In this profound episode of Epistemic Alchemy, Dr. Mohammed Raei is joined by Dr. Lynn Horan—scholar, coach, and former Protestant clergy—to explore her pioneering research on the lived experiences of millennial women clergy who have left active ministry due to violations of interpersonal boundaries and psychological safety.

Drawing from her journey through politics, ministry, and academia, Dr. Horan shares how her career transitions shaped her inquiry into embodied leadership and feminist epistemology. The conversation traces the historical and theological disembodiment in Protestant traditions, examines the evolution of grounded theory methodology from Glaser and Strauss to Kathy Charmaz, and highlights how constructivist and feminist lenses can bring critical and emancipatory depth to qualitative research.

Dr. Horan reflects on the tensions of being both an insider and outsider in her fieldwork and explains how somatic awareness, trauma-informed research practices, and embodiment techniques deepen both understanding and healing.

Resources:

Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. L. (2000). Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Routledge.

Horan, L. M. (2024). Feminized Servanthood, Gendered Scapegoating, and the Disappearance of Gen-X/Millennial Protestant Clergy Women (Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University).

Horan, L. (2025). Dismantled: Abusive church culture and the clergy women who leave. Tehom Center Publishing.

Morse, J. M., Bowers, B. J., Charmaz, K., Clarke, A. E., Corbin, J., Porr, C. J., & Stern, P. N. (2021). Developing grounded theory: The second generation revisited. Routledge.

Schwartz, R. (2023). No bad parts: Healing trauma & restoring wholeness with the internal family systems model. Random House.

In this powerful episode of the Epistemic Alchemy Podcast, Dr. I interviewed Dr. Kader Gumus, an independent consultant and trauma-informed researcher, about her pioneering work on thrivership after domestic violence. Dr. Gumus shares her journey as both a scholar and a survivor, highlighting the significance of conducting research ethically and with care. Drawing from her dissertation, Journey to Wellbeing, she explores how individuals move beyond survival to thrive after experiencing chronic trauma. The conversation delves into how traditional research practices can inadvertently retraumatize participants, and what researchers can do to prevent that. Dr. Gumus outlines how she designed a trauma-informed methodology, combining phenomenology with situational and thematic analysis, and discusses the importance of researcher self-care. She also emphasizes the role of IRBs and the need for more culturally sensitive, human-centered research practices. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in ethical qualitative research, trauma studies, or survivor-centered approaches.

5 Key Points:

Trauma-informed research requires an ethical design that prevents the retraumatization of participants.

Dr. Gumus developed a unique methodology: exploratory situational thematic analysis.

Self-care for researchers is essential in trauma-related studies.

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) need more education on trauma-informed practices.

Thrivership transcends resilience—emphasizing transformation, not just survival.

Resources: 

Brown, D. J., Arnold, R., Fletcher, D., & Standage, M. (2017). Human thriving. European Psychologist.

Brown, D. J., Passaportis, M., & Hays, K. (2021). Thriving. In Stress, well-being, and performance in sport (pp. 297-312). Routledge.

Brown, D. J. (2016). Human thriving: a conceptualization, understanding, and application to sport (Doctoral dissertation, University of Bath)

Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2012). Posttraumatic growth in clinical practice. Routledge.

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8

Gumus, K. (2025). Journey to well-being: An exploration of thrivership post-domestic violence [Doctoral dissertation]. https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/1101/

Herman, J. L. (2015). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence--from domestic abuse to political terror. Hachette UK.

Kolk, B. V. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin.

Maté, G. (2011). When the body says no: Exploring the stress-disease connection. Turner Publishing Company.

SAMHSA’s six principles of trauma-informed care – post-secondary peer support training curriculum. (2022, June 1). BCcampus Open Publishing – Open Textbooks Adapted and Created by BC Faculty. https://opentextbc.ca/peersupport/chapter/samhsas-six-principles-of-trauma-informed-care/

Taleb, N. N. (2012). Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Random House.

Tudge, J., & Rosa, E. M. (2020). Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad251

What AI cannot do. (2022, May 20). Big Think. https://bigthink.com/the-future/what-ai-cannot-do/

Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2012). Posttraumatic growth in clinical practice. Routledge.

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8

Gumus, K. (2025). Journey to well-being: An exploration of thrivership post-domestic violence [Doctoral dissertation]. https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/1101/

Herman, J. L. (2015). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence--from domestic abuse to political terror. Hachette UK.

Kolk, B. V. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin.

Maté, G. (2011). When the body says no: Exploring the stress-disease connection. Turner Publishing Company.

