Date of Award

Summer 7-29-2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

PHD - Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Expressive Therapies

First Advisor

Michele Forinash

Second Advisor

Carolyn Kenny

Third Advisor

Vivien Marcow-Speiser

Abstract

This dissertation study assessed ethnic identity in adults of Indian origin through Culturally Centered Music & Imagery (CCMI), an arts-based, psychotherapeutic technique. The purpose was to examine how Indian music, in the context of CCMI, could evoke identity-based imagery and assess Indian identity in a globalized context. Five Indian men and women participated in CCMI sessions, and the qualitative methodology of portraiture was used in this study. The results provide support for the cultural or ethnic unconscious and suggest the potential for CCMI to access this internal, collective space. Results also indicate that CCMI may be used in a clinical and non-clinical context to help men and women from the Indian Diaspora to gain awareness of their ethnic unconscious and understand how it impacts their external life. The research also suggests that CCMI may be effective in assessing and emotionally and psychologically supporting adults who are going through the process of immigration or acculturation.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Language

English

Number of Pages

278

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