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The Impact Of Cane Scribble Exercises Upon Mood And Anxiety, Virginia Leigh Bridges

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

A paucity of research supporting the influence of art processes and materials is a major deficit in the field of art therapy. In this thesis study, the impact of Cane Scribble Exercises in regard to improving mood and decreasing anxiety was investigated through non-­‐experimental retrospective analysis. From a data set of response sheets generated by psychiatrically diagnosed, acutely hospitalized adults before and after the intervention, statistically significant positive change was noted for the participants from pre-­‐intervention to post-­‐intervention in both anxiety level (0.7083 ± 0.093, F=57.22, p< .0001) and depression level (0.6111 ± 0.104, F=34.25, p < .0001). Further investigation of the impact of demographic factors revealed subtle differences in mean change between the factors, but an overall positive change across age, gender, and diagnoses remained present. The reliability of the method of rating change, limitations of the study design, and comparisons to previously published research are discussed. The results of this study, that positive change occurs in patients who participate in Cane Scribble Exercises, suggest many opportunities for further art therapy research.

Growing In Community: Eco-Art Therapy In An Elementary School Garden, Stephanie Leftwich-Needham

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This study endeavored to gain a preliminary understanding of how children respond to eco-art therapy. Mental illness in children is increasing and often leads to adult mental illness. A holistic approach to mental health and early prevention seems vital. Previous studies conclude that children are especially responsive to the healing benefits of both art therapy and nature therapy. However, there is no research to date evaluating an eco-art therapy approach to working with children.

The author led six second-graders identified by the public school system as struggling with social skills through eco-art therapy directives designed to address issues such as …

An Exploratory Study Of The Graduate School Experience Recorded Through Photography, Mary Keenehan

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory self-study utilized the medium of photography to record my art therapy and counseling graduate school experience. Photographs and written reflections of the images were recorded weekly during an eight-week period. Qualitative data including 38 photographs and corresponding responses were analyzed in order to extract patterns and themes from my overall experience. Photography combined with the reflection process was found to facilitate integration of my art therapist identity and fostered personal growth and insight.

Culture And Acculturation In Kinetic Family Drawings By Salvadoran And Salvadoran-American Children, Geraldine Gómez

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This study compared Kinetic Family Drawings created by Salvadoran children and those by Salvadoran-American children. The focus of this study was to gather information about cultural differences between the two groups and identify the indicators of those differences. Participants included 25 Salvadoran children and 14 Salvadoran- American children. Each group of children was directed to create a Kinetic Family Drawing. Results indicated graphic indicators from both groups which included differences with paper orientation, use of space, use of color, depiction of baseline, environment, size of figures, stick figures, gender role stereotypes, skin tones, depiction of self, family members, and family …

An Art Therapy Self-Care Intervention With Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Leila Christine Saadeh

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Type 2 DM is a chronic lifestyle disease that is becoming an epidemic in the United States. Self-care practices are vital in management of this disease and rely on patient responsibility. This mixed-methods study tested the effectiveness of group art therapy in improving diabetes self-care in six adults ages 45-75 with type 2 DM. The study consisted of six art therapy group sessions over a six week period. The study utilized pre-and post-intervention quantitative measures including HgbA1C, BP, SDSCA, and the HANDS to measure glycemic control, diabetes self-care, and depressive symptoms. Qualitative measures included a content analysis of the six …

Art And The Brain: Implications For Art Therapy, Katherine Lawrance

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The requirements for a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy and Counseling do not include education on neurology. This thesis explores how neurology that could be beneficial for art therapy education. To begin, basic understanding of brain regions, cell structure, memory storage, neurological equipment, and pathologies is explored. This information was used to further explore creativity in the brain, the neurology of viewing art, and psychological and neurological pathologies. This information is compared in relation to current research on art creation, and/or art therapy within healthy individuals or corresponding pathologies and compiled into organized tables. From the literature review, information was …

A Study Of The Thematic Content And Formal Elements Of A Free Choice Drawing Created By Older Adults Diagnosed With Alzheimer’S Disease: A Mixed Methods Investigation, Kelly Rose Spessard

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

This study used a mixed methods approach to examine the themes in the Free Choice Drawings (FCD) created by13 older adults with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The Mini-Cog was used as the instrument to identify cognitive impairment in the participants. All participants were scored as positive for cognitive impairment according to the scoring instructions for the Mini-Cog. The FCD followed the Mini-Cog. Of the 13 participants, eight attempted the FCD and five left their paper blank. The FCD was rated using a modified version of the Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS). Scales included, Prominence of Color, Color …

