Pre-Verbal Trauma, Dissociation and the Healing Process Dorothy Dreier Scotten Lesley University
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Lesley University DigitalCommons@Lesley Educational Studies Dissertations Graduate School of Education (GSOE) 2003 Pre-Verbal Trauma, Dissociation and the Healing Process Dorothy Dreier Scotten Lesley University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/education_dissertations Part of the Education Commons, Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Commons, and the Trauma Commons Recommended Citation Scotten, Dorothy Dreier, "Pre-Verbal Trauma, Dissociation and the Healing Process" (2003). Educational Studies Dissertations. 87. https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/education_dissertations/87 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School of Education (GSOE) at DigitalCommons@Lesley. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Studies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Lesley. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lesley University, Sherrill Library http://www.archive.org/details/preverbaltraumadOOdoro LUDCKE LIBRARY Lesley University 30 Mellen Street Cambridge. IWA 02138-2790 FOR REFERENCE Do Not Take From This Room PRE-VERBAL TRAUMA, DISSOCIATION AND THE HEALING PROCESS A DISSERTATION submitted by DOROTHY DREIER SCOTTEN In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Lesley University November 1,2002 fn lovlmg memory of Smnt Ajath Singh, I aedlemte tbis Journey of disoovery , AKNOWLEDGEMENTS How truly blessed I feel with the loving presence of all my family, friends, colleagues, and participants who have supported this work from beginning to end. I formally acknowledge: my beloved mentor, Dr. Lisa Wolfe, whose gracious support love, and patience sustained me; Dr. Vivien Marcow-Speiser, my former committee chair who gave this research life; Dr. Dina Comnenou, my committee chair whose final support, understanding and aplomb has enabled me to persevere; my committee members, Drs. Judy Campbell and Maxine Salvatore, whose love, support, and academic rigor have helped me to focus and to work with more clarity and understanding. I also give much appreciation to Jo Ann Gammel, of the Doctoral Program whose encouragement and good cheer was blissfully received and to Dr. Frank Davis whose quiet mien gave me a purposeful model. I give thanks to my family: children, Elizabeth and Douglas, Kathleen and James; Matthew and Angela; grandsons, Daniel and Nathan; brothers and sisters-in law, George and Linda, and Larry and Christine. I thank my dear friends, Tracy Leddy, Roxane Coombs, Dr. Van Wallach, Dr. Apostolos Doukas, Martha Lazarus, Joyce Steadman, Jane Struss, Rona Trodderman-King; Mary Pillot; China Clarkson;Loma McGuiness and Julie Mulloy; Susie and Howie Ulfelder; my dear brothers and sisters of the Sangat of Sant Mat, including Dolores and Paul Elliot, Bonnie and Steve Arky, Sonnie and Dominic Cucinotti, and Elaine and Bob Horn; my blessed friends and mentors from the Vineyard, Susan and Bud Macy, Jo Ann Rice,Amy Zoll;Florrie Mills and Heather Rynd; my friends at the Church of Good Shepherd, Rev. Gale Morris, Sonja and Bruce, Beverly, and Sun; friends and associates of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; my students and other dear friends, past and present who lovingly present me with the gift of their own exceptional being-in- the world. Please do forgive me for omitting your names —you are very much in my heart. Again, a very special thank you to all the participants in this study whose courage remains undaunted: Clara, Ann, Susan and Beth: I salute you all. PRE-VERBAL TRAUMA, DISSOCIATION AND THE HEALING PROCESS Dorothy Dreier Scotten ABSTRACT This qualitative research study examines some of the ways in which the healing process takes place in adults who have experienced dissociation, and who have most likely been psychologically traumatized before full language development. The impact of early trauma on human cognitive, socio-emotional, and spiritual development are explored within the context of participant narratives in order to develop an understanding of what may be helpful in developing effective teaching strategies for clinical and teacher education. In-depth interviews were conducted with four adult persons who had been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. All had histories of infant psychological trauma and all had undergone their own recovery process. Qualitative methodology used included autoethnography, heuristic inquiry, phenomenology and grounded theory. A cross-case analysis of the four study participants yielded themes of recursivity, social change, metaphor and cognitive restructuring. The undergirding of participant healing process was the expression that their healing was a soul-centered activity