Counseling Commons^™

Movement Initiation: Beginning A Career In Dance/Movement Therapy, Mariah M. Lefeber

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

No abstract provided.

Using The Post-Traumatic Growth Model To Explore Trauma Narratives In Group Work With African Refugee Youth, Hannah E. Acquaye, Carol M. John, Laurie A. Bloomquist, Nicole M. Milne

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

African American youth and African refugee youth encounter systemic racism in similar yet different ways. Because of the inherent traumatic experiences encountered by refugee youth, the added discrimination during their acculturation processes elevates their trauma and stressor- related symptoms. This paper uses the Posttraumatic Growth Model to explore some steps in facilitating an 8-week group therapy for African refugee youth in the US school system. Culturally-sensitive recommendations are also provided.

Trauma-Informed School Practices In Response To The Impact Of Social-Cultural Trauma (Chapter In How Shall We Then Care? A Christian Educator's Guide To Caring For Self, Learners, Colleagues, And Community), Anna A. Berardi Phd., Brenda Morton

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Excerpt: "In this chapter we present a model for addressing the academic and behavioral challenges of students impacted by unmitigated stress and trauma. Typically, trauma-informed school literature addresses trauma resulting from abusive, or neglectful behaviors that occur in the home (Bailey, 2015; Craig, 2016; Massachusetts Advocates for Children, 2005; Souers & Hall, 2016). Here, the type of trauma we are addressing is threats to the physical and emotional health of students due to social and cultural factors. Perhaps most detrimental and deadly is trauma resulting from war, economic collapse, civil unrest, and social-political attitudes, laws, and customs that exclude, marginalize, …

Cultural Humility In Action: Reflective And Process-Oriented Supervision With Black Trainees, Naadira C. Upshaw, Douglas E. Lewis Jr., Amber L. Nelson

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The supervisory relationship is considered a core experience in the field of psychology. The primary goal of this experience is to support trainees’ development of strong clinical skills, as well as expertise, to ensure adequate treatment of patients and promote learning and professional growth. However, it has become evident that supervisors continue to struggle with adapting an integrated and contextual approach to diversity. This becomes problematic when working with trainees of Color who are often navigating multiple identities in professional spaces and are at risk for burnout and unintended harm from individuals in a supervisory role. Further, the expanding sociopolitical …

Trauma And Identity: A Reciprocal Relationship?, Steven L. Berman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Kaylin Ratner

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Trauma can alter the course of identity development and destabilize existing identity commitments. Trauma, whether past or current, can also impact the resources a person brings to identity work. However, identity can also be a lens through which trauma is perceived and interpreted, helping to determine whether a traumatic experience results in posttraumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic growth. Despite the apparent implications each construct has for the other, the scholarship at the intersection of trauma and identity remains sparse. This Special Issue explores how and when trauma and identity influence one another by considering their association across various adolescent populations, …

The Impact Of The School Counselor Supervision Model On The Self-Efficacy Of School Counselor Site Supervisors, Carleton H. Brown, Arturo Olivárez Jr., Lorraine Dekruyf

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Supervision is a critical element in the professional identity development of school counselors; however, available school counseling-specific supervision training is lacking. The authors describe a 4-hour supervision workshop based on the School Counselor Supervision Model (SCSM; Luke & Bernard, 2006) attended by 31 school counselors from three southern U.S. school districts. Employing a pre-experimental pretest-posttest research design using the Site Supervisor Self-Efficacy Survey-revised (DeKruyf, 2011), the authors found a significant positive relationship (t (30) = 9.31, p & .001; Cohen's d = 1.67) between supervision training and supervisor self-efficacy. These findings bolstered the efficacy of the SCSM. The authors discuss …

Counselor Formation And Gatekeeping Best Practices, Beronica M. Salazar, Ana Lilia Villafuerte Montiel Phd., Anna A. Berardi Phd.

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Counselor educators and supervisors contribute to students’ development while determining fitness for the profession. How we intervene can either help students work through internal conflicts that prevent them from embracing professional skills and dispositions or undermine that process. Facilitators will interactively engage participants in the application of a developmental framework that maximizes students’ dissonance in service to their counselor identity development process.

