From Suffering to Flourishing: A Therapeutic Positive Autoethnography from a Therapist’s Perspective

Authors

• Claude-Hélène Mayer, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaFollow

Abstract

This article focuses on how to overcome pain and suffering in a therapeutic context. It not only takes the client’s development through existential positive psychology into consideration, but focuses primarily on the autoethnographic experiences of the therapist and our client–therapist relationship. The article thereby provides a rich example of a therapeutic positive autoethnography (ThePosAE). The study uses a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to explore the lived experience of myself as a therapist. It provides rich descriptions of reflections on the therapeutic process. This process is interlinked with van Tongeren and Showalter van Tongeren’s (2020, 2021) therapeutic process model and provides insight in the process from suffering to courage.

Findings show autoethnographic descriptions of the therapeutic process from my perspective as a systemic family and existential therapy. Data are organised through the therapeutic process model, providing insight into my personal development from suffering to courage and flourishing while working with a client. The study presents my thoughts, reflections, struggles, feelings and transformations of my inner life as a therapist working with a selected client.

Keywords

therapeutic positive autoethnography (ThePosAE), therapist, work with client, suffering, pain, flourishing, individual development, healing, systemic therapy, family therapy, existential therapy, death and dying

Author Bio(s)

Claude-Hélène Mayer is a Professor in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management at the University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa. She is an accredited Systemic Family Therapist (Germany) and a Trauma Therapist (USA). She is also trained in Existential and Jungian Therapy and works in private practice. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9445-7591 Please direct correspondence to [email protected]

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my language editor Mrs. Ruth Coetzee for her work on this paper.

Publication Date

11-10-2026

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended APA Citation

Mayer, C.-H. (2026). From suffering to flourishing: A therapeutic positive autoethnography from a therapist’s perspective. The Qualitative Report, 31(11), 7088-7105.

ORCID ID

orcid logo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9445-7591