Digital Commons Network^™

Narratives Of Illness, Difference, And Personhood, John P. Mctighe

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Using narrative theory, the chapter examines how ideas and attitudes about mental disorder are shaped by cultural values and stereotypes, and how the experience of trauma can shatter the narrative of self and world. Placing the question of illness, differentness, and personhood within a social justice perspective, it challenges clinicians to consider how the vocabulary of illness is used to frame experience and, in many cases, to minimize, marginalize, or discount the individual's own lived experience.

The Effectiveness Of Emdr Therapy On Clients With Addictions, Jennifer L. Franklin

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study was undertaken to determine how effective Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is in helping clients to lessen or end their cycle of SUDs and behavioral addictions in the long term. Secondly, this study aimed to determine whether or not EMDR therapy increases a client's likelihood of relapse, and whether or not relapse affects the outcome of treatment. Furthermore, this study looked at whether or not clients need to have abstained from their addictive substance for an extended period of time in order for EMDR therapy to be successful in their addictions treatment. The final question that …

Pregnancy, An Opportunity For Empowerment : A Trauma And Attachment Informed Approach To Creating A Corrective Relationship For Mothers With Trauma Histories And Subsequent Substance Abuse, Judith W. Kamara

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical thesis examined how the capacity of a healthy pregnancy and birth and positive attachment could be a corrective experience for mothers with histories of trauma and subsequent substance use. Socratic questioning was used to help trauma and attachment-informed clinicians approach mothers in this population as an asset to their infants rather than viewing them as a risk, hopefully challenging the socially prevalent belief that these mothers should be treated punitively rather than receive treatment. The phenomenon also focused on this population of mothers rather than their infants as primary victim, examining individual and systemic factors that contribute to …

Art As A Clinical Tool In The Treatment Of Complex Ptsd : A Theoretical Study, Emma T. Brenner-Malin

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical thesis explores how art-making can be used as a clinical tool in social worker’s psychodynamic treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorder. A theoretical thesis was chosen in order to address the gap in the social work literature discussing the integration of creative action into trauma-informed care. D.W. Winnicott’s object relations theory and Trauma-informed art therapy theory are the two theoretical lenses applied and discussed. A review of the literature indicates that art created during therapy can function as a transitional object, facilitating the client’s ability to learn how to regulate their affect, recall dissociated affect and memories, bolster …

Settled Debate Or Second Wave? : Clinical Social Workers' Roles In Treatment With Youth Who Take Adhd Drugs, Rachel B. Reed

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a deeper understanding of social workers' roles in treating children who take attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs. The study used semi-structured in-person and telephone interviews with twelve licensed clinical social workers to gather qualitative data about their experiences with children and families of children diagnosed with ADHD and their reflections on their roles in treatment, in particular those regarding medication prescribed to mitigate the child's ADHD symptoms. The findings suggested that social workers experienced difficulty teasing out ADHD from issues known to commonly co-occur as well as from a history of …

How To Best Support Clinical Social Workers In Their Practive With Children Who Have Experienced Trauma, Anna N. Query

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This research set out to explore how clinical social workers working with children who have experienced trauma are supported in their practice, both at an individual and organizational level. Given the concepts of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, secondary trauma and burnout as a natural part of working with trauma, it is essential to make sure that clinical social workers are properly supported in their work. With the theoretical understanding of person-in-environment, individuals must be understood in their environment, as both individual and environment constantly influence one another. For this qualitative study, twelve clinical social workers across the United States, in …

Exploring The Predictors Of Psychological Distress In Children Following The Gulf Coast Hurricanes Of 2005, Jonathan Scott Brothers

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate the predictors of psychological distress in children following the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005. Previous literature has suggested that children that experience natural disasters, such as hurricanes, may face the same psychological dangers as children that experience other types of traumatic experiences. Thus, it is expected that children that were exposed to various stressors throughout the occurrence of the hurricanes will display more symptoms of psychological distress in the aftermath of the storms. In this study, 614 caregivers of children of ages 1 to 9 years old were sampled in a cross-sectional …

Trauma Patient Satisfaction Survey Opens Discussion About Bias In Health Care, Marie Crandall

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background

Patient satisfaction is an important part of quality care, and patient backgrounds can influence satisfaction with care. Since trauma disproportionately affects the underserved, this study aimed to determine the effects of race and insurance status on trauma patient satisfaction.

Methods

The validated Trauma Patient Satisfaction Survey (TPSS) was administered to 143 hospitalized trauma patients. ANOVA and Chi2 statistics were used to compare demographics with patient satisfaction. Qualitative data were analyzed with EZ-Text.

