Dissertation Oral Defenses

Treatment of addictive processes is one of the specialties of clinical psychology. Practitioners hone their skills to relieve the suffering and ill effects of substance use. This dissertation explored sugar use, as an addictive process, through the lens of emotional regulation, addressing the research question: What is the lived experience of emotional regulation through sugar…

This hermeneutic study explores the literary landscapes of epic myth and depth psychology to illuminate the Greek Gorgon Medusa as an autonomous figure of myth. Her archetypal symbolism represents a foundational substrate for the West’s relation to and understanding of the feminine. This study asks what aspects of the archetypal feminine are denigrated and demonized…

This dissertation provides a theoretical, archetypal, and imaginal approach to integrating psyche and soma through the development and design of a distinctive movement praxis rooted in mythology, the Mythic Movement Practice. This proposed movement model is composed of eight Signature Moves that are based on the eight Effort Actions of Rudolf Laban’s Action Drive, as…

In our contemporary scientific exploration of reality there is heated debate on the nature of consciousness. Comparing the representations of consciousness in the depth psychology of Carl Jung and the Classical Yoga of Patañjali contributes to the argument on whether consciousness arises from psychic process or whether consciousness is the ground of Being. In Patañjali’s…

Adolescents and therapist professional development are two areas in psychological literature that have remained relatively untouched for more than 20 years. Research provides evidence that many adolescents suffer from mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety; yet there is a lack of appropriate care. Much of the research on adolescents and therapists who work…

This hermeneutic study with a depth psychological perspective explores Latvian traditional mythological legends using a close reading/active imagination methodology. It interprets the supernatural beings of the legends as images of the Shadow archetype that concern the legend tellers’ challenging experiences with material wealth and their sense of worthiness. The study is an important contribution to…

This dissertation explores the impact of awakening to the sacred feminine both in the researcher and in the members of Amalurra, an intentional community in the Basque Country of Spain. The intention of awakening to the sacred feminine triggered a process of descent into the depths of the participants’ personal unconscious through which they made…

Who was Sabina Spielrein? Clearly, with the release of the recent (2011) film, A Dangerous Method, the story of Sabina Spielrein is still stirring in collective consciousness, though the scope has been greatly limited. Outside of the current cultural trend of presenting Spielrein solely as C. G. Jung’s patient and/or mistress, relatively little is written…

From a reading of the Hebrew Bible itself it would be difficult to determine that a goddess culture existed for thousands of years prior to the appearance of the monotheistic Father God of Hebrew Scripture. As such, the repression of the Goddess during the Iron Age and the implications of this repression in our own…

The purpose of this hermeneutic dissertation is to explore the transformative potential and practical application of traditional hospitality in contemporary life. Through the examination and interpretation of literature pertaining to the evolution of hospitality and theories of depth psychology, this research deconstructs the basic perception of what it means to be hospitable and re-envisions hospitality…

This research explores edges, boundaries and borders. Presuming that modern experience is mediated through the negotiation of boundaries that are constructed unconsciously, this work compares, contrasts, employs, and encounters the writings of Carl Jung and Martin Heidegger. It gives attention to the way each thinker deals with the limitations that subject-object metaphysics impose on conceptions…

Classical, scientific, and Abrahamic origin stories of knowledge establish grounds. Upon excavating these grounds, this dissertation has found repeated and entangled emphases on isolation related to a materially grounded cosmology. The core evidence for this position comes from their comparable displays of the psyche/mind/soul/spirit’s entry into and/or imprisonment within body, the symbolic restraint of Classical…

This study examined women’s experiences before, during and after having bariatric surgery. By conducting an in-depth qualitative examination of the lived experiences of women who have had bariatric surgery, this dissertation sought to provide a framework for psychotherapists to assist patients with pre-surgical assessment, as well as with the provision of psychotherapy to bariatric patients…

This research study offers a revisioning of Black women’s rage, which is typically viewed as a destructive emotion offering no value to modern society. Through the use of multiple methodologies—alchemical hermeneutics, literary textual analysis, and a focus group—and examined through the theoretical lenses of depth psychology, mythology, Black feminism, and Black women’s literature, this dissertation…

The purpose of this research is to better understand the birth of psychoanalytic theories in the context of collaboratory and adversarial relationships. From the 1920’s, there were seminal papers that revealed theoretical variances which impacted collegial relationships and vice versa. Melanie Klein’s theoretical identity attracted attention as she transformed her observations of child play into…

Hidden within the many distractions of our modern day culture are people who have faced some of the darkest aspects of life and its unthinkable circumstances.  These same people have also triumphed over their difficulties in extraordinary ways.  This qualitative research dissertation explores the deep structure of numinous events in times of crisis and how…

Anorexia nervosa has been viewed as a culturally “Western” and modern disorder. Few researchers have seen the pattern of starvation in women as a violent protest in opposition to the devaluation of the feminine principle. This demonstration is directed toward one’s self and acted out against the body. Today, we see anorexia as a struggle…

The central hypothesis of this dissertation is that when an infant undergoes severe trauma, a phenomenon similar to the state of tonic immobility occurs, a concept that defines a reaction often observed in animals when faced with immediate danger. In psychological terms, one can observe what happens when the core self splits from the body,…

Jung’s theory of psychological types has often been marginalized by traditional Jungians for its complexity, misuse, opaqueness, and lack of depth. A proliferation of personality assessments exacerbates this shortcoming by operationalizing Jung’s theory through the introduction of quantitative measures. Scant attention has been paid to the relevance of psychological types with respect to unconscious aspects…

The Navajo deity, Changing Woman is not well known in the pantheon of goddesses, but she is everywhere. She is Earth, Feminine Creator, spirit, Feminine Spirit, Holy Spirit, breath, voice, the “Wisdom Feminine of the Old Testament, Ruach of Judaic thought, The Shekinah of the Cabbalists, Sophia of Gnosticism” (Moon, “Changing Woman” 164-165). She represents…