Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Jan 17, 2008). Includes bibliographical references.

M.A.(Clinical Social Work) / In South Africa, trauma is a vivid reality for many children. Unfortunately due to a lack of resources and knowledge, many children in early childhood who experience trauma symptoms are left untreated. Children in this developmental phase of early childhood, have a limited vocabulary, which adds to the challenge of effectively treating trauma through alternative talk therapies. Neurotherapies like Eye Movement Integration Therapy (EMI), which does not rely on the verbal ability of the child, has therefore gained a lot of interest. The goal of this study was to explore whether EMI can be a useful intervention in treating trauma in early childhood. The objectives included to, i) determine whether or not a change in trauma symptoms was evident from pre- to post-EMI intervention, using the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC); ii) explore the perceptions of parents/caregivers regarding EMI’s effectiveness in the reduction of trauma symptoms; and iii) formulate conclusions and recommendations regarding EMI’s implementation as a trauma intervention with children in early childhood. The researcher followed an exploratory design. The one-group pre-test/post-test design was utilised for conducting the study. The study made use of the Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC), a parent/caregiver report that measures the prevalence and intensity of trauma symptoms like anger, anxiety, dissociation, post-traumatic stress intrusion, post-traumatic stress avoidance, post-traumatic stress arousal, post-traumatic stress total and sexual concerns, in order to determine if a single EMI session could produce a change in trauma symptoms. The group was measured prior to the administration of one EMI session, which according to Beaulieu (2004) is sufficient to result in a measurable change in trauma symptoms. Two weeks later the group’s symptoms were re-measured, using the same instrument. The prescribed EMI protocol was followed. Although the findings from studies of EMI with adults and teenagers appear promising, the usefulness of EMI with young children has not been explored. The results from the study indicated that all of the symptoms as measured by the TSCYC reduced significantly (p<.05) after a single EMI session. It would therefore appear as if EMI might be a useful intervention strategy to treat trauma experienced during early childhood.

D.Phil. / Profound psychological trauma, which may lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can continue to negatively impact the lives of its victims for years after its occurrence. Psychological trauma is seen across cultures in people of all ages, the world over, and South Africa’s high levels of crime and violence, HIV and AIDS, and road accidents, make the topic especially pertinent. The symptom clusters of PTSD, included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition – text revised (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000), namely Re-experiencing, Avoidance and numbing, and Increased Arousal can lead to significant distress and may interfere with all facets of life, including social functioning, career goals, romantic relationships, leisure activities, and mental wellbeing. The effects of trauma in childhood may be different than when it occurs in adulthood, due to developmental processes occurring on physical, emotional, and cognitive levels (e.g. Drell, Siegel, & Gaensbauer, 1993; Perrin, Smith, & Yule, 2000). As such it is clearly important to understand the effects of trauma specific to children. A fair amount of literature is available which discusses the emotional and psychological consequences of trauma in children. Similar studies with regard to PTSD are also available. However, a holistic picture of either psychological trauma, or PTSD in childhood should also include neuropsychological aspects, functions such as attention and concentration, planning, organisation, psychomotor speed, and memory in which dysfunction may interfere with children’s development and futures. Although the field of neuropsychology has traditionally investigated how the brain responds to physical trauma or disease processes, recent decades of technological advancement have made it possible to understand that psychological trauma may actually result in neurobiological abnormalities.

