| Descript |
229 p |
| Note |
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-10, Section: A, page: 4142 |
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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Gonzaga University, 2009 |
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This study utilized heuristic phenomenology to examine lived spiritual transformational experiences in the context of four transsexual persons during transition. Specifically, this research explored the inward changes of spirit or soul that paralleled the physical outward changes. It was found that spirituality played the key motivational role in moving one's self from feeling abandoned by God and hating the self toward feeling loved by God and loving the self. Participants felt called to a higher purpose. Ultimately, their stories speak about how one leads oneself through a complex, challenging change |
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The participant interviews created a multidimensional image of striving to find something believable and knowable about the self. They related the weariness of wandering and seeking, the darkness of feeling betrayed, and the hopelessness at the end of possibility. These stories reveal anguish and thirst that is only comprehended if one has reached the point of choosing between an existential invisibleness, actual death, or the blind faith in a God, Creator, or Force that opened eyes to a vision and granted the courage to pursue what may be considered the highest climax: an authentic life |
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Major themes identified within the interviews resulted in a proposed spiritual and physical transformational pathway occurring as a simultaneous process. As we attempt to lead our lives authentically, being open to new experiences and being adaptable to complex and perhaps rather frightening challenges potentially assists us in surviving and growing, as have done these transsexual persons. Their journeys went from (a) knowing that something within themselves was horribly amiss, (b) to seeking and finding a journey toward self-realization, (c) accepting the courage to choose responsibly for change, (d) asking for and receiving strength and love from their Creator, (e) on to seizing hold of the unknown and stepping through that familiar looking-glass image, perhaps despised, and (f) finally to a place of surrender, reformation, and rebirth. To become a leader, one must be able to envision oneself as leading. To go when one receives the call, one must be able to see the road ahead. On the other side of "non-being" appears to await "becoming." |
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School code: 0736 |
| Host Item |
Dissertation Abstracts International 69-10A
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| Subject |
Health Sciences, Mental Health
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Theology
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Psychology, Developmental
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Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Gender Studies
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0347
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0469
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0620
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0628
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0733
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| Alt Author |
Gonzaga University
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