Counseling Commons^™

One Stitch At A Time: Examining The Self-Care Of Art Therapists And The Potential Of Fiber Arts For Wellbeing, Elaine Chippero

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The goal of this thesis was to understand why art therapists are particularly at risk for burnout, why it is essential for art therapists to engage artmaking for their own self-care, and why fiber crafts are particularly suited for self-care. The literature was collected and organized using reflective journaling and visual–tactile coding and then presented in the following review. The first two sections of the literature review include comprehensive definitions of burnout and self-care and how both concepts have been discussed in literature relating to the helping professions and specifically art therapists. The third section covers the historical context of …

Expressive Therapies And Resiliency – Resistance In Mental Health: A Literature Review, Gabrielle Lopez

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This review evaluates the current literature on psychological resistance amongst human service professionals experiencing burnout and the effect of Expressive Arts interventions on resiliency. Concepts include identifying the main symptoms, risk factors, causes, and treatments for burnout in education faculty, medical staff, and clinicians. Qualitative, quantitative, and meta-analysis studies are included to identify the most prevalent intervention frameworks for reducing stress including Arts-Based and Mindfulness-compassion based techniques. The effectiveness of Arts-based tools on strengthening identity, self-esteem, emotional regulation, and meaning-making in combating burnout is presented. Based on analysis of the literature, the author proposes a three-step intervention framework for utilizing …

Preventative Mental Health Measures For Ministerial Leaders, Claire Phypers

Selected Honors Theses

Pastoral care and responsibilities come with a particular weight that can feel overwhelming at times for those engaged in ministry. In a world where mental health seems to be making all the headlines, there appears to be an overall lack of conversation surrounding the emotional well-being of clergy. This thesis aims to create a more holistic perception of mental health among ministerial leaders and pinpoint preventative measures that can be put in place to protect the hearts and minds of pastors as they fulfill the callings on their lives. In conducting this research, a mixed-method survey was completed by twenty-one …

An Exploration Of Stressors And Perceptions Of Wellness Among Christian Church Ministry Wives, Laura Ann Kellicut

Dissertations

Ministerial families are in the unique situation of a two-person career, where although the husband is the only one employed by the church, the wife is also expected to perform church specific demands and responsibilities (Frame & Shehan, 1994; Lifeway, 2017). Unique variables and factors of stress among ministry wives have been identified along with how their role affects certain domains of life (Douglas, 1961; Frame & Shehan, 1994; Lee, 2007; Zoba, 1997; Luedtke & Sneed, 2018). Lifeway Research (2017) found that 78% of ministers' spouses experienced some level of burnout with 22% at the highest levels. In the literature, …

A Systemic Approach To Understanding Burnout Through The Lens Of The United States’ Professional Art Therapy (And Mental Health) Community: A Literature Review, Mary Welch

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Burnout among mental health counseling and art therapy professionals has long been an issue (Meyerson 1998; Prins et al., 2015; Yang & Hayes, 2020; Zeira 2021). While previous research into the causes and reduction of burnout have focused primarily on individual burnout, both in terms of psychology and workplace habits (Rollins et al. 2021), very few studies have been done examining the systemic, institutional, and cultural contributions to burnout in these professions. This paper aims to explore the connection between community standards and the current systems that intersect professional art therapy practice in the United States and the areas in …

Rethinking Recidivism: Considerations For Counselors Working With Adult Clients In Sex Offender Treatment, Claire Richards

Counselor Education Capstones

Sex offender treatment is often court ordered and part of conditional release for individuals who have been convicted of harmful sexual acts. Counselors working with this population have an important role in terms of supporting and addressing the needs of their clients, but also in terms of public safety. A cursory exploration of this treatment includes an overview of the role that risk/protective factors documented through assessments have on outcomes, the impact of restrictions regarding conditional release, and how the counselors are both impacted by and integral to this field. Counselors who work with this demographic are presented with informed …

Administrative Supervision And Counselor Burnout, Emily Belsito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mental health counselors continue to experience burnout due to their roles and the nature of their work. The supervisory working alliance and clinical supervision have been shown to be one protective factor against burnout, however the research to date on administrative supervision’s relationship to burnout is scant. This quantitative study involved a sample (N =110) of mental health counselors, who met specific criteria, who completed a series of three inventories: the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI), the Brief Supervisory Working Alliance Trainee Form (BSWAT), and the Satisfaction of Administrative Supervision Scale (created by researcher). A multiple regression using the enter …

The Exploration Of Why Burnout Occurs With Registered Nurses Who Work In Psychiatric Care Settings, Jenna Booth

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Due to the demands of the job and the nature of the work, being a psychiatric nurse can be mentally, emotionally, and physically draining. As a result, burnout rates are high among psychiatric nurses. Burnout can negatively impact the well-being of psychiatric nurses as well as the quality of patient care. It is important to explore and understand psychiatric nurses' experiences of burnout to help prevent and decrease burnout. A phenomenological qualitative design was utilized to explore psychiatric nurses' lived experiences of burnout. A survey, qualitative in nature, was sent out to nurses at a psychiatric hospital. Phenomenological data analysis …

The History, Prevalence, And Implications Of Burnout In Medical Residents, Zoey Smith

Counselor Education Capstones

Medical providers are often seen as infallible, setting a standard for professionalism and quality care. However, throughout history, it has been shown that from medical students to residents, to attending physicians there can be an overarching trend of burnout. Poor work-life balance impacts sleep and physical well-being, and high-intensity situations can leave those in the medical field feeling empty. Medical residents are a population that has experienced these occurrences for years. Studies have suggested that this can stem from residents having limited control in their situations while being trusted with immense responsibility. Historic context to why residency programs are run …

Burnout Treatment And Prevention Using Multimodal Expressive Arts Therapy In Massachusetts Wellness Programs., Amanda Medas

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This capstone thesis will explore the issue of burnout in the field of mental health and the argument for the promotion of using expressive arts as a therapeutic component to decrease and prevent symptoms of burnout. The writer of this thesis will be sharing her personal experiences with burnout while working in the field of mental health. The researcher will review a multimodal expressive arts self-study that she engaged in over the course of one month and will be using the Maslach Burnout Inventory to track symptoms of burnout. Burnout and its prevalence in the field of mental health …

Supervisory Working Alliance As A Predictor For Counselor Burnout: The Potential Mediating Role Of Supervisee Nondisclosure, Amanda Bohnenstiehl

Dissertations

Clinical supervision sometimes lacks the elements necessary for a rigorous, helpful, and meaningful experience for the supervisee. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the supervisory working alliance, supervisee nondisclosure (i.e., when a supervisee does not communicate information that would otherwise be shared with the supervisor), and counselor burnout, specifically in a sample of counselors, social workers, and psychologists pursuing their original state licenses. Nondisclosure was examined to determine if it was a mediator of the relationship between the supervisory working alliance and burnout. Participants (n = 288) completed a demographic questionnaire, the supervisee form …

Examining The Relationship Between Self-Care And Professional Quality Of Life In Counseling And Clinical Psychology Trainees, Beverly Sharifian

Psychology and Counseling Theses

Helping professionals are systemically exposed to the suffering of their clients, resulting in emotional and behavioral consequences. Stamm’s (2010) theoretical framework for professional quality of life is characterized by the positive (compassion satisfaction) and negative (burnout and secondary traumatic stress) facets of the work of helping professionals. Graduate students in the fields of counseling and psychology are establishing life-long professional practices, caught between the demands of caring for others and attending to their own needs. The present study assessed the frequency of self-care practices among clinical psychology and clinical mental health counseling graduate students to predict their professional quality of …

Using Dance/Movement Therapy To Educate Hospice Providers On Preventing Burnout: A Method, Victoria G. Powell

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Burnout is a clinical condition that an individual may experience whenever they are in a constant state of stress. It is categorized by three groups of symptoms: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and negative self-evaluation of personal achievement (Rizo-Baeza et al., 2017, p. 19). This inquiry investigated the impact of burnout on hospice professionals and volunteers through researching previous literature. The research led to the development of a psychoeducational, body-based method with a Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) foundation. This preventative method was implemented in two separate workshops for hospice professionals and volunteers at a Massachusetts-based hospital system. Results indicate a need for training …

Development Of An Art Therapy Method For The Prevention And Treatment Of Vicarious Trauma, Leanna Pai

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Modern developments in the field of mental health care have greatly increased understanding of vicarious trauma and its impacts on the helping professions. However, the prevalence of vicarious trauma symptoms highlights the need for additional research into prevention and treatment. First responders, critical healthcare workers, and mental health professionals are at particularly high risk for compassion fatigue, burn out, and other symptoms of vicarious trauma as they work closely with traumatized populations. The high incidence of vicarious trauma in individual helping professionals can have immense consequences that ultimately limit quality systems of care available to the general public. This thesis …

