Research regarding the experience of the psychotherapist in the therapeutic interaction is uncommon in scientific literature and rarer still in the literature of the U.S. When Freud recognized the therapist’s emotional experience in response to the client, he termed it countertransference and identified it as counterproductive to the analytic process. Later it was recognized as containing potentially useful information about the client. Despite a shift in academic concern away from the clinician’s experience, outcome studies have demonstrated the importance of the therapeutic relationship. If the therapist’s experience can help or hinder the relationship and, therefore, the process of therapy, it must continue to be explored. Some researchers have suggested that the field may be disproportionately populated by individuals who had excessive emotional demands placed on them as children (Miller, 1979/1990). Jurkovic (1997) proposed that, along with strengths endowed by this childhood responsibility, parentified therapists may find themselves more vulnerable to a sense of duty that they must help clients. Similarly, these therapists might feel compelled by their empathic concern to go above and beyond. The experience of a therapist in such a situation might be to “feel in too deep with a client” – the phenomenon of concern for this study. Ten practicing, doctoral level psychologists were asked to describe a specific experience in which they felt in too deep with a client. Selection analysis and situational descriptions were reviewed with each participant. Four core themes emerged. They revealed the participants’ experience of feeling in too deep as involving a variety of distressful thoughts and feelings. A specific cluster of feeling insecure, confused, or not in control was universal. The other three core themes were challenge in connection, altering personal style of therapy, and balancing the wants and needs of the different people in the therapy relationship. The unique experiences of participants relative to the core themes are discussed. Recent research on therapist-identified difficult situations provides a context for understanding these themes. Feeling in too deep is considered as a response to an ethical challenge.

This research examines and describes the ways psychotherapists address ethical dilemmas through a hermeneutic analysis of how they responded to a portrayal of a therapy session represented in a television series. Interview transcripts were analyzed and assessed for both how therapists navigate difficult ethical terrain, and upon what, thematically, they tend to direct their thought and concern. Moreover, particular consideration is given to the role of imagination in the development of ethical meaning, intention, and understanding in the clinical context, which intersects with a critique of the American Psychological Association's ethics code and its underlying philosophical assumptions. Such theoretical underpinnings suggest a view of therapists as rational agents capable of applying ethical rules and codes to resolve dilemmas in a logical, formulaic manner, a view which is questioned for its failure to account for the empathetic, vitalizing, and hermeneutic value of imaginative thought, rehearsal, and reflection in practice. Finally, implications for therapy, pedagogy, and interpersonal understanding are explored. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Clinical Psychology / PhD; / Dissertation;

Although there are both common and specialised senses of the term variation, (the OED lists dozens) there seems to be no well defined use of this term in philosophy. The main task of my thesis is to demonstrate that variation can be defined as a cognitive technique. I suggest that variation has been frequently used by philosophers, although not always in an overt manner. Moreover, I attempt to show that it is reasonable to talk about the relative importance of variation by examining the role of variation in Locke's Essay, Husserl's and Reinach's phenomenology, cognitive science, and thought experiments.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty thinks that many classical theories of perception, especially reductionism, are influenced by the objective and the scientific form of thinking. Such influence is expressed in two preconceptions. The first preconception is that perception is reduced to units such as “impressions”. The meaning of these units is considered to be a representation of the world. The second preconception is that such perceptual meaning is caused by the world and the living being is passive in its relation to such constitution of meaning. In my view, the results of Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of these two preconceptions constitute his two main concepts: the phenomenal body and the perceptual meaning determined by the structural relation with the world. Despite the fact that some traces of these preconceptions can be found in the introduction of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception, there is no straight argument that shows how he approached these two results from the rejection of these two preconceptions. My thesis is to present Merleau-Ponty’s view on the phenomenal body based on his criticism of the two preconceptions described above. In my view, Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of these preconceptions can be traced through his argument against Gestalt psychology, associationism, and behavioral associationism.

