Digital Commons Network^™

Acknowledgment And Treatment Of Racial Microaggressions In The Therapeutic Environment, Tamatha M. Borkcom, Kimberly Harris, Nivishchi Edwards

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Poster Presentation

Career & Lifestyle Balance: Making The Case For Self-Care, Cynthia Doney

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Self-care is not a luxury. Self-care is not a waste of time. Professional self-care in the helping profession is an ethical necessity and must be pursued intentionally by practitioners. Additionally, the concepts must be modeled and taught to emerging professionals in the field.

Parallel Process: Experiences Of First Semester Practicum And Doctoral Students In The Supervision Relationship, Sharon Lewis, Nivischi Edwards, Joy Mwendwa

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Poster Presentation

Using Debono’S Six Hats In University Internship Supervision – Online, Jacqueline Wirth, Summer Kuba

Faculty Publications and Presentations

DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats problem-solving technique was used in several online internship courses in order to facilitate case presentations by counselor trainees. The process and results of this method will be presented along with student testimony of their use of Six Hats during group supervision. Counselor educators will be introduced to this technique and will practice its implementation in order to support counselor interns as they think through each facet of case conceptualization.

Integrating Stress Management, Wellness, And Spirituality In Therapy, Holly Johnson, Jeffrey Boatner

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Integrative psychotherapy considers the unique needs of the client including preferences, motivation, physical ability, personal characteristics, and spiritual beliefs. This session will impart knowledge and provide insights for managing stress, promoting healthy living, and practicing spirituality in a way that best fits the individual’s personal worldview

Responding To The Mental Health Crisis In Schools: Implications For Counselor Education Programs, Jose Maldonado, Vasti Holstun

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The significant rise in mental health issues among students is alarming and challenges school counselors’ preparation and professional identity. This mental health crisis in schools establishes the need for counselor education programs to revamp curriculum training methods, teaching pedagogy, and dual field experiences for counseling students.

Ethical And Legal Considerations In Addiction Counseling, Karin Mcpeak Dumont

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ethical and legal issues of addiction counseling will be examined: lack of communication and continuity between research and clinical practice, lack of agreement over necessary professional credentials, questionable propensity of group work, special issues of confidentiality and privileged communication, boundary issues of professional practice, unusual circumstances of informed consent.

Intersection Of Post-Traumatic Growth And Forgiveness: A Catalyst For Healing, Jama L. Davis, Robyn Simmons, Kristy Ford

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation will connect the experience of post traumatic growth with the empirical support of forgiveness as an intervention with survivors of trauma. Research specific to the link between Post-Traumatic Growth and Forgiveness will be examined with the formulation of a tool-kit appropriate to this therapy.

Exploring The Myths And Actualities Of The Sex Trafficking Of Vulnerable Populations, Victim Behavioral Risks, And Common Recruitment Tactics, Cynthia Doney, Dave Hollis, Vivian France, Susan Kovoka

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sex trafficking recruitment takes place through manipulation, exploitation, and coercion. Counselors must know who is vulnerable to recruitment, and how targets are selected. It is vital to learn methods of assessment for discerning if victims are being groomed by pimps through boyfriending or other techniques, and why she allows it.

Infusing Social Advocacy Training Into Counselor Education Programs: Challenges And Best Practices, Jerry Vuncannon

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Counselor educators are tasked with training future counselors with social justice advocacy competencies; however, it has been unclear what this advocacy role entailed or how to put advocacy concepts into practice. This roundtable discussion will focus on social justice advocacy competencies and its infusion into counselor education curriculum.

Enhancing Counselor Site Supervisor Self-Efficacy By Utilizing Modular Participation, Steve Johnson

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This program will focus on a curriculum designed to be used by counselor educators to enhance site supervisor sense of self-efficacy, competence, and effectiveness in the role as site supervisors. This program will achieve program learning outcomes by facilitating the transfer of knowledge to skill development through programmatic support of site supervisor’s professional development.

Forward Thinking: Creative Anagogical Strategies In Counselor Education, Anita Knight, Richard Justin Silvey

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This roundtable is designed for the exchange of ideas between educators who seek to utilize innovative and experimental strategies i.e. flipping the classroom, incentivizing participation with behaviorism, and incorporating social media and other technologies to stimulate a community of inquiry within the residential and online counselor ed learning space.

Bridging The Racial Divide With A Viable Demonstration, Melvin Pride, Mark Myers

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using the Relational Cultural Theory, this presentation will explore the significance of intentional vulnerability, openness and communication on challenging long held cultural beliefs. The presentation consists of two men; one black, one white, exploring each other’s diverse cultural experiences posing a series of racially sensitive questions of each other.

Online Supervision Experiences Of Graduate Counselors-In-Training, Sonya M. Cheyne

Faculty Publications and Presentations

CITs from Liberty University’s online graduate counseling programs will share personal experiences of integrating graduate training into practice with clients. Through the process of fulfilling individual purpose in life during the initial stages of counseling, these CITs will share their unexpected self-discoveries of a meaningfulness while facilitating healing in others.

Grief Counseling From A Multicultural Perspective, Deborah A. Braboy

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Clinicians need to understand death and grief through a multicultural lens. The focus of this workshop will be on helping counselors understand societal and cultural implications that can be obstacles in grief work and to understand issues that can complicate grief as it relates to their ethnicity, race, and/or culture.

Encouraging A Better Practicum/Internship Experience By Developing And Implementing Learning Modules, Stacey Lilley, Steve Johnson, Mary Deacon, Patricia L. Kimball

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The use of developmentally-based series of learning modules in practicum and internship courses will be discussed. These modules are designed to reinforce key knowledge and skills acquired in the program; allowing courses to incorporate their core and specialty area objectives more systematically into their clinical experiences and evaluate their program.

