An Autoethnography on the Self-Differentiation Experience of a Middle-Aged Married Woman

Objectives The purposes of my story is to examine the marital life of a middle-aged woman from the perspective of self-differentiation on a reflective manner. Methods To descrive the marital life of middle-aged married woman from the perpective of self-differentiation, I employed autoethnography. I critically described the oppressive experiences I experienced while living as a middle-aged woman based on the concept of self-differentiation. For this purpose, memory data, recall data, interview data, etc. were analyzed and described. Results As a middle-aged married woman, my early marital life was in an undifferentiated state. Initially, I was undifferentiated from my parents, and I had not attained autonomy and independence in my relationship with my husband. The crises I faced in my marital life served as catalysts for self-differentiation, gradually experiencing it through emotional and financial independence. As a result, I found resolution to marital crises and discovered new meanings. Conclusions My story serves as a meaningful case in counseling, demonstrating the significance and value of self-differentiation in marital life.