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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

“If I Had Felt Comfortable Or Accepted, I Would Have Made More Progress”: A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Experiences Of Lgbtq+ Persons In Clinical Professional Counseling, Valerie Moreno-Tucker Jan 2022

“If I Had Felt Comfortable Or Accepted, I Would Have Made More Progress”: A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Experiences Of Lgbtq+ Persons In Clinical Professional Counseling, Valerie Moreno-Tucker

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The counseling literature has indicated that LGBTQ+ persons have experienced fewer positive mental health outcomes than cisgender heterosexual persons. Professional counselors, despite their requirement to provide culturally sensitive counseling services for all communities, must learn how to better need the needs of LGBTQ+ persons and communities. This dissertation elevates LGBTQ+ persons’ voices by examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ persons in clinical professional counseling. Specifically, the IPA approach was utilized in analyzing data from six individuals who each participated in two interviews lasting 45-90 minutes each. This investigation found commonalities between each participant regarding both their helpful and unhelpful experiences in …


Therapists’ And Teachers’ Experiences Of Children With Aggression: A Children’S Partial Hospitalization Program, Kimberlee Joy Dunlap Jan 2022

Therapists’ And Teachers’ Experiences Of Children With Aggression: A Children’S Partial Hospitalization Program, Kimberlee Joy Dunlap

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Aggression is an indicator of future criminal behavior. It can be a result of trauma, substance-abusing parents, or executive functioning. Research has shown that aggression in childhood often creates criminal behavior later in life, thus researchers suggest that more studies are conducted on programs that help children with aggression. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of therapists who work with aggressive children in a children’s partial hospitalization program, and those teachers who have had these children in class before entering the program and upon discharge from the program. The qualitative study was done using semi-structured …


Stress, Resiliency, And Burnout Among Leaders In The Counseling Profession, Adriana Bovee Jan 2022

Stress, Resiliency, And Burnout Among Leaders In The Counseling Profession, Adriana Bovee

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders in the counseling profession face many demands. The purpose of this quantitative regression analysis study was to determine if there was a predictive relationship between the independent variables of stress and resiliency and dependent variables of burnout, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment among leaders in the counseling profession. Transformational leadership theory and resilience theory were applied as the theoretical framework of this study. A cross-sectional data collection method was used, and data were collected through anonymous online surveys from a purposive sample of 75 counseling leaders. Data analyses methods included descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions. Results indicated …


Laughter As A Priming Agent For Change, Linnea M. Heintz May 2021

Laughter As A Priming Agent For Change, Linnea M. Heintz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the importance of laughter as a factor in influencing employee job satisfaction ratings. The Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985, 1997) and pulses of laughter were used in this study. To explore the relationship between laughter and job satisfaction, results of the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1994) were collected quarterly (four times a year) for three consecutive years, beginning six months prior to the start of the two-year study and six months post. The study sample was composed of 545 employees (34% male, 66% female) operating out of 10 employee-owned retail chain locations …


Predicting Mental Health Counseling Professionals’ Willingness To Discuss Sexuality Issues With Clients, Becca L. Thompson Jan 2021

Predicting Mental Health Counseling Professionals’ Willingness To Discuss Sexuality Issues With Clients, Becca L. Thompson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Sexuality is fundamental to the human experience and sexuality issues will affect every individual across the lifespan. Mental health counseling professionals (MHCPs) will likely encounter a client in their practice that presents with some facet of sexuality concern. MHCPs may be challenged by these disclosures or neglect to inquire about these needs due to underlying factors that contribute to decreased willingness to discuss sexuality with clients. This study explored the relationships of some of these factors, including sexual intervention self-efficacy, state anxiety, and trait anxiety, and further examined the extent to which these factors predict willingness to discuss sexuality with …


The Novice Licensed Professional Counselor's Perceived Preparedness To Use Self-Disclosure, Nicole Pfaff Jan 2018

The Novice Licensed Professional Counselor's Perceived Preparedness To Use Self-Disclosure, Nicole Pfaff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Self-disclosure is used by feminist, humanistic, client-centered, and a variety of other counselors to build therapeutic alliances with clients. However, little research has been conducted on counselors' perceptions of their preparedness to use self-disclosure. This exploratory multiple-case study used attachment theory as a framework to explore the perceptions of novice licensed professional counselors' preparedness to use self-disclosure. The 12 participants who participated in face-to-face interviews practiced as licensed professional counselors in Delaware, New Jersey, or Pennsylvania. The participants described how they learned, practiced, and used self-disclosure. After analyzing interview data through cycle coding and peer review, themes emerged showing participants' …


An Exploration Of The Experience Of Open Awareness Co-Meditation At The Beginning Of Therapy Sessions, Aneeqa Ishtiaq May 2017

An Exploration Of The Experience Of Open Awareness Co-Meditation At The Beginning Of Therapy Sessions, Aneeqa Ishtiaq