Existential Art Therapy With An Elder Male Following Spousal Loss: A Clinical Case Study, Sarah Elizabeth Smith

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Spousal loss in late life is a common experience for elders, especially considering the current increase in longevity occurring throughout the population. Unfortunately, the traumatic impact of this experience is often minimized due to the societal expectation of death in old age, resulting in a lack of focus on this unique bereavement process. Throughout an elders grief process, a great deal of existential questioning often arises, not only regarding the loss of his or her spouse but also in regard to his or her own mortality due to personal end-of-life concerns. It is important for mental health professionals to not …

Art Therapy And Infertility, Kaitlyn Wash

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

In response to the lack of attention to mental health aspects of infertility, this multiple case pilot study investigated the impact of art therapy interventions on depressive symptoms in women diagnosed with infertility. Since literature indicates women experience significant distress that impacts their psychological well-being and contributes to depressive symptoms. Furthermore the literature indicated that since infertility is regarded as a low-control situation, women tend to employ avoidance, repression, and denial as their primary coping mechanisms to deal with their negative emotions. As the utilization of art therapy has been found to contribute to decreasing depressive symptoms, it was hypothesized …

Implications For Art Therapy: A Study Evaluating Art Processes And Materials In Dreamwork, Megan Chadwick

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this thesis was to discover which art processes and materials best assist dreamers in discovering meaning in their dreams and aid in the benefits of dream work. It also aimed to provide a basic framework for dreamwork within art therapy. An eight-hour group workshop was designed using Robert Hoss' s "Dreamwork Worksheet." Each question was paired with an art process or material in accordance to the Expressive Therapies Continuum. One participant attended, a 35-year-old single African American woman. Overall, the results showed that art processes and materials that are most beneficial to dreamers are those that are …

Human Torches: The Genesis Of Self-Immolation In The Sociopolitical Context, Ryan Michael Nixon

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

In 2012 there was a record number of self-immolations globally. This phenomenon has been associated with the civil unrest and the collapse of regimes. Most recently, self-immolations in Tunisia sparked a revolution that led to the collapse of the Tunisian government. In the study of politics, self-immolations frequently appear merely as footnotes in the discussion of other phenomena. Where research has been previously conducted, focus has rested mainly on how it initially became a tool of contention and how it spreads. This paper seeks to understand the conditions that lead individuals to choose this method of protest. To do so, …

An Exploratory Study Of Generational Differences In Health Information Seeking And Smoking Behaviors In Bulgaria, Iva Stoyneva

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Smoking is a serious global public health threat that causes more than 6 million deaths annually (WHO, 2013). Smoking is also the single, most preventable cause of death (CDC, 2014). According to a recent study, Bulgaria was ranked as one of onlyl 1 countries in the world, in which half of the adult male population smokes, as well as one of 11 countries in which more than one-quarter of the adult female population smokes. Research suggests that the most significant predictors of smoking behavior in Bulgaria were age and geographic location (Balabanova, Bobak & McKee, 1998). Contributing to these finings, …

Art-Based Cultural Competency And Empathy Building In Medical Education, Gabrielle Mormile

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Research in the medical field has emphasized the importance of positive patient-doctor relationships for improving treatment outcomes and quality of care. This has included a call for integrated cultural competency and empathy-building components in medical education. This study used art-based methods developed from the field of art therapy in one large class experience with 144 first-year medical students, as well as six 90-minute group sessions with four volunteers from the same group. Data analysis for the large class included an online survey and a pretest and posttest Health Beliefs Attitudes Survey (HBAS). In addition, the small group participants completed a …

Proceedings, Msvscc 2014, Old Dominion University, Department Of Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Engineering, Old Dominion University, Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

Proceedings of the 8th Annual Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Student Capstone Conference held on April 17, 2014 at VMASC in Suffolk, Virginia.

2014 Works In Progress: A Regional Interdisciplinary Conference Of Feminist Scholars, Women's Studies Department

Women’s & Gender Studies Works In Progress

No abstract provided.

Section Abstracts: Natural History And Biodiversity

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Section Abstracts: Natural History and Biodiversity Section for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 13-15, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

Graduate News, Office Of Graduate Studies, Old Dominion University

Graduate News

April 2014 issue of Graduate News from the Office of Graduate Studies (now, ODU Graduate School).