Results

Of the 143 patients surveyed, 95 (66%) were African American, 33 (23%) were Caucasian, and 15 (10%) were Latino. Sixty-one patients (43%) were uninsured. No statistically …

The Effects Of Trauma On Brain Development In Infancy, Sasha Kellogg

Honors Theses

This thesis explains how trauma, which can be defined for this study as traumatic experiences, affects brain development in infants. For the purpose of this report, infants are defined as being fifteen months or younger. As gathered from the book and articles researched, typical infant brain development, including the eight processes of neurodevelopment and the four main parts of the brain, will be explained in this report, along with how the brain grows and matures. This thesis shows how maturation of the brain in infancy is dependent upon the bonds and connections infants form with others and explains how trauma …

The Effect Of Social Problem Solving Skills In The Relationship Between Traumatic Stress And Moral Disengagement Among Inner-City African American High School Students, Kendell L. Coker, Uduakobong N. Ikpe, Jeannie S. Brooks, Brian Page, Mark B. Sobell

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationship between traumatic stress, social problem solving, and moral disengagement among African American inner-city high school students. Participants consisted of 45 (25 males and 20 females) African American students enrolled in grades 10 through 12. Mediation was assessed by testing for the indirect effect using the confidence interval derived from 10,000 bootstrapped resamples. The results revealed that social problem-solving skills have an indirect effect on the relationship between traumatic stress and moral disengagement. The findings suggest that African American youth that are negatively impacted by trauma evidence deficits in their social problem solving skills and are …

Responding To Trauma: Help-Seeking Behavior And Posttraumatic Growth In A College Sample, Aaron J. Burrick

Honors Scholar Theses

Research indicates that traumatic experiences can impact college students’ mental health, academic abilities, and relationships with peers. Trauma and associated symptoms of PTSD can lower students’ well-being and increase the risk of withdrawing from the university. Research also emphasizes the importance of psychological help-seeking as a way to experience posttraumatic growth. This study examines traumatic experiences, help-seeking attitudes, barriers, and behaviors, and posttraumatic growth in a sample of 168 undergraduate college students. Results indicated an overwhelming preference for informal help-seeking resources and the importance of traumatic severity in the decision to seek help. Additionally, female participants reported greater traumatic severity …

Grandparents As Parents: Investigating The Health And Well-Being Of Trauma-Exposed Families, Ginny Sprang, Moon Choi, Jessica Eslinger, Adrienne Whitt-Woosley, Rachel Looff

Center on Trauma and Children Reports

An excerpt from the introduction:

Over the past two decades, the number of grandparents serving as primary caregivers for their grandchildren has steadily increased. Nationally, 42% of all grandparents living with grandchildren function as the primary caregivers (U.S. Census, 2006).

In the southern region of the country, this phenomenon is particularly salient, and expected to continue, with estimates that range from 7% to 15% higher than in 2000 (U.S. Census, 2004). Kentucky is no exception, with 67,394 children living with their grandparents, 58.8% of those grandchildren fall under the responsibility of their grandparents (American Community Survey, 2005). In fact, Region …

In Their Own Words: Healing From Traumatic Childbirth, Jennifer L. Brammer

Masters Theses

Trauma related to childbirth is seldom addressed despite the incidence of women who experience traumatic births. Birth trauma, like other traumatic events, can have a lasting impact on women and can effect their attachment to their infants. This study gives voice to women's birth trauma and describes what women find helpful in their healing processes from traumatic birth. This study is based on the narratives of 14 women who graciously shared their birth stories and healing journeys in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Their traumatic birth experiences occurred 3 ½ to 26 years ago.

A post-positivist approach and narrative theory informed this …

Trauma Informed Nursing Care For Women Who Are Marginalized: An Educational Workshop, Jenna Fadlalla

Theses and Graduate Projects

Traumatic events profoundly affect both the physical and emotional health of a woman who endures the event. Gender, socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic disparities in rates of trauma exist showing that women who are marginalized are at a higher risk for trauma. Nurses are privileged to provide care for these women in their greatest times of need, yet despite the intimate relationship between nurses and their patients, trauma is a topic that remains largely unaddressed by the field of nursing. Because trauma can have such a profound effect on health, it is essential for nurses of all specialties and at all …

Trauma Exposure, Posttraumatic Stress, And Depression In A Community Sample Of First-Time Mothers, Mickey Sperlich

Wayne State University Dissertations

The adverse effects of posttraumatic stress and depression have separately been well-documented in the perinatal mental health literature. However, few studies have considered the comorbidity between trauma, posttraumatic stress and depression. This dissertation study brings attention to this comorbidity and explores implications of recent changes to diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder related to the ability to predict postpartum depression and impairments in mother/infant bonding. Following a conceptual framework which outlines the effects of violence and trauma on adverse childbearing outcomes, hypotheses were that many women with depression in pregnancy would endorse trauma and would be at risk for subthreshold …