The false/ recovered memory debate has highlighted the complexities involved in assessing the validity of memories for emotional childhood events. This dissertation begins by tracing the history of the dominant school of thought on memory, the spatial perspective, as well as far less conspicuous reconstructive views, and challenges influential modern spatial views (e.g., repression) in light of a more defensible reconstructive model. The empirical component of this dissertation was designed to compare the nature of real, created, and fabricated childhood memories for emotional events within individuals. The critical issues being addressed in the experiment were: (1) whether people could come to remember false ("created") memories for emotional events; (2) if so, whether differences existed between created memories and real and/or intentionally lied about (fabricated) memories, and; (3) whether there were individual differences in susceptibility to created memories. Using a variation of an approach developed by Hyman, Husband, and Billings (1995), a questionnaire was forwarded to participants' parents inquiring about six categories of negative emotional events (serious medical procedure, serious animal attack, getting seriously hurt by another child, serious indoor accident, serious outdoor accident, and getting lost) which the participant may or may not have experienced between the ages of 4 and 10 years. Parents were asked to describe each event which had occurred and to give a number of specific pieces of information relating to the event. Based on the questionnaire information (85% response rate), 77 participants were interviewed about each of a: (1) real event; (2) false event; and (3) fabricated event, in three weekly-spaced interviews. Over the three interviews, the interviewers attempted to implant a created memory for the false emotional event using encouragement, context reinstatement, guided imagery, and instructing daily recall attempts. In the first interview, participant were asked about the real event and the false event (counterbalanced), each introduced as a true event. They were provided the event tide and four specific pieces of information to cue their memories (their age, location, season/ month, and people present), based on questionnaire information (contrived for the false events). In the second interview, participants were re-interviewed about their memories for the false event followed by the implantation procedure. In the third interview, participants were again interviewed about the false event with the same interview approach. Finally (after the last attempt at recalling the false event), they were provided written instructions to fabricate a childhood memory, again with an event category and four information clues, given preparation rime and a monetary incentive, and interviewed about the fabricated event with the same format as the other two memory types. Following transcription of the two or three (if a created memory had emerged) final memory reports, the memories were compared on several dependent measures, collectively designated the Memory Assessment Procedure (MAP), relating to their subjective and presentation characteristics. Participants were then asked to complete a Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) questionnaire to examine if susceptibility to created memories was related to a general dissociative cognitive pattern. Results indicated that twenty (26%) of participants created complete memories for the false emotional events (seven animal attacks, five instances of getting seriously hurt by another child, four serious outdoor accidents, three episodes of getting lost, and one medical procedure). Furthermore, 29.9% of participants reported some false information pertaining to the false event ("partial" memories), for a total of 55.9% of participants recalling information relating to the false event. The remaining participants (44.2%) reported no information pertaining to the false event. There were several interesting differences among the three memory types, including stress ratings, vividness/ clarity ratings, confidence ratings, coherence, number of details, repeated details, and memory failures. For example, when relating a created memory, participants were less confident and the memories were less vivid and detailed compared to the other memory types, but similar in sensory components and relevancy. On the other hand, participants were highly confident in their fabricated memories which were rated as highly stressful and vivid, and the memories were detailed. However, when relating a fabricated memory, participants repeated details and were less willing to admit lacking memory, relative to real memories. Other findings are reported on the origin of the created memories, age factors, memory perspective, reasons provided for first forgetting the false event, and post-interview confidence in the created memories. On the DES , participants who had come up with a partial or a created memory scored, on average, about twice as high as those participants who had recalled no false information, indicating that susceptibility to memory distortion may be related to a general dissociative pattern. This was the largest scale created memory study to date and the first to look at a variety of emotional childhood events and the content of the memories. Implications of the findings for the false memory debate and memory assessment in forensic contexts are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Minnesota, 2007. / Advisers: Ann Masten, Monica Luciana. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-248).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-248).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, San Francisco, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

M.A. / Since 1994, there have been various changes in social work in South Africa, changes that reflect developments in international social work. Social workers are described as generalist practitioners, who must be able to address their clients’ problems on different levels of service delivery and drawing on an eclectic range of theories and intervention models. Trauma is a definite reality in South Africa and only one of many problems that social workers face. Eye Movement Integration Therapy (EMI) is a therapy that has its roots in neurolinguistic programming (NLP). Steve and Connirae Andreas researched the possible link between eye movements and therapeutic growth. Subsequently EMI was developed to facilitate the reduction of trauma symptoms. Danie Beaulieu studied under the Andreas’s and developed the technique further. According to contemporary research, the amygdala is responsible for storing trauma memories. These memories are fragmented, as they are stored in the sensory modalities and have no narrative. The precise mechanisms of EMI are still unknown. It appears, however, that EMI, with its 22 eye movements, assists with the integration of fragmented trauma memories. The effectiveness of EMI with the adult population has been studied, but not its usefulness with children. The goal of this study was therefore to explore the usefulness of EMI in overcoming childhood trauma. A sample of 12 children, aged 14-16 years, who had experienced trauma, underwent a single session of EMI with the researcher. A multi-method approach was utilised as both qualitative and quantitative methods were implemented. The quantitative component took the form of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) administered before and after the single EMI session. The qualitative component of this study had two parts, namely a semi-structured interview with the parents/caregivers of the children conducted after the EMI session, and a journal that the researcher kept throughout the data collection process. The study found that EMI effectively and significantly reduced the trauma symptoms of the respondents. The successful clinical application of the intervention with children also showed that EMI is a useful technique in the recovery from childhood trauma.

