Mental and Social Health Commons^™

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.

Turning Points: The Lived Experience Of Addiction Recovery, Kori Bloom

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

In addiction research, while academics are designing treatment, due to stigma surrounding substance abuse, the voices of those experiencing addiction are simultaneously being silenced. This paper sought to give these voices a platform from which they could be heard and educate others about addiction recovery. Photovoice, which is a participatory research method, was used as vehicle to discuss this topic. Through this project, four main themes emerged. Activities, relationships, reflection and motivation, and environment are a significant part of recovery. Participants openly appreciated that their stories were important and that someone wanted to learn from them. Further research should be …

Singled In Later Life: Interaction Effects On Family Relations And Health, Hyunsook Kang Ph.D.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study examines the interaction effects on health and family relations of singled and non-singled older adults. In this study, family relations comprised family criticism and family demands. Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey were used (57-85 years of age (n=3005). This current study reflects a secondary analysis of the NSHAP data and hypothesized that life-long singled older adults’ health differentially influenced family relation such as family criticism and demands. This study, built on the Convoy Model to account for how singled older adults’ health, is differentially associated with their family criticism …

Chemical Reactions: Marijuana, Opioids, And Our Families, Denise A. Hines Ph.D, Staci Gruber Ph.D, John F. Kelly Ph.D, Kathleen M. Palm Reed, Hilary Smith Connery M.D., Ph.D.

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Chemical Reactions: Marijuana, Opioids, and Our Families is the seventh Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. This seminar was designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to the legalization of marijuana and managing the opioid abuse crisis in the Commonwealth. In general, Family Impact Seminars analyze the consequences an issue, policy, or program may have for families.

Relational Engagement And Empowerment: Establishing A Foundation To Address Gender And Power, Sarah K. Samman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Feminist informed therapists view relational distress as a complex reflection of the influences of larger disempowering discourses resulting in gendered power inequalities in heterosexual couple relationships. These disempowering discourses often manifest in males’ socialization to maintain autonomy compared to females’ socialization to orient toward the needs of others (Silverstein, Bass, Tuttle, Knudson-Martin, & Huenergardt, 2006). The general purpose of this study was to bridge the gap between feminist informed theory and practice using the Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT; Knudson-Martin & Huenergardt, 2010) Model to relieve relational distress in heterosexual intimate partners often caused by these competing discourses toward a relational …

A Tele-Coaching Intervention To Support Families In The Npp+: An Experimental Mixed Method Design, Wendella Wray

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Poverty is the single greatest threat to a child’s well-being. Poverty has been shown to exacerbate child maltreatment (CM) and minimize nurturing parenting. CM is a leading cause of death among children under the age of five in the United States. Both poverty and CM are major public health concerns worldwide with important implications for the family. For over three decades great focus has been placed on developing evidence-based (EB) parenting and family interventions to promote the well-being of high-risk families. Using a conceptual framework guided by elements of the social cognitive theory, attachment theory and family systems theory, this …

Symptoms, Contributing Factors, And Screening For Perinatal Mood And Anxiety Disorders In U.S. Latinas: A Literature Review, Jennifer N. S. Massie

Master's Projects and Capstones

This literature review was conducted to gather the published information on the topic of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in the Latina population in the United States. Academic databases were searched for articles published between 2005 and 2016. 60 articles were considered, and a final sample of 36 articles and websites was included in this review.

Evidence suggests that Latina women in the perinatal period (pregnant and up to one year postpartum) in the United States of America tend to have a higher risk and incidence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders than White women, and a higher risk and …

Relationship Science And Interventions: Where We Are And Where We Are Going, Kieran T. Sullivan, Erika E. Lawrence

Psychology

Relationship distress and divorce often have profound effects on couples and their children. Relationship science has long sought to prevent and alleviate relationship distress; this chapter is a summary of many important recent developments in the field. Ongoing challenges in studying and assisting intimate relationships are also discussed.

Life Balance In Adult Healthy Siblings Of Individuals With Childhood Cancer., Yolanda Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Siblings of children who were diagnosed with cancer in childhood experience significant stress and psychological difficulties as a result of the cancer. Furthermore, the needs of siblings have often been overlooked in the cancer literature, prompting the need for more studies. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the life balance and social support outcomes of adults who grew up in the household with a sibling that was diagnosed with cancer. The study sample consisted of 120 adult healthy siblings who grew up in a household with a sibling that was diagnosed with cancer prior to age 19. Participants …

Meeting The Unique Treatment Needs Of Female Gamblers: A Workbook And Webinar Effectiveness Pilot Study, Roberta R. Boughton, Farah Jindani, Nigel Turner

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

While past decades have seen a dramatic increase in the number of women who gamble and develop consequent problems, treatment services are being underutilized in Ontario, especially by women.

