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Couple therapy research demands a shift in focus from quantitative to qualitative studies that explore therapist behaviours such as the role of the therapist due to the significant gap between research and practice, where research is often irrelevant and inaccessible to clinicians, and errors in practice are repeated and perpetuated as a result of lack of insight into therapeutic functions. Research on couple therapies also lacks focus on recent modalities such as Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT), a formative and recent modality of couple therapy in South Africa and internationally that requires empirical research and evaluation. Studies addressing therapist qualities and skills necessary in dealing with diverse populations such as South Africa are also lacking. The subjective experiences and perceptions of eight Imago relationship therapists practicing in a South African context were thus explored and described within a qualitative paradigm to provide an in-depth account of their role. Semi-structured individual interviews were used to explore their role, and responses recorded and analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings highlighted underlying complexities of this role as a result of evident contradiction, irony, and paradox within participants’ experience. Firstly, the core function of establishing safe connection for the couple proved ironically ‘unconnecting’ and theory-driven in nature, which also provides a sense of safety and reduced responsibility for the therapist. The role of the Imago therapist was also indicated to be a part of participants’ identity and life philosophy. The second theme highlighted the inherently paradoxical nature of the role because perceptions of a ‘non-expert’ and ‘background’ role in fact requires active and expert therapeutic functions as they remain acutely connected to the couple’s process. Thirdly, the intuitive nature of this role was reiterated as participants’ experienced both favourable and limiting therapeutic encounters in a positive and congruent way, which has implications for increased therapeutic growth. Finally, although participants’ experience of their role in South Africa highlighted IRT’s underlying theoretical orientation of universal connection, they did not seem aware of this underlying theory as informing practice. This raises questions about implications on their role given the importance of theory in influencing the way the therapist thinks about the client. Findings generally contribute to narrowing the research-practice gap providing insight into the practice of Imago therapy, which may in turn add to richness of theory.

The democratic elections in 1994 marked the formal end of apartheid. During apartheid 'race' was, for the most part, a somewhat rigid construct which, despite many nuances and complexities, typically seemed to frame whiteness as dominant, normative and largely invisible, and blackness as subordinate and marginalised. The transformations brought about in post-apartheid South Africa have heralded many positive reformations, such as macrolevel institutional changes. However, many of apartheid's racialised patterns of privilege and deprivation persist and 'race' continues to influence the identities of South Africans. Furthermore, an inherent tension exists in South Africa's social fabric, where ‘race’ and racism are often juxtaposed against narratives of the Rainbow Nation and colourblindness. This study, which is framed by critical 'race' theory and social constructionism, aims to explore the extent of the fluidity and rigidity of 'race', racialisation and racialised identities in post-apartheid South Africa by exploring the narratives of black and white first year students. This study collected the narratives of seven black and seven white first year South African university students. It was found that South African youth identities can be seen to be functioning in relation to and reaction against both South Africa’s racialised past as well as its present socio-cultural context. It was found that the racialised patterns which characterised apartheid still impact on black and white youth identity in contemporary South Africa. For instance, despite the many disruptions to whiteness post-1994, it was noted as still being a normative and dominant construct to some extent. Similarly, despite attempts to rectify power imbalances in the new South Africa, blackness is still constructed as being somewhat other and inferior. However, many alternative voices emerged which subverted these narratives, suggesting that identity is in a state of flux. Thus, despite the continued influence of apartheid’s racialised patterns of identity, shifts and schisms are appearing in post-apartheid racialised identity, where issues of racialised dominance and power relations are no longer as clear cut as they once were.

