Date
12-19-2024
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Richard Green
Keywords
Adverse Childhood Experiences, resilience, trauma, genogram, Appalachian culture, storytelling, phenomenological, hermeneutic circle, flourishing
Disciplines
Counseling
Recommended Citation
Teague, Brittany Shay, "Stopping the Transference: Family Resilience Concerning High Adverse Childhood Experience Through a Genogram Study of Southern Appalachian Storytelling Culture" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6413.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6413
Abstract
The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of multi-generational Appalachian storytellers and their culture to discover if there was a decrease in Adverse Childhood Experiences and increase resilience across generations. Vygotsky's Communication Theory, which emphasizes child development through language and communication, and Masten’s Resilience Theory, which emphasizes that children can develop resilience with the assistance of their caregivers, guided this study. The research questions asked were as follows: How do they describe the impact of storytelling and genograms on resilience and intergenerational transference? How do they describe the importance of storytelling? How would they describe the impact of storytelling on shame and isolation? Can the combination of storytelling’s impact and an ACEs/resilience genogram provide data supporting the importance of preserving this culture? An ACEs genogram was constructed with recollections of the storytellers’ for at least three generations. Data collection included open-ended semi-structured interviews with prework of genogram exercises. Moustakas’ (1994) method was used due to the intimate nature of and cultural proficiency needed to collect the data. The hermeneutic circle was used to review, reduce, eliminate, identify, and cluster for theme development. Two major themes were identified: (a) there was a decrease in intergenerational trauma; however, intergenerational Adverse Childhood Experiences existed, and (b) there was a connection in the storytelling culture and resilience. A subtheme discovered to the second theme was that storytelling could be a foundational tool for children to not only develop resilience but also flourish.
