Education Commons^™

Somatic Experience Treatment Techniques For Trauma Symptoms: A Qualitative Case Study, Ashley Marie Schlief

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to provide insight into somatic Experience techniques used while treating clients who suffer from trauma symptoms. Somatic therapeutic techniques improve trauma victims’ negative body and mind symptoms. The use of somatic theory to treat psychological and physical trauma is a relatively new concept within the field of clinical mental health counseling. Somatic therapies are a body-oriented approach that releases restricted trauma emotions by addressing the response communication that continually runs between the mind and the body. For example, bodily therapists use mind-body techniques to release the suppressed tension that negatively influences an …

The Perceived Availability And Usefulness Of Academic Accommodations, Academic Supports, And Academic Self-Efficacy In Graduate Counseling Students With Invisible Disabilities: A Preliminary Study, Lisa Marie Ansell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Academic accommodations exist through Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amended Act of 2008. Graduate counseling students with invisible disabilities may be unaware of all available accommodations or find incomplete information on disability support services websites. Such lack of awareness creates academic and emotional barriers for students with an invisible disability. While these issues are not isolated to one university, this quantitative study analyzed responses to an anonymous survey that invited current graduate counseling students enrolled in a CACREP counseling program who identified as having …

A Call To Action For Disability And Rehabilitation Research Using A Discrit And Disability Justice Framework, Toni Saia, Rana Yaghmaian, Rachel Cuesta, Carlyn Mueller, Roxanna N. Pebdani

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: Disability and ableism exist within a societal context that does not ignore the many facets of a person’s identity, however often our disability research does not recognize how experiences vary based on the intersecting identities individuals hold. This article utilizes Intersectionality, Dis/ability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), and Disability Justice to identify ways for rehabilitation researchers to adapt their research practices for maximum inclusivity and representation.

Materials and Methods: Using these three frameworks, we have developed a call to action including recommendations for rehabilitation researchers to consider as they design and implement research projects.

Results: Incorporating these frameworks provides an …

A Phenomenological Study Of Church Leader's Experiences With Vicarious Trauma In Oviedo, Florida, Judy Rivera-Melendez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand and explore the need to help church leaders who are experiencing stress. Christian clergies are classified as priests, pastors, ministers, chaplains, and deacons who interact with the congregation by identifying the Bible Scriptures. Church leaders follow the teachings of the divine and are pulled from many angles. It is up to the congregation to help themselves and church leaders to relieve this stress to avoid vicarious trauma. This study digs deep to decipher if church leaders in Catholicism and Baptist teaching are aware of the stress they acquire from their …

Exploring Dimensions Of Bias-Based Bullying Victimization, School Fairness, And School Belonging Through Mediation Analysis, Deanna L. Burgess, Isak Kim, Youngwoon Seon, Seriashia J. Chatters

Counseling Faculty Publications

Bias-based bullying (BBB) is a serious problem for school-aged adolescents. However, limited attention has been paid to the mechanism of how BBB may affect youths' sense of belonging to the school. The purpose of the current study was to understand the associations between BBB victimization, school belonging, and school fairness among school-aged adolescents. The present study also examined whether school fairness mediated the link between BBB victimization and school belonging. Data were drawn from the “No Place For Hate” project, which examined bias-based incidents, school equity, and school belonging of a school district. The analytic study sample consisted of 2600 …

Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout, Resilience And Turnover In The Child Welfare Workforce: Results From A 6-Month, Cluster-Randomized Control Trial Of Resilience Alliance, Rebecca Orsi-Hunt, Courtney L. Harrison, Kayla E. Rockwell, Anita P. Barbee

QIC-WD Journal Articles

Introduction: US child welfare agencies have historically struggled with workforce retention and turnover. As part of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development in Child Welfare, we tested an adaptation of the Resilience Alliance (RA) model in a large, Midwestern state to address workplace stress, burnout and actual workforce turnover. RA is a 24-week, facilitated program designed to mitigate the impact of secondary traumatic stress among child welfare professionals, and to therefore increase job satisfaction, resilience and optimism and to decrease turnover, stress reactivity and burnout.