The false/ recovered memory debate has highlighted the complexities involved in assessing the validity of memories for emotional childhood events. This dissertation begins by tracing the history of the dominant school of thought on memory, the spatial perspective, as well as far less conspicuous reconstructive views, and challenges influential modern spatial views (e.g., repression) in light of a more defensible reconstructive model. The empirical component of this dissertation was designed to compare the nature of real, created, and fabricated childhood memories for emotional events within individuals. The critical issues being addressed in the experiment were: (1) whether people could come to remember false ("created") memories for emotional events; (2) if so, whether differences existed between created memories and real and/or intentionally lied about (fabricated) memories, and; (3) whether there were individual differences in susceptibility to created memories. Using a variation of an approach developed by Hyman, Husband, and Billings (1995), a questionnaire was forwarded to participants' parents inquiring about six categories of negative emotional events (serious medical procedure, serious animal attack, getting seriously hurt by another child, serious indoor accident, serious outdoor accident, and getting lost) which the participant may or may not have experienced between the ages of 4 and 10 years. Parents were asked to describe each event which had occurred and to give a number of specific pieces of information relating to the event. Based on the questionnaire information (85% response rate), 77 participants were interviewed about each of a: (1) real event; (2) false event; and (3) fabricated event, in three weekly-spaced interviews. Over the three interviews, the interviewers attempted to implant a created memory for the false emotional event using encouragement, context reinstatement, guided imagery, and instructing daily recall attempts. In the first interview, participant were asked about the real event and the false event (counterbalanced), each introduced as a true event. They were provided the event tide and four specific pieces of information to cue their memories (their age, location, season/ month, and people present), based on questionnaire information (contrived for the false events). In the second interview, participants were re-interviewed about their memories for the false event followed by the implantation procedure. In the third interview, participants were again interviewed about the false event with the same interview approach. Finally (after the last attempt at recalling the false event), they were provided written instructions to fabricate a childhood memory, again with an event category and four information clues, given preparation rime and a monetary incentive, and interviewed about the fabricated event with the same format as the other two memory types. Following transcription of the two or three (if a created memory had emerged) final memory reports, the memories were compared on several dependent measures, collectively designated the Memory Assessment Procedure (MAP), relating to their subjective and presentation characteristics. Participants were then asked to complete a Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) questionnaire to examine if susceptibility to created memories was related to a general dissociative cognitive pattern. Results indicated that twenty (26%) of participants created complete memories for the false emotional events (seven animal attacks, five instances of getting seriously hurt by another child, four serious outdoor accidents, three episodes of getting lost, and one medical procedure). Furthermore, 29.9% of participants reported some false information pertaining to the false event ("partial" memories), for a total of 55.9% of participants recalling information relating to the false event. The remaining participants (44.2%) reported no information pertaining to the false event. There were several interesting differences among the three memory types, including stress ratings, vividness/ clarity ratings, confidence ratings, coherence, number of details, repeated details, and memory failures. For example, when relating a created memory, participants were less confident and the memories were less vivid and detailed compared to the other memory types, but similar in sensory components and relevancy. On the other hand, participants were highly confident in their fabricated memories which were rated as highly stressful and vivid, and the memories were detailed. However, when relating a fabricated memory, participants repeated details and were less willing to admit lacking memory, relative to real memories. Other findings are reported on the origin of the created memories, age factors, memory perspective, reasons provided for first forgetting the false event, and post-interview confidence in the created memories. On the DES , participants who had come up with a partial or a created memory scored, on average, about twice as high as those participants who had recalled no false information, indicating that susceptibility to memory distortion may be related to a general dissociative pattern. This was the largest scale created memory study to date and the first to look at a variety of emotional childhood events and the content of the memories. Implications of the findings for the false memory debate and memory assessment in forensic contexts are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate