Life Re-Decisions – Stories That Divide in Order to Connect
Abstract
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to explore the narrative thread My Own Voice – (Not) My Own Voice, reconstructed through an analysis of the life stories of women who have declared making significant, transformative life changes.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The central research question is: What do the collected narratives of these women reveal about the individual and social contexts surrounding major life transitions? The study employs a narrative-biographical approach, utilizing both the narrative interview technique and a proprietary tool called the Life Line. The analysis of autobiographical material is grounded in four interconnected and mutually influential life contexts: personal, interpersonal, social, and historical.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: 1. Presentation of the theoretical foundations rooted in humanistic and narrative psychology. 2. Overview of the research process. 3. Analysis of the narrative thread My Own Voice – (Not) My Own Voice as an expression of the search for autonomy.4. Description of the process of narrative redefinition. 5. Discussion of the practical and educational implications of the research, along with prospects for extending it through a quantitative framework.
RESEARCH RESULTS: The study found that, in order to narratively understand significant others – such as parents, caregivers, or peers – the women first needed to find Their Own Voice. This involved distancing themselves from familiar narratives and identifying what differentiated them from others. In doing so, they developed a new, integrative perspective that enabled deeper, more empathetic understanding of others, including their families and social peers.
CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND APPLICABLE VALUE OF RESEARCH: The findings are already being applied in developmental and therapeutic work with women across age groups and are currently being extended through quantitative research, including the development of a Life Re-Decision Questionnaire.
References
Bertaux, D. (2012). Analiza pojedynczych przypadków (au cas par cas) [Case-by-case analysis] (A. Trąbka, Trans.). In K. Kaźmierska (Ed.), Metoda biograficzna w socjologii [The biographical method in sociology] (pp. 309–333). Zakład Wydawniczy Nomos.
Borkowski, T. (2018). Narracja. Nowa perspektywa w nauce? [Narration: A new perspective in science?]. Horyzonty Wychowania, 17(42), 147–158. https://doi.org/10.17399/HW.2018.174211
Bühler, C. (1999). Bieg życia ludzkiego [The course of human life] (E. Cichy & J. Jarosz, Trans.). Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Chmielińska, A., & Modrzejewska-Świgulska, M. (2020a). Women’s life (re)decisions. Report from biographical narratives. Przegląd Badań Edukacyjnych, 1(30), 87–105.https://doi.org/10.12775/PBE.2020.005
Chmielińska, A., & Modrzejewska-Świgulska, M. (2020b). W stronę samorealizacji. Re-decyzje życiowe kobiet [Toward self-realization: Women’s life re-decisions]. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego.
Chmielińska, A., & Modrzejewska-Świgulska, M. (2021). Spreading your wings, milestones, deus et machina: Self-creation as a process of changing in women’s narrations. Creativity. Theories – Research – Applications, 8(2), 67–84. https://doi.org/10.2478/ctra-2021-0018
Król-Fijewska, M. (2019). Anatomia procesu doświadczania [Anatomy of the Experiencing Process]. In M. Król-Fijewska (Ed.), Doświadczenie a psychoterapia [Experience and psychotherapy] (pp. 15–60). Wydawnictwo Intra.
Gendlin, E.T. (1964). A theory of personality change. In P. Worchel& D. Byrne (Eds.), Personality change (pp. 100–148). Wiley.
Kaczmarek, J. (2019). Tendencja aktualizacyjna w praktyce terapeutycznej [The actualizing tendency in therapeutic practice]. In M. Król-Fijewska (Ed.), Doświadczenie a psychoterapia [Experience and psychotherapy] (pp. 63–96). Wydawnictwo Intra.
Kaufmann, J.-C. (2010). Wywiad rozumiejący [The understanding interview] (A. Kapciak, Trans.). Oficyna Naukowa.
Królak, E. (2019). Ja i jego konfiguracje wewnętrzne w przetwarzaniu doświadczenia [The self and its inner configurations in processing experience]. In M. Król-Fijewska (Ed.), Doświadczenie a psychoterapia [Experience and psychotherapy] (pp. 99–118). Wydawnictwo Intra.
Lalak, D. (2010). Życie jako biografia. Podejście biograficzne w perspektywie pedagogicznej [Life as biography: A biographical approach in the pedagogical perspective]. Wydawnictwo Akademickie Żak.
Oleś, P.K. (2015). Psychologia człowieka dorosłego [Psychology of the adult human being]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Oleś, P.K. (2019). The Paul Gauguin syndrome: A great life change. In I. Lebuda & V.P. Glăveanu (Eds.), [The Palgrave handbook of social creativity research] (pp. 317–334). Palgrave Macmillan.
Ostaszewska, A. (2018). Proces kształtowania kobiecej podmiotowości. Pedagogiczne studium samorozwoju bellhooks [The process of shaping female subjectivity: A pedagogical study of bellhooks’ self-development]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Rogers, C.R. (2003). Client-centered therapy: Its current practise approach: Research and theory [Ebook]. Constable&Robinson.
Rogers, C.R. (2014). O stawaniu się osobą [On becoming a person] (M. Karpiński, Trans.). Dom Wydawniczy Rebis.
Rogers, C.R. (2016). Teoria terapii, osobowości i relacji interpersonalnych rozwinięta w oparciu o podejście skoncentrowane na kliencie [Theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships] (M. Król, Trans.). Wydawnictwo Zielone Drzewo, Instytut Psychologii Zdrowia PTP.
Rosenthal, G. (2012). Badania biograficzne [Biographical research] (A. Pawlak, Trans.). In K. Kaźmierska (Ed.), Metoda biograficzna w socjologii. Antologia tekstów [The biographical method in sociology: An anthology of texts] (pp. 279–307). Zakład Wydawniczy Nomos.
Schütze, F. (2012). Analiza biograficzna ugruntowana empirycznie w autobiograficznym wywiadzie narracyjnym. Jak analizować autobiograficzne wywiady narracyjne [Empirically grounded biographical analysis in autobiographical narrative interviews: How to analyze autobiographical narrative interviews] (K. Waniek, Trans.). In K. Kaźmierska (Ed.), Metoda biograficzna w socjologii. Antologia tekstów [The biographical method in sociology: Ananthology of texts] (pp. 141–278). Zakład Wydawniczy Nomos.
Trempała, (2000). Modele rozwoju psychicznego. Czas i zmiana [Models of psychological development: Time and change]. Wydawnictwo Akademii Bydgoskiej.
Tyszkowa, M. (1988). Rozwój psychiczny jednostki jako proces strukturacji i restrukturacji doświadczenia [The psychological development of the individual as a process of structuring and restructuring experience]. In M. Tyszkowa (Ed.), Psychologia rozwoju człowieka [Psychology of human development]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Copyright (c) 2025 HORIZONS OF EDUCATION
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright to their work while granting the journal the right of first publication. The work will be simultaneously licensed under a CC BY-ND license, which permits others to share the work with proper credit given to the author and the original publication in this journal.
- Authors may enter into additional, non-exclusive agreements for the distribution of the published version of the work (e.g., posting it in an institutional repository or publishing it in another journal), provided that the original publication in this journal is acknowledged.
We allow and encourage authors to share their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on personal websites) both before and during the submission process, as this can foster beneficial exchanges and lead to earlier and increased citations of the published work. (See The Effect of Open Access). We recommend using any of the following academic networking platforms:
