Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Utilizing Flow Arts Movement As An Expressive Arts Therapy Tool To Treat Trauma: A Literature Review And Autoethnography, Shannon Mcgrail

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This expressive arts-based autoethnography research explores the effectiveness of using flow arts movement as a tool of expressive arts therapy to treat symptoms of trauma for individuals who experienced a traumatic event in their lifetime. While research on the use of flow arts movement to treat mental illness is in its early stage, much can be drawn from the literature on expressive arts therapy and dance/movement therapy research with a range of populations addressing trauma. Through exploration of trauma through neuroscience, mind, body, and integrated mindfulness through flow, this work aims to bring an understanding of using intermodal expressive arts …

The Use Of Music Therapy To Mitigate Trauma-Related Music Associations And Restore Personal Relationships With Music, Courtney Pitzer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

For many people, music is positively associated with nostalgic memories, emotions, and experiences. But for some, it can be a painful reminder of the past. This literature review examines how music serves as a cue for reexperiencing trauma and demonstrates ways in which music therapy may be beneficial in reframing and reassociating those connections. Drawing from existing trauma treatment models such as CBT and exposure therapy, this review highlights the unique potential of music therapy in allowing clients to expose themselves to the activating stimulus while maintaining elements of safety within the music. This thesis prompts further exploration of desensitization …

Trauma Is A Wound: Demonstrating The Use Of Character Analysis To Practice Clinical Analysis, Madisyn Beare

Honors Projects

Evidence-based treatments of trauma require clinicians to base their treatments on the client’s specific and individual needs, experiences, cognitions, and place in recovery. Essentially, each new client is a new and unique case, and the practice of understanding how trauma may affect an individual only comes from clinical exposure.Literature provides the public with somewhat of an aid in these circumstances: fictional characters are not real people, and therefore can undergo limitless character analyses. Analyzing a fictional character allows clinicians the ability to practice their exploration of various behavioral indicators of mental health concerns while honoring the ethical code of non-maleficence, …

Sandtray Therapy Through The Lens Of The Expressive Therapies Continuum: Helping Children Who Experienced Trauma Tap Into Their Creative Potential, Mollie Lesnever

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This study explores the use of Sandtray therapy with children in middle childhood who have experienced trauma. Sandtray therapy allows children to create a world of their own with sand and symbolic figures. It supports children’s need for autonomy and provides a way to engage in healing through playful and non-verbal means. Based on the intermodal nature of Sandtray therapy, it was presumed that the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) could be used alongside the intervention as an assessment tool to better understand how development impacts artmaking. Based on the developmental needs of this population, a method including play and art-making …

The Psychedelic Dasein: Modelling The Effects Of Psilocybin With Heidegger’S Phenomenology, Eamon Robert Stuart Macdougall

Major Papers

This paper argues that the mystical experience induced by psilocybin (understood through the tradition of Heideggerian phenomenology) modulates the attuned understanding of oneself, the world, and how the individual relates to the world. This kind of particular experience is not accessible to the individual through ordinary consciousness, therefore psilocybin may give us access to a new kind of understanding. This understanding may offer a solution to the empirical deficiencies surrounding the short-term and long-term effects of psilocybin, such as how a meagre two to three high doses have yielded unprecedented results in the treatment of tobacco addiction, and in the …

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …

The Correlation Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Pornography Consumption In Adulthood, Branden Henry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 25 years, significant research has gone into understanding how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) correlate with a variety of negative health and behavioral outcomes, while at the same time, pornography consumption has increased dramatically. However, limited research has been done to understand whether a relationship exists between ACEs and pornography consumption. Attachment theory, which was used as the theoretical framework for this study, includes the idea that childhood experiences play a major role in a person’s development of various behaviors throughout life, including coping mechanisms like pornography consumption. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational study was to …

The Correlation Of Adverse Childhood Experiences And Pornography Consumption In Adulthood, Branden Henry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 25 years, significant research has gone into understanding how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) correlate with a variety of negative health and behavioral outcomes, while at the same time, pornography consumption has increased dramatically. However, limited research has been done to understand whether a relationship exists between ACEs and pornography consumption. Attachment theory, which was used as the theoretical framework for this study, includes the idea that childhood experiences play a major role in a person’s development of various behaviors throughout life, including coping mechanisms like pornography consumption. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational study was to …

Trauma And Crisis Counselor Preparation: The Relationship Of An Online Trauma And Crisis Course And Counseling Self-Efficacy, Julia Leigh Lancaster

