Introduction: The Existential Crisis of Motherhood

Arnold-Baker, Claire

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-56499-5_1

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Clearly, there is a need for psychological support and care in the transition to motherhood. This transition has been described as a time of crisis, in that it leads to re-examination of the person's life in terms of values, beliefs, and own selves in order to make sense of what has happened and to start to see their lives in new ways [18]. Some first-time mothers may face additional challenges, pre-existing at the time of birth, such as anticipating and/or coping with a pregnancy affected by infertility treatment, high-risk pregnancies, bereavement, ectopic pregnancy, previous miscarriage(s), and so on.…”

Section: The Nature Of Motherhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accessing and acknowledging so-called negative feelings is part of a psychological re-evaluation of values, beliefs, and self in the transition to motherhood [18]. Feelings are brought out by the many "grumpy" people that the client awakens to a new transformed context after the poisoned food, and this grumpiness may indicate a general dissatisfaction and weariness caused by the implicit expectation of being an on-call mother selflessly focusing only on her baby.…”

Section: Motherhood Imagery and Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reframing Motherhood within a Jungian Approach to Snow White: A Research Case Study Using Guided Imagery and Music (GIM)

Short¹

2023

The Wounds of Our Mother Psychoanalysis - New Models for Psychoanalysis in Crisis

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The transition to becoming a mother carries challenges to role, identity, and self-image. Myths and archetypes related to motherhood connect societal and personal expectations with individual experiences. The fairy tale “Snow White” emerged within a single session of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM) therapy for a young mother in the postpartum phase. Although previously written up as a clinical case report, this example is now explored as a research case study, which is seen as a unique case with intrinsic qualities and explored via an explanatory approach. The systematic methodology developed for this research case study follows a typology of eight key elements of the Snow White fairy tale, comparing this pattern to the individualized narrative of this young mother. In doing so, variations to the original tale are explored in light of Jungian interpretations, which inform the experience of motherhood. In doing so, this contributes to a further understanding of the changes in role, identity, and self-image experienced by the new mother undergoing both outer and inner change, where the new mother works to fully reframe themselves into their new motherhood role. By understanding this change, additional support can be offered broadly to women during this important transition, and in turn, influence the experiences of current and future generations.

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Section: The Nature Of Motherhoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Motherhood Imagery and Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

Reframing Motherhood within a Jungian Approach to Snow White: A Research Case Study Using Guided Imagery and Music (GIM)

Short¹

2023

The Wounds of Our Mother Psychoanalysis - New Models for Psychoanalysis in Crisis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Considerations may range from whether one can 'love enough' or be a 'good enough parent', to more fundamental existential fears of losing oneself into a new life-role, or even dying. Thoughts about death and mortality may also appear during the childbirth period, and such considerations seem to be a normal and healthy response to parenthood transition 41,44 .…”

Section: Existential Aspects Of a Salutogenetic Approach In Parenthoo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Existential aspects as an inevitable part of salutogenesis in maternity care – A discussion paper

et al. 2022

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“…The existentialists describe a different situational crisis that might follow the negation of the urge to practice the freedom to be authentic and to act as an agent. Thus, Arnold‐Baker (2020) writes that exercising this freedom, despite the accompanying existential anxiety, enables us to find new meanings of our personal experiences. However, when the inner urge to exercise this freedom is thwarted, we experience an existential crisis characterized by the inundation of doubts and questions about our identity and meaningful role in the world.…”

Section: The Situational Crisis and The Supervisee's Future Orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Supervisee's Future Orientation

Yerushalmi¹

2022

Brit J Psychotherapy

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While exploring the supervisee's implicit contribution to therapeutic interactions, the supervisor can focus on the supervisee's future orientation instead of exploring transference manifestations that might arouse the supervisee's anxiety. I suggest that future orientation is shaped by an implicit urge described in the analytic literature as an unconscious hope to elicit yearned‐for psychological nutrients from the environment. In parallel, existentialist literature describes an urge to exercise the freedom to live an authentic life and actualize fundamental personal projects, sometimes against cultural and societal convictions and conventions. Furthermore, frustrating the urge that shapes future orientation might lead to a limited situational crisis described differently by the two schools of thought. While reconstructing the supervisee's therapeutic experiences, the supervisor can discern this urge in the components or response patterns of the supervisee's situational crisis. I will suggest that the supervisory dyad's capacity to formulate the implicit urge that shapes the supervisee's future orientation creates a continuous temporality and enlivens the supervisory and therapeutic processes.

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Introduction: The Existential Crisis of Motherhood

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Reframing Motherhood within a Jungian Approach to Snow White: A Research Case Study Using Guided Imagery and Music (GIM)

Reframing Motherhood within a Jungian Approach to Snow White: A Research Case Study Using Guided Imagery and Music (GIM)

Existential aspects as an inevitable part of salutogenesis in maternity care – A discussion paper

On the Supervisee's Future Orientation

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