Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Utilizing Flow Arts Movement As An Expressive Arts Therapy Tool To Treat Trauma: A Literature Review And Autoethnography, Shannon Mcgrail

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This expressive arts-based autoethnography research explores the effectiveness of using flow arts movement as a tool of expressive arts therapy to treat symptoms of trauma for individuals who experienced a traumatic event in their lifetime. While research on the use of flow arts movement to treat mental illness is in its early stage, much can be drawn from the literature on expressive arts therapy and dance/movement therapy research with a range of populations addressing trauma. Through exploration of trauma through neuroscience, mind, body, and integrated mindfulness through flow, this work aims to bring an understanding of using intermodal expressive arts …

When Descriptor Is Diagnosis: An Autoethnographic Response To The Medical Treatment Of Women With Vulvodynia, Josephine Taylor, Alexandra Ridgway

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Women with chronic vulvar pain experience symptoms that can affect their everyday functioning. These women are often diagnosed with vulvodynia, defined as vulvar pain without a medical explanation lasting at least three months. Yet while vulvodynia is presented by medical authorities as a diagnosis it is, more accurately, a descriptor of the physical condition. As such it does not have the ability to explain what causes this vulvar pain and, consequently, cannot determine an appropriate treatment pathway for all patients. As women with vulvodynia (‘V women’), we use this article to highlight the issues posed by a descriptor camouflaging as …

The Overture! Then Is Here-And-Now: Hindsight Is Twenty, Twenty?, Elena Kydd

Music Therapy Theses

My existence and presence as a Black woman and graduate scholar in music therapy have allowed me to share my experience of racial trauma and oppression in the hallways of GCSU’s music therapy program. Autoethnography is the method I use to write my thesis on the relationships between Blackness, pedagogy, and music therapy. Thus, I perform an evocative autoethnographic study that allows me to share my personal experience of racial trauma and oppression within the culture of music therapy and to critique the larger social structures of whiteness that disenfranchise and dominate me and other Black student music therapists (SMTs). …

Choosing To Thrive: An Autoethnographic Journey Of Cancer, Companionship, And Carrots, Bruce Lilyea

The Qualitative Report

In this autoethnography, I explore the companionship experience of someone supporting a cancer patient who is endeavoring to thrive in the face of this disease. A wide range of studies has been conducted on the emotional and social issues relating to cancer and specifically to breast cancer. Appropriately, most of the research relating to the personal narrative focuses on the stories of the person who has been diagnosed with cancer, and limited research has highlighted the perspective and experiences of their companions. My primary goals for this autoethnographic research are to: (1) Begin to answer the question: What role do …

The Effect Of Virtual Learning As A Result Of Covid-19, Ann Redle Ms., Joel Mcmullen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In the early spring of 2020, the United States began to experience the effects of the question-inspiring, novel COVID-19 viral illness, with the onset of massive business, school, and entertainment closures, initiating a shift towards virtual learning, communication, and professional interactions. This paper is intended to identify the common experiences of two nursing students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing a personal narrative, or autoethnographic approach, coupled with reviews of previously published literature relating to shared themes of the authors, including the rapid changes to an online environment from traditional classroom settings, the stressors that were experienced as a result …

Throwing Pebbles While Waiting: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Mental Health And Colonialism, Kelly Limes Taylor, Rita Sørly, Bengt Karlsson

The Qualitative Report

In this article, three scholars jointly investigate questions of Western colonization and mental health. While their areas of interest and experience vary, the authors discuss oppression as a common thread connecting their ideas about mental health and its medicalization. In line with Toyosaki et al. (2009), the researchers did a community autoethnography, performing written dialogue as a dynamic research method. Using a sequential model, Kelly Limes Taylor wrote about her experience, passed it on to Rita Sørly and Bengt Karlsson. Karlsson added his story to the previous writing, and he passed it on to Sørly for further addition of stories. …

Disability Injustice: A Latino’S Creative Autoethnographic Testimonio On The Organizational Culture Of Higher Education, Leonel A. Diaz Jr.

