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<p>The main purpose of this study was to assess the psychological well-being of mothers and their pre-adolescent children (aged 10-12). Specifically, the study used a mixed methods sequential explanatory design to compare and understand the interaction between 245 single and married mother-pre adolescent relationships with regard to self esteem, autonomously-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting practices. And their familial enviironment within low and high socio-economic settings. A qualitative component was used to explore mothers' understanding of their relationships with their pre adolescent children. The Coppersmith- Self-steem Inventory and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were used to assess the psychological well-being of mothers and children, the Perceptions of Parents Scale for autonomously-supportive maternal parenting practices, Parent Psychological Control for psychologically controlling parenting practices and the environment Scale for family functioning. The findings provide an understanding of how healthy families function within enhancing and hindering environments and empasises the importance of parenting.</p>

Thesis advisor: Bernard O'Brien / This study investigated factors which influenced the stability of long-term relationships among twelve lesbian couples who had been together for at least fifteen years and reared children. A retrospective, semi-structured interview was used and each participant was interviewed separately. Themes related to relationship stability were identified prior to the interview and operationalized through the interview questions. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 1996. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental Psychology, and Research Methods.

The purpose of this research was to explore counsellors' experiences of hope in the counselling relationship in a number of counselling contexts, early in the twenty-first century in the United Kingdom. This research takes place against the background of considerable changes in mental health policy affecting counselling in both England and Wales. The wider political, social-cultural and economic context was marked by recession and uncertainty. A lack of research into counsellors' experiences of hope in the UK context was identified. A phenomenological perspective was taken as appropriate for exploring human experience with a social constructionist approach to the creation of knowledge complementing realist ontology with a pragmatic under pinning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with seven participants chosen using purposive and convenience sampling in both England and Wales from within professional networks and a variety of counselling settings. The transcribed data was analysed using Thematic Analysis and identified themes evidenced with quotations from the data. The main findings were in the context of hope identified as a common human experience. Participants' found difficulty in accessing their experiences of hope and it was found to be an intermittent and liminal experience varying in intensity and part of a meaning making process. Characteristics of this liminality were found to be placing participants at the limit of what they knew, living with uncertainty and waiting for new knowledge to emerge. This created vulnerability for some participants. Hope was also found to be an embodied relational experience within counsellors which they also saw in their clients. Implications of the findings suggested that counsellors could more actively cultivate awareness of their own hope as a resource for clients within an understanding of counselling as a social and liminal process. It is recommended that professional training and Continuing Professional Development workshops provide opportunities for exploring hope in the context of liminality. Future research opportunities include encouraging counsellors to use case study method to explore their own experiences of hope in counselling relationships and that of clients. These findings are presented as specific to this context and not as general truths.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2007. / Title from file title page. James Boles, committee chair; Barry Babin, Danny Bellenger, Naveen Donthu, committee members. Electronic text (163 p. : ill.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Dec. 14, 2007. Includes bibliographical references.