Counselor Education Commons^™

The Effect Of Childhood Maltreatment On Psychotherapy Effectiveness In Adulthood: Implications For Counselors, Michael Hillerman

Theses and Dissertations

Recent gains in understanding the effects of childhood maltreatment on the development of the brain and nervous system, combined with the revelation that nearly all psychiatric neuroimaging studies have had an unrecognized confound in childhood maltreatment, imply the possibility that psychotherapy treatment effectiveness studies have been similarly confounded by childhood maltreatment. This study examines whether treatment-seeking adults exposed to childhood maltreatment respond differently to psychotherapy than do individuals who report no history of childhood maltreatment. Response to therapy is conceptualized in this study as reduction in symptom measures pre- and post- treatment, as well as client dropout. It is hypothesized …

Forged In The Fires Of Covid-19: The Evolution Of Systemic Therapy For Online Practice And Beyond, Lauren Skuba M.A., Mftc, Lindsay Edwards , Ph.D.

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

There has been a swift uptake in the use of teletherapy since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has corresponded with an increase in clinical scholarship focused on conducting systemic therapy in an online format. A majority of this scholarship offers ideas for adapting therapeutic tasks developed around in-person contact for a remote format. The current article moves beyond adapting and offers ideas for remote systemic therapy that are born from our experiences of evolving through teletherapy. We begin by noting some of the significant differences between in-person therapy and teletherapy before describing how these differences can influence client …

Bowen Informed Therapy Integrated With Gene Keys, Kristen Oliver M.A.

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The mental health professions require innovation in order to advance theory and practice. This article presents reimagined therapeutic work that joins the metaphysical element of Gene Keys with the largely accepted theoretical approach of Bowen Family Systems Theory. We propose the integration of metaphysics as a way to facilitate higher levels of differentiation – particularly in clients who have an expanded worldview inclusive of metaphysics. The reader is asked to stretch their beliefs and perspective as they read through this paper.

Mft Trainee Experiences Of Shame, Self-Criticism, And Self-Compassion In Their First Practicum, Mark Karris , Ph.D., Angela B. Kim Ph.D.

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of MFT trainee shame, self-criticism, and self-compassion. Additionally, this study also sought to understand how those experiences may affect a trainee’s clinical work as a first-time practicum student. Interviews were conducted with 15 trainees in a graduate program who were performing therapy at a practicum site. Utilizing Moustakas’ transcendental phenomenology, six essential themes emerged: (1) shame and self-criticism are interrelated and can affect therapeutic presence; (2) self-criticism can have a positive impact on clinical work; (3) trainees use metaphors to describe shame and self-criticism (4) self-compassion …

Using Stories With Families: A Scoping Review, Sam Hadji Cyrous Ph.D. (Candidate), Sofia Valadares Nishiyama Cordeiro, Ana Caroline De Caldas

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This article is the fruit of a systematic scoping review, according to PRISMA precepts. Its objective was to explore the use of stories and other symbolic genre on family therapy settings. Thus, it explains how the researchers made the selection of articles in phases or steps, in a total of six, having a final result of 11 articles, in a time-lapse of 28 years. By the one hand, it was observed a relationship between different techniques that are usually grouped separately and, by the other hand, the disparate way in which the same concepts are confused among researchers, where each …

Notes On Language In The Clinic In A Lacanian Key, Sean J. Carroll

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

There is no shortage of therapeutic modalities and interventions at the therapist’s disposal. Psychotherapy, because it claims to treat the individual, is necessarily multifaceted and complex. The dimension of language which structures much of our experience should be considered as a starting point for a psychotherapeutic technique. French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan developed a theory and technique of the talking cure beginning from this assumption: that language structures our experience. In the early 1950s he sought to recover a linguistic Freud: to re-center psychoanalytic psychotherapy on language itself. In this paper, I sketch the theoretical reasons for this turn in Lacan …

Children Of Divorce Parents Group Manual, Sheyenne Hokit

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Divorce is something that is, unfortunately, becoming a commonality for a lot of children, and due to the complexity of divorce, many children struggle when trying to understand divorce and how it affects them. Some effects of divorce are various emotional and behavioral issues such as increased anger and decreased emotion regulation. Social, health, and academic concerns were also found. Counseling interventions like narrative therapy, emotion-focused family therapy, emotion-focused therapy, and play therapy were found to be effective with this population (Hirschfeld & Wittenborn, 2016, Thomas & Gibbons, 2009). The identified interventions provide peer-based social support, education on the misconceptions …

Classical Music In Depth Psychology: Listening To The Unconscious In Active Imagination, Ellen Wimmer Sheahan

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This article aims to explore the role of classical music in depth psychology, with insight from the author’s experience as a classical musician and psychotherapist. The author posits that classical music possesses deep archetypal wisdom that supports awareness for client individuation. Through personal reflection and case examples, the author examines archetypal potentials when classical music arises in active imagination. This writing aims to substantiate the importance of sound and music, as well as image, in the field of depth psychology.