Burnout Among Bilingual Social Service Providers, Marlene Reyes

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study focuses on burnout among bilingual Social Service Providers (BSSPs) and examines their thoughts and beliefs on the interconnection of their bilingual/bicultural skills and higher risk of burnout. The findings from this study have significant ramifications for the social service field on both Macro and Micro levels. At a Micro scale, the data validates the additional responsibilities of BSSP’s, while bringing more awareness to this group of professionals. Additional findings contribute to new policies regarding BSSPs job responsibilities; for example, accurate job descriptions and training for positions that require translation and interpretation. An exploratory study using qualitative data was …

The Cost Of Caring: Emergency Department Nurses, Compassion Fatigue, And The Need For Resilience Training, Amelia Walton

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Emergency Departments (EDs) are notoriously unpredictable and high stress environments. ED nurses are regularly exposed to stressful events such as sudden death, trauma, death and resuscitation of children, aggression and violence from patients, and systemic environmental stressors. For some ED nurses, prolonged exposure to these stressors leads to the development of compassion fatigue and burnout, but stigma around seeking support for mental health issues can impede a nurse’s desire to seek treatment. The counseling profession has seen an increased interest in the role that resilience-building strategies can have in negating the deleterious effects of compassion fatigue and burnout in nurses. …

Burnout And Attrition Experiences Of New Professional Clinical Mental Health Counselors: An Application Of The Indivisible Self Model Of Wellness, Adam Forrest Stephens

Doctoral Dissertations

Professional burnout is a phenomenon common to professionals working within the helping fields (Figley, 2002). Though common, little exists in the way of formal theories to define and understand the phenomenon and how it may be understood in a progressive, developmental sense (Paris & Hoge, 2010). To date, burnout has primarily been understood and researched through the study of other constructs that fit within the global definition of burnout (Newell & MacNeil, 2010), as well as more constructivist approaches to the phenomenon, stating there are no predictive cycles or types of experiences that result in a perceived sense of professional …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

Degree Of Implementation Of The American School Counselor Association National Model And School Counselor Burnout, Katrina Marie Steele

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

School counselors have undergone a job description evolution over the past 100 years. Changes have been made in the education that is required to be a school counselor. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) has developed a national model to define the role and job activities of school counselors. Most school counselors, counseling programs within individual schools, and school districts have incorporated parts of the ASCA National Model of school counseling to varying degrees. This study focused on the degree to which counselors perceived the ASCA National Model was adopted in their schools and whether the degree of adoption was …

The Mindfully Attached Therapist: Factors That Predict And Prevent The Development Of Compassion Fatigue, Stephanie E. Armes

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Characterized as a loss of empathy, compassion fatigue is experienced by many in the helping professions. Also known as secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue occurs when those in the helping professions experience trauma through interacting with the traumatic experiences of the people they are helping. Previous literature has found the development of compassion fatigue to be inevitable due to the amount of empathy those professionals must utilize on a daily basis. Mindfulness practices, such as Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) have been found to be a helpful learning tool for those in the helping …

The Contribution Of Practicing School Counselors' Level Of Altruism To Their Degree Of Burnout, Dorothy Limberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the directional relationship between practicing school counselors’ level of altruism to their degree of burnout. Specifically, this investigation tested the hypothesized directional relationship that practicing school counselors scoring at higher levels of altruism would have lower levels of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment). In addition, the investigation examined the relationship between the practicing school counselors’ levels altruism and burnout and their reported demographic information (e.g., age, school counseling level, self-reported levels of wellness). A thorough review of the literature is presented with supporting empirical research for each construct (altruism and burnout). A descriptive, correlational research …

Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, Objectivism And Religious Activities/Beliefs In Practitioners, Brenda J. Smith

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

As major stakeholders in the helping profession, counselors and other mental health professionals are prepared to assist clients in coping with intensely painful and traumatic experiences. While assisting their clients in processing traumatic events (e.g., natural disasters, violent crimes, grief, accidents, terrorist attacks), however, some professional helpers may become overwhelmed themselves and thereby experience compassion fatigue and/or burnout. This study will evaluate whether certain personal and professional factors in counselors—including objectivism in decision-making and religious beliefs and activities—are related to their ability to avoid compassion fatigue and/or burnout.