Exploring Clinicians' Use Of Evidence-Based Interventions That Treat Attachment Problems Between Children, Five Years Of Age And Under, And Their Primary Caregivers, Jean Faucher

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory quantitative study was an attempt to address the dearth of research regarding the use of attachment-focused evidence-based treatments (AF EBT) in the clinical setting. Thirty-eight Master’s level or higher licensed mental health clinicians who work with children that are five years old and under, as well as with their primary caregivers, were surveyed via an anonymous web based questionnaire. The survey explored clinicians’ level of awareness, training, use, adaptation, and perceived effectiveness regarding four AF EBTs, as well as potential barriers that may have impeded their use. The AF EBTs were Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-UP …

Exploring Mental Dungeons And Slaying Psychic Dragons : An Exploratory Study, Michael S. Sargent

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study examined the experiences of participants with table-top roleplaying and with the gaming community. Specifically this study asked: In what ways do fantasy play and participation in the role-playing community benefit participants? This study aimed to address the lack of social work literature regarding the emotional and social benefits that roleplaying games provide consumers. Data were collected from interviews with six individuals who regularly engage in tabletop role-playing games. The study asked open ended questions regarding participants' experiences with the role-playing community, thematic and emotional content experienced within the fantasy setting, and benefits participants felt they'd gained from …

Clinical Perspectives On Etiology, Assessment, Formulation And Treatment Of Imaginary Companions In Adolescents With Attachment Trauma, Kathryn M. Collins

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical study explored the phenomenon of imaginary companions as they present within the lives of adolescents with histories of attachment trauma. The phenomenon and is origins were explored through a review of developmental, psychoanalytic and trauma research. Theoretical perspectives of narrative therapy and Winnicottian object relations were then introduced as lenses through which to conceptualize assessment and formulation of the phenomenon, with careful consideration paid to the social context within which the phenomenon emerges. These theoretical perspectives were then applied to a discussion of assessment, formulation and treatment within a specific case example, written by Proskauer, Barsh and Johnson …

Trauma-Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy : A Quantitative Study Of Intervention Effectiveness, Nakita Dziegielewski

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study uses a quantitative lens to examine if Natural Lifemanship's ® Trauma- Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy ™ (TF-EAP) model is effective in reducing the psychological, emotional, and/or behavioral problems in youth with a trauma history. Secondary data was collected on behalf of Spirit Reins, the organization that implements Natural Lifemanship's ® TF-EAP ™ model, and used to determine the effectiveness of their traumainformed treatment intervention. Through a pre and post-test research design, data analysis was conducted on 40 youths' Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) total scores to determine intervention effectiveness. Findings suggest that Natural Lifemanship's ® TF-EAP …

"I Know That I'M Strong" : Survivors Of Sexual Violence And Their Experiences With Pregnancy And Childbirth, Gretchen J. Davidson

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory study was to gain a deeper understanding of how women with a history of sexual violence experience pregnancy and childbirth. The study used semistructured phone interviews with eleven women to gather qualitative data about their experiences with pregnancy and childbirth and their reflections on the relationship between past sexual violence and childbearing. The findings suggest that most women experience negative effects of past sexual violence at some point in the childbearing year and that these effects manifest as emotional, physical, and relational trauma reactions. When these reactions occur women may have the opportunity to process …

The Association Between Attachment And Posttraumatic Growth In A Sample Of U.S. College Students, Keith Alan Morgan

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the association between attachment and posttraumatic growth. Previous literature has suggested that securely attached individuals show more positive methods of coping with stress by activating their attachment system and facing the distress of a traumatic event. On the other hand, insecurely attached individuals display more negative methods of dealing with stress. Those with insecure attachment may avoid the distress of a traumatic event or not successfully activate the attachment system. Thus, it is expected that securely attached individuals will demonstrate higher levels of posttraumatic growth, or positive reactions to the experience of …

We Need A Good War : Factors That Influence The Experience Of Racism In The United States Military, Sarah E. Chotkowski

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of the quantitative study was to explore the experience of racism in the United States military in the context of the historical evolution of racial integration policies. The present study aims to clarify how factors such as race, era of service, exposure to combat, rank and gender influence the experience of racism. A total of 112 veterans completed a survey online or in person through their local American Legion, VFW, or student center. The survey was a 22-item measure with six demographic questions and 14 Likert scale questions designed to solicit feedback about a wide range of experiences. …

Sex Trafficking : An Exploration Of Clinician Perspectives Of The Type And Efficacy Of Treatment Interventions, Jennifer Kung

