Dissertation Oral Defenses

This study investigates the female agency present or developed within the Sumerian narratives of “The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi” and “Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld,” the Akkadian narratives of “Ishtar’s Descent into the Underworld” and “Ereshkigal and Nergal,” and the Greek myth of “Persephone and Hades” found within the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. This…

This qualitative research ceremony inquired into the meaning of the phenomenon of Black people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. It was performed within an Afro-feminine indigenous approach integrating principles from the Yoruba-Ifá spiritual cosmology. Within this framework, the phenomenon of Black people experiencing homelessness was privileged as the subject of the research inquiry, pivoting the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the image of the hidden, the invisible, and the unknown through an encounter with the mythic figures of Kore/Persephone, Demeter, Hekate, Hades, and Zeus in the Homeric “Hymn to Demeter.” This art-based research project culminated in an expressive arts video that engages the living images and subsequently…

Numinous experiences (defined in this study as direct, unwilled experiences which evoke a sense of being gripped or seized by a powerful affective state of trembling fascination in relation to a mysterious non-ego ‘other’) are described as having both fragmenting and healing effects. Due to the prevalence of stigma, these encounters are often marginalized and…

This dissertation examines the Jungian concept of holding the tension of the opposites. Weaving together literature related to dance, somatic theory, yoga therapy, and depth psychology this study offers an embodied access point to create a deeper understanding of this theory. Case studies and heuristic research methods are employed, including interviews and personal experiences, in…

What are the roles of White people in disrupting White supremacy? A long lineage of White, antiracist action exists in solidarity with coalitions of People of Color, in which White people are called to educate and organize other White people as part of challenging White supremacy and building antiracist White identity. What praxes are most…

Arising in the context of growing interest in mindfulness and the intersections of community psychology and somatic psychology, this study examined dynamic, transient, and dialectical aspects of the shared emotional connection dimension of psychological sense of community (SOC) in the phenomenon of experiencing simultaneously the tensions of feeling both sense of community and lack of…

This heuristic self-inquiry explored the impact of betrayal trauma on the bodysoul. Using Authentic Movement and active imagination, the author tracked and recorded details of her animate, embodied experience of suffering following betrayal trauma and noted how those details were catalysts to healing and progression on an individuation path as described by C. G. Jung.…

The Alice Griffith community is embedded in an unresolved historical relationship with systemic racism. After decades of deliberate marginalization in San Francisco and centuries of systemic violence in the United States, to correctly address the alienation and the psychiatric implications of serial forced displacement community-led initiatives, grounded in professional support that center dialogue, participatory citizenship,…

This study explores, develops, describes and engages with the concept of archaic pilgrimage as it is mythopoetically enacted in W. G. Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn (1998). This text is mined for the archetypal aspects of trauma as it surfaces within melancholy. Particular attention is given to the way memory engages us with history, facilitating…

Adopting a phenomenological approach within an ecopsychological setting, this study delved into participants’ experiences of agency in equine-assisted counseling (EAC). Audiovisually recorded experiences and testimonies of 27 participants were examined. The findings confirm that agency is embodied: All agentic processes, including deliberate choosing and acting, encompass somatic responses or bodily wisdom. Moreover, this research has…

This research focuses on the parallels between the Underworld journey of Persephone, from the Greek text the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, and the journey through the Underworld of sexual assault, with its own path of return and recovery. This project highlights the mission of The Grateful Garments Project and local sexual assault response teams (SART)…

A transformation in O is Wilfred Bion’s most esoteric concept. O stretches contemporary psychoanalytic thought out of object relations and into the numinous. Much has been written in attempts to understand O, and to understand Bion’s shift into what some consider to be more mystical realms. Pages have been written regarding the philosophical origins of…

This inquiry is a cultural and historical hermeneutic that maps classical Jungian anima/animus theory over the lives and work of selected female Surrealist artists and writers. The goal is to see how this data might expand or reconfigure the concept of Individuation as Jung describes it. Enriching this study is special attention paid to the…

The purpose of this research is to explore archetypal themes underlying alcoholism in women. Using a case study method, it explores the effectiveness of sandplay therapy for women by asking the question: how does the presence of symbols of feminine shadow contribute to the emergent transformation process in sandplay for women with addictive disorders? After…

A qualitative, phenomenological study investigates how unresolved effects of combat trauma in American fathers who served in the Vietnam War manifest in their descendant children. Discernible effects on psychological development and general outlook in life were observed for seven participants, resulting from dysfunctional parenting, indirect trauma, and shared unconscious imagery. Findings are consistent with previous…

Masculinity has been in a state of disruption over the past 50 years. From the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s to the #MeToo movement at present, the traditional framework of what masculinity has looked like no longer seems appropriate. Thus, men and women may benefit from a re-visioned model of masculinity that clearly separates…

The conceptual split between nature and culture has become a foundational part of how modern western culture relates to its world, shaping not only taxonomy and perception, but also the very physical design of modern life. That split has exerted a subtle but important influence on both traditional depth psychology and its modern offspring, ecopsychology,…

This study offers an original contribution to the field of clinical psychology by integrating the theory of the nonsensuous psyche with the practice of psychotherapy. The concept of the nonsensuous psyche was developed in relation to psychoanalysis by Wilfred R. Bion, who built from a philosophical tradition stemming from Plato to Immanuel Kant and the…

There are many times throughout a woman’s life when it is necessary to stand in her own unique way. The ability to listen to her own voice and not be influenced by family, friends, institutions, or by society is what Carl Jung theorized as the individuation process. This dissertation explores the lived experiences of women,…