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness and meditation have been seen as beneficial for mental health and mindfulness-based therapies have proliferated alongside an increase in popular interest in mindfulness (Germer, Siegel, & Fulton, 2013). However, many therapists are unaware of how to add mindfulness-based interventions. It may seem especially ambiguous for therapists and clients unfamiliar with the concept. In this dissertation, the history and current research on mindfulness-based psychotherapy, and its benefits and contraindications, are reviewed, and the researcher’s relationship to the topic is explained. It is identified that one way to add mindfulness to psychotherapy is for the therapist and the client to co-meditate …


Online Versus In-Person Therapy: Effect Of Client Demographics And Personality Characteristics, Joel Joseph Kofmehl Jan 2017

Online Versus In-Person Therapy: Effect Of Client Demographics And Personality Characteristics, Joel Joseph Kofmehl

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Traditionally, mental health professionals have provided psychotherapeutic services through face-to-face sessions. As the Internet has become an increasingly important part of individuals' personal and professional lives, psychologists and clients have used this medium to expand access to psychotherapy. The purpose of this quantitative correlational design was to investigate whether demographic variables and the personality traits of extroversion/introversion (E/I), as assessed by the Big Five Inventory, predicted clients' preferences for a specific method of administered psychotherapy. The theoretical framework for this study was social information processing through computer-mediated communication. An online survey site was used to assist in survey design and …


Clinicians' Perceptions Of Trauma Treatment For People With Intellectual Disabilities, Katherine Elaine Schoech Jan 2017

Clinicians' Perceptions Of Trauma Treatment For People With Intellectual Disabilities, Katherine Elaine Schoech

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in similar ways as individuals in the general population. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe clinicians perceptions of trauma treatment for people with ID. Theories of trauma, PTSD, and stigma were part of the conceptual framework from which interview questions were developed. Purposive and snowball sampling were used to recruit 8 participants in the Denver, Colorado area. Four participants had experience working with people with ID, and 4 participants did not have this experience. Participants sat for semi structured open-ended recorded interviews, which …


Experiences Of Parents Of Self-Harming Adolescent Children, Sheila Nicole Russell Jan 2017

Experiences Of Parents Of Self-Harming Adolescent Children, Sheila Nicole Russell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent self-harm is a growing epidemic in the United States with thousands of adolescent children being treated in hospitals every year. Despite awareness that self-harm impacts the family unit, little attention has been given to the full impact that self-harm has on parents. Due to this lack of knowledge, counselor educators and supervisors are not equipped to train counselors to work with parents of self-harming adolescent children leaving counselors feeling unprepared to work with parents. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of parents who have self-harming adolescent children. Family systems theory was used to …


The Perception Of African American Clergy Regarding Mental Health Services, Tamara White Jan 2016

The Perception Of African American Clergy Regarding Mental Health Services, Tamara White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rise in diagnosable mental illness disorders in the United States is a major concern. However, researchers indicate that African Americans are far less likely to seek mental health treatment than Caucasian Americans. This qualitative, phenomenological study addressed a research gap regarding the beliefs, perceptions, stigmas, and practices of African American clergy regarding their promotion of mental health services. Two conceptual frameworks consisting of the sociocultural theory and the social learning theory guided the study. There were two research questions used to guide the exploration of the purposive sampling of 6 African American clergy from major African American denominations across …


Undergraduate College Students’ Attitudes About Internet-Based Mental Health Interventions, Kathleen Palmer Jan 2015

Undergraduate College Students’ Attitudes About Internet-Based Mental Health Interventions, Kathleen Palmer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Millennial-aged young adults, often referred to as “digital natives,” comprise the typical college-age population, and there has been a growing number college students at risk for mental health problems (Mowbray, Mandiberg, Stein, Kopels, Curlin, Megivern, Strauss, Collins & Lett, 2006; Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein & Hefner, 2007). Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students (Suicide Statistics, 2014); however, their rate of utilizing mental heath counseling is decreasing. Providing the types of mental health services college students are likely to use can mitigate factors thought to impede their use (e.g., stigma, anonymity, confidentiality), as well as help improve …


Perceptions Of Mental Health Services For Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation Enduring Freedom Military Personnel: A Needs Assessment, Chrystal Anne Long, Jeffrey Lee. Soriano Jan 2008

Perceptions Of Mental Health Services For Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation Enduring Freedom Military Personnel: A Needs Assessment, Chrystal Anne Long, Jeffrey Lee. Soriano

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of mental health services for OIF/OEF military personnel among military spouses and mental health practitioners. The professional and personal knowledge of the mental health practitioners and the military spouses provided valuable information about the effectiveness, availability, strengths, and weaknesses of the military's mental health services.


Spirituality And Self-Efficacy In Counseling And Social Work Trainees, Pam J. Matthews May 2004

Spirituality And Self-Efficacy In Counseling And Social Work Trainees, Pam J. Matthews

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of the counseling/social work trainee spirituality and religion/spirituality awareness to trainee self-efficacy in counseling clients with religious/spiritual issues or backgrounds. In addition, the study explored the influence of demographic variables on spirituality, religion/spirituality awareness, and self-efficacy including: (a) religious/spiritual affiliation (Christian, Non-Christian), (b) ethnicity (Caucasian, Non-Caucasian), (c) training/accreditation program affiliation, (d) gender, and (e) age.