Psychology Commons^™

Clinician Perspectives On Fistula Mental Health, Victoria K. Leonard

Doctoral Dissertations

Background – Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury caused by prolonged labor that leads to stillbirth and incontinence, spurring social exclusion and isolation. These layers of trauma put women with fistula at great risk for psychological suffering, which has profound negative socioeconomic impacts on them, their families, and communities. This study captured treatment as usual at Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), the country’s largest provider of fistula care.

Method – Improving holistic fistula treatment requires engaging the clinicians who care for women with fistula. This study aimed to investigate the training, beliefs, and treatment approaches of nurses and …

An Exploration Of The Contributions Of Parenting Styles And Peer Relationships On The Emotional Expression Of Second-Generation Indian-Americans, Smitha M. Kashi

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation used a qualitative analysis methodology to study the contributions of parenting styles and peer relationships on the emotional expressivity of second generation Asian Indian-Americans. Seven participants participated in a 60 - 90 minute long semi-structured interview and the content was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Most previous research regarding this topic has been conducted on White American or European individuals and does not take into consideration the many intersectionalities that second-generation Indian-Americans hold. Many participants discussed the lack of direction they experienced in regards to learning about their emotions and disclosed that college and young adulthood provided …

Reclaiming Healing Spaces: A Phenomenological Study On The Transformative Power Of Outdoor Therapy From The Lived Experiences Of Black Clinicians Working With Black Clients, Lynn Murphy

Dissertations

This phenomenological study involved assessing the experiences of Black therapists who engaged Black clients in outdoor therapeutic contexts. The study was founded on the existing literature that shows the quality of the therapeutic relationship is pivotal for client retention and the Western standards that have historically favored treatment within indoor environments. To contextualize this research, a comprehensive literature review was commenced, covering topics such as the decolonization of therapy, the historical and present-day relationship between Blacks and the outdoors in the United States, sedentary lifestyles, the psychological benefits of time spent in nature, various types of outdoor therapy, and the …

An Exploration Of Adult Children’S Attachment To Their Parents Across Two Cultural Groups: Indians In India And Indians Who Immigrated To The United States, Vilasini Meenakshi Arun

Doctoral Dissertations

Typically, attachment theory has been studied and explored with western populations. Individuals seeking mental health treatment within the United States include western and nonwestern cultural groups and research, theories and interventions that apply to diverse populations are necessary. Attachment relationships are often a part of, or reasons for clients to seek therapy either overtly or covertly, thus allowing research on attachment to better inform treatment plans and practice. An attachment relationship between a parent and child can be influenced by several factors and may change over the course of development, but little is known about this process among Indians …

Understanding Mental Health Provider's Experiences Of Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, And Vicarious Resilience From The Provider Perspective, Lauren Beheler-Romero

Doctoral Dissertations

The physical and psychological impacts on mental health providers as a result of burnout, vicarious trauma, and vicarious resilience have not been researched extensively. This study examined burnout and vicarious trauma among mental health providers in New Mexico given the high need population and low access to resources. This qualitative study, employed individual interviews, examined the lived experiences of seven mental health providers who are currently employed in the state of New Mexico in order to better understand the impact of burnout, vicarious trauma, and vicarious resilience. Inclusion criteria for participants included providing mental health services to children and families …

Growing Together: Cultivating The Social-Emotional Effects Of Art Education Through Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Kaitlyn Lawrence

Masters Theses

In many societies, the process of art is recognized as a healing and transformative practice. In recent years, it has been emerging in tandem with social emotional practices and procedures in American education. However, it is also a fact that social emotional learning (SEL) does not account for all students due to its inability to account for the needs of all students in the classroom. SEL alone aims to teach healthy development and emotional management skills, but fails to account for students with varying experiences. While there are those who can and do integrate the skills from the Social Emotional …

In My Softest & Most Liberatory Dreams: Reflections On Holding Complexity & Decentering Whiteness, Richard C. Clark

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As the world contends with a global pandemic, climate catastrophes, white supremacy, coloniality, and concurrent genocides my attention splinters. In an act of futurity, or future making, I ask myself: What is needed to move from this place toward softer, more liberatory futures? This body of work finds its answer in exploring two interrelated concepts: Decentering Whiteness and Holding Complexity. Decentering Whiteness is the process of working toward a future where all the personal, spiritual, educational, epistemological, social, structural, psychological, financial, and systemic ties to white supremacy are unraveled. Holding Complexity weaves together knowledges of care, accountability, intersectionality, and …

Sexual Abuse: A Multi-Faceted Problem, Marcus Venable

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

On average, US citizens have experienced approximately 400,000 sexual assaults per year, which results in enormous immediate and long-term consequences for individuals, as well as society in general.

