Religion And Spirituality In Clinical Practice: An Exploration Of Reluctance Among Practitioners., David Drew, Jessica Banks

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Across the United States, an overwhelming majority of the population claim that religion and spirituality beliefs shape their worldview and assist in coping with life stressors. Yet, the literature has shown that mental health practitioners reported discomfort integrating religion and spiritually in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to explore whether license-holding mental health professionals in Southern California develop reluctance toward addressing religion/spirituality with their clients. Through snowball sampling, 52 clinicians composed of social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists were recruited across Southern California (N =52). The participants were measured descriptively based on …

A Trauma-Informed Art Therapy Approach For Boys With Sexualized Problematic Behaviors: A Group Method, Rebecca Cyr

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Treatment of sexualized problematic behaviors (SPB) in children and adolescents is a clinically significant issue that has little research to support the fundamental need for treatment. Sexualized problematic behaviors (SPB) can be an indication of a child’s own complex trauma and sexual abuse history. Using a relational, trauma-informed, and developmental approach to treatment in combination with art therapy, children demonstrating SPB can learn how to better express themselves, respect themselves and others, and heal a fragmented sense of self. Developmentally, these children and adolescents are in the stage where identity formation is the main task. Therefore, this series of art …

Integrating Digital App Technologies Within Traditional Expressive Arts Therapy For Children And Adolescents, Sarah Storjohann

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

In recent years, technology in the form of digital applications (apps) has emerged as a fundamental aspect of everyday life as well as a practical, convenient, and inexpensive tool for artistic self-expression, most notably amongst children and adolescents. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households currently possess some form of mobile device (Rideout, 2017), with an estimated 95% of U.S. teenagers ages 13 to 17 owning a Smartphone (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). As digital natives, children and adolescents are more likely to identify with and connect to these arts-based methods. Clinician perspective concerning digital integration varies across a wide spectrum. Through a …

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. …

How Internalized And Externalized Behaviors In Adolescents Impact Academic Achievement In Faith-Based Institutions, Subira Brown, Chioma Tait, Jade Callahan, Deyana Cox

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

The purpose of this literature review is to address how internalized and externalized behaviors in adolescents impact academic achievement in faith-based institutions. This research intends to bring awareness to the prevalence of mental health concerns faced by adolescents, as well as the need for mental health services in the education system. This research will also identify the relationship between internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and academic achievement. Based on the findings, the next steps will be to evaluate the deficits within the Adventist school system and begin developing programs and resources necessary to support the mental health needs of children and …

Substance Use Helpers: An Exploration Into The Relationship Between Professional Quality Of Life And Posttraumatic Growth, Denise Haggerty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been limited research on the potential for substance use helpers to have positive experiences as a result of their therapeutic work, previous research on the field of substance use treatment and the impact of working with individuals whom struggle with substance use disorders has been explored. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between substance use helpers’ professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout) with posttraumatic growth. In addition, this study also sought to determine if a relationship exists between personal and professional characteristics of substance use helpers and …

Back To Belonging: Nature Connection And Expressive Arts Therapy In The Treatment Of Trauma And Marginalization, Jesse Newcomb

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

There is increasing research on the benefits of incorporating nature-based approaches into mental health. This can be done in myriad ways both in and out of the counseling office. This literature review focuses on the benefits of incorporating nature as co-therapist and kin rather than only material or metaphor, particularly in the treatment of people who have experienced trauma and or marginalization. According to Herman (1997), wounds made relationally must be healed relationally, and the literature reviewed in this paper suggests that connection with the “more-than-human” world (Abram, 1996), and coming back into a sense belonging in the larger web …

Parental Acceptance Project: Affirming Gender Variant Youth, Shelley Faulkner

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The number of gender expansive and gender variant youth has risen dramatically, leading to a mental health and education service gap that must be addressed. The author reviews relevant literature supporting the importance of the parent-child relationship via the lens of attachment theory, affirming that parental support for gender variant children is critical to their well-being and overall positive life outcomes. A curriculum for parents of gender variant children is proposed, in an effort to educate and support parents of gender variant children, so that they may in turn develop affirmative and supportive practices toward their children. The ultimate goal …

Attachment In Middle Childhood Among Foster And Adopted Children: Preliminary Validation Of A Behavioral Observation System, Somer George

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Abstract

The study of attachment in middle childhood, especially among foster and adoptive children, is a critical and timely one. An assessment that helps us understand the behavioral manifestations of attachment for these children, while considering the link with caregiving behavior and parental reflective functioning (PRF) can help to provide effective and efficient intervention leading to security and relational healing. This study examines the attachment patterns of 39 foster and adopted children (ages six to twelve) in the Modified Strange Situation Procedure (MSSP), with their caregivers. Association with caregiving patterns, PRF, and caregiver reported child behavior are analyzed using Pearson’s …

The Job Interview Self-Presentation Tendencies And Experiences Of Latina Undergraduate Students, Nichole Shada

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the United States, self-promotion during a job interview is not just common, it is expected (Paulhus, Westlake, Calvez, & Harms, 2013). Job applicants are encouraged to inform potential employers about the qualifications, strengths, and professional accomplishments that make them the best fit for the job, which requires applicants to engage in self-promotion during the job interview. Literature has begun to suggest that sociocultural factors such as gender or culture may influence an individual’s propensity to engage in modesty as opposed to self-promotion in career-related contexts like the job interview. However, few studies have explored how these sociocultural factors interact …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Counseling Students In A Co-Facilitated Experiential Group, Alexandra Meyers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research in the fields of experiential learning, group psychotherapy, and neuroscience has supported the inclusion of the experiential group in counseling training programs due to the potential for positive impact on students’ personal and professional development (Badenoch & Cox, 2010; Denninger, 2010). Investigations exploring counseling students’ experiences of the experiential group have been primarily limited to quantitative studies, while in-depth qualitative inquiry has been minimal. Additionally, an extensive review of the literature has found there have been no qualitative studies examining experiential groups co-facilitated by a course instructor and a doctoral student. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to …

The Effect Of A Training Clinic On The Self-Efficacy Of Counselors In Training, Jihene Ayadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary focus of this study was to examine the differences between trainees’ perceived self-efficacy when they graduate from a counseling program that has a community based mental health training clinic versus a program without a training clinic. A web-based survey was developed with the questions from the Counseling Self-Efficacy Inventory (COSE) (Larson et al., 1992) and 45 (N = 45) participants took the survey online. Participants were students enrolled and taking a practicum or internship class in a counseling program with a training clinic (WTC) or in a counseling program without a clinic (WTTC). Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon test, a non-parametric …

Counseling The Kink Community: What Clinicians Need To Know, Stephanie M. Yates, Anita A. Neuer-Colburn

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

Recent media portrayals of Kink are prevalent, but not always culturally accurate and can perpetuate a stigma that impacts the therapeutic environment when working with Kink-oriented individuals. Misunderstanding the culture can increase prejudice, misdiagnosis, and maltreatment of Kink-oriented clients. The authors provide readers with an introductory primer on language used within the Kink culture, avoiding the pathology of cultural and personal preferences, and myths associated with Kink community practices. Implications for best practices are offered.

Book Review: Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, And Finding Joy, Ammon Kou

Marriott Student Review

No abstract provided.

When A Stone Is Not A Stone: Memories Of Clerical Abuse, Charles V. Sords

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

From the fourth to the sixth grades, Charles V. Sords suffered traumatic sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. He suppressed these memories, yet the pain of what happened impacted every aspect of his life. As an adult, several strong, sensory experiences brought the truth of his childhood into focus. He confronted the Church—and the system that protected clerical criminals. This memoir is an account of childhood sexual abuse, the particularly shameful nature of being raped by priests, and how the Catholic Church’s method of handling this and similarly horrifying revelations has re-traumatized survivors.

Painting Intimacy: Art-Based Research Of Intimacy, Michal Lev

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This art-based research explores whether — and, if so, how — the process of painting, together with witnessing and reflection on the process and imagery, further an understanding of intimacy. The research also examines the conditions that favor intimacy, the obstacles to intimacy, and the particular features of artistic media, processes and reflection, through the editing of video footage, that can further the intimate experience. The participants in the study were five adults (including the researcher) between the ages of thirty and eighty who were familiar with the creation of visual art. Among them were three women and two men …

How To Make School-Based Mental Health Work, Jenny Wilhoite

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This session is designed to give an overview of how to create a School-Based Mental Health program that benefits students on all tiers, providing universal prevention, early intervention, and intensive services for at-risk students. Meeting the unmet needs of students with mental health challenges impacts student attendance, behavioral and academic outcomes, and discipline in a positive way.