Methods: Supervisory units of caseworkers and supervisors were randomized to the RA treatment …

Rethinking Connection: Spirituality, Social Media, And Crisis Of Faith In Young Adult, Connie L. Beckham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

​This phenomenological study aims to understand the impact of social media and spiritual formation or faith development in young adults in the United States. The theory guiding this study is provided by theorists of identity and development, including Erik Erikson, James Marcia, and James Fowler (Verschueren, 2017). Specifically, Fowler identified a direct correlation between identity and faith development to more modern identity considerations and historical data relating to existentialism and other crises (Lamont, 2020). The data was collected from interviews with young adults to explore the impact of social media and faith among young adults. The interviews included thirteen questions …

Forgiveness As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Religiosity And Intimate Partner Violence, Leroy Sapp

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study uses an online survey method to examine forgiveness in a woman with patriarchal religious beliefs (PRB) who has experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and the predictive role of forgiveness in moderating the relationships between IPV and religiosity and IPV and PRB. The participants received scores on PRB, which were divided into two groups: adherence and nonadherence. The findings concluded no statistically significant difference between the means of the adherence group and nonadherence group’s mean forgiveness levels. The study found that forgiveness moderated the positive relationship between religiosity and IPV violence approval, and forgiveness negatively affected said relationship. …

Examining The Psychosocial Impacts Of Transgenerational Trauma: A Phenomenological Study Of Parenting Styles Among African American Women, Sandra Maria Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to examine the psychosocial impacts of unresolved grief and trauma within the dynamics of parenting styles of African American women. The theories used to guide this study include family systems theory, first introduced by Murray Bowen in the 1950s, and attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby in 1969, as they intersect and provide a foundation for understanding emotional bonds, social relationships, and parent-child attachment wounds at the core. This phenomenological qualitative study answered the following central research question: “How has trauma exposure affected African American women’s awareness of their traumas within their lived experience and …

The Effects Of Homelessness On Student Outcomes, Lucinda Sade York

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The research was designed to evaluate the effects of homelessness on student outcomes in the area of attendance and academics. Studies showed a higher percentage of families who identify as homeless over the past two decades. As a result, the federal McKinney-Vento Act was formulated to help target those students and families who struggle with adequate housing. However, the premise of the McKinney-Vento Act does not extend beyond providing such services. In the arena of academics and attendance, little educational data has been researched to combat the possible struggles students possess particularly in the areas of reading and math. Notably, …

Hailey's Hearing Aids, Hailey Marie Garcia

Whittier Scholars Program

Individuals from the deaf and hard-of-hearing community are likely to experience more anxiety and depression due to defective cognitive, social, communicational, and emotional skills (Azizi et al., 2019). The word “disability” is embedded with historical negative connotations with phrases such as “deaf and dumb” because if they were deaf or mute then they were automatically labeled as inferior (Horovitz, 2007). Since the 18th century, the DHH community has been seen as incapable, even inhuman, hence the development of emotional deficiencies that bleed into one’s perception of society and their self esteem (Gallaudet, 1886).

How do you navigate a hearing world …

Effects Of Parental Alcoholism On Adolescent Development, Diana Michel-Gonzales

Whittier Scholars Program

Studies assessed the magnitude and specificity of parental alcoholism as a risk factor for internalizing symptomatology, externalizing symptomatology, and alcohol and drug use in adolescence. The results show that alcoholism is a moderate risk factor. The outcome measure has a different risk specificity. The risk of alcoholism is caused by parental psychopathology and environmental stress. The father's alcoholism was a risk for alcohol use that was beyond the effects of stress and family turmoil. The children of problem drinkers are affected by externalities. When designing and financing addiction treatment programs, long-term consequences of alcohol misuse should be taken into account. …

The Effects Of Religiosity On College Students’ Anxiety And Depression, Moderated By Church Attendance, Elizabeth Cross Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current studies confirm that depression and anxiety are prevalent among college students in the United States and are often recurring during early adulthood. There are various causes of this condition and evidence that parental influence affects a college student’s religiosity and church attendance. The current study investigated the effects of religiosity on the level of anxiety and depression among college students in the United States, moderated by church attendance. Studies have found that religion has a positive relationship with physical, mental, and physiological factors (Steffen, 2014). The results of this study indicate religiosity has a significant effect on depression in …

African American Parenting Style Influence On Children And Adolescents' Academic Success, Elizabeth F. Martin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine how parenting styles influence African American children and adolescents’ academic success. The theory guiding this study was Diana Baumrind’s parenting typologies authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles. A sample size of 10 African American participants who had at least one child, 3 months to 18 years of age, were recruited and selected through purposeful and snowball sampling. Each participant was interviewed via recorded Zoom meetings and data were collected utilizing open-ended, semistructured, in-depth interview questions. Three research questions guided this study: (a) what response is given that characterizes parents’ relations …

