The middle ground of trauma: Where neuroscience meets depth psychology

Abstract

The premise of this thesis which utilizes hermeneutic methodology is that depth or imaginal psychotherapy is highly effective in treating and assessing adult survivors of childhood abuse. Specifically, interventions which use dreams, symbols, and metaphor as well as expressive art techniques are deemed especially valuable as they address dissociatively based changes (affect regulation, sense of self, and diminished imagination). Current research in neuroscience and traumatology found a lack of assessment tools which screen for these profound and often unidentifiable intrapsychic changes. Such testing is essential for not only the early and rapid detection of trauma clients, but for more effective depth psychologically based treatment. The ISSA8 Test has been developed in order to better assess these intrapsychic changes occurring in women survivors of childhood sexual assault. This assessment tool is valuable for evaluating the benefits of depth psychology techniques in both trauma-based research and therapeutic practice.