<p>Validerat; 20101217 (root)</p>

The overall aim of this thesis is to illuminate meanings of being a co-worker, supervisor and closely connected to a person developing burnout, and to describe perceptions of signs preceding burnout. The thesis comprises four papers and is based on qualitative data. In papers I and II, the data material consisted of interviews with 15 female coworkers of a person developing burnout, in paper III, interviews with 12 supervisors to care providers suffering from burnout, and in paper IV, interviews on two occasions with 5 people closely connected to a person developing burnout. Thematic content analysis (I) and phenomenological-hermeneutic method (II, III, IV) was used to analyse/interpret the interview text. The findings show that the coworkers retrospectively recalled different signs preceding their workmate’s burnout. They describe that their workmate was struggling to manage alone and was showing self-sacrifice. Co-workers also describe that their workmates were struggling to achieve unattainable goals and were becoming distanced and isolated. Finally, the co-workers describe that their workmates were showing signs of falling apart (I). Meanings of being a female co-worker to a person developing burnout are struggling, on the one hand to understand and help the person with symptoms of burnout, and on the other to manage one’s own work. This burdensome situation means that the co-workers are filled with contradictory and frustrating feelings and when the workmate is finally sick-listed, troubled conscience arise in the coworkers (II). Meanings of being a supervisor for care providers suffering from burnout are struggling to help the care provider continue to work, but being responsible for the unit, the supervisors are forced to ensure that the work is carried out. As the situation proceeds, supervisors are trapped in a predicament, unable to help and feeling inadequate. When the care provider is sick-listed, feelings of self-blame arise. When the time comes for rehabilitation the supervisors are once again caught between conflicting demands in a seemingly impossible mission (III). Meanings of being closely connected to a person suffering from burnout are putting one’s life on hold in order to help the person, striving to stand by to the person developing burnout, regardless of one’s own needs. Those closely connected are saving the face of the person developing burnout in order to protect them from stress. As the situation proceeds, those closely connected carry the burden alone in this strained situation and sometimes they are treated with disrespect by the person developing burnout, a situation which reveals their own suffering. Striving to find recuperation engenders troubled conscience. This situation reveals a huge need for support for those closely connected to a person developing burnout (IV). The comprehensive understanding is that meanings of being a co-worker, supervisor and closely connected to a person developing burnout are, on the one hand, a complicated struggle to support the person and on the other to shoulder a heavy burden. They try to do everything they can to help and support the person developing burnout (II-IV), these attempts, however, do not seem to reach through (I-IV). Co-workers describe signs that something is the matter (I), but they (co-workers, supervisors and those closely connected) do not understand what is happening (IIIV). This burdensome situation is full of conflict for those involved, torn between the complicated struggle to support the person developing burnout and to manage this burdensome situation. Faced with their own shortcomings, troubled conscience arises. The comprehensive understanding of the four papers (I-IV) are discussed and reflected on with the help of social support theories and the ideas of the Danish philosopher Lögstrup’s thoughts about the ethical demand.

The aim of this study was to reach an understanding and examine the experiences people with gambling addiction had related to their help-seeking or the absence of it. More precisely we wanted to examine reasons for not seeking help but also explore what motivates people with gambling addiction to seek help. To capture these individual experiences we have used a podcast called “Bettingtorsken” as our empirical material. The podcast contains interviews with people that has experienced the negative consequences of gambling. The method of the study was a thematic content analysis, where codes and patterns in the material led us to develop relevant themes. Five themes were identified that seemed to play an important role to their help-seeking or the absence of it, those were: the importance of the environment, obstacles, motivating factors, mental health and secrets. The result showed that people with gambling addiction is motivated by the willingness to be honest. The results also suggest that the consequences must be really serious before they are motivated in seeking help. Furthermore the results indicate that mental health can be both an obstacle and a motivational factor regarding the willingness of help-seeking. Another important result suggests that most people with gambling addiction thinks that secrets are in their way of help-seeking and that honesty is needed in the help-seeking process. Finally, results also showed that the environment could have both a positive and negative impact on the help-seeking, although the latter was most prominent. One example of a negative aspect is that people with gambling addiction experiences that authorities and the social network are nonchalant about the addiction.