Spirituality In Supervision, Laurie A. Bloomquist

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Spirituality and religion are emerging in the literature as important areas of counselor competency. Not enough is known about the personal experiences of clinical supervisors with this topic. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the relationship between the personal spiritual and religious practices of counselor supervisors and their professional quality of life and ability to demonstrate the spiritual competencies described by the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC). A demographic questionnaire about spiritual and religious practices was created and two existing assessment tools were used to complete a cross sectional survey design to explore …

Empowering Marginalized Youth: A Self-Transformative Intervention For Promoting Positive Youth Development, Kyle E Eichas, Alan Meca, Marilyn J. Montgomery, William M. Kurtines

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This article reports the results of a positive youth development (PYD) intervention for adolescents in alternative high schools (209 African American and Hispanic American adolescents, aged 14–18; 118 females and 91 males). The intervention was guided by a self-transformative model of PYD (Eichas, Meca, Montgomery, & Kurtines, 2014). This model proposes that the actions youth take to define themselves function as active ingredients in positive development over the life course. Consistent with the self-transformative model, results provided support for direct or mediated intervention effects on the self-transformative processes of self-construction and self-discovery, life goal development, identity synthesis, and internalizing problems. …

Not Even Cold In Her Grave: How Postbereavement Remarried Couples Perceive Family Acceptance, Michelle Engblom-Deglmann

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Following the interviews of 24 participants concerning the death of their spouse and subsequent remarriage, a pattern of unsolicited responses concerning perceived acceptance of family emerged. Through grounded theory qualitative analysis, a continuum of acceptance was developed ranging from welcoming acceptance to active disapproval. Themes that influenced the perceived level of acceptance were (a) the length of time between death and courtship; (b) the length of the courtship itself; and (c) the level of family involvement in the courtship. Findings support and enhance current literature on remarital adjustment, suggesting it is critical to not only include children, but also the …

Counselor Educators Lean-In To Walk The Talk: A Team Approach To Strengthening Faculty Multicultural Sensitivity, Lorraine Dekruyf, Steve Bearden, Anna A. Berardi Phd., Chris Cleaver, Keith Dempsey, Michelle Englbom-Deglmann, Jennifer Lichtenberg, Rand Michael, Beronica M. Salazar, Richard Shaw, Robert Simpson, Daniel Sweeney

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This session offers an innovative approach for engaging faculty in the development and deepening of their own multicultural sensitivity, for improving pedagogy, and in turn promoting second-order change within students as they engage with multicultural competencies. Broader systemic issues are also addressed given the university's contextual setting as a faith-based, primarily Caucasian institution.

Integrating Narrative Family Therapy In An Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Program: A Case Study, Steven M. Demille, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Adolescent mental health is a significant societal concern in the United States. Diagnosable mental health disorders have been reported at rates of 10–20 % among children and adolescents and this does not include adolescents experiencing personal and interpersonal distress not meeting diagnostic criteria. Adolescents who do not respond to traditional mental health services are often placed in residential treatment centers or other out-of-home treatment programs. Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH) is growing as a viable treatment option for adolescents who struggle with emotional, behavioral or substance related problems; however, questions have been raised about how to integrate the family into an …

Erikson’S Young Adulthood And Emerging Adulthood Today, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Jeffrey J. Arnett

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

No abstract provided.

Identity And Positive Youth Development: Advances In Developmental Intervention Science, Kyle E Eichas, Alan Meca, Marilyn J. Montgomery, William Kurtines

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This chapter provides an overview of advances in developmental intervention science that have contributed to an emerging literature on identity-focused positive youth development interventions. Rooted in the tradition of applied developmental science, developmental intervention science aims to advance the evolution of sustainable developmental intervention strategies targeting positive developmental outcomes. These developmental intervention strategies are intended to complement the wide array of well-established treatment and prevention intervention strategies targeting risky and problem behaviors. Within this framework, positive identity interventions seek to create empowering intervention contexts that promote the development of an increasingly integrated—and therefore an increasingly complex, coherent, and cohesive—self-constructed self-structure. …

Mindfully Educating Our Future: The Mesg Curriculum For Training Emergent Counselors, Lynn Bohecker, Cristen Wathen, Pamela Wells, Beronica M. Salazar, Linwood G. Vereen

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The 2009 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs standards (II.G.6.e) and the Association for Specialists in Group Work both promote and support counselors in training (CITs) having direct experience as group members. Counselor educators must develop experiential group curricula, which intentionally facilitate CIT growth and development, while meeting ethical and accreditation standards. The Mindfulness Experiential Small Group (MESG) Curriculum was developed to assist in meeting and exceeding these standards. The skills obtained through the MESG can provide CITs with ways to manage academic and emotional challenges while facilitating counselor development in a group context.

Best Practices In Clinical Supervision: Evolution Of A Counseling Specialty, L. Dianne Borders, Harriet L. Glosoff, Laura A. Welfare, Danica G. Hays, Lorraine Dekruyf, Delini M. Fernando, Betsy Page

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

A number of developments have marked the evolution of clinical supervision as a separate specialty since publication of the Standards for Counseling Supervisors in 1990, including accreditation and counselor licensure standards, supervisor credentials, and research on supervision practice and supervisor training, nationally and internationally. Such developments culminated in the development of a statement of Supervision Best Practices Guidelines. The Guidelines are described, followed by suggestions for their implementation and further evolution through research.

Identity-Related Dysfunction: Integrating Clinical And Developmental Perspectives, Erin A. Kaufman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Sheila E. Crowell

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Recent changes to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders highlight the importance of identity dysfunction within several psychiatric diagnoses. Despite a long-standing tradition of identity research and theory in the developmental literature, there is limited work establishing intersections between clinical and developmental conceptualizations of identity problems. The relative lack of integration between decades of clinical and developmental work is unfortunate, and likely limits progress in both areas. In this commentary, the authors argue for greater interdisciplinary collaboration and highlight contributions from developmental and clinical theories, which, if integrated, could enhance identity scholarship. The developmental psychopathology …

Working With Children Using Dance/Movement Therapy, Mariah M. Lefeber

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Movement is a language. We all learned to relate on a nonverbal level before starting to communicate verbally. Thus, this nonverbal language of the body is especially powerful for children, who communicate, navigate relationships, and interact with their environment through movement. An early, healthy connection with their bodies enables children to develop a strong sense of self and dynamic sense of both their body image and physical boundaries. For all of these reasons, dance/ movement therapy is a highly effective modality for working with children. This chapter introduces the field of dance/movement therapy, specifically as it relates to working with …

Links Between Alcohol And Other Drug Problems And Maltreatment Among Adolescent Girls: Perceived Discrimination, Ethnic Identity, And Ethnic Orientation As Moderators, Calonie M.K. Gray, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Objectives: This study examined the links between maltreatment, posttraumatic stress symptoms, ethnicity-specific factors (i.e., perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, and ethnic orientation), and alcohol and/or other drug (AOD) problems among adolescent girls.

Methods: These relations were examined using archived data from a community sample of 168 Black and Hispanic adolescent girls who participated in a school-based substance use intervention.

Results: The results revealed that maltreatment was linked to AOD problems, but only through its relation with posttraumatic stress symptoms; maltreatment was positively related to posttraumatic stress symptoms, which were positively related to AOD problems. Both perceived discrimination and ethnic orientation were …

Is Touch Beyond Infancy Important For Children’S Mental Health?, Melody Whiddon, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Numerous studies from various fields have established that touch is vital to healthy adjustment during infancy and also during old age. Physiological research emphasizes the importance of touch to physical and psychological systems (Field, 2003). Attachment research emphasizes the importance of touch in the sensitive responsiveness and availability characteristic of the secure attachment style (Kassow & Dunst, 2004). Behavioral research emphasize the importance of contingent touch in reinforcement of infant behavior (Gewirtz & Pelaez- Nogueras, 2000). Recently, attention has been given to research examining touch in medical situations for elderly populations.

Theoretically, touch should remain important throughout the lifespan, but …

Touch Therapy Combined With Talk Therapy: The Rubenfeld Synergy Method, Luna L. Medina, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Touch therapy has been researched for many years and is accepted as a successful therapeutic method for healing. Ironically, touch has gone from being a part of mainstream medicine to becoming associated with alternative medicine. The Rubenfeld Synergy Method (RSM), one modality emphasizing touch, was created almost four decades ago and has been recently rediscovered due to the growth and evolution of alternative medicine. RSM combines gentle touch and talk therapy to treat patients. Currently, there is no direct research-based support for the benefits of this method. However, this is a vast quantity of data supporting the benefits of touch …

Developmental Assessment And Feedback Relieves Parenting Stress, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Melody A. Whiddon

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Numerous studies have established that role stress experienced by parents has an impact on their perceptions of their child’s behavior, the quality of their parent-child interactions, and their child’s overall adjustment. Significant numbers of parents do experience the parenting role as stressful, often because they have concerns about whether their child’s behavior is within normal limits. Having seen parenting stress frequently while counseling parents and children, we reasoned that providing individualized developmental information to parents could reduce their parenting stress, and in turn result in positive consequences for parents and for children.

This article describes a brief intervention we developed, …

Dance/Movement Therapy And Autism, Mariah M. Lefeber

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Movement is a language. For children affected by autism, movement may be the only language they can rely on. Children with autism often have limited verbal abilities, making it extremely difficult for them to reach out to others (Hartshorn et al., 2001). When words fail, dance/movement therapy fosters a child's ability to relate, communicate, and connect on a nonverbal level.