The Lived Experiences Of School Counselors Related To Natural Disaster Trauma, Jennifer Baxley Bellinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand and describe the lived experiences of school counselors in South Carolina regarding natural disaster trauma and their perceptions regarding their ability to work effectively with students during and after disasters. The experiences of school counselors regarding their perceptions of effectiveness when working with students both during and after natural disasters prior to this study were unknown. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model provided the framework for this study as it outlines the necessary preparation for and execution of a school counselor’s work with students, while Herman’s trauma theory and …

Counselor In Training Perceived Ability To Learn Curriculum Standards And The Moderating Effect Of Mindset On Learning, Jody Ellen Vernam

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Counselor educators strive to identify learner variables to improve counselor in training (CIT) learning during challenging tasks that align with the curriculum standards of the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Educational Related Programs (CACREP). Implicit mindset (IM), either incremental or entity, is robustly associated with enhanced learning outcomes over time for challenging tasks. The purpose of this research was to describe CIT perceived challenge in learning CACREP curriculum standards and to analyze the moderating effect of IM on CIT learning. This research (1) described CIT perceived ability to learn CACREP curriculum standards (PALCCS), (2) examined the moderating effect …

The Effects Social Media Has On Depressive And Neuro Developmental Disorders, Daniel James Goble

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social media has played a huge role in society today and is one of the most common activities in everyday life for people of all ages. Due to the long amount of time that most users spend on social media daily, some trends seem to grow and become very visible over time that have a negative impact on mental health but also on neuro developmental disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders are identified through a list of symptoms and characteristics that show a problem in how the brain is developing. Due to social media still being very new in this generation and with …

Morale Of Educators Amidst A Pandemic: A Heuristic Phenomenological Inquiry, Dawn Dianne Peterson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This heuristic phenomenological qualitative research study aimed to understand the educators' perceptions of their lived experience teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on teacher morale in the U.S. The theory guiding this study is Narrative Identity Theory, in which Dan McAdams proposed the first full theoretical model. This theory contributed significant awareness to the phenomenon studied when trying to understand the evaluative and emotional meaning expressed through the stories of the teachers. The essence of morale is understood more holistically considering the contribution of Narrative Identity Theory. Data was collected through online interviews on Microsoft Teams and analyzed …

Early Shame, Self-Esteem, And Christian Women, Teneka Guyrue Miles

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences surrounding the self-esteem of evangelical Christian women with early shame experiences. The theory guiding this study was attachment theory as it explains self-esteem being rooted in early childhood through trust building, unconditional love, and security. The theoretical framework further illustrates the impact of self-esteem as life progresses due to a combination of positive and negative self-evaluations. Early shame experiences affect one’s self-esteem adversely. Low self-esteem could breed isolation once people fail to see their self-worthy in establishing meaningful connections, without which individuals lack the …

School Connectedness In American Style Comprehensive And European Style Tracking Secondary Schools, Diana Csaki

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Schools are often considered a community nested within a community. A caring school environment contributes to community and belongingness among students. School connectedness, the belief held by students that adults and peers in the school care about their learning and about them as individuals, is viewed as a construct comprising affective, behavioral and cognitive dimensions. School connectedness among students in the United States has been shown as a predictor of adolescent health and academic outcomes with positive feelings of school connectedness linked to positive outcomes. School connectedness research often centers on children and early adolescents and less over the high …

American First-Generation College Students’ Narratives Of Positive Relationships With Their School Counsellors, Phillip L. Waalkes, Jaimie Stickl Haugen, Yuima Mizutani, Jiaying J. Meyer, Dave Salvatierra, Carrie Odle, Tiffany Somerville

Education Sciences and Professional Programs Faculty Works

Trusting and supportive relationships with school counsellors can help first-generation college students access college despite barriers. In this narrative inquiry, 11 first-generation college students in the United States shared stories of their positive relationships with their former high school counsellors. After an iterative and consensus-based data analysis process, we summarised our participants’ grand narrative with five themes: family context, school counselling delivery, relationships with school counsellors, impact of relationships with school counsellors, and suggested improvements. Participants valued how school counsellors helped them advocate for themselves, build their confidence, and feel encouraged and accountable through individual meetings, career counselling, and college …

The Impact Of A Canine-Assisted Reading Program On Readers Needing Extra Practice, Amanda N. Coffman, Elana Bernstein, Susan C. Davies, Ann F. Justice

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Canines can provide emotional support, create a nonjudgmental environment, facilitate positive social interactions, and shape student behavior. This study investigated the impact of a canine-assisted reading program on four second-grade students' reading fluency and attitudes toward reading. Oral reading fluency (ORF) was measured using ORF probes, and students' attitudes toward reading were measured with the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey. Although ORF skills did not improve significantly following the program, students' attitudes toward reading did. Implications regarding innovative strategies for reading fluency programs, including canine-assisted methods, are discussed, with emphasis on the importance of maintaining reading enjoyment among readers needing extra …

Bibliography, Dr. Jill D. Duba

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications and presentations by Jill Duba Sauerheber.

