Grounding in groundlessness, being the change: an existential phenomenological exploration into the embodied experience of postmenopause
DProf thesis
Duffy, S. 2024. Grounding in groundlessness, being the change: an existential phenomenological exploration into the embodied experience of postmenopause. DProf thesis Middlesex University / New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) Psychology
Type | DProf thesis |
---|---|
Title | Grounding in groundlessness, being the change: an existential phenomenological exploration into the embodied experience of postmenopause |
Authors | Duffy, S. |
Abstract | What is it like to be being postmenopausal? Menopause is a signifier of ageing, a wake-up call to mortality. Given the physical elements of the transition, including the reversion to infertility, postmenopause is a dynamic, embodied experience that is harder to ignore than many signs of ageing. Simultaneously, they also experienced postmenopause as the beginning of a release from socio-cultural strictures, a clearing space from which to move forward on their own terms. This thesis shares their postmenopausal experience in both formal analysis and found poetry, consistent with hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. Three overall themes are explored: the shock of change, living with change, making meaning in ongoing change. These themes highlight the existential elements of involuntary transition, embodied experience, loss of control, groundlessness – and the possibility of making meaning within what is. This study confirms our embodiment as the site where experience and understanding connect. It delves into postmenopause as emergence – a physically and emotionally experienced dynamic transition in which living-towards-death is highlighted in embodied experience. Whatever our gender or age, there is existential awareness, untapped knowledge, and possibility in exploring the holistic experience of postmenopause as it is lived. |
Keywords | Postmenopause; menopause; transition; embodiment; existential; temporality; ageing; mortality |
Sustainable Development Goals | 3 Good health and well-being |
Middlesex University Theme | Health & Wellbeing |
Department name | Psychology |
Science and Technology | |
Institution name | Middlesex University / New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) |
Collaborating institution | New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) |
Publisher | Middlesex University Research Repository |
Publication dates | |
Online | 03 Jun 2024 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 20 Mar 2024 |
Deposited | 03 Jun 2024 |
Output status | Published |
Accepted author manuscript | File Access Level Open |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/148z12
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