Phenomenological investigations are concerned with unfolding the nature of a phenomenon through the process of describing and understanding subjective lived experiences. The process through which this is accomplished varies according to the underlying philosophical concepts and specific methodological strategies adopted. A common means of achieving this objective is through hours-long interviews that are recorded and later transcribed and analyzed. The present article describes an alternative method that accesses the participants' experiences of a phenomenon through encounters with a researcher, who then uses dialogical data to develop comprehensive narratives. These are written in first person in order to grasp the participant's significant meanings based on what emerged during their encounter and its impact on the researcher. A narrative synthesis is then constructed in order to enable the phenomenological process of analysis to reach the structural elements based on all participants' experiences. Exemplary excerpts are presented in order to illustrate the process.Keywords: Dialogical encounters; Narratives; Phenomenological research. Resumo Investigações fenomenológicas empenham-se em desvelar a natureza de um fenômeno por meio da descrição e compreensão de experiências vividas. Esse processo apresenta variações de acordo com os conceitos filosóficos subjacentes e as estratégias metodológicas adotadas. A forma habitual consiste na gravação de longas entrevistas

Heuristic investigation, one of the lesser-known qualitative research methods in Brazil, is presented as a phenomenological research design in an empirical study investigating the experience of singing. This article describes the six phases of the heuristic method: initial engagement, immersion, incubation, illumination, explication, and creative synthesis. The method was developed by Clark Moustakas (1923-2012), an American clinical psychologist who, together with other renowned scholars such as Carl R. Rogers and Abraham H. Maslow, also contributed to the birth of Humanistic Psychology. The heuristic inquiry is a unique method in which the lived experience of the researcher becomes the main focus of the study, and it is used as an instrument in the process of understanding a given phenomenon. This method recognizes the importance of intuition and tacit knowledge as elements that enable comprehending a phenomenon and its meanings.

Singing is a complex, multifaceted activity and a multidisciplinary area of research. Although it is a ubiquitous human phenomenon, its psychological aspects are yet to be fully understood. This article presents a brief overview of the latest psychological studies on singing, with the aims of contributing to describing the subjective experience of singing, based on first-person accounts and on the researcher's self-discovery process. Results are presented of a qualitative research study where 6 in-depth interviews were conducted by the authors in Brazil. The research steps followed Clark Moustakas' heuristic method. The experience of singing is presented in the form of a composite depiction and in two categories: what singing means to us and the impact singing has on us. Singing was revealed as an activity filled with healthy aspects, like promoting integration, enabling self-awareness, serving as an impetus for personal growth, and being an important expression of creativity, a vehicle of identity, and a means of communication. A brief discussion of the implications of these results for future research is also presented.

Mothers habitually sing to their infants. Researchers in different areas of knowledge and through a variety of theoretical approaches have been more intensively investigating maternal singing since the late 1990s. The present article offers an overview of themes found in these studies about how mother-infant relationships may be mediated by maternal song, prioritizing articles that offer psychological insights into this phenomenon. These investigations assert that singing promotes intimacy between a mother and her infant, strengthening their bond and nurturing their relationship. We strive to contribute to this wealth of understanding with insights based on our research study about lived experience of mothers singing to their infants, and grounded in a humanistic perspective largely inspired by the work of Carl Rogers regarding the central role of social relationships in human development. We propose that a mother communicates genuineness and unconditional acceptance while singing, developing a musical ritual, facilitating intimacy and mutual understanding; she experiences being heard; she expresses herself, gives of herself, cultivating a healthy relationship through "hugging her child with song."

Elizabeth Brown Vallim Brisola 2 3 , Orcid: http://orcid.org/0000-0001- Vera Engler Cury², Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000- 0003-2721-3367 RESUMO. Cantar para bebês tem sido parte da vida de mães desde os tempos antigos e em diferentes culturas. O estudo do cantar das mães para seus bebês tende a enfocar como e por que as canções são facilitadoras da comunicação mãe -bebê, identificando seus efeitos e benefícios para a mãe e para o bebê. No entanto, sabe -se pouco a respeito da experiência subjetiva das mães ao cantarem. Esta pesquisa fenomenológica pretende contribuir para esse corpo de conhecimento por meio de uma compreensão psicológica, em busca de significados, a partir da psicologia humanista. Foram realizados encontros dialógicos individuais com 13 mães primíparas, brasileiras e norte-americanas, com filhos de até 18 meses. Narrativas compreensivas baseadas nesses encontros foram redigidas e analisadas pela pesquisadora e uma narrativa síntese foi construída revelando os elementos estruturais da experiência de cantar das mães. Os elementos significativos que emergiram foram: um modo especial de se comunicarem com o filho, possibilitando a construção de um vínculo emocional, uma forma de melhor conhecer seu bebê, um modo de reconhecerem a si mesmas na condição de mães, uma maneira interessante de compartilhar valores pessoais e costumes familiares e um modo criativo de se expressarem. Todos estes significados possibilitam o desenvolvimento do potencial para crescimento pessoal das mães. Este artigo também pretende apresentar uma breve discussão dos resultados no contexto contemporâneo da ciência psicológica e sugere futuros caminhos de pesquisa.Palavras-chave: Psicologia fenomenológica; relações mãe-criança; canto.ABSTRACT. Singing to infants has been a part of mothers' lives across the ages and in different cultures. The study of mothers singing to infants tends to focus on how and why songs facilitate mother-infant communication, identifying its effects and benefits for mother and infant. Little is known, however, about the mothers' subjective lived experience of singing. The present phenomenological study aims to contribute to this body of knowledge through a psychological comprehension, in search of meanings, through a Humanistic lens. Thirteen individual dialogical encounters were conducted with Brazilian and American fist-time mothers with infants up to 18 months old. Comprehensive narratives based on those individual encounters were written and analyzed by the researcher, and a synthesis narrative was built revealing the structural

When considering singing as an everyday creative activity in which people engage, investigations of children singing are more easily found than those of adults singing. Mothers commonly sing to their infants as part of caregiving, for the most part in the intimacy of their homes, perhaps making their creativity less visible to researchers. The purpose of this article is to address mothers’ creative expression in singing to their infants and its implications on their psychological health. In order to do so, we first summarize knowledge derived from existing research literature pertaining to mothers’ creativity in singing to their infants. A review of eleven selected texts revealed the following themes: mothers discovering their creativity, being spontaneous, being present, expressing themselves, adapting song material, using their own life experiences, and having fun. Although mothers do not necessarily consider themselves to be creative singers, they often invent lyrics and create melodies, add new verses to songs according to their particular child, and adapt the lyrics to each situation. They make use of their life experiences as they express their thoughts, feelings and perceptions through song. As they sing to their infant, they live in the present moment and instil meaning to their relationship in fun-filled interactions. We then discuss this musical creative expression in terms of mothers’ psychological health. We propose that this musical activity contributes to mothers’ health during the complex and transforming experience of motherhood, bringing satisfaction, relief and fulfilment, contributing to their personal growth as they move towards self-actualization, as described by humanistic psychology.