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The field of trauma and crisis is growing and ubiquitous to all counseling specialties. Updates in 2009 and 2016 to the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) counselor preparation standards added mandated teachings on crisis, trauma, and disaster counseling in counselor preparation programs’ (CPPs) curricula. Since then, some CPPs have created stand-alone crisis courses, while the majority have infused various related content and trainings into already established counseling courses. Research does, in fact, support an increased crisis, trauma, and disaster readiness with more hours dedicated to the study and practice of domain specific content, and confirms …

Trauma Treatment For Youth In Foster Care: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Clinician Perspectives And Treatment Model Use, Allison Blake Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Youth in foster care experience trauma exposure and subsequent trauma-related disorders at much higher rates than their peers, with prevalence rates comparable with veterans of war. Although youth in foster care appear to receive services at higher rates than their peers, little is known about what outpatient care consists of, particularly for trauma-related disorders. Furthermore, although several evidence-based treatments exist for the treatment of child and adolescent trauma, little is known about how appropriate and effective existing treatment approaches are for youth in foster care. The current study used a mixed methods approach to examine a) the range of evidence-based …

Where I’M From: Internal Manifestations Among Cambodian Women Using The Expressive Arts A Literature Review, Noeun Chhim

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Chronic mental illness has affected many Cambodian people, but, culturally, Cambodians aren’t accustomed to opening up and discussing their feelings, rather defining mental illness to craziness and seeking help is presumed taboo. Thus, Cambodians are often reluctant to talk about their experiences and/or their related illnesses. Though Cambodians have experienced inconceivable suffering and violence during the Khmer Rouge era, for the purpose of this thesis, I will be discussing the role of Cambodian women and investigate the extent of what they’ve witnessed and experienced. Cambodian women have suffered through many years of trauma and grief, during and after the Khmer …

The Necessity Of Trauma-Focused Curricula In Mental Health Graduate Programs: Advocating For Comprehensive Trauma Etiology And Treatment Education With Proposed Course Outline, Aaron S. Gillespie

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

During the past four decades, it has become increasingly clear how prevalent trauma, polytrauma and co-morbid trauma-related disorders are within our shared, global communities. A growing body of research continues to uncover the mind-boggling impact these overwhelming experiences have on individuals, their families, and the communities that support them, including mental health professionals. It behooves us as allied mental healthcare providers to learn what trauma is, how it may affect the individual across the lifespan, as well as how to effectively identify and treat the trauma-related symptoms our clients present with. However, despite a proliferation of research demonstrating the growing …

Borderline Personality Symptoms And Relationship Threat: The Moderating Role Of Perceived Parental Rejection, Elsa Baumgartner

Student Research Submissions

Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) often perceive relationship threats more intensely, resulting in increased emotional reactivity. However, this link has never been examined with physiological measures in “real time,” nor have reports of perceived parental rejection ever been investigated as a potential moderator of this link. To fill this gap, the present study induced romantic relationship threat, after which participants completed an emotional reactivity task while electroencephalography data were recorded. Results reveal that higher levels of BPD features were associated with increased emotional reactivity, indicated by larger late positive potential (LPP) amplitudes, to negative stimuli in the face of …

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy: Implications For Treating Trauma, Kara L. Harrison Psy.D.

Psychology Doctoral Specialization Projects

Trauma related symptoms and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have been increasingly recognized for the key roles they occupy in mental health and overall individual well-being within both adult and childhood populations. They often represent significant barriers to the provision of mental healthcare within military populations and individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI). This original contribution to practice explores the significance of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy as a novel adjunctive approach to treating trauma. symptoms in adults and children. An extensive literature review examines current research and discussion on common definitions and nomenclature. It begins with discussion on the broader areas …

A Sense Of Trust: Somatic Spiritual Practices As A Path To Wholeness In Spiritually Integrated Trauma Care, Shyamaa Marie Creaven

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A traumatic event holds the power to rupture one’s world, generating lingering effects on embodied existence. Research has demonstrated that overwhelmingly stressful events often call into question deeply held values and beliefs and that spiritual struggles “tend to be partially responsible for the distress experienced" (Pomerleau et al., 2020, pp. 456–457). Similarly, research with veterans has demonstrated that religious and spiritual struggles mediate the relationship between a potentially morally injurious event and both anxiety and PTSD (Evans et al., 2018), often intensifying trauma and moral injury symptoms as well as opening a pathway for spiritual integration and growth (Pargament & …

Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing: Standard Versus Pain-Focused Treatment Protocols, Joni Walsh