Using Client And Supervision Feedback To Improve Supervision In Health Care, Daryl Mahon Ba, Ma

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This paper seeks to establish a conceptual model of client and supervisee feedback that can be used to improve supervision processes and outcomes in health and social care settings. Supervision is a beneficial practice development endeavor that practitioners find rewarding for various reasons. However, the impact of supervision on client outcomes in health and social care settings is scant and not all supervision is helpful; indeed, harmful and inadequate supervision is also prevalent. Using supervisory measures of the alliance between supervisor and supervisee may be one method to help improve processes and outcomes. In addition, providing client feedback to practitioners …

An Application Of The Two Routes In Counseling Philosophy, Lance Kair

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This is a case study of a session with a subject. The subject’s name is philosophy. Philosophy needs a counseling intervention due to the development of an epistemological rupture revealing two routes into or upon knowledge. This problem that philosophy faces arises along two epistemological routes, called truth and reality. The significant issue of philosophy is how to reconcile a true reality. The proposal at hand for this consideration by philosophy is that a reconciliation is most effective though argumentative validation in orientation over argumentative proof in ideological reduction. Our effort here works toward the truth of reality found through …

A Humanistic, Culturally Sensitive Approach To Telesupervision: A Case Study, Tony Falasca

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

In this case study, the unique features of providing telesupervision in a humanistic, systematic approach that takes in cultural issues are discussed.With the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists who supervise students have not only moved to various online platforms to supervise students, but also had to adjust to the uniqueness of telesupervision and to issues brought into supervision such as culture. In this case study a strong working alliance start to develop with this student prior to starting telesupervision. It allowed trust to develop by getting to know the student, looking at what the student wanted in during supervision and the requirements …

Deriving Meaning: A Conceptual Analysis, Lea Powell M.A

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This article serves as a conceptual analysis to explore and interrogate the definition of meaning through the framework of collective trauma and uncertainty. The author uses the COVID19 pandemic as a reference point to illustrate models of behavior sustained by the onset of collective trauma. Unpredictability and adversity are amongst the factors identified as key underpinnings preluding the search for meaning, while the implication of resilience, identification of self, and group dynamics are examined. Previous research is integrated to understand the foundational constructs of meaning, while semantic interpretations challenge the objectivity of identified constructs. The relationship between self-satisfaction and meaning …

Fashion Psychology: The Relationship Between Clothing And Self, Georgia Maxey

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This exploratory article discusses the systemic influence of the law, culture, society, and Self on the relationship between a person and their clothing. The point of this article is to discuss how the influence of Self can be proportionally balanced with the law, culture, and society. This article aims to address the influence of Self on dressing choices in a system where culture and society hold most of the influence. The author aims to explore if the systemic balance of Self in the influence on dressing could aid Fashion Psychology in a humanitarian effort towards a formal study of the …

For Love Of The Father: An Archetypal Exploration, Elizabeth Hall

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Great stories articulate the movement of the individual and collective psyche and withstand the tests of time, location, cultural and gender distinctions. Through the study of myth, we recognize our shared humanity and the particularities that inform a life. As a depth psychotherapist, I come to archetypal stories with expectancy, hoping to re-cognize myself and my clients within the action of the other. The Biblical story of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25-35) offers the scholar boundless opportunity for theological, ethical and historical analysis. However, this story of familial relationships requires of me a different kind of telling. This essay is …

The Gender Freedom Model: A Framework For Helping Transgender, Non-Binary, And Gender Questioning Clients Transition With More Ease, Rae Mcdaniel, Laurel Meng

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

Transgender/non-binary experiences and identities are often represented in academic literature through narratives of distress and are often pathologized through a medical lens. This holds implications for the field of psychotherapy, as interventions aimed to support transgender/nonbinary individuals often focus solely on risk mitigation. This article presents a therapeutic framework that rests on three pillars—Play, Pleasure, and Possibility—as the focal points for reimagining work with transgender/non-binary clients. This model aims to help this population explore gender transition with more ease through building practical skills, cultivating personal and collective pride, and centering pleasure equity.

