Dissertation Oral Defenses
This research explored the psychological value of Vipassana practices in supporting African Americans’ well-being in the face of chronic and daily racism. Five African Americans who had attended a 10-day Vipassana course were interviewed to address the research question: What is the experience and perceptions of African American men and women who have completed a…
The topic being studied is the effects of Whiteness on the mental health services of African Americans in the United States. It is unknown how white mental health clinicians adapt their professional practices when working with African American patients and what barriers they identify throughout the therapeutic journeys when attempting to promote culturally competent treatment…
This hermeneutic study investigates the psychological impact and meaning of sound and considers what it may reveal about our relationship to the nature of reality. Sound’s influence on the psyche and its recurring characteristics are relatively unexplored in depth psychology. The new sciences, musicology, and cosmology help us better understand sound’s role in personal and…
Despite the vast literature available on the subject of anorexia nervosa, limited research has investigated anorexia among Mexican American women. Most of the research that has informed the diagnostic conceptualization of anorexia has been conducted with White Euro-American populations. Furthermore, the monopolization of Eurocentric epistemologies and empirical methodologies within the field of psychology has resulted…
Black women’s journeys to resilience are steeped in intergenerational experiences and multi-generational traumas, othering, racism, and environmental influences. In addition, each woman has her own lived experiences that shape her expressed energy in the world. The similarities of lived experiences of joy and pain does not diminish each woman’s individual and unique contribution to the…
This study utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the meanings made from experiences of childhood and adolescent bullying. Five participants engaged in semi-structured interviews that were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. The analysis yielded 5 primary themes and 6 subthemes. The results indicated that experiences of childhood bullying significantly impacted all participants’ sense of self.…
This dissertation is a depth psychological inquiry into the shadow of social work. The methodology is a phenomenological hermeneutic reading of contemporary texts, including the best-selling memoirs of figures affiliated with the Democrat and Republican political parties—Michelle Obama’s Becoming and J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, respectively—and the foundational documents and recent publications of the National…
In this dissertation, a contemplative and depth psychological lens is used to examine motifs of refuge in myth, fairytale, and sacred text. Refuge speaks to the collective need for quiet and retreat that ultimately helps one abide in the present moment. The awakened heart implies a counter intuitive move whereby we are asked to become…
The purpose of this study is to understand the patterns and signs of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue among clinicians who counsel sex trafficking victims. Specifically, this qualitative study seeks to understand the lived experience of clinicians by examining phenomenological patterns and signs of trauma and compassion fatigue that commonly arise when working with victims…
The purpose of this study is to understand the patterns and signs of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue among clinicians who counsel sex trafficking victims. Specifically, this qualitative study seeks to understand the lived experience of clinicians by examining phenomenological patterns and signs of trauma and compassion fatigue that commonly arise when working with victims…
Cultural philosopher Jean Gebser (1985) posited that humanity is presently in the throes of a critical historical process that, hinging upon our successful participation, may result in a mutation of consciousness whereby the presently dominant mental-rational structure of consciousness will transmute into what he called the integral structure. Gebser’s vision holds profound implications for the…
This dissertation examines the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur in the labyrinth as an exemplar for an active, agential labyrinth meditation practice. The myth’s applicability for meditative practice is ascertained through three psychological interpretations of the myth. A collective meaning and two interdependent individual psychological meanings are produced through use of Marie-Louise von Franz’s…
This dissertation examines the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur in the labyrinth as an exemplar for an active, agential labyrinth meditation practice. The myth’s applicability for meditative practice is ascertained through three psychological interpretations of the myth. A collective meaning and two interdependent individual psychological meanings are produced through use of Marie-Louise von Franz’s…
In the United States, millions of athletic injuries are sustained through recreational exercise and sports every year, causing physical distress and psychological instability. Injured athletes often experience depression, anxiety, anger, fear, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Few studies have explored athletes’ psychological states post-injury or how to assist injured athletes in understanding the symbolic dimensions and…
Using a phenomenological hermeneutic methodology, this dissertation engages the ideas of C. G. Jung and James Hillman to approach color theory from a depth psychological perspective. The question framing this inquiry is: “How might depth psychology benefit from a psyche-centered examination of color and color theory?” The investigative portions of the research name instances where…
This depth psychological exploration of life events as stories of the soul restores the soul‘s method of knowing and fosters a new relationship with the psyche. It utilizes a hybrid methodology combining hermeneutics and alchemical hermeneutics with autoethnography to explore the soul’s unfinished business in the personal, ancestral, and cultural psyche. The dissertation gathers multiple…
American canonical writer Ernest Hemingway created fictional portrayals of war and masculine themes. His lifelong battle with depression and family history of suicide has led to a fascination with the author’s personal life. This inherited psychological legacy could be considered a curse. However, this study suggests that the curse can be understood as the cultural…
Depth psychology holds that the individual’s inner images are potent mediums of knowing and experiencing. Manifest with their own spontaneity, affective qualities, and temporality, inner images bridge the connection between the internal and external worlds of experiencing and being. Explored papers in depth psychology, somatics, phenomenology, and expressive arts therapy, reflect the interrelationship and interconnection…
The purpose of this study was to explore and understand the clinical relevance of ancient Mesoamerican healing practices with the overall aim of creating a hybrid model of psychotherapy. This study utilized Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to interview three Toltec healing practitioners about their lived experiences, including their perspectives on healing, illness, spirituality, and psychological…
Despite the abundance of research that has been done on the cosmic, philosopher- musician Sun Ra there has not yet been a full study attending to the primacy of mythology in his life, thought, and music. This dissertation explores this mythic aspect and the multifarious stories that Ra told, as woven into the kaleidoscopic body…