Scripps Senior Theses

Typically used as a trauma therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) may be a promising intervention for chronic pain, given the relationship (and rates of comorbidity) between chronic pain and post-traumatic stress (PTS). The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate how EMDR therapy might best be implemented as an integrated treatment for chronic pain among individuals with post-traumatic stress symptoms. This study will be the first of its kind to directly compare the standard trauma-focused (TF) EMDR treatment to a popular emerging pain-focused (PF) EMDR treatment modification (Grant, 2000). This study will utilize a matched-participants design and …

Mental Health Providers’ Perspectives: The Link Between Childhood Trauma, Juvenile Delinquency And Long-Term Effects, Vanay Lashon Frederick-Ellis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile delinquency is an ongoing problem in society and is detrimental as many delinquents have mental and behavioral health issues. Delinquency is costly to society, and it was found that many delinquents have a traumatic past or adverse childhood experiences. They include child abuse and neglect, loss, separation/divorce of parents, witnessing domestic violence, parents who struggle with mental health and/or drug and substance abuse, parents who have their own trauma, death of a loved one, natural disaster, or other tragedies that are linked to an increase in the likelihood of juvenile delinquency. In this study, the relationship between juvenile delinquency …

Child-Centered Play Therapy’S Impact On Externalized Behaviors Of Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Single-Case Research Design, Timothy "T.J." Schoonover

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as exposure to emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, loss of a parent, domestic violence, family member with addiction, family member with depression or mental illness, and family member incarcerated (Felitti et al., 1998). ACEs have been studied for many years and have shown to have long term negative health and social-emotional outcomes and costs the world over $1 trillion a year (Bellis et al., 2019; Felitti et al., 1998; Hughes et al., 2017). Due to the emotional, physical, and dollar amount cost to not addressing the impact of ACEs …

What Are We Missing?: A Comparison Of Experiences Of Race-Based Trauma By Black Americans And Black Jamaicans, Bianca R. Augustine

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Current literature explains that events resulting from instances of white supremacy and racism are traumatizing for Black individuals (Phillips, 2020). Prior literature illuminates the impact of racism and resulting race-based trauma on Black individuals but is lacking regarding the lived experiences of race-based trauma in Black individuals in the U.S. and Black individuals from Jamaica. The goal of this study was to fill a gap in current literature by providing counselors and counselor educators with information regarding the experiences of Black clients to better inform multicultural, trauma-informed counseling practices and counselor education pedagogy. This study explored the experiences of race-based …

Bringing The Body Into Art Therapy: The Use Of Touch And Body Awareness In Creative Healing, Janna Corsetti

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The focus on the use of healing touch and body awareness in art therapy is critically lacking. Despite the research supporting the use of body-oriented techniques in clinical therapy, there is little research related to this use specifically in art therapy. Research reveals that healing touch and body awareness can be instrumental in healing trauma, if done with the proper training and boundaries in place. The first form of attachment and comfort for children is that of touch. Therefore, it is imperative to acknowledge the power of touch and body awareness when healing from traumatic experiences. The purpose of this …

Self-Compassion Integrated Art Therapy For Mothers During A Pandemic, Shannon Dover

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis reviews literature related to parental mental health and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a collective trauma in which individuals experience the trauma differently depending on race, gender, and class. Women’s experience of living during COVID-19 related to changes in the workplace, caretaking, and more. The pandemic influenced parents and notably mothers with increased stress, depression, grief, and anxiety. The practice of self-compassion reduces shame and self-criticism which are common experiences during parenting and trauma. Self-compassion and art therapy can aid in resiliency and make living during COVID-19 more comfortable. With a literature review, results yield the following …

Exploring How Interpersonal Childhood Trauma Impacts Emotional Development, Kathleen Hobbs

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Our earliest interactions in life lay the foundation of how we relate to ourselves and others throughout adulthood. When a child experiences abuse and neglect that is relational in nature, referred to as interpersonal childhood trauma, research shows that they are at a much higher risk to display emotional difficulties that have been found to contribute to extensive health consequences throughout the lifespan. Less has been documented however regarding exactly how this kind of trauma influences emotional development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current research that exists on the relationship between interpersonal childhood trauma and emotional …

The Experiences Of Iraqi Refugees In Canada: A Life History Study Of War And Resilience In The Aftermath Of Migration, Nada Nessan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis reports on a life history narrative on the experiences of Iraqi refugees who resettled in Canada after living through war. The aim of this study is to help change the narrow perspectives on the mental health of war affected populations to a broader perception shaped by cultural and social aspects and to inform the development of meaningful and cultural relevant programs and policies with a particular attention to the concept of resilience.

