Dr. Alja Lah
Dr. Alja Lah
Doctoral thesis
A Phenomenological Exploration of Embodied Emotional Awareness in Psychotherapy
This heuristic phenomenological research explores the lived experience of embodied emotional awareness in psychotherapy and counselling psychology. The research springs from an embodied perspective of considering all human experiences holistically. It is an embodied research designed and conducted so it gathers data in an embodied way, and attends to the relationship between knowledge and experience, to share a more embodied way of being where understanding and feeling, self and other, inner and outer, head and heart, are intrinsically intertwined. Heuristic research (Moustakas, 1990) along with the researcher’s self-inquiry are guiding the study. Additionally, the experience of seven participants is explored with in-depth semi-structured interviews and a research process of reflexive embodied empathy (Finlay, 2005). The analysis using Moustakas’s (1990) seven stages of heuristic research reveals five major themes: embodiment is a process, being is feeling, disembodied being, multidimensional being, and relational connection points. The findings show the important and multidimensional connection between the body, emotions and awareness within psychotherapy: the therapist can feel themselves and the client, connect with the client, be aware of the two, discern between the two, choose what to bracket or what to focus on, and choose attitude and action. This research identifies embodied emotional awareness as a way of being where we simultaneously allow ourselves to feel everything in the present moment while staying aware of feeling. It also reveals that embodied emotional awareness is merely one aspect of embodiment, which is a process of integrating the multidimensionality of our whole being and bringing awareness into it. Embodied emotional awareness seems to be contagious; when we become more embodied it has a rippling effect on others. The implication for psychotherapy and counselling psychology is that they need to reintegrate the body into its core practice and training, and as psychotherapists become more embodied, this gets transmitted and supports the clients to become more embodied. Heuristic research is experienced as a multidimensional interactive and synchronistic process of embodiment, intimately intertwined with the researcher’s life.
Masters thesis
My undergraduate thesis was written in Slovenian language so I also added a short English summary, presentation presented at the International Association for the Studies of of Dreams and a Slovenian article published in the journal Psihološka Obzorja
A phenomenological case study was conducted for the purpose of exploring and describing the experience of what it is like to study one’s own dreams. The main research question was: Is it possible to have a dialogue with dreams? Questions that guided the research were: Is dream content different according to different concepts about dreams? and If we pay attention to our dreams, how does that affect their content, dynamics, our experience and relation to dreams? With regard to the chosen methodology the study also investigated possibilities of qualitative research in psychology.
The study included eight participants, who had started to study dreams by keeping dream diaries for two months. The next two months they also participated in discussions about dreams and dream theories. Three participants learned about Freud dream theory, three participants learned about Jung dream theory, and two only participated in general dream discussions. In the beginning, middle, and end of the study, interview guides were conducted much like phenomenological dialogue, attempting to describe the experiential world of the respondents. Transcribed interviews were analyzed according to the procedure of Glaser and Strauss (1967) as well as Flick (2006) with the use of computer software NVivo. Dream content was analyzed with the use of a list of Freudian and Jungian symbols, as well as typology of dreams by Busink and Kuiken (1996).
The purpose of the study was not to generalise the results but to understand the phenomenon through the eyes of those who experienced it. That is why final interpretations of analysis were formed according to the model of grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) that is only valid for these participants in this context. The essential finding is that we can have a dialogue with dreams. This means dreams change according to expectations of the dreamer, and also the dreamer changes his thoughts and actions according to dreams. Results have also shown that the portion of existential and transcendental dreams has risen on the account of mundane dreams. Multifunctional nature of dreams has appeared. Participants have reported positive experiences when paying attention to dreams, saying they gained insights about themselves and their loved ones, and that dreams have enriched their everyday lives.