A Phoenix Rising Out Of The Ashes: Using Expressive Arts In Counseling Supervision, Christina Villarreal-Davis, Hughar Hartzenberg

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Utilizing expressive arts in counseling supervision can be a transformative experience. Participants will benefit from this presentation as they learn effective strategies that build the supervisory relationship, increase their knowledge on the effectiveness of expressive arts in supervision, and gain understanding on how to implement an expressive art technique.

The New Adolescent: How Social Media Has Changed The Landscape And How Counselors Can Respond, Jonna Byars, Brad Imhoff, Daria Borislavova White

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Adolescents today occupy a different social space than any previous generation. Technology and social media have changed behavior and relationships, and there are many psychological consequences including rising levels of loneliness, depression, and suicide. As counselors we must recognize the changed world our children inhabit, and develop new strategies for helping teens and those who relate to them. How counselors can best respond to this new social space and original research on the impact of social media in several cultures will be covered.

Expressive Mindfulness: A Trauma-Sensitive Expressive Arts Therapy Group Method, Meghan Daly

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Mindfulness and expressive arts therapy are both supportive of directing attention in a manner that promotes integration and function of a person. In this paper, a trauma-sensitive method was created for use in a day treatment setting for adults with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). This method utilized expressive movement, visual art making with three different materials, and creative writing to encourage mindful, non-judgmental acceptance of the present moment; a sense of relaxation; and an overall increase in quality of life. During development of the method arts-based research informed the choice of materials, music, and structure of the group. …

A Potential Loss Of Childhood: Trauma, Its Effects, & The Elements Of Healing, Kayla J. Reis

Selected Honors Theses

Trauma is likely to be experienced by many children in many different ways. Through an exploration of the current literature, this thesis, unearths a detailed look into four different trauma types: unaccompanied migrant youth, manmade disaster, natural disaster, and the domestic child welfare system. Regardless of how the child experienced trauma there were similarities amongst consequences and symptomology of the trauma. Many of the effects of trauma being evident through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, poor educational achievement, and poor relationship skills. Six current and well-established interventions were analyzed for their efficacy amongst the four trauma …

Character Identification And Mindset: An Experimental Design Using Disney's Finding Nemo, Ashlee Kirby Lakin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Mindset is defined as an individual’s view of intelligence or ability. Mindset research began in the 1970s at Stanford with Carol S. Dweck, who coined the terms “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset.” A fixed mindset believes intelligence and abilities are limited and static. Each individual has a certain quantity, and no amount of risk-taking, effort, or perseverance will increase the amount of intelligence currently possessed. A growth mindset sees intelligence as something that can grow, transform, and change. Individuals with growth mindsets believe hard work pays off and are eager to learn new ideas, concepts, and theories to move forward …

Mind In Hand, Anna Olson

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

This thesis explores the intersection of art and psychology as it manifests in my art practice, particularly in the medium of weaving. The contemporary frameworks of memory and archive provide the basis of this discussion, as well as findings from the field of Art Therapy. Difficult emotions like loss and grief often show up in my work, and I will discuss how artists like Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Sophie Calle also utilize these concepts. In weaving, I capture my internal mental states, memories, and perceptions of the future in a variety of found and gifted objects. Guided by the precedents set …

A Wilderness And Art Therapy Program For Children With Social Concerns, Ashlynn C. Wardle

Honors Projects

For my honors project, I created an alternative therapy program for children with special needs. Activities were designed to support children with varied needs such as children with autism, ADHD, or learning disabilities. The program utilizes the most successful factors from the fields of art therapy, wilderness therapy, special education, applied behavior analysis, and speech and language therapy the program to form age appropriate, educational, and fun art and wilderness opportunities.

Using Interpersonal Process Recall (Ipr) To Examine The Effects Of Equine Assisted Activities On The Personal And Professional Development Of Student Therapists, Dianna Isabel Giraldez

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The Introduction to Equine Assisted Family Therapy course offered at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) provides Master’s and Doctoral level student therapists the opportunity to learn how to conduct an equine session and how to utilize horses as part of the therapeutic process. Students learn about the underlying theories and framework behind the equine activities and methodology, as well as participate in the equine activities themselves. For the purpose of this study, classroom discussions centered around processing the students’ experiences and were further enriched by viewing photographs and videos that had been taken of the students conducting the equine activities. The …

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 …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Children And Adolescents, Mary R. Driscoll

Graduate Research Papers

Post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents has only been researched for the past fifteen to twenty years. Despite the estimates from state and local child protective services that approximately 896,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect in 2002 (National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2002), the vast majority of research and techniques used in the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents has stemmed from research focused on adults. This report will provide a summary of current perspectives on the definition, assessment, and treatment of PTSD in adolescents.

Self-Esteem : Cognitive Therapy And Creative Interventions, Barbara J. Fay

Graduate Research Papers

Maladaptive mechanisms due to an impoverished self-esteem have often been seen as part of dual-diagnosis as well as an underlying component in most presenting problems. Since Cognitive Therapy has had excellent results in addressing and elevating most self-esteem issues, a variety of cognitive interventions were explored. However, the Cognitive Therapy framework does not always accommodate specific client needs such as an inability to verbalize due to trauma, intellectual or immaturity levels of cognition as well as cultural or language barriers. Therefore, a multi-modal approach was implemented to provide a framework to integrate Cognitive Therapy and creative interventions. Strengths and weaknesses …