The first part of the study presents the chronological narratives, or profiles. of eight participants. The second part of the study is a thematic discussion of …

Continuing Education And Predictors Of Self-Reported Professional Competency Among Trauma Counselors, Desiree Lynn Grin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractContinuing Education and Predictors of Self-Reported Professional Competency Among Trauma Counselors by Desiree Lynn Grin

MS, Walden University, 2019MA, Capella University, 2009 BS, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 2003

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Counseling Psychology

Walden University November 2021 Abstract Currently, there is limited research about outcomes for therapists who choose to engage in professional trainings for ongoing education. Although other professions track this kind of information, there is a dearth of information for mental health counselors. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of counselors’ motivations, …

Do Aces Moderate Expressive Writing Outcomes? Examining The Relationship Between Exposure To Adverse Childhood Experiences And Expressive Writing Outcomes, Nick Vasquez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Repeated exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increases risks for various physical and mental health problems during adulthood. While research and policy decisions have focused primarily on early interventions and preventions, less research to date has looked at treatment options for adults with high exposure to ACEs. Cognitive behavioral therapies are viewed as an effective alternative; however, the high costs of therapy and limited efficacy for physical health problems warrant research into alternatives. Expressive writing is a well studied alternative to traditional talk-based therapies with limited demographic moderators. However, no research to date has looked at the role of ACEs …

Assessing A Cognitive Model Of Trauma-Related Sleep Disturbance, Rebecca Chesher

Dissertations

Sleep disturbance is a symptom of many mental health disorders that may negatively affect cognition and mood. Trauma-related sleep disturbance is a core reaction of traumatic stress and PTSD, similar to symptoms experienced by individuals with insomnia or other sleep-wake disorders. Although the cause and symptom progression of trauma-related sleep disturbance may be very different, research and clinical practice assess and treat it with measures and interventions designed for general insomnia. Using a cognitive model of insomnia modified for trauma-related sleep disturbance, the current study assessed the relations between select trauma and sleep variables within the proposed constructs of: 1) …

Experiences Of Latinx's Adult Transition To The U.S. And The Clinical Implications That Arise In Acclimating Into The Dominant Culture: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Gabriela Olavarrieta

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a significant gap in the literature regarding the lived experience of the Latinx adult transition to the United States and the clinical implications that arise in acclimating to the dominant culture, particularly under the Trump Administration. The approach for the current research examined Latinxs’ adulthood transitions to the United States, experiences of acculturative stress, including instances of discrimination as well as their experiences acclimating or assimilating into the dominant culture. This study also examined what seeking, or being unable to seek, mental health services looked like in the current sociopolitical climate. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was utilized to …

Natural Disasters And Attachment Quality: The Mediating Roles Of Self-Compassion And Positive Mental Health, Alexandra Teller

Dissertations

Emerging adults exposed to natural disasters may develop posttraumatic stress symptoms, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. Attachment quality has been found to be negatively associated with psychopathology in emerging adult hurricane survivors; however, the mechanisms by which this occurs have not yet been explored fully. Self-compassion may act as a protective factor against developing psychopathology while potentially promoting positive mental health outcomes following hurricane exposure. Furthermore, positive mental health has been identified as a potential resilience resource and may be impacted by attachment quality and self-compassion. The present study investigated the relationships between attachment quality, self-compassion, positive mental health, posttraumatic …

Mindfulness And Technology: Evaluating An Online Mindfulness Intervention For Symptoms Related To Sexual Assault, Erica Catherine Johnson

Dissertations

Sexual assault has been found to increase the risk of distressing psychological symptoms including PTSD, depression, somatization, drug and substance use, lower quality of life and experiential avoidance. As such, interventions for reducing the distress and negative impacts of sexual assault are of importance. Mindfulness is of particular interest as it addresses one of the prominent factors known to maintain psychological distress after trauma, experiential avoidance (Polusny et al., 2004; Merwin et al., 2009). Furthermore, an online mindfulness-based intervention can increase the accessibility and reduce the barriers to treatment. A within subjects repeated measures open clinical trial design was used …

Critically And Creatively Engaging With Trauma-Informed Mental Health Research And Treatment Of Lgbtqia+ Communities As Expressive Arts Therapists: A Literature Review, Kelli Lavallee

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive Arts Therapists are uniquely situated as both artists and mental health counselors working in psychological pedagogy rooted in systems of oppression. Given the arts-based approaches to the therapeutic relationship, it can be unethical to offer these approaches without acknowledgement of the ways in which the arts intersect with social justice, and justice is only viable if practitioners critically review the clinical mental health education they are consuming from the institutions they learn in, specifically trauma-informed mental health research assimilation and treatment approaches for Expressive Arts Therapists in training, practice, and education. A review of the literature in this paper …