Syftet med föreliggande forskningsprojekt var att undersöka upplevelser av karriärövergångar hos elitidrottande studenter, på högsta nationella nivå, som strävar efter att etablera sig även på internationellt högsta nivå inom sin idrott, samtidigt som de börjar studera vid universitet/högskola och så småningom tillägnar sig en examen. Semistrukturerade intervjuer användes för att kartlägga och undersöka de elitidrottande studenternas upplevelser. De kategorier som identifierades genom tematisk innehållsanalys var upplevda förändringar i övergången, karriärstöd, resurser för att anpassa sig till den nya nivån i idrotten, upplevd tillfredsställelse med situationen, strategier för att anpassa sig till den nya nivån i idrotten, upplevda förändringar under en dubbel karriär (studier och idrott), upplevelsen av att kombinera studier, idrott och ett “vanligt” liv, och strategier för att hantera detsamma. De elitidrottande studenterna lyfte fram kontinuerligt karriärstöd, interpersonligt stöd och betonade behovet av att utveckla coping strategier som stresshantering och time- management. Åtgärder för att underlätta framgångsrika karriärövergångar för elitidrottande studenter diskuteras. / The main purpose of this research project was to examine perceptions of within-career transition, as experienced by student-athletes striving to reach the international level. Interviews were used to examine the perceptions of student-athletes practicing individual sports at the national elite level. Eight categories were identified through thematic content analysis: changes experienced in the transition, career assistance, resources for adjusting to the new level in sport, satisfaction with their current situation, strategies for adjusting to the new level in sport, changes during a dual career, combining studies and everyday life, and strategies for adjusting to a dual career. The student-athletes emphasised prolonged career assistance, interpersonal support, dedication, and commitment, and recognised the need for coping strategies such as stress and time management. Suggestions for promoting successful within-career transitions for student-athletes are discussed.