Social And Cultural Considerations In Accessing Mental Health Treatment In The Gambia, West Africa, Safiya Njai

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study examines the social and cultural considerations in accessing mental health treatment in The Gambia, West Africa. Participants were recruited from The Gambia for a qualitative study that included semistructured interviews (N = 17). A team of analysts identified five themes. The results highlighted social and cultural conceptualizations of mental health and mental illness, sociocultural determinants of health, interventions, barriers to care, and the legal framework to support mental health change. These findings are important for counselors to understand different perceptions of mental health and mental illness and the associated stigma. Furthermore, several opportunities for advocacy in The Gambia …

Therapeutic Potential Of Psychedelic Drugs, Specifically Magic Mushrooms, Marijuana, And Mdma With Veterans Who Suffer From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Ptsd), Misty Schutterle

Counselor Education Capstones

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a stress-based condition that a person develops after being exposed to an overwhelmingly traumatic event. Military troops frequently experience stress and trauma, making them highly susceptible to psychopathology. This paper evaluates nine clinical trials that used either magic mushrooms, marijuana, or MDMA as an adjunct to traditional psychotherapy to treat veterans who suffer from anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidality, and other psychopathologies. Multiple scholarly journals and articles were read and analyzed, which show support for the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs in treating veterans with PTSD. After receiving psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the research showed participants experienced a …

Making Room: Addressing The Counter-Therapeutic Nature Of Psychiatric Hospitalization Through Containment- Based Group Expressive Therapy, Max Sandor Copans

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The process of hospitalization and the environment of a typical psychiatric hospital is often counter-therapeutic. To challenge this problem, clinicians may introduce the concept of psychological containment. To elaborate, being hospitalized anywhere can be disorienting, frightening and even traumatic. This problem is only further exacerbated in psychiatric hospitals where patients may be disorganized, manic, or struggling with psychosis. Furthermore, psychological containment is essentially the ability for psychiatric patients to prevent their intense emotions from effecting others negatively, and to act with resiliency when other patients are unable to contain their own disruptive behaviors. This paper utilizes both an initial literature …

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a qualitative design …

Beyond The Competency Model Of Therapist Trainings - Developing Expertise Through Deliberate Practice, Daryl Mahon Ba, Ma

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The purpose of the present paper is to describe how Deliberate Practice (DP) can be used to assist individual therapists develop expertise and improve their ability to effect change in their clients' psychotherapy outcomes. The author provides a targeted review of this literature and articulates a method of training therapists based on this relatively new and exciting concept. The initial training of psychotherapists represents an important milestone in an often lifelong career and one that is marked with a continuous professional development trajectory. While it is particularly important to achieve competency in many foundational skills and techniques during training, this …

Using Ambiguous Loss To Address Perceived Control During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rosemary A. Leone

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The concepts of ambiguous loss and perceived control will be used to explore ways to embrace the unknown during COVID-19. By defining COVID-19 as an ambiguous loss, effective therapeutic interventions emerge that can guide clinicians in creating lasting change amidst widespread uncertainty. Four ambiguous loss interventions will be proposed to alleviate the distress of living in fearful semi-isolation for an unknown period of time. In paradoxically embracing uncertainty, clients can create new hope in the context of a global pandemic. New hope is the ideal outcome when coping with ambiguous loss. In literature on ambiguous loss, the concept of new …

An Essay Concerning The Substance Of Counseling, Lance Kair

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Our modern world appears to lack a way to find truth. Philosophically, this problem is formulated in a manner of knowing which never gets beyond the subject of the universe; even objectivity in the universe is arguable. The effort called empirical science then gives us conclusions that regularly perpetuate an unstable world. Due to this real subjective empirical constraint, the usual approach to therapeutic Counseling offers methods focused on the individual obtaining skills and conceptions that function to mitigate the apparent and ubiquitous problem of modernity. Empirical science, whether it be physical, biological or phenomenal, has left us with only …

