Conventional research strategies typically emphasize behavior-determining tendencies so strongly that the person as a whole is ignored. Research strategies for studying whole persons focus on symbolic structures, formulate specific questions in advance, study persons one at a time, use individualized measures, and regard participants as expert consultants. Two such techniques, Q-technique and the role repertory test, were used in a study of two college students with spinal cord injuries. Specific questions focused on a stage model of adjustment, the necessity of mourning loss prior to disability acceptance, and the manner in which values theorized to define disability acceptance change across time. A variation of the Critical Incident Technique was used to obtain descriptions of course-of-life landmarks. Both subjects used a 48-item Q sort to describe typical and ideal selves at each landmark episode; the role repertory technique was used to determine significant persons and the constructs defined by their roles. Factor analysis of the Q sortings showed distinctly different ways of adjusting to a major life disruption. The results enhance the sophistication of the stage model of adaptation as applied to individuals, and build on existing methods to enhance the systematic understanding of individuals. (JAC)