Purpose: This study aimed to explore advanced response policies and psychological and emotional support measures for early infected people in the event of an infectious disease by analyzing the experiences of self-employed women who experienced confirmation in the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with six experiences of self-employed women confirmed with COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic selected through the intentional sampling process, and then analyzed and interpreted through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Through analyzing the meaningful statement of the study participants, several themes were identified, including “The pressure of dying from an incurable illness”, “The fear of quarantine and the fear of death”, “The difficulty of being a self-employed woman”, “The pain of social stigma”, “The driving force of one’s overcoming”, and “Expansion of perspective due to new experiences”. Conclusion: The study found that participants experienced anxiety and fear during the transfer process and admission to the facility after confirmation, due to the lack of guidance and face-to-face interactions. The non-face-to-face treatment increased their anxiety, as they could not receive accurate information about their health conditions and care. This highlights the impact of inaccurate information regarding COVID-19 and media reports focusing on severely ill patients and deaths. In addition, the study participants experienced social stigma caused by COVID-19, resulting in changes in their interpersonal relationships and life attitudes. Implications are suggested based on the results of this study.

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the core concept of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) psychotherapy through the experience of psychotherapists by presenting an in-depth analysis of the formation and change process of their irrational beliefs. Methods: Data were collected through in-depth interviews with four REBT counselors selected through an intentional sampling process, and then analyzed and interpreted through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: After an in-depth analysis of the meaningful statements of the study participants, six themes and fifteen sub-themes were extracted. The six themes were ‘self-hindering thoughts’, ‘environments that amplify irrational beliefs’, ‘war and struggle for the self’, ‘realization of life strategies’, ‘my big self (I) that consists of countless smaller selves (i)’, and ‘life is a continuous self-therapy’. Conclusion: The results showed that REBT psychotherapists form their irrational beliefs through the overall evaluations of justification, exaggeration, and people that arise from important interactions with others, including their parents, and further reinforce these beliefs through internal and external compensation. These irrational beliefs led to evaluative judgment and self-discrepancy and negatively influenced the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects as well as their presence. These irrational beliefs internalized and transformed the rational beliefs that were confirmed through a debate on the separation between problems and people and, distancing, repeated self-talks, expanded from self-acceptance to others, and persisted through self-treatment methods

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning and nature of the experiences of adult patients infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) when they were teens. Methods: To this end, we analyzed how the experience was interpreted in their daily lives and what its meaning was through the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a new method of extensive qualitative research in the UK. Among the confirmed HIV infections in teenagers, three people who agreed to participate in the study were men in their 20s and 30s. Participants were interviewed in-depth to collect data and the data was analyzed and interpreted using IPA. Results: As the results, eight themes and 18 sub-themes were derived from meaningful statements through in-depth analysis, and these were categorized into 4 categories. The four categories included ‘shock and despair’, ‘realistic difficulties’, ‘barriers in relationships’, and ‘life transitions’. Conclusion: Adolescent infected persons had support from their families or surroundings, and this positively influenced on the recovery of infected persons. We discussed the implications of the understanding of HIV infection, changes in social perception, the need for correct sex education, and the experiences of teenagers infected with HIV, and suggested follow-up studies.