It Isn't the Child Wearing Us Out, It's the System': Navigating Support Systems When Struggling as Foster Parents in Norway

Foster parents encounter significant and diverse obstacles in receiving support when caring for children affected by relational trauma and mental illness. These issues extend to their interactions with welfare systems, mental health professionals and personal networks. This study is aimed at understanding foster parents' needs in navigating the support systems and finding a balance in their responsibilities. To address this, we conducted interviews with 22 foster parents caring for children receiving mental health treatment in a specialized outpatient clinic in Norway. We present the findings as a general meaning structure comprising four interconnected constituents: (1) the challenge of being an ‘employee’ and a parent, (2) encounters marked by inadequate information, (3) wanting a closer relationship with the child welfare services and (4) feeling a need for confidential conversations and support. This study underscores foster parents' struggle with systems that fail to provide adequate child information and holistic support, highlighting a pressing need for context-aware and tailored systemic improvements.publishedVersio

Hiking Leisure: Generating a Different Existence Within Everyday Life

This is an Open Access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0) and originally published in Sage Open. You can access the article by following this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244016681395Dette er en vitenskapelig, fagfellevurdert artikkel som opprinnelig ble publisert i Sage Open. Artikkelen er publisert under lisensen Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 (CC BY 3.0). Du kan også få tilgang til artikkelen ved å følge denne lenken: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2158244016681395This study explores how hiking trips in the forest afford two Norwegian families experiences of leisure during the trips. In situ interviews were analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological research method, which brackets theoretical or ideological assumptions during data collection and analysis. The results show that three levels of experience are interwoven. First, individual family members, parents as well as children, are immersed in the activities in their physical environment, which evokes positive bodily feelings. Second, interactions and dialogue between family members concerning actual events during the trip give rise to a sense of belonging and togetherness. Finally, the family creates a narrative about itself in the light of its own future as well as sociocultural expectations. We characterize this tapestry of experiences as an act of hiking leisure. We conclude that the experience of the hiking trip goes beyond a simple duality of a core versus balance activity theory and answers the call for research that incorporates the natural contexts in which leisure activities take place

A case study of a mother's intertwining experiences with incest and postpartum depression

The association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and major depression disorder (MDD) gives reason to suspect that many mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) have a history of CSA. However, few studies have investigated how CSA and PPD are related. In this case study we explore how the experience of incest intertwines with the experience of postpartum depression. We focus on participant subject “Nina,” who has experienced both. We interviewed her three times and we analysed the interviews with Giorgi's phenomenological descriptive method to arrive at a contextualised meaning structure. Nina's intruding fantasies of men who abuse her children merge with her recollections of her own incest experiences. She may succeed in forcing these fantasies out of her consciousness, but they still alter her perceptions, thoughts, and emotions. She feels overwhelmed and succumbs to sadness, while she also is drawn towards information about CSA, which in turn feeds her fantasies. The psychodynamic concepts of repetition compulsion, transference, and projection may provide some explanation of Nina's actions, thoughts, and emotions through her past experiences. With our phenomenological stance, we aim to acknowledge Nina's descriptions of her everyday life here and now. With reference to Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Minkowski, we show that Nina's past is not a dated memory; rather it determines the structure of her consciousness that constitutes her past as her true present and future. Incest dominates Nina's world, and her possibilities for action are restricted by this perceived world. Any suspension of action implies anguish, and she resolves this by incest-structured action that in turn feeds and colours her expectations. Thus anxiety and depression are intertwined in the structure of this experience

The Essential Meaning Structure of Postpartum Depression. A Qualitative Study

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a fairly common yet often unidentified disorder which not only affects the mother, but may also have an adverse effect on the cognitive, emotional and social development of her baby. The nature of PPD and whether it may be qualitatively different from non-postpartum depression (NPPD) is still disputed. The main aim of this thesis is to explore the phenomenon of PPD from the first person perspective. In order to deepen our understanding of PPD we compare it with the phenomenon of NPPD. The methodological approach towards this aim is descriptive phenomenology as outlined by Giorgi. The participants are 4 PPD and 3 NPPD women who were interviewed in-depth two to three times about their experience of depression. The findings of this thesis are presented in three separate papers. The first paper “Two ways of living through postpartum depression” presents two identified essential meaning structures of PPD: 1) The looming threatening world and 2) Loss of primordial my-ness. In “the looming threatening world” we describe how mothers after birth may experience themselves as anxiously thrown into an alienated and threatening world in which their inhibited body is perceived as an obstacle for their attunement to their baby. The baby becomes a catalyst for feelings of guilt and shame, and they tend to withdraw from others into loneliness. In “loss of primordial my-ness” we describe how a mother experiences a fundamental feeling of unreality and disconnection both in relation to self, the baby, and the social and material world. She experiences a basic loss of ownership of her own perceptions, feelings, thoughts and actions. In parallel, the world is perceived as unreal, colorless, strange, and robbed of its meaning. Unbearable anxiety accompanies this overwhelming feeling of depersonalization. The second paper “Incest and postpartum depression intertwined” is a case study which explores how incest experiences in the past constrain perceptions, thoughts, emotions and actions in the present. We describe how the birth of a baby girl may reactualize and throw a mother into a world of incest where she is overwhelmed by intruding fantasies of men who abuse her children. Constantly on guard, she actively seeks information about abuse of other children in the media, which in turn feeds her anxious vigilance and fantasies. The third paper “Engulfed by an alienated and threatening body: The essential meaning structure of depression in women” describes the essential meaning structure of NPPD. We described how NPPD women initially feel entrapped in a personal mission that has gone awry. Experiencing her lack of personal resources to resolve the situation, the NPPD woman crumbles under the perceived disapproval of others. She doubts her own judgments and experiences others’ negative emotions almost as if they were her own. Excessive feelings of responsibility are coupled with strong feelings of shame and guilt, which lead her to overwork or over-involve herself. In the process she ignores her embodied emotions, which gradually become alienated and threatening and in which she is ultimately submerged. This qualitative study suggests that the most striking difference between PPD and NPPD is that PPD mothers felt in essence disconnected and alienated from the world and others (the baby), and in the case of one mother, also in relation to self, whereas in NPPD the problem was rather an experienced heightened sensitivity to others’ distress or negative judgments. Thus, there may be a difference in the development of PPD and NPPD which seems to be centered around two opposites; heightened sensitivity versus disconnection. We conceptualized the alienation in PPD as existential depression and anxiety, and the increased sensitivity in NPPD as a more relational type of depression and anxiety

