A feminist family therapy research study: Giving a voice to a girl suffering from anorexia nervosa

Chung Yee Zenobia Chan, Joyce L.C. Ma

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In Hong Kong no one has ever explored a female anorectic's experience of family therapy by inviting her to review her family sessions. By using a retrospective approach, this single case study adopted an interpretative paradigm with an open-ended question regarding how the patient experienced the family sessions. The distinct feature of this data collection was that the patient served as a research instrument and was invited to review six family sessions in order to review her past session experiences. Five themes emerged from the patient's storied review of the sessions: (1) how she viewed her own personal characteristics; (2) her changed perceptions of her family relationships; (3) her perceptions of her family quarrels' dynamics; (4) her resistance to recovery; and (5) her significant events in family therapy. With this unique client-driven approach for qualitative inquiry-her hands were writing for her heart; her words expressed her experience. Thus, the client was allowed to give her own voice to her subjective experienceand, thereby, to enhance the future of family therapy practice.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)41-64
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of Feminist Family Therapy
Volume17
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2005
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Case study
  • Feminist family therapy
  • Feminist research
  • Identity
  • Narrative family therapy
  • Phenomenology
  • Qualitative research
  • Standpoint theory
  • Structural family therapy
  • Woman's perspective
  • Woman's voice

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Gender Studies
  • Applied Psychology

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