In the U.S., the principal method of combatting this crime has been the creation of Sex Offender Registries used to notify the public of the identity and location of convicted sex offenders who may be living in proximity to their residence. In addition to the Registry, laws have been passed forbidding convicted sex offenders from residing within buffer zones around areas of high child concentration [schools/parks/etc.].

The efficacy and consequences of these …

Music Therapy As A Support Model In Massachusetts Special Education: A Literature Review, Bonnie Diamond

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Mental health directly impacts student propensity for making academic progress in the public education system. For children with disabilities, it is especially vital to develop and implement techniques within special education that deliver personally tailored benefits. According to the United States Department of Education, music therapy offers highly effective support to a wide range of students within the school setting so that they may achieve academic success and be supported in their social/emotional development (U.S Department of Education, 2011; AMTA, 2021). In examining the multifaceted ways that music therapy can offer support within the structure of education and mental health, …

Aligning With Adolescents: A Literature Review Of Art Therapy In Residential Treatment Programs, Olivia Moore

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescents in residential treatment programs throughout the United States are a specialized population that demonstrate resiliency and hope every day. Many adolescents in these programs have experienced prominent levels of trauma that impact their ability to function in lower-level programs, foster homes, and in their communities. Residential treatment approaches may look like locked facilities with trauma-informed staff who provide programming options, mental health care, and safe living conditions for adolescents. Without strength-based approaches to treatment, this population may struggle to overcome their trauma, mental health challenges, and developmental needs. In this literature review, art therapy was offered to provide developmentally …

Climate Grief And Dance Movement Therapy: A Literature Review, Elisabeth Lovin

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Research is starting to focus on the effects of climate change on mental health, especially future-oriented anxieties and uncertainty about our planet’s liveability. Less commonly discussed are feelings of grief for the climate-related losses we have already sustained. This thesis organizes current literature about climate grief and data about the psychosomatic effects of climate-related losses and examines general grief counseling research, as well as presenting applications of dance movement therapy for grief and loss. Cultural and historical gestures and movements of grieving bodies and portrayals of grief in dance history support the proposal that dance movement therapists are capable of …

Activism And Stress, Ashanti Laine T. Peredo, Taylor Gayton, Lalaine Sevillano

Student Research Symposium

Black women often shoulder a heavier burden of financial, social, and physical responsibilities within their families compared to non-Black individuals who do not identify as women. This increased load contributes significantly to mental health disorders and psychological distress and well as physical disparities. When compounded with experiences of racism and sexism, these responsibilities can lead to a sense of social invisibility and foster a tendency towards stoicism. This study is a mixed method study as it aims to quantitatively examine the relationship between activism, physical wellbeing measured by the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA), and psychological wellbeing among Black …

Emotion Regulation Strategies And Perceived Emotional Intelligence: The Effect Of Age., Iwanna Sepiadou

Adultspan Journal

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence and the reported use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. We also investigated the possible effects of age on the aforementioned variables. The total sample consisted of 379 people (158 men, 220 women, 1 unreported). Across participants, 273 were young (20-39 years old) and 106 were middle-aged (40-65 years old). We found statistically significant positive correlations between the dimensions of perceived emotional intelligence and the reported use of cognitive reappraisal and negative primarily correlations between the dimensions of perceived emotional intelligence and the reported use of …

Speak My Language: Art Therapy Restorative Justice Hybrid For Disenfranchised High School Students, Catherine Day

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Abstract

This literature review examines the use of zero tolerance policies and exclusionary practices in schools throughout the United States. The adolescent population is more vulnerable now than ever, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. An increasing number of students are struggling with behavioral misconduct, mental health issues, and suspension/expulsion from school. The research contained in this review explores how zero tolerance policies have contributed to the current state of our education system, behavioral misconduct in schools, student involvement in the juvenile justice system, alternative methods of discipline such as restorative practices and therapeutic interventions like Art Therapy. The current exclusionary …

Culture Matching And Its Impact On The Therapeutic Relationship: A Literature Review, Taylor Marsyla

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As cultural competency and cultural humility move to the forefront of therapeutic treatment so does a need for understanding the effects of culture on the therapeutic relationship. Often individuals who belong to minority groups are less likely to seek mental health care and more commonly receive subpar treatment. This project attempts to examine the effects of matching patients and therapists based on a shared identity and/or culture as a form of culturally responsive treatment – also known as culture matching. In this literature review, the selected peer reviewed articles considered the perspectives of both therapists and patients. Research was divided …

