M.A. / Existentialism and phenomenology as philosophical systems combined to form a branch of psychology called the existential-phenomenological psychology. The philosophical section of this study demonstrates that contribution. Ludwig Binswanger, a Swiss psychiatrist, was one of the major proponents of this paradigm. He applied the concept of “existential analysis” to psychotherapy, in reaction to psychoanalysis. His objective was to integrate philosophy, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry. The existential-phenomenological approach to therapy was introduced to the American audience by Rollo May, one of the intellectual leaders of the “Third Force” Movement. Rollo May’s existential approach contributed to the existential-humanistic thought of the “Third Force.” The “Third Force” Movement was launched in 1964 at the Old Saybrook Conference in Connecticut, United States of America. It started as a social movement in protest against the dominance of behaviourism and orthodox psychoanalysis. An eclectic group of thinkers attended the conference. Some of whom were Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, Carl Rogers, George Kelly, Clark Moustakas, Gordon Allport, Charlotte Buhler, James Bugental, and others (Elkins, 2000). The “Third Force” Movement emerged at this conference. Because humanistic principles (whose philosophical origins are discussed in 2.4 below) were adopted as guiding philosophy of the movement, the name “Humanistic Movement” is often used. The two names are used alternatively in this study. If depth psychology is the “First Force”, and behaviourism the “Second Force”, then humanistic psychology is the “Third Force” (Brennan, 1998a, 1998b). The term “movement” is used throughout the study to denote the diversity of epistemologies within the “Third Force”, namely, existential, phenomenological, transpersonal, and the Gestalt thought. However, this study focuses on the theoretical contributions by the intellectual leadership of the movement (Rollo May, Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers) with the exclusion of Gestalt therapies. Thus, Rollo May represents the existential-phenomenological approach, Maslow the humanistic-transpersonal, and Rogers the humanistic-phenomenological (though transpersonal to some degree: Section 4.3.2.2 illustrates this notion). Textbooks and journal articles indicate that the history of the “Third Force” Movement is rather complex and inconsistent in terms of reporting. This study reflects on the main events that led to the emergence of the movement and subsequently the current status within mainstream psychology. The “Third Force” moved psychology beyond the confines of the laboratory and the clinic into politics (egalitarian governance), education, and environmental issues. This study discusses existentialism, phenomenology, and humanism as contributing philosophies, the emergence of existential-phenomenology as a paradigm in psychology, and the history and contributions of the “Third Force” Movement. The existential and the phenomenological epistemologies are inherent within the “Third Force”, hence the link (in this study) between existential-phenomenology and “Third Force” humanism. There are therapies that benefited from the existential-humanistic thought. These include the following: Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), the ecosystemic approach, career counselling, and psychoanalysis (self-psychology). The emergence of postmodernism and cyber technology placed new challenges on the “Third Force.” Consequently, this study reviews the status and vision of the movement in the New Millennium.

In this descriptive phenomenological inquiry, I explored the experiences and meanings of five adult research participants who were raised in and later departed from evangelical fundamentalism in some measure. Life Review, a structured guided autobiographical group-based adult learning model designed to assist people in organizing life events, was utilized to explore the research participants' experiences and meanings of being raised in a religious fundamentalist orientation. As a result of participating in Life Review, the research participants generated thirty descriptive written narratives that served as the primary source of data for this inquiry. For the purpose of this inquiry, the research participants attended eight Life Review sessions. Sessions one and eight focused on group formation and closure, respectively. Sessions two through seven focused on assigned topics. In this regard, the research participants prepared six two-page single spaced narratives via a word processor describing their experiences and meanings specific to: 1) choosing to participate in this study, 2) major branching points in life, 3) family of origin, 4) parenting practices, 5) the effects of being raised in evangelical fundamentalism, and 6) the meaning of life. During Life Review sessions two through seven, the research participants read their respective narratives aloud to the other participants. A time limited reflective group discussion followed the reading of each narrative. A phenomenological data analysis model was applied to the research participant's narratives. The analysis of the data culminated in the emergence of themes that revealed the essence of the lived experience and meanings of being raised in and later departing from evangelical fundamentalism. The themes included the experience and meaning of: 1) unresolved pain, 2) unfulfilled longing, 3) coping strategies, 4) identity formation, 5) God and church, 6) being a Parent, 7) crippling fear, 8) engaging culture, 9) departing, and 10) finding home. These emergent themes described the essence of the research participants' life worlds specific to having been raised in and later departing from evangelical fundamentalism. The significance of the emergent findings and their relevance to evangelical fundamentalism, the psychology of religion, counseling psychology, and continued research were addressed, as were the limitations of the study. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