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

Using creative autoethnographic testimonio (CAT), a story is told about the injustices within the learning environment and work environment of higher education toward a person with disabilities: sleep apnea, learning disabilities, negative mental health. The author explores the health difficulties of addressing sleep deprivation while attending graduate school and working full-time as a professional. With sleep apnea impacting his health, his mental health declines. As his health declines, there is an increase in discrimination, hostility, oppression, bullying, and toxic masculinity. Initially, the medical system dismisses his declining health and refuses to look further into it. Once he receives medical care …

Divine Narcissism: Raising A Secure Middle-Aged Adult, Rachel Sachs Riverwood

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Utilizing an arts-based feminist autoethnographic stance and method, this dissertation is an evocative exploration of the process and experience of attempting to develop a cohesive identity and build a secure attachment to the self. The author uses countercultural methods—prioritizing and centralizing her experience and uncovering and acting in defiance of oppressive norms—to identify and experience their impact on her identity and intra- and inter- personal relationships. Various tensions are explored, including the suppression of self and desire, self-objectification, fearful-avoidant attachment, and shame; and their influence on engaging in emotional and sexual intimacy is examined. Critique on the role of female …

Hello, I’M Fat: Finding Myself In A Hulu Original, Mac Clark

Student Works

My first relationship happened when I was 18. We matched on Tinder and spent the following month doing everything people in relationships do, just without the label. This casual mindset was not my choice, and neither was the constant feeling of disappointment. I yearned to be respected; I knew it wasn’t right for him to sleep through our dates nor return my texts for days at a time. I wanted a real relationship, one where I wouldn’t have to beg for clarity, but as a fat, young woman, I believed this lesser form of relationship was my only option, so …

Creatively Exploring Self: Applying Organic Inquiry, A Transpersonal And Intuitive Methodology, Larisa J. Bardsley Phd

The Qualitative Report

This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the …

An Autoethnography Of A Registered Nurse Living With Chronic Undiagnosed Illness, Frances M. Ricker

Nursing ETDs

Abstract

This autoethnographic study examines a registered nurse’s experience living with chronic undiagnosed illness. The number living with undiagnosed illness is unknown and little is understood about living with chronic undiagnosed illness.

This analytic autoethnography (Anderson, 2006) used multiple data sources: my journal, medical history narrative, and artifacts including my handwork, examples of my father’s handwriting, and family photographs. Narrative analysis, thematic analysis, and visual analysis were conducted.

My experience of living with chronic undiagnosed illness was characterized by three themes that reinforced isolation: not knowing, loss, and hidden secret self. Family context evidenced diverse themes of not being believed, …

Awareness Of The Use Of Self In Therapy: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into The Training Experiences Of A Black, Single, Female Mft Doctoral Student, Phyllis Days

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The "self" of the therapist is an essential factor in the therapeutic process (Baldwin, 2000) and is impacted by intersections of identities and prejudicial treatment, which creates unjust conditions for Black women in society and academia. Nonmembers of the predominant culture can find difficulties in navigating the "self" of the therapist, which reflects personal and social experiences. In academia, the Black woman's identity continues to face problems of exclusion and oppressive related situations, which can complicate the learning process (Ong, Wright, Espinosa, & Orfield, 2011). Several studies have explored the challenges ofAfrican-American students and faculty, in MFT graduate programs, who …

Conflict Between Religious Beliefs And Sexuality: An Autoethnography, Carlos E. Gerena

The Qualitative Report

Despite the shift in attitudes in religious institutions toward homosexuals in the United States, there are some religions that continue to view same-sex behavior as a deviant and damning sin. For many, religious beliefs and values provide meaning and impact personal identity. Using autoethnography, I will explicate my own experiences with religious institutions and the ongoing conflict between religious beliefs and sexuality. I will discuss messages received from the Pentecostal church, family, and Latino community, and how these messages influenced my human development and emotional well-being. I show that internalization of the principles taught by the Pentecostal Church triggered a …

The Color Of Water: An Autoethnographically-Inspired Journey Of My Becoming A Researcher, Trude Klevan, Bengt Karlsson, Alec Grant

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, the first author autoethnographically describes, discusses and reflects on her process of becoming a researcher based on her PhD journey. She explores how the development of knowledge and her understandings of what counts as knowledge is entangled with her personal and professional development. The second and third authors join with her to explore and comment on the ways in which her doctoral topic knowledge and her process of becoming a researcher co-evolved. On this basis, all authors challenge and trouble what counts as qualitative knowledge and inquiry in contemporary academia and discuss the need for the provision …

‘Animals Are Their Best Advocates’: Interspecies Relations, Embodied Actions, And Entangled Activism, Gonzalo Villanueva