This thesis is a hermeneutic phenomenological investigation of the phenomenon of addiction, particularly alcohol addiction. My thesis draws heavily from the phenomenological school of hermeneutic phenomenology, in particular Max Van Manen’s (2006) text, Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy as a frame of reference for my inquiry into and analysis of the lived experience of addiction and recovery. The Van Manen text is used as a research handbook, guiding my approach, my analysis, and the project more generally. My thesis found that, using the existential of lived time, temporality, in recovery the present is essentially different than the past, and that recovering addicts necessarily rethink and reorient themselves to the past to heal.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the role of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic charitable organization, in the lives of those involved in it. Data collection methods consisted of semi-structured interviews and a limited amount of participant observation. A reflexive journal was also kept to help challenge and reflect on the assumptions I had as a researcher throughout the study. Three major themes emerged from data analysis: (1) experiencing complex interactions within Good Shepherd, (2) fostering a culture of support, and (3) acknowledging that everyone has a different life story. The first theme described participants’ experiences in terms of associating with other individuals involved with the organization. The second theme demonstrates the different types of support that are felt by all associated with the Good Shepherd. The third theme illustrates how those involved in the Good Shepherd learn to appreciate each individual and to value everyone’s life story. As a result of this phenomenological study, I challenged my original assumptions of those facing homelessness and developed a new understanding based on my experiences with all participants at the organization. Specifically, my beliefs changed in three ways. I learned that the problem of homelessness is a complicated phenomenon that involves more than the lack of a house, but a complex array of factors. I learned that those facing homelessness still value their dignity and constantly fight to maintain their sense of self-worth. And finally, I learned that those who are facing homelessness have not given up on life. Four recommendations for future research emerged from this study: (1) studies comparing the perspectives of staff and clients associated with charitable organizations should be examined in order to identify the discrepancies between the two, (2) the benefits of leisure stress coping should continue to be tested to see its effects on those who are faced with homelessness, (3) studies comparing the differences between leisure usage and leisure opportunities for those facing homelessness should be addressed, and finally, (4) the specific benefits of having a sense of belonging to a community for those who are homeless should be identified.

Self-compassion has recently been introduced to Western psychology literature and is defined as a kind, understanding, and nonjudgmental toward oneself (Neff, 2003a). While self-compassion has been conceptualized as a construct that is important to ones overall sense of self, it might also be relevant to more specific self-attitudes, including ones attitude toward the body. Body-related attitudes have received much attention from sport and exercise psychology researchers in kinesiology and it was anticipated that body self-compassion would be relevant to women who exercise, as women often exercise for body-related reasons. The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of body self-compassion for young adult women who exercise and have experienced a change in their attitude toward their body over time; and to discover the essential structure of the womens experiences. <p>Five women between the ages of 23 and 28 years participated in this study. The women identified themselves as Caucasian and middle-class, were university students, and indicated that they exercised at least four times a week. Each woman participated in an individual interview in which she was asked to describe two instances where she experienced body self-compassion. The womens interviews were analyzed using an empirical phenomenology method (Giorgi, 1985; Giorgi & Giorgi, 2003) to identify the components of the womens stories that were essential to their experience of body self-compassion. A follow-up focus group discussion provided the women with the opportunity to offer feedback on the essential structures. Four essential structures emerged from these interviews: appreciating ones unique body, taking ownership of ones body, engaging in less social comparison, and body self-compassion as a dynamic process. A facilitating structure, the importance of others, also emerged. The findings of this study are generally consistent with Neffs (2003a) conceptualization of self-compassion as they reflect Neffs overall description of self-compassion without merely replicating the three components of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. <p>The findings of this study provide support for the exploration of more specific domains of self-compassion, such as the body. This study also makes a significant contribution to the body image literature, which has been criticized for being pathology-oriented and for focusing mainly on appearance-related attitudes (Blood, 2005; Grogan, 2006). This study explored a positive body attitude and highlighted the womens attitudes toward their physical capabilities in addition to their appearance. Further research is needed to develop the body self-compassion construct by exploring the generalizability of the essential structures that emerged in this study to broader populations.

