Real, rubber or virtual: The vision of “one’s own” body as a means for pain modulation. A narrative review

In the last few years a branch of pain research has been focussing on the modulatory effects of the vision of the body on pain perception. So, for instance, the vision of one’s own real body has been proven to induce analgesic effects. On the other hand, bodily illusions such as the rubber hand illusion have provided new tools for the study of perceptual processes during altered body ownership states. Recently, new paradigms of body ownership made use of a technology that is going places both in clinical and in experimental settings, i.e. virtual reality. While the vision of one’s own real body has been proven to yield compelling analgesic effects, slightly more controversial are those attributed to the vision of “owned” dummy bodies. This review will discuss the studies that examined the effects on pain perception of the vision of the own body, with or without body ownership illusions.

Towards Empowerment: Narrative Study of Counselling Psychology Trainees and How They Make Sense of Their Personal and Professional Development in the Context of Their Past Experiences

The discipline of counselling psychology continues to grow and change in response to social, economic and political pressures. It has been argued that its quest for a coherent and distinct identity, which emphasises the possibility of the coexistence of multiple approaches, creates an inherently uncertain and dilemmatic training environment that may hinder the development of trainees’ professional identities. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the issue at hand, the aim was to explore how final year trainees and newly qualified counselling psychologists constructed and made sense of their emerging professional identities and what experiences, past and present, they drew upon in the context of their training to shape those identities. Applying narrative inquiry to analyse eight open-ended interviews, eight preliminary themes were originally identified in participants’ narratives, which with further refinements lead to stories of struggle and marginalisation, growth and discovery, and power and resilience. Participants’ stories of struggle and marginalisation emerged in reference to early family dynamics and stressful life experiences, which seemed to also foster a strong identification with the counselling psychology profession, while stories of growth and discovery focused on the importance of having supportive figures, who helped to instill a sense of security and create an atmosphere of openness. It was in this learning environment that participants felt it was possible to develop a more resilient, empowered professional self, which allowed them to shed an earlier sense of struggle and vulnerability. However, where more of an emphasis was placed on power and resilience, there seemed to be less room for participants to express other feelings that came into conflict with their preferred sense of professional self. While there seems to be a need for a ‘safer’ climate, in which trainees could voice and acknowledge anxieties, vulnerabilities and limitations, addressing concerns around power and vulnerability that may be contributing to the silencing of particular voices and identities may be equally important if trainees are to develop coherent and distinct counselling psychologist identities.

Constructing Personal and Couple Narratives in Late Stage Cancer: A Narrative Analysis

An increasing number of people with terminal cancer are being cared for at home, often by their partner. This study explores the identity, experiences and relationships of people caring for their partner at the end of life and how they construct their experience through personal and couple narratives. It draws upon dialogical approaches to narrative analysis to focus on caring partners and the care relationship. Six participants were recruited for the study. Two methods of data collection are used: narrative interviews and journals. Following individual case analysis, two methods of cross-narrative analysis are used: an analysis of narrative themes and an identification of narrative types. The key findings can be summarised as follows. First, in the period since their partner's terminal prognosis, participants sustained and reconstructed self and couple relationship narratives. These narratives aided the construction of meaning and coherence at a time of major biographical disruption: the anticipated loss of a partner. Second, the study highlights the complexity of spoken and unspoken narratives in terminal cancer and how these relate to individual and couple identities. Third, a typology of archetypal narratives based upon the data is identified. The blow-by-blow narratives illustrate how participants sought to construct coherence and meaning in the illness story, while champion and resilience narratives demonstrate how participants utilised positive self and relational narratives to manage a time of biographical disruption. The study highlights how this narrative approach can enhance understanding of the experiences and identities of people caring for a terminally ill partner.

Exploring the Impact of a Difficult Breastfeeding Experience on Maternal Identity: A Narrative Analysis

Introduction: Due to the implied health benefits for mother and baby, breastfeeding has become a key public health issue. Literature reviewed highlighted the ‘medical’ and ‘natural’ mother discourse which surrounds motherhood and impacts on women’s decisions to breastfeed. Whilst the emotional and physical strains of a difficult experience have been explored, it is unclear how these experiences impact on women’s identities as mothers and in what ways women are able to narrate and share their embodied experiences. Methods: Seven first time mothers who described themselves as having had a difficult breastfeeding experience were interviewed to gather data pertaining to how mothers construct narratives of breastfeeding and the impact of these narratives on their identity as mothers. An interest in both socio-political discourse and embodiment theory derived from the literature review led to the use of visual methods in eliciting narratives and the employment of a critical narrative analysis in exploring the data gathered. Findings: The participants’ narratives drew from ‘medical’ and ‘natural’ mother discourses and were found to constrain subjective experience and leave participants with feelings of guilt, frustration and loss. A prevailing assumption that unruly, excessive bodies must be controlled by a rational ‘mind’ led to the body becoming a site for control and resistance for participants as they attempted to conform to norms of motherhood and breastfeeding. Discussion: Results identified the ways in which women as mothers can see their subjective experiences diminished and their voices silenced due to a lack of available discourse and entrenched ideologies surrounding the ‘good’ mother. It is suggested that adopting a social justice agenda within therapeutic practice might prevent the internalisation of oppressive discourse which can lead to mothers’ psychological distress. Moreover, it is suggested that exploring the body in therapy might resist a mind/body dualism and lead to increasingly compassionate and accepting relationships with our bodies; in turn increasing awareness of subjective experience.