A Scoping Review Of Drama-Based Interventions With Migrant Populations For Health Outcomes, Cassandra Doria

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This scoping review investigates the breadth and nature of literature that currently exists on the topic of utilizing drama-based interventions with migrant populations for therapeutic goals. This author searched for empirical studies on the topic and charted data to understand the quality, number, and type of studies that have been done, and risk factors for epistemic injustice or misrepresentation of marginalized participants. A brief overview of methods, results, and discussions of articles revealed the most prevalent outcomes, limitations, and forms of data collection. Social connection and belonging, education, communication skills, empathy, identity reconstruction, meaning making, and adaptive adjustment to the …

A Little Loud And A Little Alone: A Phenomenology Of Leadership Identity Construction Among Women In Higher Education Technology, Amy Barry

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative study is an exploration of how women in higher education information technology (IT) positions navigate constructing their leadership identities. This includes the messy, personal, internal identity work that occurs prior to claiming their leadership identities on the public stage, followed by an examination of what the experience of attempting to claim and negotiate a leadership identity is like in the social context of their organizations. This educational and sociological study employs an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach with a series of three interviews per participant that allowed the researcher to deeply explore the personal identity experiences of participants. Findings …

Treatment Not Punishment: Youth Experiences Of Psychiatric Hospitalizations, Maira Ferrer-Cabrera

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study aims to better understand adolescent psychiatric hospitalization regarding the use of coercion at the hands of clinical staff from the perspectives of former hospital staff and former patients' family members. This study was conducted from a critical theory perspective. The researcher surveyed a total of fourteen former staff members and former patients' family members. This research study emphasized quantitative data as the way data was collected. The methods utilized to gather data were online surveys that were collected through Qualtrics and further analyzed using SPSS statistic data editor. The findings of this study showed that 25% of former …

Victim Or Villain: Female Resilience And Agency In The Face Of Trauma In Chimamanda Adichie’S, Purple Hibiscus (2003) And Tsitsi Dangarembga’S, Nervous Conditions (1988), Adaobi Juliet Chukwuma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As long as disparities persist in the way women are treated as compared to their male counterparts, the issue of gender will continue to call forth literary productions. For this reason, female writers are on a mission to dismantle the stereotypes that keep women confined to societal roles. Grounded in a feminist framework, this study focuses on the gender disparity theme in Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions. The aim is to examine how these writers represent the trauma of women living in an African patriarchal system. The traumatic experiences of the female characters in both texts …

Cultural And Structural Barriers Of Utilizing Mental Health Services In A School-Based Setting For Latinx Populations, Silvia Lozano, Bridgette Guadalupe Calderon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative research study aimed to reduce mental health service disparities in Latinx communities and helps fill in the gap by addressing cultural and structural barriers to utilizing MHS in a school-based setting for Latinx youth. There is limited research regarding Latinx parents’ perspectives and the reservations they have on utilizing school-based mental health services (MHS) for their children. This study identified six important themes: cultural factors, trust and rapport, reservations, access and awareness, parental involvement and challenges, and school-based resources. Implications for school districts are that they can use these findings to increase early intervention mental behavioral health programs …

California School Psychologists’ Assessment Practices With Cld Students: A Phenomenological Study, Hector Manuel Teran Jr.

Dissertations

School psychologists are tasked with assessing students to qualify them for special education, typically using standardized tests. Standardized testing, like IQ testing, routinely used in the psycho-educational process, serves to justify prejudices, as they often mark people of color as intellectually inferior to White people. A closer look at school psychologists’ assessment practices with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students is necessary, as these students have historically been placed in special education at a higher percentage, likely due to misperceptions related to their race, ethnicity, or linguistic background. While IQ tests are regarded as tools that identify the needs of …

A Responsible Parrhesia? A Review Of The Price Of Secrecy, Sara Tafakori

RadioDoc Review

The Price of Secrecy immerses the listener in stories of individual trauma, of child abuse and rape, yet also draws lessons from them of wider social significance. It includes moments of narrative catharsis, interspersed with repeated reminders that the stories are unfinished and open-ended—that the solutions lie out there, in social action, rather than in the stories themselves. The series also gestures towards structural critique, especially of ‘the legal constraints’ it identifies, yet it places greater importance on changing the wider culture through challenging the culture of secrecy and shame around victims’ stories of rape and abuse. This centrally means …

Geographic Research On Hate Crimes And Incidents: Approaches For Advancing Inclusive Practices, Hyejin Yoon, Hyowon Ban, Jessie Jungeun Hong-Dwyer

