ABSTRACT
Grounded theories have unique potential for influencing clinical practice. The theory has grab; it resonates for those who have experienced the situation that the theory explains, or know or practice with those who have. A fundamental premise of grounded theory research is that people actively shape the worlds they live in through the process of symbolic interaction and that their viewpoints are vital to generating useful knowledge of process, interaction and social change. Grounded theories have unique potential for influencing clinical practice. Grounded theory is distinctive among qualitative research methods in that its goal is the development of substantive theory, that is, theory that accounts for a human behavior within a particular social context. Stories of others’ experiences are important “in evoking, persuading, and provoking; in promoting empathetic, feeling or visceral understandings of the people and events; in moving listeners and readers to act”.
