A concept originating from the Ancient Greeks, courage has long held cultural definitions from literature, philosophy, and theology. However, the construct of courage has largely been neglected in the extant psychological literature despite a significant influence on the human condition. The Tri-Part Model of Courage (Geller, 2014) served as a primary guiding framework for the present study, conceptualizing courage as comprised of three subtypes: bravery, boldness, and fortitude. This study sought to contribute to the ongoing development of this model through examination of the experience and expression of courage by experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists so as to render the construct useful in clinical and psychotherapy research contexts. Participants were 16 experienced psychodynamic psychotherapists. In-person semi- structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) methodology. Ten domains emerged from the CQR analysis and revealed courage to be a subjective experience consisting of private theories, as well common definitional elements. Participants spontaneously endorsed the existence and importance of bravery, boldness, and fortitude in their role as psychotherapists, indicating the centrality of courage to their work. Authenticity, vulnerability, and staying present emerged as the most salient expressions of therapist courage. Specific patient presentations and therapeutic processes were identified as situations most requiring of therapist courage. Experience was the principal enabling factor to courage, and fear and avoidance were the principal obstacles to courage, while feelings associated with courageous acts ranged from fear, anxiety, and pain, to positive states of well being. Validation, confrontational techniques, modeling, and skills building were the most preferred clinical interventions to promote courage in patients. Gender analysis revealed that women make meaning of courage as having bases in fear and interpersonal relationships, while men understand courage as a set of abstract principles defined by existential anxiety and bold interventions. Fortitude was highly endorsed across genders, and men were further more oriented to fortitude, while female therapists were more oriented to bravery and boldness. The results are discussed in terms of the empirical support provided for the expansion of the Tri-Part Model of Courage and recommendations for clinical practice and future research.

The Psalter has formed the basis of Judeo-Christian worship since ancient times. It has served, and continues to serve, individuals and communities of faith as a foundation for communal and personal devotion. As a devotional tool it is unique in that it provides prayers which address God directly concerning the whole gamut of life experience. While the Psalms can be examined and analysed as a literary text, they must be used and experienced by people to more fully discover and recognize their power in providing a pathway for expressing life experience. The lament psalms are of particular interest in this regard. There appears to be a reluctance, in some quarters, to employ them as an expression of prayer. As a result, the lament psalms as a way of engaging with experiences of personal distress, and voicing the reflections and responses such experiences produce, have often been ignored. This study suggests that psalms of lament provide a framework for expressing personal distress in the context of prayer. The framework, identified as a matrix of lament, consists of various modes of articulation characterized as expressing, asserting, investing and imagining constellations. The study examines what happens when individuals, who have first been made aware of the matrix of lament and its constellations, use lament psalms for prayer. Praying of lament psalms in this study is embedded in a prescribed process through which participants engage with their experiences of personal distress. As a result of such a process any significant psychodynamic changes which may take place can be observed, examined and explored, thereby, highlighting the efficacy of using lament psalms as a form of prayer. The study achieves this by examining the reflections and responses of selected individuals to see whether the process does in fact facilitate changes in the individual’s levels of distress, sense of personal control over distress and the nature of relationship between the individual and God. The reflections and responses also provide some indication of how the process might ‘birth’ a fresh perspective on personal distress for those who choose to incorporate these psalms into their journey of faith.