This pilot aimed to be responsive to this concern, circumventing barriers by inviting access to support through the use of two interventions. One was a mailed self-help workbook designed for women. The second utilized the workbook in a clinician facilitated group context using teleconferencing in conjunction with webinar technology. This small pragmatic pilot aimed to both get feedback on the helpfulness of the workbook and to explore the feasibility of using …

Intimate Partner Violence In A Conservative Christian Denomination: Prevalence And Risk Factors, Carolyn Sallion-Love

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study examines the prevalence and risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in a Christian denomination. To date, no studies have been found in the literature that looked at IPV in a Christian denomination in South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Little is known regarding how church members from these countries experience victimization from IPV. One 2002 Inter-American Division (IAD) data set provides some insight into IPV; and the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has analyzed cross-sectional data of more than 7,000 SDA respondents from the study area of interest. Discriminant function analysis (DFA) was used to determine if …

Developmental Pedagogy In Marriage And Family Therapy Education, Christopher Russell Hoff

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

New practice domains are opening up for practitioners of family therapy in the medical, organizational, and human relations fields. In this new environment, family therapy educators and supervisors are required to cross the epistemological spaces of scientist-practitioner, postmodernism, and critical theory. These new possibilities require that family therapist educators become comfortable moving between multiple epistemologies. This poses increasing challenges that will require a hybridization of knowledge and practice approaches in MFT education. Through focus groups consisting of 34 participants, all of who were in their first quarter of a Master’s degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy. We found a …

Exploring Factors In The Relationship Balance Assessment, Thomas B. Luttrell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

While studies have highlighted the role of gendered power in relationships, many assumptions have not been quantitatively tested due to a lack of measures for power. This study uses exploratory factor analysis to construct a dyadic assessment of relative power and equality in relationships. This assessment would be useful for research and for clinical work with couples to help raise awareness of the balance of power in their relationship. Equality is defined as a mutual process in which both partners demonstrate that they hold equal value in the relationship, whereas inequality is when there is a relative imbalance of value …

Relationships Between Delinquency And Substance Use Among Adolescents Emancipating From Foster Care, Svetlana Shpiegel, Jamey J. Lister, Richard Isralowitz

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Adolescents emancipating from foster care exhibit high rates of both delinquency and substance use, although it is less clear how these behaviors relate to one another. We aimed to examine the reciprocal relationships between these risk behaviors while accounting for relevant child welfare factors. We use data from the Multi-Site Evaluation of Foster Youth Programs to explore longitudinal associations between delinquent behaviors and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) among youths ages 17 and 18 (N = 429). Delinquency at age 17 was a positive predictor of substance use at age 18, after controlling for baseline use of substances. …

Case Study: Provider For Program To Prevent The Revictimization Of Persons Trafficked For Sex, Janis G. Arlow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This case study seeks to identify behavior, skills, and attitudes of a professional providing an effective reintegration program for persons trafficked for sex. New demands on medical and social services were created over the past two decades by legislative changes. Initial research focuses on rescue and unmet primary needs. The service program selected for this study has stepped beyond awareness and rescue efforts to the rehabilitation and prevention of revictimization of trafficked persons. A literature review covers the history of sex trafficking in the United States; the recovery environment; materials, trainings and programs available for professionals seeking knowledge to serve …

The Fertility Problem Inventory And Infertility-Related Stress: A Case Study, Staci L. Born, Jennifer J. Preston

The Qualitative Report

More than seven million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility. Oftentimes, for women, the experience of infertility is stressful. The Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) has been used to quantitatively measure women’s experience of infertility-related stress. However, the construct of infertility-related stress is poorly described in existing literature. The purpose of this case study was to understand how women experience the FPI as a measure of infertility-related stress. To address this issue, women who were undergoing infertility treatment completed the FPI and participated in unstructured interviews. Archival documents were also retrieved to corroborate findings and satisfy saturation. …

“Don’T Shoot The Unicorn!” Finding Transformative Happiness And Resilience Through Developing Your “Anditude”!, M. Bruce Garris, Gary W. Mauk

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

As a care provider and leader in your community, you understand the challenge of keeping your own resilience high, and maintaining an attitude of hope. This transformational, uplifting program will equip you to develop the skill of happiness, empowering you to lead youths by demonstrating positive approaches in your own life, and impacting them with “Infectious Resilience” as they learn to adopt your Anditude!