Section Abstracts: Education

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Education Section for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 13-15, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

92nd Annual Meeting Best Paper Awards

Virginia Journal of Science

List of award winning papers by section from the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, 2014

Junior Academy Awards: 73rd Virginia Junior Academy Of Science Meeting Awards

Virginia Journal of Science

Awards by section for the 73rd Virginia Junior Academy of Science Meeting, 2014

Section Abstracts: Psychology

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the Psychology Section for the 92nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 13-15, 2014, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

Table Of Contents

Virginia Journal of Science

Table of Contents for the Virginia Journal of Science, vol. 65, no. 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2014

Analysis Of Electronic Teaching And Reflective Learning For Dental Hygiene Education, Cassandra Huffman

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to examine if electronic course delivery used reflective learning strategies in educating dental hygiene students.

A 'Fundamental Theory' Of Education Grounded In Ontology? A Phenomenological Rejoinder, James M. Magrini

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This paper explores the phenomenological possibility of transcending the impoverished ontological state of contemporary "standardized" education (social efficiency), which forecloses original ways of Being-and-learning. Focused on the notion of phenomenological self-hood, I elucidate a fundamental educational theory, which holds the potential of inspiring a renewed conception of curriculum design and praxis. Envisioning a reconceived notion of world and human being, I look to the realm of "absorbed coping," a mode of Being-in-the-world that antedates both practical comportment and theoretical comportment. It is a mode of existence wherein we literally "learn" to respond to the "address" of …

Lose Control, Listen To Each Other, And Create - Understanding Cooperative Music Making From A Chiasmatic Perspective, Cecilia Ferm Thorgersen

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

In order to create democratic milieus for creative musical group work, relations between individuals and the musical world should be investigated. One way of coming close to the interaction between subjects and music in such environments is to use philosophy as a tool for understanding. In the current article the philosophy of flesh and chiasm as developed by Merleau-Ponty in his later works, is used to acquire knowledge about cooperative composition. Chiasm means criss-crossings between the perceiving and the perceived, self and other, and language and meaning. The aim of the study was to describe and understand the phenomenon of …

Kant's Theory Of Reason: Is It Metaphysics After All? Kant, Rousseau, Yoga, And The Operations Of Reason In Light Of Understanding And Knowing, Guillemette Johnston

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This paper defines steps in Kant's understanding of perception. A detailed account of Kant's transcendental aesthetics explains why philosophers associate Kant's theory of knowledge with the death of metaphysics. Kant's philosophy, a reaction to Hume's observations on cause/effect relations, determines the very nature of contemporary metaphysics. A review of Kant's interpretation of knowledge in light of reason and perception, however, reveals that for Kant, knowledge acquisition occurs via an introverted vision relating to inner and outer environment. This justifies interpreting his work as metaphysics, and supports comparison of Kant's views to Rousseau's perspectives, which are associated with yogic concepts of …

Contributors, Elias Schwieler

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Information about contributors to articles in volume 14, issue 2 of Reconstruction.

Helicopter Parents Of Community College Students: How Community College Professionals Operationally Define And Address This Phenomenon, Helen C. Hightower

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study examined whether the phenomenon of parental over-involvement occurred in the Virginia Community College System. Concern has been expressed in the popular and academic literature in recent years over the increased level of parental involvement at four year institutions whose student bodies consist almost exclusively of traditional-aged students. With a mix of traditional-aged and non-traditional students at community colleges, this study investigated whether or not community college employees expressed similar concerns as their counterparts at senior institutions.

The study was designed using a mixed methods approach and utilized a triangulation of results in order to answer four research questions. …

A Systems-Based Framework For The Assessment Of Performance Measurement System Implementations In R&D Organizations, Kenneth S. Baggett Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Performance measurement is utilized by organizations in all industries, including research and development (R&D). Measures are developed, data are collected, and the measurement results are used to drive the organization. The implicit hope is, of course, that the measures drive the organization to improve. However, literature identifies high failure rates directly related to performance measurement system (PMS) implementations. Establishing the fundamental operational characteristics associated with successful PMSs would provide a significant contribution towards the establishment of PMS assessment criteria. This research addresses this gap through the use of a grounded theory method employed to identify these operational characteristics, assesses the …

Systems Theory Based Framework For Competency Models, Joseph M. Bradley

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop and apply a systems theoretic framework for design, analysis and transformation of competency models using an inductive research design. This research examines the origins and development of competency models from a systems theoretic perspective. Competency models have been largely developed by a comparative method first proposed by McClelland, or the use of Delphi method survey techniques. The assumption that a population containing an exemplar and fully successful members would enable population of a holistic competency model has reported numerous failures. Similarly, reporting on the use of Delphi methods has focused on attempting …