Dissertation Oral Defenses

This study explores the impact of intergenerational trauma on the individuation process of second-generation Iranian Americans in the United States. Interpreted through a Jungian (depth psychological) lens, this research examines how unresolved familial trauma stemming from the 1979 Iranian Revolution continues to shape identify formation across generations. Using an alchemical hermeneutic approach, the study interprets…

Childhood trauma can significantly influence emotional development, attachment relationships, identity formation, and later experiences of parenting. Although a growing body of research has examined the effects of trauma across the lifespan, limited qualitative research has explored how first-time fathers with histories of childhood trauma experience raising their own sons. This study explored the lived experiences…

This research project is interested in the possibility of ontological transformation through investigating the conditions and pedagogical methods that support a shift from fixed, colonial ways of knowing and being toward relational, pluriversal ones. Thirteen Living Systems alumni served as co-researchers across seven collaborative data collection sessions, with the methodology itself enacting the relational ontology…

This qualitative study explored the cultural phenomenon of solo recreational neo-burlesque dance at the junctures of psychology and self-identified women’s sense of autonomy, embodiment, and sociopolitical stance under a patriarchal system of oppression. Under patriarchy, women are often made illegible, lacking a sense of their own being and meaning, by the inscription of societal and…

This dissertation develops archetypal systems psychodynamics as a theoretical extension of systems psychodynamics, integrating Jungian analytical psychology, post-Jungian archetypal psychology, and mythological studies to deepen accounts of unconscious group life in organizations. The problem addressed is that classical systems psychodynamics offers diagnostic lenses for task, role, authority, boundaries, and social defenses, yet often underspecifies the…

This heuristic inquiry examines martial arts practice as a site of psychological transformation and individuation. Drawing from Jungian depth psychology, somatic trauma theory, embodiment studies, and martial arts scholarship, the study explores how sustained martial arts training can intensify psychic tension, renegotiate traumatic patterns, and foster ethical development through embodied practice. The inquiry emerged through…

This phenomenological study explored how emerging adults (aged 18–29) live and make sense of the climate crisis. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, the research examined how participants understood, felt, and made meaning of the climate emergency, with particular attention on mental health implications. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed idiographically and across cases…

This study seeks to explore qualitatively the lived experiences of individuals who suffered from opioid use disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the role of isolation in substance abuse. Situated at the intersection of a global pandemic and an ongoing opioid epidemic, the study examines how pandemic-related disruptions, including social distancing, mask-wearing, and the loss…

This qualitative study investigated the clinical utility of using tarot to accessunconscious material within the intersubjective field of a psychotherapeutic dyad in the contextof counseling psychology. Framing a random draw of three tarot cards as an instance of oracularsynchronicity, the author suggests that clinically valuable information pertinent to unconsciousdynamics may be gleaned from the symbolic…

This dissertation examines psychopathy as a psychological, cultural, and archetypal phenomenonwithin the Western psyche. Rather than approaching psychopathy as a symptom of individualpathology, this study situates it within a depth psychological framework, exploring how thefigure of the psychopath may function as a carrier of the Western Shadow. Drawing uponJungian theory and forensic psychology, the research…

This research facilitates a dialogue between Jungian psychology and Advaita Vedānta, a Hinduspiritual tradition focused on freedom from bondage through knowledge of the Self. Inpreparation for knowledge of the Self, Vedānta requires emotional maturity through inquiry,values, and devotional practices such as karma-yoga and bhakti-yoga. However, traditionalpractices of Vedānta may overlook the significance of the unconscious…

Prisons in the United States are implementing prison dog-training programs (PDPs) in whichincarcerated people take care of and train canines for a variety of service-oriented tasks andpurposes. It is striking that these PDPs report successful outcomes within a prison system whereeffective and cost-efficient rehabilitation programs are often lacking. One of the most intriguingaspects of PDPs…

Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has reemerged as a promising therapeutic interventionaddressing a diverse set of mental health conditions. While existing research has largely focusedon quantitative studies, less attention has been given to the lived experience, particularly ofwomen. This topic remains underexplored, despite evidence that women are the largestconsumers of psychedelics. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation…

In the creative process, intention and spontaneity are distinct yet related positions of consciousness in relationship to the unconscious: planned and unplanned, directed and receptive. Both are necessary for creativity. Rather than binary opposites, intention and spontaneity could represent a relationship between two ways of perceiving: one that divides things into parts and one that…

This hermeneutical study provides an analysis of contemporary events and trends in modern America through a depth psychological lens, particularly analytical and archetypal psychology. Building upon the theory of archetypes postulated by psychologist C. G. Jung, this study focuses upon a particular archetype known as the trickster. Present in virtually every culture’s mythology, the trickster…

This dissertation explores both Jungian Psychology and autism by engaging with episodes and films from the Star Trek metaverse. Jungian concepts that will be discussed include the makeup of the psyche, including the ego, consciousness, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious, the shadow, the anima and animus, and the self. It will explore these parts…

This dissertation explores Carl G. Jung’s assertion that the primary task of our age is the anamnesis—the remembrance—of Sophia, the divine feminine archetype, through an alchemical hermeneutical analysis of the Gnostic poem, “Thunder, Perfect Mind,” discovered among the Nag Hammadi Codices in Egypt in 1945. Using psychologist Robert Romanyshyn’s (2013) wounded researcher model, the study…

This dissertation explores the role of companion animals in supporting the psychological well-being of older adults as they approach the end of life. Grounded in a psychoanalytic framework, this study examines how relationships with pets may function as sources of comfort, emotional regulation, and meaning-making during the aging process and in confronting mortality. While existing…

Within the field of psychology, it is commonplace to delineate therapeutic trauma work from non-trauma-focused therapy. This clinical divide portrays the theoretical position modern Western society takes on the incidence of psychological trauma, a position that assumes trauma is experienced only by a relative few. In recent decades, many theories have emerged suggesting psychological trauma…

Despite contributing to Alchemical studies, Jungian psychology has not yet sufficiently explored the vast diversity of Alchemical disciplines, across world cultures and epochs, from prehistory to modernity. Furthermore, Jungian psychology might be taking too much credit for “discovering” Alchemy’s psychological relevance without giving enough credence to Alchemy’s metaphysical insights. Yet many of Jungian psychology’s basic…