I don't love my baby?! A descriptive phenomenological analysis of disturbances in maternal affection

Many new mothers question the nature of their motherly love after birth. This affectionate relationship towards the infant is commonly called bonding in everyday speech, clinical practice and research. Bonding may not sufficiently describe the mother’s emotional response to the infant and does not capture the ambivalence and struggle to develop maternal affection of many women. This study aims to explore the phenomenon of disturbed maternal affection through the clinical case of one mother who experienced severe and prolonged disturbances. Two in-depth interviews led to a descriptive phenomenological analysis. The mother developed depressive symptoms from not feeling enough for her child, not the opposite, as is often hypothesized. We describe and discuss crucial constituents of her experience, such as ambivalence, remoteness, boredom, guilt, and the looming repetition of parenting patterns, and a solution resulting from therapy-enhanced reflection on motherhood vis-à-vis early life patterns, sociocultural expectations and existential predicaments

Hiking Leisure

This study explores how hiking trips in the forest afford two Norwegian families experiences of leisure during the trips. In situ interviews were analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological research method, which brackets theoretical or ideological assumptions during data collection and analysis. The results show that three levels of experience are interwoven. First, individual family members, parents as well as children, are immersed in the activities in their physical environment, which evokes positive bodily feelings. Second, interactions and dialogue between family members concerning actual events during the trip give rise to a sense of belonging and togetherness. Finally, the family creates a narrative about itself in the light of its own future as well as sociocultural expectations. We characterize this tapestry of experiences as an act of hiking leisure. We conclude that the experience of the hiking trip goes beyond a simple duality of a core versus balance activity theory and answers the call for research that incorporates the natural contexts in which leisure activities take place

Hiking Leisure: Generating a Different Existence Within Everyday Life

This study explores how hiking trips in the forest afford two Norwegian families experiences of leisure during the trips. In situ interviews were analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological research method, which brackets theoretical or ideological assumptions during data collection and analysis. The results show that three levels of experience are interwoven. First, individual family members, parents as well as children, are immersed in the activities in their physical environment, which evokes positive bodily feelings. Second, interactions and dialogue between family members concerning actual events during the trip give rise to a sense of belonging and togetherness. Finally, the family creates a narrative about itself in the light of its own future as well as sociocultural expectations. We characterize this tapestry of experiences as an act of hiking leisure. We conclude that the experience of the hiking trip goes beyond a simple duality of a core versus balance activity theory and answers the call for research that incorporates the natural contexts in which leisure activities take place

Hiking Leisure: Generating a Different Existence Within Everyday Life

This study explores how hiking trips in the forest afford two Norwegian families experiences of leisure during the trips. In situ interviews were analyzed using a descriptive phenomenological research method, which brackets theoretical or ideological assumptions during data collection and analysis. The results show that three levels of experience are interwoven. First, individual family members, parents as well as children, are immersed in the activities in their physical environment, which evokes positive bodily feelings. Second, interactions and dialogue between family members concerning actual events during the trip give rise to a sense of belonging and togetherness. Finally, the family creates a narrative about itself in the light of its own future as well as sociocultural expectations. We characterize this tapestry of experiences as an act of hiking leisure. We conclude that the experience of the hiking trip goes beyond a simple duality of a core versus balance activity theory and answers the call for research that incorporates the natural contexts in which leisure activities take place

Fathers’ Experiences of Being Present at an Unplanned Out-of-Hospital Birth: A Qualitative Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate fathers' experiences of being present at an unplanned birth outside a maternity facility. Materials and methods: This was a qualitative interview study with 12 fathers from six of Norway's eleven counties. All had been present at an unplanned out-of-hospital birth in 2015-2020. Data were analyzed using systematic text condensation. Results: The data analysis resulted in four themes. The first theme described the fathers' stress and worry and how they managed to keep a cool head and think rationally in a totally unprepared situation. The second theme described the fathers' need for help and the reassuring feeling provided by contact with health professionals. The third theme described how the birth increased the father's attachment to his partner and baby, while the fourth theme described fathers' feelings of exclusion and their reactions following the birth. Conclusion: Fathers' perceived lack of expertise and their fear of complications led to stress, worry and anxiety, but support from health personnel provided reassurance and control. Many fathers experienced mastery, pride and joy after the birth, but when arriving at hospital, they felt rejected and wished that maternity care staff had approached them to talk about the experience