This descriptive phenomenology had two purposes: first, to explore the experience of making decisions for women with advanced cancer; and second, to explore the experience for significant others and health care team members as women made their decisions. A plethora of research exists on making decisions during the cancer experience, including research regarding: 1) decision-making styles; 2) factors or determinants which play a role in decision making; 3) information: needs, seeking behaviours, and utilization; and 4) decision support technologies. However, a gap exists in the literature regarding the experience of making decisions. Conversational interviews were conducted with five women and three relevant others for each woman: her primary nurse, her oncologist, and one significant other. Women were also provided with the opportunity to journal in a diary or email their memories of decisions and the surrounding experience. Van Manens (1990) phenomenology guided the analysis of data. For the women, analysis centered on the four existentials of lived time, lived other, lived space, and lived body, revealing four themes of the lived experience of making decisions: 1) control, 2) influence, 3) normalcy, and 4) vulnerability. Phenomenological analysis on data from the significant others revealed three themes: 1) what used to be, 2) power shift, and 3) life on hold. Themes for the health care teams experience as women made decisions were: 1) emotional detachment, 2) discomfort, and 3) acquiescing. Understanding the perspectives from these lived experiences will assist the health care team to support women, and their significant others, through the experience of making decisions.

This is a phenomenological study of the experiences of three teacher leaders in the context of high school reform. It examines the essence of teacher leadership and how these teacher leaders made sense of their experiences. At the outset is a portrayal of my position and connection to the phenomenon of teacher leadership. This study reviews literature within three distinct areas. First, the nature of school reform is examined, including the rationale for reform, the challenges associated with reform, how to achieve sustainable reform, and a review of six drivers for effective reforms. Then, an investigation of distributed leadership follows which includes a discussion of the processes and forms of distributed leadership and a description of the facilitators and tensions for distributed leadership. The third area of the review is focused on teacher leadership including the roles and characteristics of teacher leaders, their connection to staff development, issues of effectiveness, and tensions for teacher leaders. Following this review, the research design and methodology is presented. Transcendental phenomenology including the concepts of phenomenological reduction and imaginative variation are explored in detail. Protocol writing was utilized to select participants for this study. From collected writings by formal teacher leaders, participants suited for phenomenological research were selected. Three teacher leaders participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The interviews were transcribed by the researcher. Participants shared their experiences as teacher leaders. Additional questions were asked to elicit more details about their experiences and to find out how participants made sense of their experiences. In the experiences of the participants, five themes emerged: Grappling with teacher leadership identity, facing the uncertainties of sustaining the reform initiative, negotiating the tensions between management and leadership, experiencing challenges of leading, and feeling the empowerment of success. Participants made sense of their experiences in these four ways: learning, communicating, doing, and reflecting. Several forces that impact the experience of teacher leadership and facilitate the formation of teacher leadership identity emerged. Through the process of making sense of their experiences, teacher leaders came to understand theory, which they termed getting it, and then enacted their learning. The ways in which teacher leaders made sense of their experiences were influenced in part by their leadership persona and in part by the culture and context within which they lived. Among the implications for theory from this study is that more needs to be learned about the leadership identity of teacher leaders leading reforms. Implications for practice include the provision of time for teacher leaders to reflect on and discuss their experiences, as well as the provision of professional development focused on change praxis and leadership praxis for teacher leaders and instructional leadership for in-school administrators. Among the implications for research are the need to investigate teacher leaders association with administration, both in their aspirations and in how they are perceived towards administration, the cognitive changes that occur for teacher leaders, whether a context of instructional leadership eases tensions in teacher leadership, and whether formal teacher leader roles are an effective way for school divisions to plan for leadership succession. In addition, the phenomenological research method is reflected upon.

It is the moment for another extraordinary improvement of photography technology. With the great development of digital technology, some characteristics which are the main reason why photography is photography confront challenges. I question this situation and try to trace back the ¡§genie¡¨ of photography. Therefore, this thesis start the discussion of core elements of photography in phenomenology way, and try to realize the most important characteristics that make photography to be photography from these basic elements. Then the discussions expand out to several phenomenon between people and photo apparatus, including contradictions inside the apparatus and different situations of photographers and models. These topics last from the age of traditional photography to digital photography. At last, this thesis try to analyzes the appearance of digital world, and combine these analyses with the photography characteristics which are just discussed above, makes several classification for the works of digital photography. Above all, this thesis realizes that the most important influence of digitalization to photography is ¡§after¡¨ it. That is, most of the changes is happening in the phase of post-production but the process of photoing. Digitalization increase the way of photography, however, it¡¦s not mean that traditional photography is fading away. In addition, photos can be exist in ¡§pixel¡¨ way by digitalization technology. It also riches the usage and quantity of photo images. In this situation, it seems that these two different symbol systems, images and words, are about to meet each other in digital age.