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A Kaupapa Māori Study of Pūrākau in Enhancing Understanding of Affective Experience

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Dissertation is embargoed until 16 November 2026(1.86 MB)

Date

2023

Authors

Whelan, Birgit

Supervisor

Woodard, Wiremu
Collens, Paula

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Master of Psychotherapy

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Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Pūrākau are ancient forms of narrative, and this study offers an exploration of one of these pūrākau, which is the story of Hinepūkohurangi. Hinepūkohurangi is the ariā of the mist, and at the heart of this narrative is the theme of impossible longing to hold that which is ephemeral. It is a story about love, loss, and grief. In these themes, there was resonance with personal experiences of loss and bereavement over the years of my psychotherapy training. What emerged was a question about this pūrākau, and how narrative might assist in exploring and processing my affective experience, and offer a sense of emotional catharsis and insight. Over the past twenty years in Aotearoa New Zealand there has been a burgeoning in the literature regarding the therapeutic use of pūrākau. The aim of this study is to contribute to this developing field of research, by considering the efficacy of pūrākau in enhancing understanding of affective experience. To this end, the research question being explored is, how does the pūrākau narrative of Hinepūkohurangi offer understanding of the experience of loss and grief? The findings of this research support the therapeutic effectiveness of pūrākau narratives in exploring emotional experience. In this study, the qualities of metaphor, mythos, narrative holding and autobiographical reflection, which characterise the pūrākau and narrative inquiry process, were noteworthy in this regard. It is further established that pūrākau narrative-based models offer a culturally congruent therapeutic approach with tangata whaiora in Aotearoa New Zealand. A further contribution of this research is a methodological development of the tāniko research method, which is a form of pūrākau narrative inquiry within the Kaupapa Māori paradigm.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/16946

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Masters Dissertations