Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Physical Education, Health, and Sport Studies, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-67).

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the EPIC model as a guide to group counseling. The purposes of this study are to determine (1) whether group counseling using the EPIC model would result in positive gain in counsele's locus of control, (2) whether there would be a differential effect of group counseling using the EPIC model as compared with a traditional group counseling model or a control group. This report concludes that the EPIC model as a guide to group counseling is an effective means of increasing reliance on inner support, emotional stability and objectivity. The EPIC model also produces changes in assessed congruence of the various factors in the actual vs. ideal aspect of inter-intrapersonal functioning. The EPIC model facilitated the growth of internal locus of control.

In this dissertation I argue that in the characters in Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet there is consistently evidenced a psychological orientation towards growth. An introductory Chapter One surveys and a concluding Chapter Six summarizes the dissertation, but the body of the text is four chapters demonstrating the growth-orientation in four characters.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the possibility ofusingJlelational Theory as a basis for the design of a support group programme for divorced single-parent families. This programme aimed at improving their interpersonal relationships and then to form new identities realistically, thus helping them to self-actualise. The categories of involvement, experience and meaningful attribution as well as the stages of awareness, exploration, personalisation and change initiation formed the basis of the programme. The effects of marital disruption on the interpersonal relationships and identities of singleparent families were also examined through a literature review. Pre and posttest interviews were conducted individually with single parents and their children to evaluate the effectiveness of the support group programme. The pretest interviews were administered a month before the implementation of the programme and the posttest interviews done two months after to gauge the longitudinal effect of the programme. The interviews and the progranune included the following aspects : awareness, exploration and evaluation of relationships (including aspects such as parental and spousal conflicts, parent alignment and parent availability, sibling rivalry and parent-child interaction); awareness, exploration and evaluation of identities (including identity conflicts stemming from role strain, role reversals and parent alignment); self-evaluation and selfactualisation. The conclusions from the literature study, the outcome of the support group progranune and the results of the interviews confirmed that marital disruption does adversely affect the interpersonal relationships of single-parent families and their formation of new, realistic identities. Single-parent families attribute unrealistic meaning to relationships and identities causing problematic relationships and identity conflicts. The nature and quality of the relationships also affect the formation of realistic identities resulting in a failure to self-actualise. In conclusion, the support group programme helped the single-parent families to attribute realistic meaning to their relationships and identities, resulting in improved relationships and the formation of realistic identities / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The purpose of this study was to determine if sensitivity training encouraged significantly more members to form mutually therapeutic relationships than did traditional group counseling, and to determine, if the members who formed the largest numbers of mutually therapeutic relationships increased both in self-awareness and self-actualization significantly more through sensitivity training than through the traditional form of group counseling. This study concluded from its findings that the sensitivity group members' relationships were more transitory or short-lived that were the relationships formed by the members of the traditional group. The formation of mutually therapeutic relationships, built on empathy, congruence, and positive regard, appeared to increase self-awareness, and a traditional form of group counseling may be better at achieving this than a sensitivity-training group. The sensitivity-training group appeared to deal best with material in the present, or "here-and-now," while the traditional group was more effective in dealing with intrinsic material outside the group and in the past.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Technology: Fashion at the Durban University of Technology, 2013. / Due to the high levels of unemployment in Durban South Africa, the New Venture Creation (NVC) groups I coached/mentored were seeking to become self-employed, to find social and economic independence. I have observed that many of the people in my NVC groups seemed to lack, self-confidence and self-esteem in the start-up process of their business. These lacunae pose a problem, as they are all necessary if one wants to create a viable, sustainable and profitable business. The reason that I coach these emerging entrepreneurs is to assist in building their self-confidence and self-esteem so that they have the courage to “go for it”. The problem I have sought to address in this research is: How do I influence emerging entrepreneurs to become sufficiently self-confident to be able to design, establish and sustain their own employment and employment for others? I work on the assumption that most people have the capacity to be self-employed. I have used autoethnography with action research to describe the interventions that I initiated, report on their implementation, as well as the evolution of new perceptions and understandings that developed as a result. By using my own and the participants visual data with still images and video with visual narrative I demonstrate the evidence of my living theory and self-study to influence creative economic independence in others and reflect critically on what has been done and achieved, and critically assess the way forward. I verbally explained the ethical issue of obtaining consent to use names and photographs in my study to the participants. My explanation was followed by obtaining written consent from the five key participants and others in the pictorial data. / M

The present study was an attempt to further investigate what factors contributed to whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional. The project, moreover, explored what variables affected marital adjustment levels. The variables whose effects were assessed regarding whether married individuals defined their relationship as traditional or nontraditional included self-actualization and presence or absence of children. The factors examined thought to affect marital adjustment levels were self-actualization, subjective definition of the relationship as traditional or nontraditional, and presence or absence of children.

The purpose of this study was basically twofold: 1) to develop an evaluative instrument to measure interpersonal communicative competence, and 2) to determine its relationship to three other supervisory variables—demographic characteristics, self-actualization, and leader behavior. Hypotheses testing, via the Pearson correlation coefficient, indicated the following relationships between interpersonal communicative competence (as measured by the IICC) and supervisory demographics, self-actualization (as measured by the POI), and leader behavior (as measured by the SBDQ): 1) The age of the supervisor was negatively related to the IICC at the .001 level of statistical significance. 2) Years of formal education was positively related to the IICC at the .001 level. 3) The sex of the supervisor (females scoring higher) was related to the IICC at the .01 level. 4) No significant relationship existed between years of supervisory experience and the IICC. 5) Six scales of the POI (I, Ex, Fr, S, A, C) were related to the IICC at the .001 level of statistical significance, one scale (Sy) at the .01 level and two scales (Tc, Sa) at the .05 level. Three scales (SAV, Sr, Nc) were not significantly related to the IICC. 6) No significant relationship existed between the IICC and the two dimensions of leader behavior—structure and consideration.

This study examines the role of not-knowing, particularly ignorance and irony, in our project of becoming persons. First, I draw upon Jean-Jacques Rousseau to articulate the concept of becoming a person. Considering Emile’s education as well as Sophie’s in Emile, I interpret becoming a person as cultivating the masculine (autonomy) and feminine (relationality), which enable us to live for ourselves and for others in a society. I then argue that ignorance and irony play a key role in our continuous project of becoming persons in childhood and adulthood, respectively. I draw upon Rousseau to discuss ignorance. Ignorance refers to the complete ignorance of things that do not originate from the child’s immediate experience. I focus on Rousseau’s notion that ignorance secures an open mind, which enables a child to begin a relationship with nature, things, and others. I draw upon Jonathan Lear to discuss irony. Irony refers to the loss of one’s routine understanding of her practical identity (social role), which inspires her aspirational understanding of the identity. I focus on Lear’s idea that irony allows an adult to keep an open mind, which enables her to be a subject in a social role, who continues to constitute herself via the role. Thus, I propose a model of becoming a person, in which ignorance and irony play the key role in forming and transforming a person, respectively, by securing an open mind as a person in childhood and adulthood, respectively. Lastly, I explore the application of this model to higher education today. I argue that ignorance and irony can be discussed not only as the two stages of life (childhood and adulthood) but also as the two phases of growth (formation and transformation) which can be concurrent in (young) adulthood. I then propose a pedagogy centered around ignorance and irony, which allows students to learn to become persons in formative and transformative ways. I suggest that this can be a model of moral education in higher education, which not only responds to the current mental health crisis but also revives the tradition of liberal education.