Animal Studies Journal

Since 1986, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting (CADS) has sought to ban the practice of recreational duck hunting across Australia. Campaigners have developed techniques to disrupt shooters, rescue injured water birds, and gain media coverage. The campaign is underpinned by embodied processes that engage empathy, emotion, affect, and cognition. Seeking to understand human-animal interrelations, I conducted multispecies autoethnographic research, during which I participated as an activist-scholar in the anti-duck shooting campaign for nearly three months. Drawing on feminist philosopher Lori Gruen and others, this article conceptualises ‘entangled activism’ and argues that embodied actions arise from interspecies interrelations. This article demonstrates …

Last Chance To Care: An Autoethnography Of End-Of-Life Care In Indonesia, Petra B. Wessner

The Qualitative Report

In Australia, palliative care is an accepted and expected part of contemporary health care service provision. Efficacious palliative care focusses on managing pain and symptoms and making the patient as comfortable as possible (World Health Organization Definition of Palliative Care (WHO, 2010). As well, palliative care focusses on the spiritual and psycho-social dimensions of life (Martina, 2017), providing the opportunity for the patient and their family to continue to be engaged with life and self-determined decision making throughout palliation. In this account, utilizing the qualitative research method of autoethnography the Australian author describes her experience of caring for her Indonesian …

The Myth Of Promiscuity: Examining Black Male Sexual Narratives And Sexual Identity, Seth Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Black masculinity and sexuality are common topics across areas of philosophy, psychology, cultural studies and others. Yet, these topics are dedicated to the racial narrative of hypersexual Black male, the sexual objectification of Black men, and their presumed promiscuity. While such topics are important, there is little qualitative research that looks at the complexity and emotionality of African American men’s sexual experiences. Using the theoretical research on black masculinity and sexuality as its backdrop, this dissertation explores how heterosexual, African American men experience their sexuality. The study incorporates narrative inquiry and in-depth, semi-structured interviews to gather stories of five African …

Everything Is Fine: Self-Portrait Of A Caregiver With Chronic Depression And Other Preexisting Conditions, Erin L. Scheffels

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation documents the joys and terrors of caring for my father throughout my twenties and early thirties. The story is autoethnographic and demonstrates the value of narrative research in fostering understandings of self, other, and the world around us. I call this reflexive practice of writing narrative education because as I engaged in it, I learned what it means to care, and how mental health and illness factor into the ways in which care is expressed and provided in my own relationships and beyond. In addition, throughout the story I was a member of the academic community, which makes …

Autoethnography As An Instrument For Professional (Trans) Formation In Pharmaceutical Care Practice, Daniela Álvares Machado Silva, Simone Araújo Medina Mendonça, Maureen O´Dougherty, Djenane Ramalho De Oliveira, Clarice Chemello

The Qualitative Report

The recent inclusion of pharmacists in primary healthcare in Brazil through the Family Health Support Team has encouraged them to reflect on the need to change from a professional focused on medications to one focused on individuals. This autoethnography allowed a pharmacist to confront her perspectives on clinical practice between 2014 and 2016, a period when she decided to challenge her traditional training as a pharmacist centered on medications. Using pharmaceutical care practice as the theoretical framework that prompted the profession of pharmacy to change its focus to the patient, the authors collaborated to construct a monologue that engages readers …

Storied Bodies In Motion And Stillness: Shifting Meanings Of Physical Activity In Women's Life History Narratives, Shellie Mcparland

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gender is a rarely studied social determinant of health. Qualitative methodologies, while underutilized in health promotion, may facilitate understanding of the gender and health relationship. The purpose of this work is to determine if narrative inquiry is a meaningful approach to study the relationship between femininity and physical activity and to examine this relationship within women’s life histories. Five women between 30 and 40 participated in two semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed holistically, structurally, and categorically.

This dissertation is comprised of five integrated articles, in which I locate myself epistemologically as researcher through a discussion on the feminist underpinnings of …

“From The Edge Of The Abyss To The Foot Of The Rainbow – Narrating A Journey Of Mental Health Recovery” The Process Of A Wounded Researcher, Samantha J. Robertson, Diane Carpenter, Maggie Donovan-Hall

The Qualitative Report

In the UK, mental health service users are asked to “tell their stories” within clinical settings as a tool for diagnosis, formulation and treatment plans. Retelling, reliving and reflecting on traumatic and distressing experiences is not a benign activity. Yet the process of reframing lived experience within a personal narrative could support the development of: a more positive identity; self-management skills and improved social connections (Slade, 2009) and therefore contribute to mental health recovery. This is an exploration of my process as a wounded researcher in the development of a version of my narrative as an autoethnography. I developed a …

