Graphing the Self: An application of graph theory to memetic self-mapping in psychotherapy

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https://doi.org/10.17583/rimcis.2018.3078

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Abstract

The benefits of using mathematical concepts are frequently overlooked in qualitative inquiry. In this paper Graph Theory (GT) is applied to a series of two dimensional representations of the self used to illustrate the therapeutic progress of a suicidal youth and to a young mother coping with depression.  These self-maps are shown to be equivalent to GT networks with the memes of the self-maps corresponding to GT vertices, the pair-wise relationships between memes corresponding to GT edges, and the time evolution of the self-mapping diagrams corresponding to GT sequence analysis. Consideration is given to the notion that the self so mapped functions as a small world network with emotive psychological triggers serving as “long range” connections. The advantages of using an interactive Graphical User Interface and GT metrics for client centered therapy and future research applications in social science are discussed.

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Author Biographies

Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson, Athabasca University, Canada

Dr. Robertson is an instructor with Athabasca University, Canada teaching a graduate classes in integrated studies. He holds a Ph.D. in counselling psychology and maintains a private practise in largely aboriginal northern Canada. He has published on the structure of the self, the use of prior learning assessment in self-construction, self-mapping in therapy, memetic mutations in religious transmission, “residential school syndrome” as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, historic trauma flowing from colonization, the need for ceremony in secular weddigs, and the concept of "mind viruses."

Robert Cassin McFadden, Mobile Detect Inc.

Dr. McFadden holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics from the University of British Columbia.  Most recently he started and operated a company contracted to Canada`s Department of National Defense to develop protective counter terrorism technologies.  Earlier he managed the enforcement of radiation safety under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for the Province of Ontario, Canada and taught radiation physics. Important parts of his work have always included communicating, teaching and creating applications of physics and mathematics to other disciplines.

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Published

2018-03-30

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Robertson, L. H., & McFadden, R. C. (2018). Graphing the Self: An application of graph theory to memetic self-mapping in psychotherapy. International and Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Sciences, 7(1), 34–58. https://doi.org/10.17583/rimcis.2018.3078

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