The engineering design process can underutilize nature-based solutions during infrastructure development. Instances of nature within the built environment are reflections of the human-nature connection, which may alter how designers ideate solutions to a given design task, especially through virtual reality (VR) as an embodied perspective taking platform. Embodied VR helps designers "see" as an end-user sees, inclusive of the natural environment through the uptake of an avatar, such as a bird or fish. Embodied VR emits empathy toward the avatar, e.g., to see as a bird in VR, one tends to feel and think as a bird. Furthermore, embodied VR also impacts altruistic behavior toward the environment, specifically through proenvironmental behaviors. However, limited research discovers the impact of embodied VR on the human-nature connection and if embodied VR has any impact on how designers ideate, specifically surrounding nature-based solutions as a form of a proenvironmental behavior during the design process. This research first presents a formal measurement of embodied VR's impact on the human-nature connection and maps this impact toward design-related proenvironmental behaviors through design ideas, i. e., tracking changes in nature-based design choices. The design study consisted of three groups of engineering undergraduate students which were given a case study and plan review: a VR group embodying a bird (n=35), a self-lens VR group (n=34), and a control group (n=33). The case study was about a federal mandate to minimize combined sewer overflow in a neighborhood within Cincinnati, OH. Following the plan review, VR groups were given a VR walkthrough or flythrough of the case study area of interest as a selected avatar (embodied:bird, self-lens:oneself). Participants were tested for their connectedness to nature and a mock-design charrette was held to measure engineering design ideas. Verbal protocol analysis was followed, instructing participants to think aloud. Design ideation sessions were recorded and manually transcribed. The results of the study indicated that embodiment impacts the human-nature connection based on participants' perceived connection to nature. Only the bird group witnessed an increase in connectedness to nature, whereas the self-lens and control groups did not report any change. This change in connectedness to nature was also confirmed by engineering design ideas. The bird group was more likely to ideate green-thinking designs to solve the stormwater issue and benefit both nature and socioeconomic conditions, whereas the control group mostly discussed gray designs as the catalyst for minimizing combined sewer overflows. The self-lens group also mentioned green design ideas as well as socioeconomic change, but mostly placed the beneficiary of the design toward people rather than nature in the bird group. The mode of analysis for these findings was driven by thematic content analysis, an exploration of design space as a function of semantic distance, and large language models (LLMs) to synthesize design ideas and themes. An LLM's performance lent accuracy to the design ideas in comparison to thematic content analysis, but struggled to cross-compare groups to provide generalizable findings. This research is intended to benefit the engineering design process with a) the benefit of perspective-taking on design ideas based on lenses of embodied VR and b) various methods to supplement thematic content analysis for coding design ideas. / Doctor of Philosophy / The use of nature in the constructed world, such as rain gardens and natural streams for moving stormwater, is underused during the design process. Virtual reality (VR) programs, like embodiment, have the potential to increase the incorporation of nature and nature-based elements during design. Embodiment is the process of taking on the vantage point of another being or avatar, such as a bird, fish, insect, or other being, in order to see and move as the avatar does. Embodied VR increases the likelihood that the VR participant will act favorably to the subject, specifically when the natural environment is involved. For example, embodying another individual cutting down trees in a virtual forest increased the likelihood that individuals would act favorably to the environment, such as through recycling or conserving energy (Ahn and Bailenson, 2012). Ultimately, this research measures the level of connection participants feel with the environment after an embodied VR experience and motions to discover if this change in connection to nature impacts how participants might design a solution to a problem. This design experiment is based on a case study, which all participants were provided alongside supplemental plan documents of the case. The case study used is about stormwater issues and overflows from infrastructure in a neighborhood in Cincinnati, OH, where key decision-makers were mandated by the federal government to minimize the overflows. The bird group (a bird avatar) performed a fly-through in the area of interest in VR, whereas the self-lens group (first-person, embodying oneself) walked through the same area. The control group received no VR intervention. Following the intervention, participants were asked to re-design the neighborhood and orate their recorded solution. Then, participants were required to score a questionnaire measuring their connectedness to nature. The results show that when people experience the space as a bird in virtual reality, they felt more connected to nature and also included more ideas related to nature in their design. More specifically, ideas involving green infrastructure (using nature-based elements, e.g., rain gardens and streams) and socioeconomic benefits were brought up by the bird group. This research presents embodiment as a tool that can change how engineers design. As stormwater policy has called for more use of green infrastructure (notably, through the Environmental Protection Agency), embodiment may be used during the design process to meet this call from governmental programs. Furthermore, this research impacts how embodiment's effects on design can be interpreted, specifically through quantitative methods through natural language processing and the use of large language models to analyze data and report back on design-related findings. This research is intended to benefit the design process with a) using different avatars in embodiment to impact design ideas and b) a comparison of thematic content analysis and large language models in summarizing design ideas and themes.

Grounded in the qualitative tradition, the aim of this study was to explore how principals perceive the processes governing, tensions inherent in and consequences, of the secularisation of public schools in South Africa, against the backdrop of the old apartheid system. Principals are key informants who bridge the gap between the political arena and the individuals who are affected at the implementation level and therefore provide a valuable lens through which the process of secularisation can be explored. Eight principals, who had been in this position of leadership for at least eight years, participated in semi-structured interviews, which were then subjected to a thematic content analysis. Principals perceived the process as characterised by a lack of consultation and transparency, with no clear guidelines provided to them and no follow-through from the education ministry. They also perceived tensions in the manner in which principals continued to embrace Christian principles in the management of their schools. Tolerance and respect of different religions were identified as positive outcomes of secularisation but these were perceived to have been offset by the negative consequences of a moral collapse, an ungovernable school and a loss of identity among the students. Through exploring the nature of key socialising agents, in the educational arena, it became evident that the participants often conceptualised themselves as martyrs and perceived parents as morally neglectful. The changing role of the school, as an agent of religious education, was also explored. Overall, all the principals strongly agreed that despite the good intentions of the government in fostering a democratic society, the impact of secularisation had resulted in some unintended effects, including a negative impact on the moral development of the students. In sum they perceived that the negative consequences of secularisation outweighed the promises of the government’s overall secularisation vision.