<p> Having worked with individuals suffering from eating disorders, I began to wonder what the psyche of a person with this affliction might look like. Could it be represented in a tangible form? Using a heuristic/artistic-creative methodological research approach, I went back to my personal journals, dreams, and artwork from the time I suffered from bulimia. I searched for recurring images from my own psyche that reflected the distorted relationship between persona, shadow, and Self. The inspiration for the costume design to create an imaginal representation of the psyche originated from a client, who made a remark in appreciation of the way a costume could make a statement about the inner world of a character in a play. This brought me to imagine an eating disorder as a character in a play. The exterior would exhibit the persona of perfection, but the interior world would contain the shadow with all of its conflicts and sorrows.</p>

<p>This thesis explores relational aggression within the context of the female gender. Relational aggression is addressed from an evolutionary, depth psychological, and research-oriented perspective. The question asked in this thesis is: Why do women participate in relational aggression against other women? This thesis uses hermeneutic and heuristic methodologies to excavate the feminine shadow. The author explores why women relationally aggress and examines the place of relational aggression within Western patriarchal society. Support for this work includes current research on relational aggression, exploration of objectification of the female gender, evolutionary theories, the depth psychological perspective, and personal thoughts. </p>

<p> Breast cancer survivors represent the largest proportion of cancer survivors, and the rate of young breast cancer survivors who are diagnosed before the age of 40 is increasing. Cancer survivorship has begun to address many aspects of survivors' quality of life, yet the role of work and career issues have been understudied. To explore the work lives and career development of young breast cancer survivors, this study consisted of qualitative interviews with 13 young women who were diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 40. Participants also completed the Quality of Life-Cancer Survivors (QOL-CS) Breast Cancer Version (Ferrell, Dow, &amp; Grant, 1995). The qualitative data was analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research Methodology (Hill et al., 2005; Hill, Thompson, &amp; Williams, 1997). The 11 domains that emerged from the data were: (1) discovery of breast cancer and the navigation of treatment; (2) career development: influences and sacrifices; (3) cancer-related work challenges; (4) coping with cancer-related work challenges; (5) re-appraisal of career development after cancer; (6) components of career and life satisfaction after cancer; (7) impact of breast cancer on life outside of work; (8) lessons learned from breast cancer; (9) thoughts about the future; (10) advice for other survivors; and (11) participants' feelings about participating. Overarching themes of re-appraisal and meaning-making appeared across the domains. The experience of breast cancer before the age of 40 intensified most participants' need for purpose in life. Many sought work that provided a sense of meaning, yet their need for financial security and insurance prevented some of them from having the freedom to make that sense of meaning the primary focus of their career or from redirecting their career paths to one that better expressed their re-appraised life meaning. Findings are integrated with literature on women's career development, Career Construction Theory (Savickas, 2002, 2005), and Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, &amp; Hackett, 1994, 2000, 2002) and implications for research and practice are discussed.</p>

<p> This thesis, through heuristic and artistic-creative modalities, explores embodiment in the intersection of Merleau-Ponty&rsquo;s sensuous phenomenology and depth psychology&rsquo;s archetypal feminine. The research argues that illness evokes or re-members the often unconscious relationship with the body that is the legacy of Cartesian dualism. The author references her own experience with multiple sclerosis to found the premise of the work&mdash;that meaning making of self and world is done through and by way of one&rsquo;s perceiving body. As illness shifts the taken-for-granted sedimentations of the lived body, in tandem a new lived body and surrounding world must be oriented to and made meaningful. Following a scholarly inquiry of Merleau-Ponty and the archetypal feminine, three art pieces are presented. Based upon radical reflection, the art represents the author&rsquo;s embodied coinherence with her surroundings, and points to conclusions and principles to bear in mind while working clinically with the chronically ill.</p>

<p> Through the use of artistic-creative methodology and alchemical hermeneutic exploration, this production thesis examines the creation of images and the process of dialoguing with them as a therapeutic tool, helping to heal and empower female trauma survivors. By acknowledging and interacting with images from the unconscious, one may begin to reintegrate split or dissociated parts of the Self, ultimately leading to the reunification of psyche. Drawing upon the theories of Jung, depth psychology, and expressive arts therapy, the author presents her personal journey toward healing, selfexpression, and empowerment, which involves active imagination and dialogues with created images. The production, two original paintings, illustrates the process of accessing the unconscious through interaction with images as a way of making meaning and healing from trauma, splitting, and dissociation. Using these ideas, mental health clinicians can gain an additional modality for the successful treatment of trauma survivors. </p>

<p>This thesis is a heuristic exploration, from a depth psychological perspective, of the relationship between shame and authentic voice for fatherless daughters living in a patriarchal culture. Literature is reviewed related to a definition of shame and understanding its etiology and psychological effects. Through a depth psychological analysis of the author&rsquo;s personal experience of abandonment by her father, the path toward healing shame is revealed as the capacity to be vulnerable enough to tell one&rsquo;s whole story in the presence of a loving and compassionate witness. This profoundly courageous act is what leads a fatherless daughter from a place of a silenced voice in the face of shame to a place of empowerment through sharing her authentic voice and moving toward psychological liberation. </p>

<p> This study focused on the perspectives of ten licensed mental health practitioners regarding the resilience of African American women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) who permanently leave male perpetrators. A generic qualitative methodology guided the exploration using individual face-to-face interviews. Data collection included individual semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions, which harmonized with the postmodern worldview and constructivist-interpretive paradigm that undergirded the study. After multiple cycles of data analysis cycles, five major themes emerged. The emergent themes were hope, family influence, self-concept, empowerment, and turning points. Maslow's hierarchy and Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory provided the theoretical framework for the analysis of the themes. The study presented a discussion of the implications of the themes for understanding the resilience traits of African American women IPV survivors. Such implications are relevant to researchers, policy-makers, counselors, counselor educators, health care workers, and other human services professionals who affect the treatment of this cohort.</p>

<p> This thesis is a heuristic exploration of the psychological death and rebirth women may experience during initiation into motherhood within American culture. Guided by the author&rsquo;s personal experience, dreams, and myths, this thesis examines the initiatory process and requirements of mothers-to-be and the cultural support typically available during the transformation occurring throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Evidence suggests that too little cultural awareness and structured support of new mothers&rsquo; psychological initiatory needs may adversely influence the onset of, and prolong, postpartum depression, a prevalent concern in the United States. In the absence of cultural support, archetypal motifs describing the symbolic and historic transition from maiden to mother may assist initiates through the complex psychological process of becoming mothers. Therefore, depth psychology may provide clinicians and laypeople with awareness of the important and timeless transition new mothers may face, as well as the language to both guide and witness maidens becoming mothers. </p>