expression within some psychotherapeutic traditions are also discussed. The primary aim of the dissertation is to illustrate the versatility of metaphor, enabling it to be a significant and powerful tool in the hand of the psychotherapist. The application of various forms of metaphor is illustrated through case studies which offer a discussion of how the specific type of metaphor had been applied in psychotherapy. In conclusion, some recommendations are made with regard to further research within the fields of psychotherapy and neuropsychology. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

In this study an ecosystematic approach to sports coaching is forwarded. This approach is illustrated using the analogy of an ecology of ideas. Ideas informing the life span of a coach within an elite team are explored. The researcher engaged four subjects in conversations the life span of a coach in an elite team. these conversations are viewed as co-constructions of realities. The coach abides within a team for a limited time. he or she enters an existing ecology of ideas, which can contribute to, or detract from, the efficacy of the coach in a team. This ecology of ideas evolves as aold meanings shift and new meanings emerge. These menings are explored in this disertation. An awareness of the ecology of ideas within a team can inform the coach to perturb the ecology of ideas in a direction that is mutually qualified as successful / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical psychology)

In this study an ecosystematic approach to sports coaching is forwarded. This approach is illustrated using the analogy of an ecology of ideas. Ideas informing the life span of a coach within an elite team are explored. The researcher engaged four subjects in conversations the life span of a coach in an elite team. these conversations are viewed as co-constructions of realities. The coach abides within a team for a limited time. he or she enters an existing ecology of ideas, which can contribute to, or detract from, the efficacy of the coach in a team. This ecology of ideas evolves as aold meanings shift and new meanings emerge. These menings are explored in this disertation. An awareness of the ecology of ideas within a team can inform the coach to perturb the ecology of ideas in a direction that is mutually qualified as successful / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical psychology)