Unveiling The Mask:Sexual Trauma's Impact On Academic Achievement, Behavior, And Self-Identity, Teshaunda Hannor-Walker, Sarah Kitchens, Lacey Ricks

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Sexual trauma is an unfortunate but a common and often masked experience for many students in America. While sexual trauma in itself is not a mental health disorder, it can become a risk factor for many academic and mental health problems. Trauma-informed schools can play an important role in helping students deal with the aftercare of a traumatic experience.

Student Wellbeing Matters! Use Positive Psychology Interventions To Help Your Students Achieve And Succeed., Andrea A. Francis

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI), grounded in the psychological theory of Wellbeing (Seligman, 2002) are pathways to a life of purpose and meaning. Each intervention is proved to not only reduce anxiety and increase optimism, but to create protective factors needed to cope with stress, anxiety and trauma.

Internal Family Systems Informed Supervision: A Grounded Theory Inquiry, Daniel A. Reed

Dissertations

Internal family systems (IFS) is a meta-model of psychotherapy growing in popularity in the United States and internationally. In this process-oriented model, the psychotherapist supports clients in getting into relationship with parts of their experience to offer relief for aspects of themselves that have been stuck in tiring protective roles and provide corrective experiences for vulnerable aspects of themselves that have been stuck with limting beliefs and overwhelming feelings.

Coinciding with the IFS model's increased popularity, the evidence base for the efficacy of psychotherapists using IFS with clients continues to increase. In 2015, the United States Department of Health and …

An Exploration Of The Lived Experience Of Women Who Had Abortions And The Effects Of The Abortion Secret On Their Relationships: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Marckdaline Johnson

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The United States Supreme Court decision in the Roe v. Wade (1973) case provides women with a right to privacy and the liberty to make decisions concerning their reproductive lives. With this, women who become pregnant are offered the right to choose between keeping their pregnancy and terminating the pregnancy by way of abortion. Since Roe v. Wade (1973), many women have exercised their reproductive liberties, as evidenced by the termination of over 60 million pregnancies via legal abortion in the United States. Still, secrecy among women with a history of abortion remains a common phenomenon. Studies conducted on abortion …

Exploring Locus Of Control In Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha Lightning, Danielle Polage

All Master's Theses

Working with four Washington State county jails to administer surveys to currently incarcerated inmates, we investigated locus of control and beliefs in the likelihood of continued legal involvement as possible antecedents to criminal recidivism. The surveys examined whether there was any connection between legal involvement frequency and the externalization of locus of control. We investigated external locus of control with specific respect to involvement with the law, the prospect of future incarceration, and feelings concerning the overall cause of original and/or sustained legal involvement utilizing the Revised Causal Dimension Scale (McAuley, Duncan, & Russell, 1992). We identified statistically significant interactions …

Predictors Of Perceived Multicultural Competence Among Neuropsychological Trainees, Hannah K. Greenbaum

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Multicultural competence is necessary to provide psychological services to an increasingly diverse population (Sue, 2001). It is established that multicultural competence is important for training in psychology (Bodin et al., 2014; Diaz-Santos & Hill, 2016). Despite increased interest in recent years, multicultural competence in neuropsychology has not progressed in parallel with the focus of multiculturalism in psychology broadly (Rivera Mindt, Byrd, Saez, & Manly, 2010). Little is known about multicultural assessment, and it is not yet known what factors in training contribute to perceived multicultural competence in neuropsychological trainees (Elbulok-Charape, Rabin, Spadaccini, & Barr, 2014). The primary purpose of this …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Interns’ Experiential Reflections On The Popular Film, Moonlight: An Intersectional Activity In Multicultural Counselor Education, Joshua Elliott