Clash Of Values: Workplace Bullying And Moral Injury, Jarl B. Anderson Ma, Mftc

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Moral injury is a psychological construct developed in military context, and although it has been expanded to include specific occupational fields outside of the military, it has not yet been proposed as an outcome of workplace bullying. Employees may experience moral injury when their personal values and the legitimate values of the workplace clash with unacknowledged shadow values during incidents of workplace bullying. Workplace bullying could be considered a potentially morally injurious event (PMIE) because it is transgressive, it is asymmetric, and it involves high stakes: livelihood and identity are at risk. Regarding counseling considerations, the use of ritual has …

Observations On The Relationship Between Resilience And Mindfulness, Jason N. Linder Psy. D., Jay A. Mancini

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

In the last three decades, mindfulness and resilience have received extensive scholarly attention. Research has burgeoned and they have both become “buzz words” in the social sciences and mental health fields. That said, they are often presented as unrelated qualities, skills, or states, and few studies and texts have examined their linkages and/or how they complement each other. Masten’s (2001, 2009) seminal papers and subsequent book (2014) that presented resilience as “ordinary magic” have had large impacts on resilience scholarship, bringing forth that resilience is much more of a common human occurrence and proclivity than previously considered. In this paper, …

Editorial, H. Luis Vargas

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Editor-in-Chief H. Luis Vargas' editorial for the latest issue of Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review.

The Multigenerational Transmission Process Of Healing Social Cultural Wounds Within The Black Community: A Comprehensive Analysis, Adeola Quintero

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This article examines the multigenerational transmission process of healing social cultural wounds within the black community. A comprehensive research analysis of slavery, racial trauma and racism along with the events surrounding their existence in our contemporary society are explored. Revealed throughout this framework are the theories literature has posited as solutions to racial wounds such as the ‘black self-concept’, ‘Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome,’ ‘Bowen’s Multigenerational Transmission Process,’ ‘racialized disease narrative’ and the introduction of the “social cultural wounds’ concept. 15 recommendations are suggested for addressing the racial healing work within individual, institutional, and systemic healing. Current theory, models, scales assessment …

Gateways For Transformation, Amitice L. Saremi

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Big life transitions, typically resulting from loss, can cause physical, emotional, and behavioral problems. Using a heuristic methodology, this article answers the question: Given polyvagal theory, how can yoga and depth psychology combine to support clients to make transitions more easily? Polyvagal theory hypothesizes that the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve, impacts impact many parts of the body related to physical and mental health. Breathing helps the vagus nerve function properly along with self-regulation, homeostasis, and the social engagement system. Yoga and depth psychology recognize the continuous cycles of life that exist in nature, the constancy of change, the …

Changing The Narrative For Lgbtq Adolescents: A Literature Review And Call For Research Into Narrative Therapy To Improve Family Acceptance Of Lgbtq Teens, Felicia Jordan

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

A large body of existing research has demonstrated the importance of family acceptance as a protective factor for LGBTQ youth facing increased risks of low self-esteem, depression, suicidal ideation, and other mental-health problems. However, little research has been done on therapeutic interventions for families specifically to address stigma and discrimination against LGBTQ adolescents. In particular, narrative therapy, with its focus on deconstructing and re-storying oppressive cultural narratives, seems a natural fit, but little to no quantitative research has been done on family-based narrative therapy for LGBTQ adolescents, and only a handful of qualitative studies have been published. Therefore, the paper …

Exploring The Locker, Haley Bagley

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

This article is an effort to foster grace and to create genuine, humble community. A new sense of community, that is not conditional on our abilities to censor ourselves to be more palatable to those around us. Instead, the birth of a new way of relating that considers our deep inner selves that feel shame, remember traumas, and cower in fear of these experiences. Perhaps most of all, this article is an invitation to explore our deepest inner selves, and the cost of censoring this self. This exploration is not a leisurely dive into the corners of ourselves that lie …

An Essay Concerning The Possibility Of A Unified Theory Of Counseling, Lance Kair

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The Object-Oriented Ontology of Graham Harman, also known as Object-Oriented Philosophy, presumes to describe an ontology of all objects, including human beings. This essay shows how the discipline of counseling can benefit from such an ontology of objects. To move into this particular case of an Object-Oriented Ontology of human beings, and to distinguish, initially, at least, between the object that we are now concerned with, or will be soon, and the universe of subjectivity, I propose that we refer to universal objects, which is to indicate objects that exist in the universe, however we might define it. In this …