Parenting A Child With A Developmental Disability: An Autoethnographic Approach To Sensemaking, Danielle Sparrow

Theses and Dissertations

Each year, approximately one in six children are diagnosed with a developmental disability (DD) in the United States according to the CDC (Developmental Disabilities, 2015). In 2015, my daughter fell severely ill with encephalitis and became part of this statistic. Parenting a child with a DD can be an extremely isolating (Naseef, 2001) and even scary experience. However, storytelling helps individuals process experiences, connect with others, and shed light on their perspectives. Parents can become informed through these shared experiences, build supportive communities, develop resilience, and transform their perspectives. Using the qualitative research method of autoethnography, I approached my work …

Opening Up About Birth: An Autoethnographic Account Of Prolonged Labour, Petra B. Elias

The Qualitative Report

A woman’s first pregnancy can be both emotionally exciting and daunting. There are many changes to make, but there is little emotional support to adjust to the role, the focus being on the physical process which is most often managed medically (Spear, 2008; Zasloff, Schytt, & Waldenström, 2007) though warnings about what could occur are not routinely told (Kaitz, 2007, pp. 720-721). This paper presents an autoethnographic story of first time pregnancy and the unfolding labour. The methodology of autoethnography is a useful tool for conveying stories of lived experience at a level of detail often previously unrecorded, evoking for …

Re-Framing Informal Family Caregiving, Magdalena T. Ornstein-Sloan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Informal family caregivers are the backbone of the long-term care system, providing an estimated 80% of the long-term care in the United States. Caregivers provide care to people with disabilities, the ill and older adults, often with little to no outside assistance from the formal long-term care system. Although caregivers receive attention in the academic literature, mainstream media and within public policy and services development, caregiver services continue to remain underutilized. The focus on service provision has various goals, including the desire to lessen the burden caregivers experience by providing services so they can provide care at home longer than …

An Explorer In A Cardboard Land: Emotion, Memory, And The Embodied Experience Of Doing Jigsaw Puzzles, Angela Cora Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how playing a game or engaging in a leisure activity provides the participant with an experience which integrates physical, mental, and emotional elements. I use an autoethnographic approach to study the process of completing jigsaw puzzles. The main focal point of the paper is the connection between engagement in a physical activity (completing a puzzle) and how the mind works and where it goes during the performance of that activity. The goal of the paper is to illustrate the connections between action and thought, and to show how one of the benefits, …

My Dance With Cancer: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of The Journey, Vardine K. Simeus

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Sometimes when a person who has been diagnosed with cancer finds out that his or her cancer returned and continuously has to go for surgeries, treatments, regular follow-ups, and continued overtime to deal with the same life-threatening illness, he or she can actually feel frozen due to feeling depressed and anxious in not knowing how to move forward with life. Dance is a metaphor used in this study to move forward. Psychotherapy can offer major benefits to help cancer patients cope with the depression, anxiety, stress, and other emotional reactions that often accompany a cancer diagnosis (Stuyck, 2008). Many studies …

“Okay So Remember, This Is A Drape – Not A Sheet”: A Critical Autoethnography Of (Per)Forming The Practice(D) Body Of A Gynecological Teaching Associate, Jodi C. Hall

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this autoethnographic study, I utilized my past experiences as a Gynecological Teaching Associate (GTA), along with data collected within a particular pelvic teaching module, to critically explore the ‘silences’ and taken-for-granted assumptions embedded within the performances of pelvic teaching. Theoretically informed by (post)critical feminist theories, I considered how the ‘culture’ of pelvic teaching, as enacted within this specific setting, simultaneously (re)produced and resisted particular normative discourses about women, and how the performances of GTAs, medical students and program administrators were reflective of larger social-political and biomedical discourses. Data collection methods included participant observation, field notes, reflexive journaling, and individual …

Women's Softball In Iran: An Autoethnographic Journey, Sarah J Hillyer

Doctoral Dissertations

This autoethnographic dissertation recounts numerous untold stories about my journeys into the Islamic Republic of Iran as a sports consultant and women’s softball coach for Global Sports Partners (GSP). Autoethnography as defined by Ellis & Bochner (2000), is “an autobiographical genre of writing and research that displays multiple layers of consciousness, connecting the personal to the cultural…Autoethnographers vary in their emphasis on the research process (graphy), on culture (ethnos), and on self (auto)” (pp. 739-740). Autoethnographers, writing within a branch of narrative inquiry (Ellis & Bochner, 2000), believe in the power of story and that humans learn through stories lived …