SAMHSA’s six principles of trauma-informed care – post-secondary peer support training curriculum. (2022, June 1). BCcampus Open Publishing – Open Textbooks Adapted and Created by BC Faculty. https://opentextbc.ca/peersupport/chapter/samhsas-six-principles-of-trauma-informed-care/

Taleb, N. N. (2012). Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. Random House.

Tudge, J., & Rosa, E. M. (2020). Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad251

What AI cannot do. (2022, May 20). Big Think. https://bigthink.com/the-future/what-ai-cannot-do/

Additional resources in the US:

In this episode, I interview Dr. Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm where we discuss metamodernism and metamodern scholarship:

*The different strands of metamodernism and its history.

*What metamodernism adds to postmodernism.

*Storm's contribution to metamodern scholarship, including the concept of social kinds.

*Developmental theories and metamodernism.

*The Journal of Metamodernism Theory and Praxis. 

*The metamodern university.

Resources mentioned:

Josephson, J. A. (2019). The invention of religion in Japan. University of Chicago Press.

Josephson-Storm, J. A. (2019). The myth of disenchantment: Magic, modernity, and the birth of the human sciences. University of Chicago Press.

Storm, J. Ā. J. (2024). Metamodernism as the Pedagogy of Revolution: Response to Special Review Symposium (Religion & Theology 30, no. 3&4 [2023]): Jason Ānanda Josephson Storm, Metamodernism: The Future of Theory (Chicago, IL; London: University of Chicago Press, 2021). Religion and Theology, 31(1-2), 129-136.

Metamodernism (Radical Cultural Studies) 

by Robin van den Akker (Editor), Alison Gibbons (Editor), Timotheus Vermeulen (Editor)

Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics Paperback – October 30, 2023

by Brendan Graham Dempsey (Author)

Freinacht, H. (2017). The Listening Society: A Metamodern Guide to Politics. Metamoderna ApS.

https://sts.williams.edu/metamodern/

 Articles

Kleineberg, M. (2024). Piaget as Metamodernist. Metamodern Theory & Praxis, 1(1), 22-60. https://doi.org/10.70613/2024.0003

Andersen, L. R. (2024). Polymodern economics. Metamodern Theory & Praxis, 1(1), 61-84. https://doi.org/10.70613/2024.0004

Díaz, A. D. (2024). University of the future. Metamodern Theory & Praxis, 1(1), 115-123. https://doi.org/10.70613/2024.0011

Other:

Freire, P. (2020). Pedagogy of the oppressed. In Toward a sociology of education (pp. 374-386). Routledge.

In this episode, I interview Dr Rob Archer and we talk about Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism and how it deals with the crisis of replication.

*What is critical realism?

*What is the role of ontology?

*What is a transcendental argument?

*How does critical realism deal with the issue of replication?

*How has Bhaskar’s critical realism evolved over time and his spiritual turn.

*Where critical realism is going?

Resource mentioned in the episode.

Retiring Popper: Critical realism, falsificationism, and the crisis of replication

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09593543241250079

Critical realism, psychology, and the crisis of replication: A reply to Haig; Derksen & Morawski; and Trafimow

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09593543241279138

Replicating is difficult but necessary, and methodology can help

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09593543241265912

Haig, B. D. (2024). Should psychology adopt Bhaskar’s critical realist philosophy of science? Theory & Psychology, 34(5), 585-590. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543241265727 (Original work published 2024)

Derksen, M., & Morawski, J. (2024). Replications are informative, particularly when they fail. Theory & Psychology, 34(5), 597-603. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543241269697 

Roy Bhaskar’s works

Margaret S. Archer book

Iceberg model

https://changemanagementinsight.com/iceberg-model-of-change-management/

Lipton’s Inference to the best explanation model

Lipton, P. (2017). Inference to the best explanation. A Companion to the Philosophy of Science, 184-193.

In this episode, I interview Dr. Stacey Guenther and Dr. Lisa Berkley and we discuss our experience of editing an academic anthology together.

*The challenges of editing academic anthologies.

* What makes an anthology unique?

*The process for collaboration.

*Doing a call for chapter proposal vs invite only.

*Misconceptions about editing academic anthologies.

*Rewarding aspects of editing an academic anthology.

*Decolonizing.

*Spirituality and the shadow side and dark side.

*Cross-cultural scholarship.

