Dissertation Oral Defenses

The purpose of this phenomenological hermeneutic study is to explore the experience of fragrance from a depth perspective. Published works in the arts, psychology, literature, and scientific studies show a surprising lack of attention to the intersection of scent, psyche, and soma. Scent has rarely been examined in depth psychology and is often limited to…

Through the ages, Odin has been a strong archetype of wisdom within the mythic imagery of the West as the god who has relentlessly pursued magic through sacrifice. He stands at the crossroads of shadow and light, a beacon for the individual poetic soul, inspiring great masterworks of art, literature and music. This dissertation explores…

This study is a theoretical exploration of a depth-oriented, psychoanalytic theoretical framework for EAP (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy) entitled DEAP (Depth Equine Assisted Psychotherapy). The elements of EAP are interpreted through a hermeneutic study of psychoanalytic perspectives, specifically object relations theory, self psychology, intersubjectivity, and relational analysis to better understand the therapeutic character of EAP. Particular…

The Dark Fantastic of Guillermo del Toro explores the myths, folkloric story forms, and Jungian archetypal images in three of his films, Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth, with a view to illumining how Del Toro constructs cinematic tapestries that are collages of numinosity, mythic-archetypal gestalts crafted of mythic fragments, folkloric story forms, and…

This phenomenological study offers a glimpse into understanding the unique experiences of the wives of child molesters. Data was collected and analyzed using Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological psychological method. Four women who are currently married to convicted child molesters were interviewed for this study. Participant demographic information and personal histories are detailed. Main themes and subthemes…

This hermeneutic and alchemical hermeneutic dissertation reviews Jungian literature related to body-based methods of practicing depth psychotherapy to address the problem of scant body-based Jungian psychotherapeutic modalities. It goes on to offer explanations of the various psychological aspects of four of the five Elements within Chinese medicine. It then offers four sequences of Five Element…

This multidisciplinary hermeneutic study used a lens shaped by the Jungian branch of depth psychology, business, and law to interpret and analyze family business advisory texts in order to identify the archetypes active in family business enterprises. The study identified Organization, Family, Business, and Ownership as the main archetypes energizing family business situations; noted the…

This dissertation focuses on the development of a positive, life-giving animus in a woman who has suffered childhood trauma; when integrated, the animus will assist and support her in speaking the truth of her soul. Drawing on Jungian theories of the animus as the contrasexual aspect of a woman, this research weaves together threads of…

This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the lived experience of white, American, middle-class international adoptive mothers. This project excavates the emotional, psychological and cultural sequelae of the international adoptive mother’s matrescence, her process of becoming a mother from the earliest stirrings of maternal desire to a mature adoptive motherhood 20 years later. Western culture hosts a…

This dissertation employs a hermeneutic methodology via deductive and imaginal approaches which chiefly rely on Liber Novus and Jung’s Collected Works to examine image 169 and critically situate the work in a hermeneutic framework. The purpose of this study is to explore the likely relationship between image 169 and Jung’s personal myth and his individual…

This quantitative study examines how attachment and masculinity influence men in their participation in social groups and support or therapy groups as measured by the ECR-RS (Fraley, Brumbaugh, Heffernan, & Vicary, 2011) and the MRNI-SF (Levant, Hall, & Rankin, 2013). An online survey was given to 308 U.S. male adults asking questions about their attachment…

This arts based hermeneutic phenomenological dissertation is a self-case study that explores extending the use of C. G. Jung’s active imagination from an adjunct to therapy to the role it can play in assisting in a creative formulation. This research explores the way in which active imagination can assist in initiating, navigating, and understanding not…

This dissertation seeks to understand how five women currently enrolled in doctoral level psychology programs emotionally and relationally experience the process of recovery from an eating disorder. Contemporary interdisciplinary discourses are inconsistent in their discussion of recovery, with differing accounts of what constitutes recovery and the typical course of recovery. Using a voice-centered and relational…

In this depth psychological, heuristic study, the author explores her sense of heightened personal perception as it is revealed through the powerful conduit of drawn facial expressions that link imaginal ways of knowing to outer ways of understanding the conscious world. Employing a/r/tography as a form of inquiry, the researcher draws upon her profound interaction…

This hermeneutic dissertation examines clinical and theoretical materials from depth psychology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, religion, and literature to understand the role of literal and symbolic death among key thinkers in depth psychology, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and James Hillman. Beginning with the Freud—Jung separation, then moving into the postmodern era with the arrival of James…

Focusing on the capacity of feminist mythology as cultural and psychological change agent, “Regenerating Magdalene: Psyche’s Quest for the Archetypal Bride” examines the history of the lost and degraded archetypal feminine of Western cultures as embodied in Mary Magdalene, whose resurgence via scholarship and the arts, is trending. Scholars in many disciplines have addressed facets…

In his foundational text, Re-Visioning Psychology, Hillman (1975) defined personifying as “imagining things in a personal form so that we can find access to them with our hearts” and stated that personifying “offers another avenue of loving” (p. 14). This study explores and demonstrates personifying as an applied, everyday practice of depth psychology—a way in…

This alchemical hermeneutic investigation studied the horse and human relationship from a historical and cultural perspective regarding how horses have psychologically benefitted humans throughout antiquity. The soul to soul interactions between humans and horses in their natural environment were investigated from a depth psychology perspective. The intention was to glean a more comprehensive understanding of…

This qualitative study explores the lived experience of five professional movie screenwriters who have suffered writer’s block, with the objective of gaining insight into the underlying psychological conflicts leading to this syndrome. The data include participant interviews; interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to organize and code the transcripts. Data analysis revealed five themes regarding…

This dissertation study utilized narrative approach to examine African American women’s lived experience of pursuing a doctoral degree in liberal studies in a predominately Caucasian environment. The purpose of this study was to explore women’s perceptions of their experience in order to address issues African American women continue to face while they pursue higher education.…