A visual depiction was rendered by each participant. I asked each participant to draw an
adapted version of the Kawa Model (2006); this provided a visual representation of the
participant’s life timeline. Briefly, the Kawa Model draws on a metaphor called The River of
Life. In this model, a drawing of a river symbolizes an individual’s current life circumstances or
a particular incident which he or she would like to reflect on; rocks symbolize obstacles;
riverwalls are representative of social and physical supports; and driftwood reflects personal
resources, traits, assets, and liabilities (Iwama, 2006). This model fosters reflection and allows
both the participant and the researcher visual talking points and further points for understanding. While the exact metaphor that defines the Kawa Model does not support the exact phenomena
that I aim to understand in this study, many of the underlying concepts do. For this study, I
prompted each participant to draw a river, which was defined as a timeline of his or her life. The
beginning of the river represented the beginning of the participant’s life; the end of the river
represented the day of the interview. I provided a description of other potential renderings that
could include people, events, experiences, decisions, and realizations. These prompts took place
as examples only when I felt that the participant needed further prompting.