Dr. Stacey Guenther’s Website

https://www.drstaceyguenther.com/

Dr. Lisa Berkly’s Website

http://innereconomy.com/

Resources mentioned in the episode

Leadership at the Spiritual Edge

https://www.routledge.com/Leadership-at-the-Spiritual-Edge-Emerging-and-Non-Western-Concepts-of-Leadership/Raei-Guenther-Berkley/p/book/9781032500591

Ken Wilber’s waking up, growing up, and cleaning up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mROP49BeJc

In this episode, I interviewed Four Arrows, who was selected by AERO as one of 27 visionaries in education and is recipient of a Martin Springer Institute Moral Courage Award for his activism.

Topics covered include:

*Decolonizing

*Indigenous research/scholarship.

*The role of spirituality.

*Alternative/authentic dissertations.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://ices.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/186438

https://kindredmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/Worldview-Chart-BW-8-5-2024.pdf

Four Arrows, W. T. (2024). Restoring sanity and remembering spirit in psychology: Reclaiming our pre-colonial worldview. Review of General Psychology, 28(2), 106–122. https://doi.org/10.1177/10892680231226387

In this episode of the Epistemic Alchemy podcast, join Dr. Mohamed Raei as he engages in an enlightening conversation with Dr. Harriet Terber Rasmussen, a seasoned leadership coach and educator with over 30 years of experience. As a faculty member at Drexel University, Dr. Rasmussen shares her insights into guiding educational leaders through the complexities of academic writing and the doctoral dissertation process.

Resources

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Mind-Beginners-Informal-Meditation/dp/1590308492

https://ottoscharmer.com/

https://impactinged.pitt.edu/ojs/ImpactingEd/issue/view/32

https://www.amazon.com/Completing-Your-Qualitative-Dissertation-Beginning-ebook/dp/B09XBMQ4N8?ref_=ast_author_mpb

In this episode:

*History of intersubjectivity

*What is intersubjectivity and how does it relate to phenomenology and social construction?

*How can one use intersubjectivity in research?

*How does intersubjectivity relate to Consensus reality?

*How does intersubjectivity relate to Csikszentmihalyi's systems model of creativity?

* Challenges to Transdisciplinarity.

*Making social science matter.

*Applying Kurt Fischer's dynamic skill theory to become better researchers and scholars.

Useful links:

Mike's website:

https://michaelmascolo.com/

Intersubjectivity:

https://www.academia.edu/104362384/Intersubjectivity_Joint_Action_and_Sociality

Fischer's dynamic skill theory:

https://www.academia.edu/44981984/Dynamic_Skill_Theory_An_Integrative_Theory_of_Psychological_Development

System's model of creativity:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-94-017-9085-7

Making Social Science Matter:

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Social-Science-Matter-Inquiry/dp/052177568X

In this episode I interviewed Dr. Jonathan Reams, PhD. We had a lively discussion about Integralism, transdisciplinary scholarship and his experience as a scholar and editor-in-chief of Integral Review: A Journal Dedicated to Transdisciplinary Research and Thought.

Topics covered:

*History of Integral Review(IR)

*The different strands of Integralism.

*The editorial process at IR.

*Jonathan's experience with publishing transdisciplinary work.

*Challenges to transdisciplinary scholarship.

*The future of transdisciplinary scholarship.

*Artificial Intelligence and how it can influence scholarship.

Jonathan's website: 

https://www.jonathanreams.com/

Integral Review Website:

https://integral-review.org/

Useful links:

Ken Wilber’s AQAL model:

http://www.redfrogcoaching.com/uploads/3/4/2/1/34211350/ken_wilber_introduction_to_integral.pdf

Nicolescu's Transdisciplinary approach:

https://www.academia.edu/download/36468289/Transdisciplinary_Theory_Practice-2013.pdf

Michael Basseches Dialectical Thinking:

https://integral-review.org/issues/issue_1_basseches_the_development_of_dialectical_thinking.pdf

Zach Stein's article on interdisciplinarity:

https://integral-review.org/modeling-the-demands-of-interdisciplinarity-toward-a-framework-for-evaluating-interdisciplinary-endeavors/

Bloom's Taxonomy:

https://bloomstaxonomy.net/

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Hariett Schwartz and Dr. Elizabeth Holloway about their recently published book Essentials of Constructivist Critical Incident Technique published by APA. 

We covered a large range of topics including:

*History of CIT.

*The different uses of the methodology.

*How is the research conducted?

*How it differs from other qualitative methods.

*The epistemological orientation.

*Where first-time researchers struggle.

*The future of the methodology.  

Link to the book: https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/essentials-constructivist-critical-incident-technique

Link to Flanigan's original article:

https://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycinfo/cit-article.pdf

Dr. Hariett Schwarz's website: https://harrietschwartz.com/

Dr. Elizabeth Holloway's page: https://www.antioch.edu/faculty/elizabeth-holloway/