Dissertation Oral Defenses

This dissertation offers a non-prejudicial exploration of Satanism within the field of depth psychology, positing that this spiritual path of psychological individuation is not merely a misguided pursuit but an ongoing experimental odyssey with the Satanist’s psyche. To facilitate this alternative reading, the study employs the language of alchemy as a means to objectively characterize…

This qualitative study explores the lived experience of the numinous in therapy, asking how attuning to the mystical dimension can help embody and integrate numinous experience. Grounded in interpretive phenomenological research and Jungian perspectives, the study employs a case study methodology, adding a mystical lens and heuristic elements. Data is drawn from therapists’ published case…

Many Indigenous cultures view synchronicities as the voice of the cosmos borne of sacred reciprocity between all living beings. In 1925, founder of analytic psychology, C. G. Jung first encountered this concept while meeting a Pueblo elder in Taos, New Mexico. In 1951, Jung assimilated synchronicity into Western scientific thinking with the publication, “On Synchronicity,”…

Alchemical hermeneutics provides a transformative perspective, illuminating the psychological conflict between self-deception and individuation. The research finds that by exploring archetypal energies of the Shadow, Trickster, Lover, Warrior, and Sage obstacles are revealed affecting personal development while negotiating the complex terrain of love and betrayal. The dissertation discusses the archetypal and developmental effects of the…

This dissertation explored the psychological, cultural, and existential crises that face modern American men, particularly White, heterosexual, cisgender males, through the lens of depth psychology. It examined the ways in which the archetypal masculine (phallos) and the systemic forces of patriarchy shape—and often distort—male identity in the 21st century. As patriarchal structures wane, many men…

Utilizing Jungian theories of individuation as a critical perspective, this qualitative depth psychological study researched the distorting influence of the American cultural complex of individualism on psychospiritual development, with a focus on the exaggerated split between the individual and the community and its manifestations in the American psyche. Specifically, this research inquired into how the…

This study explores the lived experiences of six women diagnosed with fibromyalgia before and after a treatment with psilocybin. Through a mixed-methods framework, which includes the analysis of qualitative narratives using the Listening Guide Method paired with quantitative assessment measures, this research demonstrates the potential of psilocybin to support significant improvements in experiences of chronic…

This dissertation introduces the Nommo Gates of Healing, a new Afro-Indigenous framework created by Lakeisha A. Lucas, designed to address intergenerational trauma and post- traumatic slave syndrome (PTSS) experienced by Ojiji children, Black foster children in the United States. This Dissertation draws from African cosmology, Depth Psychology, and Indigenous traditions, by bridging autoethnographic storytelling, ritual,…

This hermeneutic study examines the phenomena of mediumship and spirit possession in relation to key concepts in Jungian and archetypal psychology. Providing first a comprehensive phenomenological description of a wide range of the phenomena, these descriptions are then compared to and contrasted with C. G. Jung’s theory of spirits as complexes; Henri Corbin’s concepts of…

The purpose of this hermeneutic study was to discover the implicit and explicit assumptions, biases, and values of psychology’s theories and therapies of homosexuality by exploring the conceptual models that have dominated therapeutic practice. The models include gay affirmative therapy and Cass’s six-stage model of homosexual identity development. Additionally, this study examined the balance of…

This study explored how acting can contribute to the healing of attachment trauma. Using a heuristic phenomenological approach and lived experience, the researcher asked two central questions: How can acting serve as a depth psychological intervention for attachment trauma healing? How can a Jungian framework help actors with attachment trauma integrate unconscious material experienced through…

African American women have an extensive legacy as laborers in the United States. Despite their long-term contribution to the American economy and overall advancement in higher education and professional fields, economic reports warned Black American wealth was on the road to imminent decline, post the COVID-19 global pandemic. Disparate outcomes across physical health, mental health…

Autistic communities have shared criticism, concerns, and trauma related to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and associated behavioral treatments (Kupferstein, 2018; Sandoval-Norton & Shkedy, 2019; Dawson & Fletcher-Watson, 2022; McGill & Robinson, 2020). Autistic voices have been excluded from research literature on this topic with only a few exceptions, however, paralleling marginalization of autistic perspectives in…

This dissertation developed a psychological framework based on Orthodox Christian anthropology, addressing the disconnect between the worldview of modern psychology and Orthodox Christian faith. Employing a hermeneutic methodology rooted in Orthodox interpretive principles, this research translated essential anthropological concepts into a psychological approach. This approach centered on the Orthodox understanding that human health depends on…

The purpose of this study was to explore how the individual experiences serve as rites of initiation for the adults who recreate in the San Gabriel Mountains. The study identified common themes within experiences that aligned with a rite of initiation as defined by depth psychology. The study utilized an interpretive phenomenological framework to analyze…

This study explores the potential relationship between the alchemical process of transmutation, unconscious symbolism, and storytelling in the externalization and integration of sexual trauma through the art of tattooing. This research investigates how symbols, dreams, and the transmutation process interact with personal stories through tattoos and provides an understanding of how this process might assist…

The purpose of this dissertation research was to understand what the stories and experiences of individuals from the Peak to Peak region in Colorado are regarding public land use and the ideologies that help to structure them. This qualitative case study was situated in a postcolonial Indigenous research paradigm that is dedicated to decolonizing research…

Mainstream psychology has tended to steer clear of religion and mystical experiences. Depth psychology, however, and particularly the work of Carl Jung and James Hillman, has not shied away from these elusive, difficult-to-define topics. With an explosion of interest in the non-ordinary states of consciousness involved in the use of psychedelic drugs in psychotherapy, where…

This study is a phenomenological exploration of the psychodynamic and psychoanalytic understanding of how prejudice is both integrative and disintegrative to the individual and collective psyche. Utilizing a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to explore, without prejudice, the phenomena of prejudice as it exists, the study examines how prejudice contributes to the development of The Self, reduces…

This study examines the psychological and emotional harm war inflicts on veterans, particularly the emotional strain of wartime choices, the enduring impact of guilt and repressed emotions, often manifesting as symptoms related to PTSD. By exploring the inner struggles veterans face when grappling with ethical dilemmas and the personal weight of their actions during combat,…