Bowman, Elen (2025) Birth-story and the Unbearable age. Masters thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
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Abstract
Currently there is a wealth of information about birth stories by mothers charting the experience of birth, but a marked lack of research of the birth-story’s influence on the recipient. A birth-story has potency when told by a significant adult, intensifying our identification with it and can often be a forerunner of latent psychology within the family. Such a story for instance, can highlight themes rooted in the parent’s unconscious as well as contribute to the recipient’s lived experience. A heuristic exploration affords an opportunity for an in-depth personal study of the phenomenon. This detailed and explicit work explores how a birth-story, told by my mother during adolescence, contributed to my perception of self and to my relationship with my father with far reaching consequences. The main conclusion of this research considers the role a birth-story takes in forming identity, the power and mythic resonance of its telling on an adolescent mind and, its potential as an aid to explore and illuminate its influences on presenting issues in the therapy hour. Therefore, recommendations for practice suggests that the birth-story can provide a map from which to navigate impressions and questions to relevant areas of therapeutic exploration.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Heuristic study, Birth-story, Avoidant attachment, Adolescence, Ancestral trauma, Cults, Narrative identity, Workaholism |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman |
| Divisions: | Theses and Dissertations > Masters Dissertations |
| Depositing User: | Victoria Hankinson |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Oct 2025 09:38 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Oct 2025 09:38 |
| URI: | https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/3959 |
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