Interview Methodologies for Addressing Autobiographical Ruptures and (Re)Constructing Life Narratives - A Longitudinal Study Among Prostate Cancer Patients and Their Spouses

Major life changes may cause an autobiographical rupture and the need to work on one's narrative identity. In this dissertation, I developed new interview methodologies to work through an auto-biographical rupture experience and to support the (re)construction of life narratives. Ten newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients, five with their spouses, participated in the study. Each patient/ couple participated in five narrative in-depth interviews during cancer treatment and later in a follow-up interview. The interview series offered the participants several ways to talk about their cancer experience and life, and to re-evaluate and reconstruct what they had previously said. In the Momentary Key Metaphor methodology, the interviewee is asked to describe the illness experience using metaphors and to reflect on their personal meaning. In the follow-up interview, the metaphors are returned to the interviewee for retrospective review. The metaphors provided the participants with a tool to explore, summarize, and reflect on a complex, often contradictory experience at different stages of its development. One key finding was the polyphonic nature of the metaphors. The construction of polyphonic metaphors helped the participants work with emotions, tolerate uncertainty, and deal with different aspects of their experience. The couple context introduced the voice of the spouse and highlighted the mutuality in the couple's dyadic coping process. At the beginning, when uncertainty was high, the spouses used metaphors to create hope. As the patients' agency became stronger, the spouses were able to express their own vulnerability. In the Clip Approach methodology, the interviewee's narration is reflected back through visual artifacts, "the Clips," that allow the interviewee to re-enter their cancer experience and life, and re-construct their narratives concerning them. The Clips returned the narration in a tangible, reconstruable form in the narrator's own voice. They supported participants in developing self-observation and helped them move from the object position of a serious illness to the subject position of an active agent. The construction of a life story through the use of the Clips supported autobiographical reasoning and helped to explore and re-evaluate meanings, build a bridge between the past and the future and embed the cancer experience as part of the participant's life narrative. In the dissertation, I propose a series of interviews as a patient-centered guidance and counseling intervention for cancer care. The methodologies can be used to address and explore autobiographical ruptures in a variety of life-changing situations, and they offer encouraging potential for low-threshold psychosocial support interventions in a range of application areas. They may also provide new tools for existing contexts. The Clip Approach suits environments with time for collaborative work, like psychotherapies. The Momentary Key Metaphor can be used as a dialogic opening even in shorter encounters, for example during medical appointments in a longer treatment relationship.

Department dc:contributor.department

Tuotantotalouden laitos

Grantor dc:publisher

Aalto University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Talsi, Riikka

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Saarinen, Esa, Prof. Emeritus, Aalto University, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Science, Finland
• Laitila, Aarno, Senior Lecturer, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Joensuu, Timo, Prof., Docrates Cancer Center, Finland
• Vuori, Natalia, Asst. Prof., Aalto University, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Finland

Contributors dc:contributor

• Aalto-yliopisto
• Aalto University

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/126670

OAI record oai:identifier

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