Dissertations and Theses
Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Steve Tuber
Second Advisor
Sasha Rudenstine
Third Advisor
Diana Punales-Morejon
Keywords
Divorce, Marriage, Separation, Individuation, Adult development, Post-traumatic growth
Abstract
Research has focused on the negative effects that divorce has on divorcees, on children of divorced parents, and on society. Research has also shown however that many individuals who go through a divorce emerge happier, more content and satisfied with their choice, even though the process was a painful one. Despite this evidence, there is a gap in the research looking at positive, and growth-related experiences of those who have recently gone through a divorce. Theoretical arguments and clinical observations provide a foundation to support the idea that there is a relationship between separation-individuation in adulthood and the internal shifts that can take place during the divorce process. This thesis posits that many adults have deferred or abandoned portions of their separation-individuation process related to feelings of autonomy vs. dependence and that the process of divorce can reengage this stagnant developmental process, leading to maturation in adulthood in the form of greater separation, individuation, and selfhood. The study utilized a sample of 13 participants, who discussed their experiences of divorce in a semi-structured interview. Confirming findings from previous studies, participants uniformly reported that once the initial pain and difficulty of the divorce process subsided, they were unquestionably happier post-divorce. Qualitative thematic analysis led to the emergence of themes along the lines hypothesized, including experiences of fear, shame and guilt related to getting a divorce, and psychic growth, increased autonomy, independence and sense of self in the aftermath of the divorce. The findings of this study are clinically important as they provide a more complex picture of the psychological forces at play for individuals going through the end of a marriage. They offer evidence to support the potential benefits of exploring patients’ separation-individuation experience in order to encourage the growth that can occur as a result of this major separation.
Recommended Citation
Egleson, Anna, "Divorce as a Growth Process: Marital Separation and Separation-Individuation in Adulthood" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1164