In a famous passage in Ideas I, Husserl claims that the pure consciousness is to be understood as independent of anything apart from itself in order to constitute itself, and that it therefore is able exist without a world at all. This notion seems to be contradicted in many of Husserl’s other works as well as stand in conflict with the core of phenomenology itself as a descriptive science of intentional consciousness. Three years before the publication of Ideas I, Husserl held a series of lectures that were later published with the title The Basic Problems of Phenomenology. Here, in stark contrast to Ideas I, the inquiry culminates in stepping beyond the subject as self-given and immanent by instead focusing on intersbjectivity and phenomenological time-consciousness. This essay sets out to examine the relation between the transcendental subject in these two works. It is argued that, while the phenomenological epoché indeed establishes a subject that is prior to the world in the sense that it does not need to suppose the world to guarantee its own existence, Husserl’s philosophical project in The Basic Problems of Phenomenology shows the importance of going beyond such an immanent subject to uncover the full phenomenological field.

archives@tulane.edu / 1 / Kelly Bond-Osorio

Parents in dual earner families with school-aged children report significant time constraints. Occupational balance refers to the distribution of time in various occupations in accordance with one’s values and it has been related to well-being. While occupational balance has been studied from an individual perspective, no study to date has taken a family perspective. This research explores the lived experience and meaning of occupational balance for dual earner parents and school-aged children. Multiple perspectives were obtained to capture family occupational balance as well as individual occupational balance. This research contributes to a greater appreciation of the complex phenomenon of occupational balance. Furthermore, it adds to the ongoing conversation in occupational science on the relational aspects of occupation. For this interpretive phenomenological research, semi-structured interviews were used with parents and photo-elicitation interviews with children. Four families were recruited, for a total of 18 participants. Additional methods of data collection included individual daily schedules and a family occupational map. Lived existentials and the dimensions of occupation were used as analytical frameworks to understand the phenomenon of occupational balance. Findings reveal that family occupational balance is experienced through the theme of togetherness and enacted in two occupations: the family dinner and family leisure. For adults and older siblings, individual occupational balance is experienced through refocusing on self as illustrated in intentional activities; while playing, feeling good and having fun was central to the experience of individual occupational balance in younger siblings. A reflection on these findings is provided through 3 essences of the experience of occupational balance in families: intention, restoration, and equity. Implications for occupational therapy and occupational science highlight the dynamic and relational aspects of occupational balance in families. Unique contributions include the 3 essences which are more evocative, discernable, and therefore more applicable to research and practice than the taken for granted phenomenon of occupational balance.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of adolescent fathers in a suburban environment in Northern Virginia. Specifically, phenomenological methods were used to capture the essence of these nine adolescent fathers\' experiences surrounding their conceptualization and enactment of fatherhood. Participants included 5 Hispanic (56%), 2 African-American (22%), 1 Caucasian (11%), and 1 Asian (11%). They ranged in age from 16 to 19 years of age with an average age of 18. Their perspective adds to the current literature and assists counselors and policy makers in gaining a greater understanding of the needs and perceptions of this marginalized group. A transformative process best described the lived experience of these adolescent fathers. Fatherhood was described as a life-changing event, as they traversed a range of negative behaviors to become actively involved fathers. An eco- constructivist model provided an appropriate framework to better understand the subjective meanings the adolescent fathers attached to their lived experiences throughout the transformative process. While the results cannot be generalized, the narratives of these participants provide insight into this marginalized population. These participants define fatherhood in traditional terms (i.e., father as primary provider) and expressed enthusiasm about being actively involved in their children\'s daily lives. Further, the majority expressed a renewed focus on educational attainment to provide a better future for themselves and their children. Although participants received assistance from their families, support was lacking from the educational system. This lack of support provides an avenue for communities, schools, and counselors to become advocates for adolescent fathers. School counselors are encouraged to reach out to community agencies, clinical mental heath counselors, and community college counselors as avenues for more complete services for adolescent fathers. There is a need for further research relating to the needs of adolescent fathers. Longitudinal research with these participants is necessary to ascertain how they enacted their conceptualization of fatherhood and the barriers they encountered. / Ph. D.