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This qualitative study investigates clinician perspectives on the type of clinical interventions used in therapy with sex trafficking survivors. Due to the absence of systematic evaluation of mental health treatment for this population, the limited current research recommends interventions that are used for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. This study's main research question is: what are the perspectives of clinicians who provide therapy for trafficking survivors on the type and usefulness of their treatment interventions? This study interviewed 11 clinicians who provided therapy for sex trafficking survivors. The major findings of this study show that the most commonly …

Trauma, Criminalization, And Movements For Healing Justice : A Theoretical Study Of Relational Theory And Transformative Justice Interventions In The Treatment Of Juvenile Sexual Offending, Megan E. Shaughnessy-Mogill

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This theoretical thesis explores the etiology and treatment of juvenile sexual offenders from the perspectives of psychoanalytic relational theory and the emerging grassroots theory of transformative justice, drawing together the often-disconnected spheres of the individual and the systemic in the study and treatment of child sexual abuse. This study traces the concepts of dissociation and reenactment to examine the role of unconscious traumatogenic phenomena and the apparent parallel process across the individual and systemic dimensions of juvenile sexual offending. Engaging two theories from outside the mainstream treatment model, this study asks what clinical understandings and treatment possibilities may be foreclosed …

The Self Of The Field And The Work Of Donnel Stern, Daniel Masler

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

No study has taken an updated and comprehensive review of Donnel Stern’s writings. An investigation of his philosophical assumptions, locating Stern’s work socioculturally and historically, along with an elucidation of Stern’s background in traditional psychoanalytic literature and clinical practice, brings out the meanings and enigmas present in his theories of dissociation, enactment, unformulated experience, multiple self-states, and reflection. Stern has offered one of the best-integrated theoretical models in relational psychoanalytic theory. An examination of his theories within the theoretical traditions to which he makes claim (psychoanalytic, interpersonal, hermeneutic, postmodern, and democratic) helps elucidate the challenge posed by relational psychoanalysis to …

Trauma Informed Care With Deaf Persons (With By Proxy Assistance From Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor), Michael A. Harvey

JADARA

None

Ripples Against The Other Shore: The Impact Of Trauma Exposure On The Immigration Process Through Adjudicators, Kate Aschenbrenner

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Immigration is currently a hot topic; discussion of immigration reform and the problems in our current system appear in the news virtually every day. There is widespread consensus that our current immigration system is “broken,” but there is little agreement on why and even less on what should be done to fix it. These are difficult and important questions, involving many complex interrelated factors. While I do not hope and cannot aim to answer them completely in this Article, I will argue that in doing so we must consider an often overlooked and generally understudied issue: the effects of trauma …

Trauma, Religion, And Substance Use Among Incarcerated Adolescent Males, Jessica J. Story

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This paper explored the relationships among trauma, religion, and substance abuse among adjudicated male adolescents with sexually harmful behaviors. Youth in secure juvenile justice settings often report a sequelae of complex trauma experiences, placing them at risk for a range of serious problems, including aggression, persistent delinquency and recidivism, and psychological consequences. The limited research on religion and juvenile offending supports that adolescents' religion serves as protective factors and a potential pathway to decreasing delinquent behavior and perhaps recidivism. Research on substance abuse is reviewed as risk factors to offending and an attempt at coping with the psychological consequences of …

The Role Of Trauma In Hoarding : A Project Investigating The Role Of Trauma In The Expression Of Hoarding Disease As Well As Features Associated With Hoarding, Hannah L. Mills

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Hoarding Disorder (HD) is characterized by a difficulty discarding possessions and leads to the accumulation of clutter, causing marked distress and impairment (Mataix-Cols, et al., 2010). HD has been an increasing area of research and public interest, though little is known about how it develops or factors that influence its expression (Mataiz-Cols, Fernandes de la Cruz, Nakoa, and Pertusa, 2011; Frost, Steketee, and Tolin, 2011). High frequency of trauma among people with hoarding behavior has been reported (Saxena et al. 2011; Cromer, Schmidt, and Murphy, 2007; Hartl, Duffany, Allen, Steketee, and Frost, 2005), but none have examined it in detail. …

Promoting Posttraumatic Growth Among Oif/Oef Veterans : A Theoretical Exploration Of The Challenges Of Reintegration, Erin E. Clements

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Approximately 2.2 million men and women have been deployed in service of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And veterans are returning to their communities in large numbers, many of them with a range of visible and invisible medical and psychological injuries and needs (Tanielian and Jaycox, 2008; Hoge et al., 2004; Hoge, Auchterloni, and Milliken, 2006). The process of veterans re-entering civilian society following a deployment is known as reintegration (Demers, 2011). While the mental health issues and needs of returning OIF/OEF veterans have been widely studied (Tanielian and Jaycox, 2008) their experiences and struggles related to reintegration remain …