International Journal of Geospatial and Environmental Research

COVID-19, originally reported in China, has brought an increase in anti-Asian and Asian American hate incidents and crimes in the United States. However, research on hate incidents and crimes are relatively new in the field of geography. To provide better ways to investigate hate crime incidents against Asians and Asian Americans during COVID-19, this article draws on various research methods from existing studies on hate crimes. Geographers have focused attention on minority groups linked to different geographic scales, and non-geographic studies have focused mainly on psychological symptoms and impacts on health. Even though existing studies have helped broaden the knowledge …

An Exploration Of The Available Services For Offenders With Mental Illness (Omi), Kaliah Moulton

Honors Projects

The study is an exploration of services available for offenders with mental illness (OMI) and obstacles to providing treatment. It aims to identify services and obstacles to delivering treatment for offenders with mental health and substance use disorders in Augusta and Rockingham Counties. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of local agencies. Based on the agencies interviewed, services for OMI vary across the Sequential Intercept Model, with services like Crisis Intervention Teams, Medication-Assisted Treatment, and supervisory housing. Participants reported that despite the variation in services, barriers in infrastructure due to poor funding, low staffing, and lack of housing were present. …

Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explicitly investigated how multinational corporations can enhance workplace inclusion through the novel use of the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a dimension of deep-level diversity. The study gleaned insights from employees’ perspectives, employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to explicate their experiences in rich qualitative narratives. Through open-ended surveys and intensive interviews, participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure meaningful data collection from the study organizations’ three global regions. The researcher conducted the analysis systematically through the constant comparison of data utilizing the NVivo14 software to assist in constructing codes, themes, and a theoretical schema. Results highlighted the significance …

An Exploration Of The Available Services For Offenders With Mental Illness (Omi), Kaliah Moulton

ASPIRE 2024

The study is an exploration of services available for offenders with mental illness (OMI) and obstacles to providing treatment. It aims to identify services and obstacles to delivering treatment for offenders with mental health and substance use disorders in Augusta and Rockingham Counties. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of local agencies. Based on the agencies interviewed, services for OMI vary across the Sequential Intercept Model, with services like Crisis Intervention Teams, Medication-Assisted Treatment, and supervisory housing. Participants reported that despite the variation in services, barriers in infrastructure due to poor funding, low staffing, and lack of housing were present. …

Intersectionalities Of Systematic Barriers Set Upon Underrepresented Students In Stem: Capturing The Potential Benefits Of Online Modality, Raiyasha Aiyanna Paris

University Honors Theses

The prevalence of racism and microaggressions in STEM disciplines within colleges presents significant hurdles to the academic success and well-being of underrepresented students. Microaggressions, encompassing subtle biases and stereotyping, have a cumulative impact, inducing heightened stress, diminished motivation, and reduced self-efficacy among minority students, thereby impeding cognitive functioning and hindering academic progress (Ogunyemi et al., 2020). The existence of these negative emotional responses creates a less conducive learning environment for academic achievement. Additionally, structural inequalities within STEM institutions contribute to disparities in resource access, limited mentorship opportunities, and support networks crucial for success in STEM fields (Atkins et al., 2020). …

Navigating Multiracial Identity Development In The Digital Ages: An Intersectional Exploration, Diana Mccullough

National Cross-Cultural Counseling and Education Conference for Research, Action, and Change

In the 2020 U.S. Census, 33.8 million individuals reported multiracial identities, which increased since 2010 from nine million (US Census, 2020). Despite the substantial growth in multiracial individuals, there remains a dearth of understanding regarding the unique challenges and determining factors shaping their identity. This session aims to equip counselors and counselor educators with evidence-based strategies to navigate and support the intricate identity development of multiracial clients and students.

The Real Experts: Understanding Autism And Adhd Through The Lens Of The Individual, Mary Little

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation aims to spark intentional conversation and change geared towards shattering stigmas around the autistic and ADHD experience. Attendees will enhance their understanding of neuro-divergent populations in order to modify environments and provide interventions aligning with trauma informed care and inclusion. Attendees will also be given the opportunity to embrace the power of self disclosure and mentorship.

Portraits Of Hispanic And/Or Latino Leadership Development In The Military, Michael Lugo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The study presented denotes a continuous transition among the Hispanic and/or Latino demographics in the military and the cadet accounts of military inequality incidents while in the military (Cabrera et al., 2017; Eckel & King, 2004). To assist Hispanic and/or Latino needs based on demographics and environment (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). Military leaders contribute to growing a diverse, inclusive, and equitable military force for all ethnic groups. The Department of Defense (DoD) is the most racially and ethnically diverse workplace in the United States (Daniel et al., 2022). Nevertheless, racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination in the military continue …