The Only Way Out Is Through

Voorde, Cécile Van de

doi:10.1525/joae.2020.1.3.284

Cited by 1 publication

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“…Autoethnographic data analysis may lead to epiphanic breakthroughs of meaning-making, insight and awakening (DeGloma, 2014) resulting from meticulous self-examination or mourning the deceased (Paxton, 2016, 2018). For example, it has been argued that embodied writing can assist in recovery from domestic violence (Metts, 2016) while mindfulness and meditation techniques may be helpful to survivors of rape (Van de Voorde, 2020). Creative and expressive writing is used in psychotherapy for trauma (Pennebaker and Evans, 2014), because of its biographical sense-making function (Barak and Leichtentritt, 2017; Kiesinger, 2002; McKenzie, 2015).…”

Section: Positive Myth 1: the Personal Rewards Of Therapeutic Insightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of the blue and into it: Autoethnography, emotions and complicated grief

Akehurst

Scott

2021

Qualitative Research

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Autoethnography can be an appropriate method for researching complex emotional experiences. However, the highly self-reflexive processes involved in mining personal data are subject to a set of cultural feeling and display rules, which obscure and interfere with emotional engagement. To illustrate this, we present one author’s account of using autoethnography to research traumatic bereavement. We critically revisit three myths about the method: one negative (autoethnography is narcissistically self-indulgent) and two positive (autoethnographic techniques are therapeutic and autoethnographic writing is authentic). Observing some parallels between topic and method, we suggest that both are complicated and non-linear, following convoluted paths. Autoethnographic tales may defy the social rules of verbal tellability, failing to reveal personal insights or offer moral lessons. We conclude that, while we can admire the autoethnographic endeavour towards ‘heartfelt’ scholarship, this should be tempered by a cautiousness about the costs of digging deep.

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