Föreliggande empiriska, kvalitativa studies syfte är att undersöka begreppet självbild med utgångspunkt i psykodynamisk och interaktionistisk forskning. Frågeställningarna är Hur används begreppet självbild ur psykodynamisk och interaktionistiskt perspektiv av föräldrar till barn mellan fem och tio år? och Vad kan föräldrars självbild säga om begreppet självbild? De fem halvstrukturerade intervjuerna omfattar frågor om informantens syn på sig själv i samband med föräldraskap och frågor vars syfte är att få informanten att analysera begreppet självbild utifrån sin egen syn på begreppet. Informanter är högskoleutbildade. De är mellan 33 och 48 år gamla. Resultatet visar att informanterna använder begreppet självbild i vardagligt tal. De definierar begreppet som en syntes av deras egen bild av sig själva och andras bild av dem. De menar att deras självbild ständigt förändras och begreppet ingår i deras strävan efter kunskap om sig själv, dvs de använder begreppet i sitt arbete med att få ihop en livsberättelse om vem de är. Resultatet visar också att de även använder begreppet mer fritt analyserande. En bild av föräldraskapet som en mognadsprocess framträder på två sätt, dels av kraven som ställs på dem som förälder och dels av känslorna som väcks i relationen med barnen. Slutsatsen är att när informanterna upplever att de växt och fått insikt i vad det är att vara människa, så innebär detta också att de upplever sin självbild som tydligare. Detta pekar mot att föräldrars självbild säger oss att en tydlig roll med självklar funktion är bra för vår självbild. / The objective of this empirical, qualitative study is to investigate the concept of self-image based on psychodynamic and interactional reserarch. The questions in this study are "How is the concept of self-image used from a psychodynamic and interactional perspective by parents of children between five and ten years old?" and "What can the self-image of parents tell us about the concept of self-image?". The five semi-structured interviews include questions about the informant's view of him/her-self with respect to parenthood and questions designed to get the informant to analyze the concept of self-image based on their own perception of the concept. The informants have college degrees, and they are between 33 and 48 years old. The result shows that the informants use the term self-image in everyday language. They define the concept as a synthesis of their own image of themselves and other people's image of them. They feel that their self-image is constantly changing and the concept is part of their quest for knowledge about themselves, i.e. they use the concept in their effort to formulate a life story explaining who they are. The result shows that they also use the concept in other aspects of their analysis. A view of parenthood being a maturation process from two aspects was found, first from the requirements placed on them as parents and second from the feelings occurring in the relation with their children. The conclusion is that when respondents feel that they have grown and gained insights into what it means to be human, they also perceive their self-image more clearly. This indicates that the self-image of parents tells us that a clear role with well-defined function is good for our self-image, i.e. they use the concept in their effort to formulate a life story explaining who they are [[and to find a reliable core of what they perceive as changing]]. The result shows that they also use the concept in other aspects of their analysis.

Thesis (M.A. (Hons.)) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003. / "Master of Arts (Honours) Art Therapy" Bibliography : leaves 161-168.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-53).

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, IL, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-53).

Thesis (Ph. D. (Psychology))--Rhodes University, 2005. / "A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychotherapy" -T.p.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, Wheaton, IL, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-53).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-198) and index.

Anorexia nervosa är en allvarlig psykologisk sjukdom med hög dödlighet. Studien vill belysa den psykodynamiska terapin som behandlingsmetod vid anorexia nervosa. Frågeställning: Vilka är de verksamma faktorerna i psykodynamisk psykoterapi vid behandling av anorexia nervosa? Semistrukturerade kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer har genomförts med fem kvinnliga psykodynamiskt inriktade psykoterapeuter. Intervjumaterialet har bearbetats och analyserats utifrån tematisk analys (TA). Resultatet visade att det mest verksamma vid behandlingen av anorexia nervosa var att lyckas bryta igenom patientens avvisande förhållningssätt, motstå attacker samt att nå en stark allians. Resultatet visade också att psykoterapeutens syn på patientens symtom och självbild ofta yttrade sig i motöverföringsreaktioner såsom ilska, frustration och känsla av maktlöshet. Tid och kontinuitet uppfattades som viktiga faktorer för det kliniska behandlingsarbetet, liksom att kunna erbjuda psykoterapi efter det att patienten nått viktmål enligt DSM-IV. Undersökningen visade att den psykoterapeutiska relationen i sig anses vara den mest verksamma faktorn vid behandling av anorexia nervosa. Den visade att interaktionen mellan patient och terapeut, den terapeutiska alliansen, uppfattades som den faktor som mest gynnar tillfrisknande för patienter med anorexia nervosa, en sjukdom med ett ofta långdraget förlopp.