archives@tulane.edu / I have composed my dissertation out of three distinct but related essays with each working, as the title of the work would indicate, to return philosophy to life. The first two essays seek this by challenging and offering alternatives to philosophical theories that would keep philosophers from fully engaging with life in its fundamental teleological being. The third essay works from the philosophical idea of Eros to bring about this engagement. In the first essay “A Science of Consciousness – Physicalism or Phenomenology?” I enter what I describe as a dialectic in philosophy in its seeking the realization of the scientific ideal within its practice. As I observe in the essay, two opposing schools of thought within philosophy claim the mantle of this ideal, physicalist theory and phenomenology. I examine both in terms of two fundamental criteria of science – basic logicality and empirical substantiation. Upon these criteria, I argue that phenomenology with its basis in life itself, deserves the mantle and so a new respect within the philosophical community going forward. In the second essay, “An Epistemology of Life,” I engage critically with Immanuel Kant’s epistemology as found in Critique of The Power of Judgment and in Critique of Pure Reason. In particular, I challenge Kant’s claim in Judgment that the constitution of our cognitive faculties precludes an intuition of life’s teleological being, the necessary basis, Kant argues, for our making determinant judgments about life. To make my case, I offer evidence to the contrary from the world of life itself. I then examine Kant’s understandings of the noumenal, the transcendental aesthetic and of our epistemic intuition of causal being and bring forward alternatives. In the final essay “At Any Time the Heart Awakes!” I undertake a philosophical engagement with life through a children’s song and introductory philosophical essay for instructors. I have written these in the hope of bringing a first awakening within children of the philosophical ideal of love spoken to in Plato’s Symposium. In addition to Plato, I reference Aristotle, Kant, Kierkegaard and The Buddha as sources for the song’s content and methodology. / 0 / Keith J. Silverman

Submitted in part fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2009. / This study documents the journey of five addicted individuals who practice energy-based healing interventions over a period of four months, and provides an in-depth understanding of the embodied meaning of addictive and non-addictive being-in-the-world. The design of the study is qualitative and proceeds from an existential- phenomenological perspective whereby the data is collected through unstructured pre and post intervention interviews. Addiction is reformulated in terms of the flow of energy within and without the subtle energy system of the human body, and viewed largely from the chakra system of traditional Indian healing. The addicted person is thus perceived as a resonating node of the universe through which energy exchanges freely and fluidly or constrictedly and addictively.

Thesis advisor: Chris Lee / Empathy is a vital element in the formation of meaningful and trusting relationships between nurses and patients. Studies indicate that empathetic providers promote both increased patient satisfaction and better health outcomes for patients. Given the significance of empathy, what stood out is the gap in knowledge regarding the meaning of empathy from the perspective of senior baccalaureate nursing students just prior to entering the health care context as registered nurses. The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of empathy, in the context of clinical nursing practice from the perspective of senior baccalaureate nursing students. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used in the research analysis. The key research questions were: What is the meaning of empathy in the context of clinical nursing practice among senior baccalaureate students? How does clinical nursing practice shape and nurture empathy for senior baccalaureate nursing students? The researcher anticipates this study to be the first, which delineates the meaning of empathy in the context of clinical nursing practice among senior baccalaureate nursing students. Three essential themes surfaced during analysis, discovering every patient is a human person, empathy helps patients feel visible, heard and understood, and empathy breaks through bias towards patients. The results also suggest that clinical nursing practice among undergraduate nursing students shapes and nurtures empathy. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

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