and was also a cognitive act that helped to break the cycle of their dissociative thinking processes. Participants said that they needed to engage in both activities to become integrated persons. Implications for clinical and teacher training bore witness to these underlying dissociative processes by yielding a teaching technique that would help dissociative 4 persons learn in a more integrated associative way. This method, called Sensate teaching, is based on the application of metaphor wherein both subjective and objective experience are used as an aid to concretize and internalize learning. Issues for further inquiry and exploratory research included considering: 1) the concept of dissociation and its cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural implications; 2) pre- verbal issues, dissociation and the attenuation of a culture of violence in schools and society; 3) the need for an integrated curriculum that brings together the 'heart and head'; and 4), the question of identity and transference for the teacher-trainee —its importance in educational settings. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE: INTRODUCTION I. Outline of Dissertation 8 n. Personal Statement 1 ni. Statement of the Problem and the Research Question 12 1. Statement of the Question 12 2. Placing the Question in Context 12 3. Methodology Introduced 12 4. Purpose of this Study 15 IV. Presuppositions 16 PART TWO: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE I. Underlying Theories and Assumptions 19 n. Developmental and Trauma Literature 19 1. Normal Language Development 19 2. Theories of Language Development 21 3. Conclusions: Language Development 25 4. Normal Cognitive and Socio-emotional Development 26 5. Psychological Trauma 34 a. Trauma Theories 35 b. The Effect of Infant Trauma on Early Language Development 37 6. Conclusions/Questions for Discussion 42 7. Indications for Further Study 44 ni. Dissociation: An Overview 45 1. Introduction 45 2. Definition of Dissociation and Dissociative Disorders 45 3. History of Dissociation 50 4. Current Research 61 a. Advancement in the Field of Dissociation 61 b. The Evolution of Treatment 62 (1) The First Generation 62 (2) The Second Generation 63 (3) The Third Generation 64 5. Current Treatment Models 65 a. Hypnotherapy 66 b. Psychodynamic Therapy 68 c. Ego-State Therapy 69 d. Family Systems Therapy 70 e. Cognitive Restructuring 73 f. EMDR 73 g. Expressive Arts Therapies 74 h. Summary/Conclusions 80 IV. Psychological Healing as a Spritual Process: An Overview 84 1. Eastern and Western Ways of Knowing 85 2. Healing as a Soul-Centered Activity 88 3. Healing from the Western Perspective 93 a. Transpersonal Psychotherapy 94 4. Healing from the Eastern Perspective 99 a. Buddhist Psychology 100 b. Hindu Psychology 106 5. Summary/Conclusions 111 V. Concluding Remarks: Literature Review 1 14 PART THREE: METHOD AND FINDINGS I. Introduction 117 n. Research Design and Methods 1 17 m. Precedents for Methodology and Research Design 130 rV. Pilot Autoethnographic Study Researcher's Process: Healing Through the Arts 131 1. Introductory Remarks 131 2. Treatment 137 3. Concluding Remarks 155 V. Participant Choice 157 1. Criteria 157 2. The Interview Guide as Basis For Thematic Exploration 157 3. Procedure 159 4. Participants 160 VI. Identification of Emergent Themes 163 Vn. Findings 164 1. Categories and Participant Expressions and Emergent Themes 164 a. Pre-Verbal Experience 164 b. Experience of Dissociation 169 c. Experience Before Recovery 173 d. Participants' Definition of Healing/Integration/Recovery 178 e. Breakthroughs/Landmarks in Recovery 180 f. Experience After Recovery 184 g. Experience of What Was Helpful in the Healing Process 190 h. Future Projections 223 2. Synthesis 226 PART FOUR: CONCLUSIONS I. Introduction 229 n. Dialogue With Presuppositions and Pilot Study 229 TTT - Dialogue With The Literature Review 237 IV. 248 251 256 260 262 265 265 267 269 BIBLIOGRAPHY 271 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Outline of Dissertation In my effort to structure this dissertation within the parameters of an experiential methodology, I partially adapted an outline of another dissertation (Thayer, 1995) to support a more phenomenological mode of inquiry. To this end, I have divided the paper into four parts: Part One, or the Introduction , focuses on introducing the study. This includes a definition of terms, a brief personal statement describing the origins of my interest, the statement of the problem and the research question. I then place the question in context and introduce the methodology and purpose of this study and my own presuppositions or assumptions. Part Two, A Review of the Literature , surveys some of the prominent underlying assumptions and theories that exist in the professional literature. The review explores developmental language