A Tool For Digital Bibliotherapy: Fostering Emotional Resiliency Through A Visual Novel, Joy Cooper

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Suicide rates among children have risen over the last three years. In Clark County specifically, the numbers doubled between 2019 and 2021. The research for this project sought to find the benefits of bibliotherapy and create a tool to be used for early intervention in children displaying signs of developmental emotional and behavioral concerns. Additionally, the research focused on determining the benefits of bibliotherapy across various mediums with a particular aim on the accessibility of digital formats. The research concluded that bibliotherapy in a digital format is not only beneficial but has a tendency to produce higher engagement among children. …

Insider Tips For Applying To Graduate Programs, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

As I approach my 20th year as a school psychology faculty member (12 as a program coordinator), I have reviewed thousands of applications and interviewed hundreds of prospective students. It is truly a joy to meet people at interviews who will go on to excel as school psychologists. I also have met my fair share of applicants who were clearly unprepared. This piece provides some insider information on how prospective students can strengthen their applications and interviews.

Perspectives On Care Coordination For Youth With Tbi: Moving Forward To Provide Better Care, Jennifer P. Lundine, Erika Hagen, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Care coordination aligns services and optimizes outcomes for children with traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet numerous obstacles can impede effective care coordination following a TBI.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this work is to identify barriers and facilitators to care coordination from the perspective of individuals who care for young people impacted by TBI.

METHODS: Twenty-one care providers participated in semi-structured interviews to gather their perspectives on systems of care coordination for youth with TBI and potential areas for improvement. Using reflexive thematic analysis, researchers identified key themes across interviews.

RESULTS: Three themes were identified: 1) gaps in knowledge; 2) …

How Cultural Believes Support And Perpetuate Relational Violence: A Delphi Study For Violence Prevention, Alisha D. Guthery

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study solicited experts in relational violence across the United States using the Delphi methodology and grounded theory. This research was conducted in two phases and designed to answer two primary questions: (1) What cultural beliefs are involved in relational violence in the United States? And (2) How are the beliefs about relational violence maintained? The findings showed agreement from the experts on the societal beliefs that hold relational violence, the specific beliefs held by the abuser, and the impacts of these beliefs on the survivor. The experts offered ideas for intervention and prevention, which are important contributions to professional …

Deployment Separation Impact On Military Spouse Well-Being, Cinthia Joas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Military spouses are confronted with multiple responsibilities daily. These demands intensify when their spouses deploy. By extension, military families respond differently and adapt to these stressors differently than civilian families. This necessitates coping with dynamic changes described as adequate or maladaptive. The deployment of one's spouse is also affiliated with mixed feelings such as anger, fear, joy, loneliness, anticipation, and relief. While the active-duty spouse is deployed, communication with the family allows a more significant emotional balance for the military member, the spouse, and the children to obtain a more favorable performance in their functions. Without proper and consistent communication, …

International Mental Health Education, Service, And Research: Working Across Cultural Boundaries With Humility, Creativity, And Perseverance [Keynote], Yun Shi, Zachary Pietrantoni, Maha Y. See

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This keynote presentation addresses doing International mental health education, services, and research with humility, creativity, and perseverance.

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On School Psychology Internship Outcomes, Julie Q. Morrison, Kizzy Albritton, Elana Bernstein, Susan C. Davies, Laurice Joseph, Katherine R. Mezher, Jennifer Reynolds, Richard W. Vanvoorhis

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

The Ohio Internship Program in School Psychology was forced to adapt abruptly to the changing circumstances brought on by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic beginning in March 2020. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the school psychology internship outcomes were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of supervisors' ratings of intern competencies, the number of students served by interns, and the outcomes of academic and behavior interventions supported by interns. Findings of the annual evaluation of the Ohio Internship Program in School Psychology for the school year directly affected by the pandemic …