The Effects Of A Trauma-Informed Care Training Program On Mental Health Professionals Knowledge, Skills, And Attitudes With The Smi, Angelina Pelletier

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Trauma has been found to be highly prevalent among individuals diagnosed with SMIs. Mental health professionals have been reported to misdiagnose or avoid addressing trauma in this population. There is a need to provide information about trauma and to foster awareness among mental health professionals who are treating individuals diagnosed with SMIs. With a TIC approach, operating from a recovery-oriented philosophy, there have been interventions created to address trauma and SMIs with the aim of developing awareness about trauma and the impact it may have on someone’s life. With these factors in mind, mental health professionals should be competent in …

The Art Of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Experiential Training For Novice Therapists In Creative Collaborative Language, Lori Ann Pantaleao

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Novice solution-focused brief therapists often have difficulty delivering scaling questions within the languaging of their clients. To help beginning Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) trainees, this researcher has created the metaphorically enhanced scaling question (MESQ) training program. By incorporating a meaning making system such as the metaphor, the scaling question becomes expressive and symbolic to the client and his or her own story. The MESQ objective is to assist novice therapists in facilitating the SFBT scaling question creatively through the use of metaphor. A metaphor is a created meaning isomorphic to its original meaning or experience. The metaphor will be co-constructed …

Sexual Attraction In The Therapy Room: An Exploration Of Licensed Marriage And Family Therapists’ Experiences And Training, Rafiah Prince

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The client-therapist relationship is an essential part of therapy and is central in helping clients achieve therapeutic goals as the joining process facilitates the change process. However, in an effort to create a space for change, there is a possibility that professional boundaries may become blurred wherein a client may express a sexual attraction toward their therapist. To explore this phenomenon, the researcher employed convergent parallel mixed method design to explore the experiences of Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs) who have experienced sexual attraction from their clients. The study was conducted online through a secure forum. Implications for clients, …

An Exploration Of Home-Based Therapists’ Supervisory Experiences: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Cherre Camper

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

In-home family therapy has become one of the most common options of treatment for providing services to families who do not typically utilize a private clinic (Lawson, 2005; Reiter, 2000; Yorgason, McWey, & Felts, 2005). Researchers have given some attention to the topic of home-based therapy and to general supervision, but little attention has focused on the actual supervision experiences of home-based therapy providers. This phenomenological study explored the supervision experiences of seven past and current in-home therapists: marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and social workers (MSWs). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants, and data was analyzed to develop …

Enhancing The Couple Alliance And Developing A Dyadic Orientation In Discursive Couples Therapy: A Conversation Analysis Of Therapists', Samira Y. Garcia

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The purpose of this study is to develop an interpretative understanding of how discursive therapists’ linguistic actions enhance the couple alliance. Additionally, this study includes an exploration of whether these models hold up to a common factors conversation in the practice of couples therapy. The couple alliance is the central relationship in couples therapy. Previous research suggests that therapists’ actions might have an effect on enhancing this alliance by creating a dyadic orientation. In postmodern/discursive models of practice, therapists’ actions have gone mostly unexplored, leaving therapists with little understanding of what is done in the process of couples therapy that …

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: A Contemporary Phenomenological Approach, Raissa M. Miller, Casey A. Barrio Minton

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is a contemporary qualitative research method grounded in phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography. The philosophical principles and rigorous methodology make this approach well suited for research in counselor education and supervision. This primer introduces counselor educators to IPA theory and methodology and discusses considerations for implementation.

Effects Of Perceived Stigma From College Friends On Students Utilizing Mental Health Services, Shammah N. Okai

Auctus: The Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship

This paper explores the relationship between perceived stigma from friends and the use of mental health services. By reviewing six peer-reviewed articles it was hypothesized that there would be a negative correlation between the number of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Psychology 317 students who perceive that their friends had negative thoughts towards mental health services and the likelihood that those individuals would partake in mental health services. A convenience sample (N= 96) was taken from Dr. Cobb’s Psychology 317 class. A correlation was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 22. The results showed that there was a significant and weak positive correlation …

The Affordable Care Act And Addiction Treatment: Preparing The Undergraduate Human Services Professional, Chaniece Winfield, Rebekah Cole, Laurie Craigen

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

The steady growth of the substance abuse and addiction field in addition to the passing of the Affordable Care Act (ACT) increases the need for competent and credentialed substance abuse professionals. As generalists in the helping field, human services professionals would benefit from education and sufficient credentialing in substance abuse and addiction treatment. The authors of this article suggest that substance abuse and addiction education be considered for inclusion at the accreditation level for human services programs. Furthermore, a discussion of the Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) international credential and its benefits and implications for human services professionals will be …

Body Satisfaction And Ability To Identify Weight Status Of Preschool-Aged Children By Their Caregivers, Andrea Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rates of childhood obesity have been rising consistently across the nation and internationally. As a result, interventionists have been working to develop ways to combat this and have focused on interventions involving caregivers. Previous research indicates caregivers experience challenges in identifying obesity among their own children, which leads to barriers in addressing and reducing rates of obesity as caregivers remain unaware of any problems. The current study explored caregivers’ ability to correctly assign their child to the appropriate weight category and whether their ability was impacted by caregivers’ own weight status. Further, it also explored caregivers’ level of body satisfaction …