<p> Betrayal trauma theory posits that victims of abuse perpetrated by someone close are more likely to dissociate from awareness of the abuse in order to protect the needed relationship. Shame may likewise protect the relationship by turning the victim's attention inward, thereby increasing the likelihood that the abusive environment will be overlooked. In this dissertation, the associations between shame, dissociation, and betrayal trauma were examined in two experimental studies. A third study examined the consequences of chronic shame. Aims were to determine whether shame and dissociation have a unique link with high betrayal traumas (HiBT), to understand the nature of the relationship between shame and dissociation, and to investigate the consequences of chronic shame. </p><p> In study 1, 124 female trauma survivors were randomly assigned to a high or low betrayal threat condition. Greater exposure to HiBT but not low betrayal traumas (LoBT) predicted increased shame and dissociation following high betrayal threat. Greater exposure to LoBT but not HiBT predicted increased fear following non-betrayal threat. Compared to non-dissociators, dissociators from threat endorsed more negative psychological consequences. </p><p> In study 2, 127 female trauma survivors completed a dissociation induction and battery of questionnaires. The bypassed shame theory, which proposes that dissociation serves to disconnect from the pain of shame, was examined. Results partially supported bypassed shame theory. Although feelings of shame led to a larger dissociation response to the induction, dissociation did not interrupt shame but rather led to even higher shame. Implications are discussed for a possible contributing role of shame to betrayal blindness. </p><p> In study 3, 247 trauma survivors completed online questionnaires addressing chronic shame hypotheses. Regression results revealed that all forms of chronic shame, especially trauma-focused shame, predicted negative health consequences. Correlation results revealed that HiBT was associated with more types of negative outcomes compared to LoBT and that HiBT but not LoBT was associated with chronic shame. </p><p> Taken together, results indicate that, like dissociation, shame may be both an adaptive and detrimental response following betrayal trauma and that emotional and cognitive responses other than fear warrant attention in trauma research and practice.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-11, Section: B, page: 7679. Adviser: Howard Berenbaum. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: B, page: 6739. Adviser: Sumie Okazaki. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-134) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> This study presents an existential-hermeneutic analysis of nine women's first-person accounts of extended periods of solitude. The accounts were analyzed along the five existential dimensions of spatiality, temporality, embodiment, language, and co-existentiality, producing a rich portrait of the women's lived experience of solitude. One of the first-person accounts was provided by the author of the study, who underwent three solitary retreats in the interest of this project, adding an autoethnographic component to the work. Theory from the existential-phenomenological, monastic, ecopsychological, and feminist literatures was applied to the data, enabling us to interpret the significance of the shifts the women experienced through an interdisciplinary set of lenses. The women experienced both subtle and profound shifts in their senses of self and modes of being in the world over the course of their retreats. In the absence of direct human relations, the women developed greater intimacy with things, non-human beings, and the Divine. Through the practice of simplicity, the women cultivated humility and more contemplative modes of seeing, revealing previously hidden contours of the material world and fostering a child-like sense of wonder. By leaving clock time and slowing down, the women became increasingly oriented toward the present moment, entrained to the rhythms of the natural world, and attuned to their desire. By retreating from the gaze of the (human) other, the women worked to heal a sense of alienation from their own bodies, experienced a respite from feminine performativity, and came to move through the world more seamlessly and comfortably. And by observing silence, the women cultivated the ability to listen beyond the human conversation and the chattering of their own minds, developed a more sacred relationship to language, confronted their emotional "demons," and found themselves increasingly drawn toward the poetic. Overall, through their solitudes, the women developed a greater stance of receptivity toward the more-than-human world, deconstructed elements of identity and modes of being aligned with the "false self," and recovered aspects of their lived experience which had been neglected or suppressed over the course of becoming an adult, and especially a woman, in the context of contemporary American culture.</p>

<p> The following study sought to explore transformative changes in self-esteem, self-perception of dance ability, and expressions of spirituality that may occur when adolescent girls not only participate in classical ballet classes, but also learn in a teaching model emphasizing compassion encouragement discipline technique. This study performed a pre and posttest using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the dance subscale of Vispoel's Arts Self-Perception Inventory (ASPI), and MacDonald's short version of the Expressions of Spirituality Inventory (ESI) on 27 adolescent girls ages 14 through 19 randomly divided into 2 even groups, comparison and experimental, who participated in a 5-week classical ballet course. Both groups were taught by the researcher. The comparison group was taught in a traditional dance instructor style paying most attention to the execution of the participants' steps and dance combination performance rather than any internal changes. The experimental group received the researcher-developed Compassion Encouragement Discipline Technique. Results of the pre and posttests of each of the inventories were compared and analyzed via an analysis of variance and discussed to explore the efficacy of this pedagogical style. Quantitative results indicated no statistical significance on standardized assessments measuring their self-esteem, arts (dance) self-perception, or expressions of spirituality. However, researcher observed differences in the comparison and experimental group were noted and discussed. Because transpersonal psychology allows for emotional transformation, this study contributes to furthering transpersonal literature by acknowledging the potential impact of student/teacher rapport in the compassion and empowerment-based teaching of classical ballet to adolescent girls.</p>

