Exploring the narratives of people with lived experiences of eating-related distress and their stories of recovery : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand

Simple item page
dc.confidentialEmbargo : No
dc.contributor.advisorTaylor, Joanne
dc.contributor.authorAmarasekara, Natasha Amrini
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-27T02:41:41Z
dc.date.available2024-03-27T02:41:41Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractA significant portion of the eating disorder literature prioritises a clinical perspective informed by diagnostic classification and clinical markers of recovery. Yet, research into the perspectives of people’s lived experiences provides very different accounts of eating-related distress and personal recovery. The personal recovery model privileges lived experiences, where symptom remission is not necessary to recover/y, but instead “recovery in” as opposed to “recovery from” is better aligned. Broad qualitative analyses cite factors in alignment with the recovery model; however, these studies often abstract from the daily, lived recoveries. In this study, I examined the narratives of recovery among 15 adults with lived experiences of eating-related distress. Specifically, those who self-identified challenges related to food, weight, body shape, and/or exercise, and identified as doing better currently relative to one’s own past experiences. A day in the life questioning approach allowed for a micro-contextualised view of recovery, exploring what it means to be “in” or “enacting” recovery across daily practices. A narrative analysis was conducted which attuned to complex social, cultural, and relational contexts, grounded within a social constructivist epistemological approach. Narratives included: Re-Appraising Body, Image and Identity, Neutrality and Nourishment, Routine and Structure, and Media and #Recovery. Participants formed intentional daily practices in recovery, largely described as an active process requiring continued re-appraisal. Daily practices centered around energy, function, pleasure, accomplishment, comfort, control, self-development, visibility, and routine. Participants described alignment, resistance, and opposition to master narratives and sociocultural prescriptions on recovery, offering a counter narrative to the clinician and researcher recovery perspectives that have traditionally dominated the literature and guided service provision to date. Overall, these multi-layered narratives align with critical feminist perspectives and may importantly inform evidence-based practice from the “inside out”.
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/69425
dc.publisherMassey Universityen
dc.rightsThe Authoren
dc.subjectEating disorders
dc.subjectTreatment
dc.subjectPatients
dc.subjectRehabilitation
dc.subjectBody image
dc.subjectPsychological aspects
dc.subjectclinical psychologyen
dc.subjectpsychologyen
dc.subjectrecoveryen
dc.subjectpersonal recoveryen
dc.subjectnarrativeen
dc.subject.anzsrc5203 Clinical and health psychologyen
dc.titleExploring the narratives of people with lived experiences of eating-related distress and their stories of recovery : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealanden
thesis.degree.disciplineClinical Psychology
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Clinical Psychology
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-abridgedMrs Amarasekara explored individuals’ understandings and constructions of eating-related distress and their stories of recovery. With a focus on daily practices, recovery was storied as active and intentional across daily life. Key findings include re-appraising body image, identity, neutrality, nourishment, structure, and media. These multi-layered narratives align with critical feminist perspectives and may inform evidence-based practice from the “inside out”.
thesis.description.doctoral-citation-longWhile the eating disorder literature prioritises a clinical perspective on recovery, lived experience perspectives provide very different accounts. Mrs Amarasekara examined individuals’ understandings and constructions of eating-related distress and recovery, situated within sociocultural contexts and relationships. With a focus on daily practices, recovery was storied as active and intentional across daily life. Findings were encapsulated within four narratives : Re-Appraising Body, Image and Identity, Neutrality and Nourishment, Routine and Structure, and Media and #Recovery. Overall, participants resisted and re-appraised master narratives on recovery. These multi-layered narratives align with critical feminist perspectives and importantly inform evidence-based practice from the “inside out”.
thesis.description.name-pronounciationNA-TA-SHA UM-RIN-KNEE UM-MARA-SAY-KARA
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
AmarasekaraDClinPsychThesis.pdf
Size:
2.41 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Theses and Dissertations