CityU Scholarly Work (Restricted)
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Contains access-restricted scholarly work from City University of Seattle students, faculty, and staff.
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Item Re-Authoring Identity: How Narrative Group Therapy Supports The Metabolization Of Grief In Later In Life Coming Out(2025-09) Tickner, TiffanyResearch on grief among older 2SLGBTQIA+ adults (ages 35–60) experiencing Later-in-Life Coming Out (LLCO) is limited. Mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety, and suicidality are heightened by minority stressors like stigma, discrimination, poverty, and reduced access to care, factors rooted in heteronormative discourse. These intersecting stressors, combined with relational disruptions, shifting family roles, loss of safety or privilege, missed milestones, and internalized oppression, can compound four key types of LLCO grief: anticipatory, ambiguous, disenfranchised, and non-finite grief. Current research shows that processing grief in a group setting supports emotional healing, reduces mental health challenges, fosters more affirmative 2SLGBTQIA+ identity narratives, and builds a sense of community that lessens isolation. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, minority stress theory, and narrative therapy, this capstone explores how these grief experiences intersect with identity formation and examines how narrative group therapy can help metabolize LLCO grief while fostering more empowering and affirming narratives.Item Family Matters: How Interpersonal Mattering Can Guide Stepparents in Their Journey to Becoming Securely Attached with Their Stepadolescents(2025-09) Bergman, AndrianaThis graduate project examines the role of interpersonal mattering in creating the relational ethos from which secure attachment can unfold in the stepparent-stepadolescent relationship. Stepfamily formation presents a complex and multifaceted process shaped by cultural, social, emotional, and historical dynamics that influence how mattering is both expressed and perceived in second-time families. A comprehensive literature review examines challenges and supportive factors at the adolescent, stepparent, and family system levels that affect the development of interpersonal mattering. Findings underscore the pivotal role of mattering in promoting secure attachment bonds, positive holistic outcomes for adolescents, and stepfamily integration. Drawing on these insights and informed by theories grounded in attachment science the author proposes a three-pillar framework entitled The Mattering Model of Family Making. This framework is designed to support stepparents in deepening their insight into both their own and their stepadolescent’s internal emotional experiences, empowering them to relationally attune and effectively matter the adolescent.Item Unraveling Control: The Hidden Dynamics of Codependency Under Heteronormative Pressure(2025-09-26) Downey, MadeleineThe purpose of this graduate research project is to explore the ways in which heteronormative cultural scripts and power relations shape codependent dynamics within adult romantic partnerships. It begins by uncovering how heterosexual cisgender norms become deeply embedded in our institutions, interpersonal expectations, and internalized ideals of love and belonging. From there, it traces the evolution of the codependency concept—from its early framing in addiction recovery to its contemporary reformulation within family‐systems and attachment theories—as a relational survival strategy rather than an individual pathology. In doing so, this paper highlights key blind spots in prevailing therapeutic models, which often treat codependency as a purely intrapsychic or dyadic malfunction while overlooking the broader sociocultural forces that give rise to and sustain these patterns. Finally, this work lays the groundwork for a more integrative, depth-oriented approach—one that attends not only to personal and relational factors but also to the unconscious and cultural narratives that underlie them. By weaving together social constructionist, systemic, and depth-psychology perspectives, this analysis ultimately points toward therapeutic practices capable of fostering genuine relational autonomy, authenticity, and healing.Item Imagery Rescripting for BPD: A Pathway to Building Psychological Resilience(2025) Brodbin, JaquelineBackground: Those with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) often struggle with early adverse experiences that shape their emotional regulation, impulsivity, identity diffusion, and interpersonal difficulties (Jowett et al., 2020). These challenges can impair an individual’s capacity for adaptability and resilience, factors that are closely tied to life satisfaction and psychological well-being (Guillén et al., 2021). Studies show that those with BPD have a higher risk of self-harm and suicidality, leading to more frequent hospitalizations, demonstrating the critical need for research on long-lasting change (Kaurin et al., 2022). This literature review explores the question: To what extent does ImR contribute to resilience in BPD? Methods: This study employs a literature-based methodology rooted in a constructivist epistemological perspective. Drawing on published, peer-reviewed research, I critically interpreted and synthesized the findings to identify themes across the existing literature, which are used to address the research question of this paper. Findings: The research base indicates four key themes: 1. ImR for Emotional Healing and Trauma-Based Patterns, 2. ImR for Self-Awareness and Self-Concept, 3. ImR for Adaptive Coping and Behavioral Change, and 4. ImR for Fostering Healthy Interpersonal Relationships. These themes signify areas in which ImR shows efficacy, which also overlap with the literature on resilience-building factors in BPD. Conclusion and implications: Overall, ImR offers potential for fostering resilience in some areas. However, further research and more direct evidence from the literature on the topic are required.Item Empowerment Beyond Trauma: Exploring Pathways to Agency and Resilience Among Female Visible Minority Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence(2025-09) Deo, AlishaResearchers have often examined empowerment in the context of intimate-partner violence (IPV) through the lens of trauma and clinical interventions, with less attention paid to the strengths-based experiences of female visible-minority survivors. This capstone research project is an exploration of the following question: “How do cultural, systemic, and personal influences both constrain and contribute to the empowerment of female visible-minority survivors of IPV?” Through a comprehensive literature review grounded in intersectional feminist theory and guided by Cattaneo and Goodman’s (2015) empowerment process model, the author synthesised recent scholarly findings on IPV, resilience, and empowerment. The key themes include cultural stigma, systemic and legal barriers, the role of social supports, personal resilience, and empowerment-based models in clinical settings. The findings reveal that empowerment is a fluid, nonlinear process shaped by both internal beliefs and access to culturally adapted resources. This research highlights the importance of culturally grounded, trauma-informed, and empowerment-centred supports to help survivors rebuild their identity and independence. Clinical implications include the adoption of intersectionality-informed, empowerment-focused therapeutic frameworks and the expansion of community supports such as transition homes, legal advocacy, and mental-health services. By shifting the narrative from victimisation to survivorship, this study offers valuable insights for clinicians, policy makers, and community organisations who are working to promote resilience and agency among marginalised survivors of IPV.