<p> This non-experimental quantitative study investigated the relationship between supervisory style, satisfaction with supervision, and the level of self-efficacy reported by the study participants. The study was based on counselor supervision theories found in the literature. The study investigated whether there was a difference between traditional and non-traditional students' perceived satisfaction with supervision and their level of reported self-efficacy. The Supervisory Style Inventory (SSI), The Satisfaction Questionnaire (SSQ), and Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) were the instruments used in this study. The study sample consisted of 72 female doctoral level graduate students who were completing, and post-doc fellows, who had previously completed, their internship training and clinical supervision at various Association of Psychology Postdoctoral &amp; Internship Center training sites in the United States. Correlational and regression analysis was used to investigate the questions and hypotheses one, two and three. Research question four used an Independent Sample <i>t</i> Test to test the difference between the variables. The results showed that there was not a significant correlation between supervisory style and satisfaction with supervision. However, there was a significant correlation between supervisory style, and level of self-efficacy reported by participants. Additional findings showed that there was not a significant correlation among traditional and non-traditional students' perceived satisfaction with supervision and level(s) of reported self-efficacy. Lastly, the research concluded that satisfaction with supervision and the level of self-efficacy reported by the study's participants, did have a significant relationship for both groups when comparing the traditional and non-traditional students who participated in this study.</p>

<p> The purpose of this organic inquiry and alchemical hermeneutic study was to explore the nature, essence, and archetype of <i>the other woman </i> with the goal of understanding how and why women become involved in triadic relationships. The study seeks to comprehend the lived experience of the other woman, including her history, character, behavior, ideologies, and desires. This study explored how and why other women are <i>othered </i> (i.e., cast out or rejected) in society, and the resultant effects upon them. A further goal of the work was to understand the dynamics of the triadic relationship from the other woman's point of view and to find ways to ease the pain experienced by all parties involved in and affected by these often complex and problematic relationships, which can lead to severe suffering, alienation, heartbreak, and in extreme cases, even murder or suicide. </p><p> Although she has been with us for eons, the other woman's true identity has been all but erased from existence. She has been buried in the shadows of society's taboos, relegated to the role of the scapegoat, and burdened with carrying negative projections of an ill-begotten stereotype. Using Carl Jung's theories of the archetypes and complexes and James Hillman and Pat Berry's archetypal psychology, the researcher explored and contrasted the lived experiences of the other woman stereotype and the other woman archetype portrayed in film over the last hundred years, as well as women in history, including pioneering feminist, Ana&iuml;s Nin, and the mother of depth psychology, Sabina Spielrein. The other woman archetype proved to be elusive because her identity has been mostly usurped by negative stereotypes. Further, the problems resulting from othering the other woman do not rest in the dyad or in the triadic relationship, but originate with the problem of the imbalance of masculine and feminine energy on the planet. </p><p> The researcher concludes with the hope that the other woman can be re-visioned as just "another woman," on an individuation journey towards the Whole Woman archetype. Keywords: Affairs, Betrayal, Feminism, Film, Individuation, Infidelity, Othering, <i>Whole Woman</i> Archetype </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: B, page: 1304. Adviser: Louise Fitzgerald. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 57-63) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1988. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-05, Section: A, page: 1292. Adviser: Leonard Grob.

<p> This thesis examines the psychosocial and cultural factors behind body modification practices of breast augmentation, female circumcision, and foot binding in order to understand the growing trend of cosmetic surgery. Body modification is examined through the lens of Albert Bandura&rsquo;s social learning theory using hermeneutic methodology that analyzes quantitative and qualitative data. Cross-cultural research on breast augmentation, female circumcision, and foot binding provides insight into how body modification practices are internalized through observational learning. The findings demonstrate that women are faced with social pressures to conform to physical ideals that often require modification of the body. Bandura&rsquo;s theory of self-efficacy provides insights into how women can exercise choice, personal agency, and self-direction to guide personal decisions pertaining to cosmetic surgery within the context of social pressures.</p>