Developing A Global Culture Of Collaboration For School Counselors, Suzy R. Thomas, Lorraine Dekruyf, Peggy Hetherington, Dean Lesicko

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

School-university partnerships are becoming increasingly popular within the field of school counseling. Peer consultation groups offer a specific type of partnership and support for practitioners, numerous advantages for those in higher education, and significant potential for international application. This article expands on Thomas’ (2005) peer consultation model developed for school counseling alumni, with adaptations of the model in two universities, as well as several K-12 school districts within a single county. Data from participant evaluations indicate strong support for the personal and professional value of peer consultation.

Profiles Of Adolescent Identity Development: Response To An Intervention For Alcohol/Other Drug Problems, Larry F. Forthun, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The purpose of this study was to examine identity development among adolescents participating in an after-school alcohol/other drug (AOD) abuse intervention program (8 females and 12 males, ages 14–17) to identify how identity development was associated with intervention success. To achieve this goal we (a) garnered information from two identity interviews conducted during the first week of the intervention and 6 to 8 weeks later; (b) adopted a qualitative, person-centered analytical strategy to identify identity profiles; and (c) examined the intervention response of the adolescents, as recorded in intervention documents, in the different identity profile groups. Analyses revealed five identity …

The Movement’S Message: Dance/Movement Therapy & Children With Autism, Mariah M. Lefeber

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Movement is a language. For children affected by autism, movement may be the only language they can rely on. Children with autism often have limited verbal abilities, making it extremely difficult for them to reach out (Hartshorn et al., 2001). When words fail, dance/movement therapy fosters a child’s ability to relate, communicate, and connect on a nonverbal level. This chapter will outline the use of dance/movement therapy with children on the autism spectrum. Specifically, it will introduce concepts of movement analysis and examine the potential in using movement-based assessments to create therapy goals and movement interventions for practical application.

This …

Promoting Positive Youth Development: Relational Data Analysis (Rda), William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Lisa Lewis Arango, Gabrielle Kortsch, Richard Albrecht, Arlene Garcia, Rachel Ritchie, Kyle Eichas

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This article provides an overview of the origins and use of relational data analysis (RDA). RDA is a multidimensional, multiphasic framework for unifying data analytic strategies across dimensions (quantitative/qualitative, causal/structural, observation/interpretation, etc.) and phases of analyses (conceptual, theoretical, and research analyses). RDA was developed within a relational metatheoretical methodological framework for overcoming the splits that have historically characterized methodological metatheory. The aim was to formulate a practical, ready-at-hand framework that the developmental scientist could use to unify the analysis of developmental change in real life “applied” settings as well as clinic and laboratory settings.

A Developmental Intervention Science (Dis) Outreach Research Approach To Promoting Youth Development: Theoretical, Methodological, And Meta-Theoretical Challenges., Marilyn J. Montgomery, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Ervin Briones, Wendy Silverman, Rachel Ritchie, Kyle Eichas

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. The paper describes three broad challenges (theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical) that the authors faced in their efforts to develop and implement community-supported intervention programs built on this approach. The authors describe first the theoretical challenges they addressed in developing the conceptual framework for their community-supported intervention; second, the challenge of developing and refining a methodological framework for evaluating …

Promoting Positive Youth Development: Implications For Future Directions In Developmental Theory, Methods, And Research, William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Wendy K. Silverman

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The efforts of the Miami Youth Development Project reported in this special issue illustrate how Developmental Intervention Science (DIS; a fusion of the developmental and intervention science) extended to include outreach research contributes to the development of community-supported positive youth development programs. In the process, the articles further illustrate the general utility of Developmental Intervention Science outreach research in facilitating the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about changes within human systems that occur across the lifespan in the development of evidence-based individual and institutional change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. Additionally, the articles illustrate the considerable implications …

A Multistage Longitudinal Comparative (Mlc) Design Stage Ii: Evaluation Of The Changing Lives Program (Clp): The Possible Selves Questionnaire-Qualitative Extensions (Psq-Qe), Gabrielle Kortsch, William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The study reported in this paper, a Multistage Longitudinal Comparative (MLC) Design Stage II evaluation conducted as a planned preliminary efficacy evaluation (psychometric evaluation of measures, short-term controlled outcome studies, etc.) of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), provided evidence for the reliability and validity of qualitative measures under development as well as the utility of unifying qualitative (e.g., open coding, theoretical sampling/saturation, etc.) and quantitative (e.g., quasi-experimental designs, advanced statistical analysis, psychometric analysis, etc.) research methods and procedures for evaluating intervention programs. Specifically, when analyzed using Relational Data Analysis, response data from the Future Possible Selves Questionnaire yielded theoretically meaningful …