Online Theses and Dissertations

Counselor educators and supervisors have the incumbent responsibility to ensure that CITs are sufficiently prepared to engage in counseling work with clientele from diverse backgrounds. Extant literature has demonstrated the use of film to teach CITs about racism and antiracism, promote exploration and awareness of racial attitudes, and examine the interactions of culturally diverse individuals. Films have also been utilized to assist CITs with acquiring knowledge about certain categorical cultural and social populations. Despite the recognition of popular film as a beneficial media to facilitate cultural learning in counselor education, there exists a gap in the literature regarding the experiences …

Death: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Counseling Journals, 1986–2016, Aaron Suomala Folkerds

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative content analysis (QCA) examined five American Counseling Association (ACA) journals and their coverage of death related issues: Journal of Counseling and Development (JCD), Journal of Humanistic Counseling (JHC), Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (JMCD), Counselor Education and Supervision (CES) and Counseling and Values (CV). Of the 5508 journal articles published across all five journals, 59 articles covered death related topics. Eight major death related themes emerged through the QCA process: Research on Death-Related Issues, Personal Reflection and Poetry, Grief and Loss Education, Book Reviews, Responding to Campus Death, Providing Grief Counseling, DSM and Bereavement Diagnosis and Counseling …

Discovering Themes: Disability Identity Development As It Pertains To People Born With Spina Bifida, Elizabeth H. Scriven

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

To date, disability identity development is a highly understudied construct. There are many models of disability, each interpret disability through a specific lens, but do not address the influence of disability on identity development. The few theories of disability identity that do exist have not been widely adopted. In addition, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support them. Another difficulty is that these theories do not separate different disability groups. Rather, the theories are applied to a broad heterogenous group of disability types. This is a problem because each disability type is quite distinct from the others and …

Barriers To Change For Augmentative And Alternative Communication, Lauren E. Brown

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of counseling training on speech language pathologists’ (SLPs) perceived competency to address Attitude Barriers within the augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) assessment process as presented by Beukelman and Mirenda (2005). Counseling techniques, such as the use of the Readiness to Change© tool, are within the scope of practice for SLPs. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on how to apply these tools and techniques with individuals who use AAC .

A training seminar was conducted to educate participants in the use of the Readiness to Change© tool. Data was …

Beneficial Mourning By Inmates Who Have Lost A Significant Person, James Bradley Shoemaker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Incarceration is already replete with loss before someone of significance to an inmate dies. The prison environment challenges every aspect of grieving, and failing to effectively mourn pathologizes grief, reduces quality of living, and results in behaviours that cause recidivism. It is a poignant interaction between this researcher in his role as a chaplain and a particular inmate that provides the impetus for this study. This study begins with a qualitative meta-synthesis that examined 10 qualitative articles and dissertations published over the last 30 years to explore how some inmates manage to effectively grieve the loss of a significant person. …

A Sociopolitical View Of Mental Health: An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Policymakers Regarding Their Perspectives Surrounding Mental Health Policy Construction, Katie C. Fetzer

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A substantial gap exists between those who are considered experts on mental health (e.g., academics, mental health professionals) and those in charge of constructing mental health policies (e.g., legislators, Senators). This gap is in areas of both knowledge and professional relations. Mental health professionals are not adequately trained to engage in policy advocacy and reform efforts and have little to no policy advocacy training (Smith, Reynolds, & Rovnak, 2009). Policymakers lack necessary knowledge related to mental health for effective mental health policy construction (Corrigan, Druss, & Perlick, 2014; Lee, Smith, & Henry, 2013). As a result of this gap, mental …

A Multicase Study Exploring Women’S Narratives Of Infertility: Implications For Counselors, Staci L. Born, Christin L. Carotta, Kristine Ramsay-Seaner

The Qualitative Report

Infertility affects 6.7 million women in the United States (Chandra, Copen, & Stephen, 2013). Women’s experiences with infertility are not only influenced by biological health factors, but also by social, cultural, and personal variables. Given the prevalence and complexity of infertility, additional research is needed to further examine the nuances of women’s experiences. The purpose of this multicase study, as informed by four individual cases, was to explore how women construct their infertility narratives. Review of reflective journals found five common elements: (1) Emotional Rollercoaster, (2) Mind-Body (Dis)Connection, (3) Secret Identity, (4) Supportive vs. Constrained Communication Patterns, and (5) Fatalistic- …