Counseling Commons^™

A Proposed Methodology For Online Asynchronous Therapeutic Dreamwork, Gregory Sparrow, Ryan Hurd, Yih-Jiun Shen, Kim Phetteplace

Counseling Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the acceptance of online “telemental” health as an alternative to sitebased service delivery. Concurrently, therapists have adopted various asynchronous virtual mental health resources, such as bulletin boards/forums, delayed chat, and email, to supplement traditional practice. Asynchronous dream sharing, pioneered in the early 1980s, has since supported online conferences and ongoing dreamwork communities. However, the potential of asynchronous therapeutic dreamwork (ATD) still needs to be explored. This article reviews the evolution of asynchronous online dream sharing and proposes that combining it with “co-creative” dreamwork—particularly the FiveStar Method—may generate distinctive contributions while providing greater safeguards than content-focused interpretive …

The Flash Technique As An Effective Low-Intensity Intervention For Migrants At The U.S. Point Of Entry, Selma D. Yznaga, Sik-Lam Wong, Suzanne Maniss

Counseling Faculty Publications

Migrants often face severe trauma before and during their journey, leading to mental health challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress. This study explores the Flash Technique (FT) as a one-time intervention for newly arrived migrants. Twelve healthcare professionals and 11 student interns trained in FT provided interventions to 55 migrants, who showed substantial improvements in subjective units of distress scores. The findings highlight the efficacy of a low-intensity intervention in a humanitarian context, which can serve to mitigate the long-term psychological impact of trauma.

Examining The Relationship Between Acculturation Levels, Help-Seeking Attitudes, And Self-Stigma Perspectives Among International Students, Praveen K. Rudra

Counseling Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationship between acculturation level, help-seeking attitude, and self-stigma among international students enrolled in the graduate counseling program (ICS) within the United States. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) served as the theoretical framework. Using the TPB construct in the context of mental health concerns, this study investigated the relationship between acculturation level, help-seeking attitude, and self-stigma. The data from ASSIS, IASMHS, and SSOSH were analyzed using the Pearson product moment correlation (Pearson r). It was found that the Pearson product-moment correlational analysis between the variables concluded a strong direct correlation between the acculturation level and the …

Graduate Counseling Students’ Preparedness To Practice Tele-Mental Health, Clarissa L. Salinas, Eunice Lerma, Valerie Leija, Javier Cavazos Vela, Elizabeth Zamora

Counseling Faculty Publications

This qualitative study explored counseling graduate students’ preparedness to provide telemental health during their internship experience. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 11 Latine counseling graduate students’ who attended a Hispanic-Serving Institution. The following themes emerged following data analysis: (1) Challenges with Establishing Personal Relationships and Telepresence with Culturally Diverse Clients; (2) Lack of Preparation to Use Evidence-based Practices to Handle Ethical Dilemmas and Crisis Interventions; (3) Cultural Competency and Diversity; (4) Engaging Activities in a Telemental Health Counseling Environment; (5) Additional Training and Practice with Technology; and (6) Lack of Preparation to Use Telemental Health Counseling. Implications for …

Introducing Online Dreamwork During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Method, Training, And Impact, Gregory Scott Sparrow, Yih-Jiun Shen, Marilu Pintor

Counseling Faculty Publications

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Counseling and Training Clinics of The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) to shut down. Consequently, our graduate counseling program students needed help accruing the direct counseling hours required by their degree programs. Without an established telehealth option, the UTRGV Counseling Department supported the creation of DreamStar Free Online Counseling (DFOC), an online counseling program initiative facilitated through Zoom video. In response to our students’ urgent need for clients, we added individual and group dreamwork to DFOC’s array of services, increasing the referral level. This article describes the creation of DFOC, …

Workforce Barriers And Needed Supports To Enhance Behavioral Health Service Provision For Older Adults In Nebraska, Cecilia Y.M. Poon, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Yadi Liu, Charles Yale, Deepanjali Bhale, Erin O. Shcneider, Julia F. Houfek, Christine Chasek, Marley Doyle, Kendra L. Ratnapradipa

Counseling Faculty Publications

Nearly 20% of US older adults have mental health concerns, but few mental health professionals specialize in this population. In Nebraska, where almost 17% of Nebraska’s population is >65 years of age, BHECN conducted a survey to understand provider attitudes about and abilities to serve the state’s older population. Results from this online survey of licensed mental health practitioners in 2022 showed that 61% of responding practitioners were rural, 27% did not provide direct clinical services to older adults, and only 18% of their time was spent working with older adults. Barriers to providing care to older adults included Medicare …

Enhancing Cultural Competence In Counselor Education Through Sociolinguistic Awareness, Jessica Haas, Diane D. Walsh, Marisa Marroquin

Counseling Faculty Publications

Abstract

Language plays a central role in building a therapeutic working alliance. Language is essential in building trust, conveying empathy, and creating shared meaning between counselors and clients. Nevertheless, language can equally harm the working alliance if used insensitively or without awareness of cultural and social differences. Sociolinguistic awareness emphasizes the interpretational nature of language and how it can unintentionally perpetuate discrimination against marginalized identities. Counselor educators can utilize sociolinguistic principles to model and teach the significance of language in counseling and its relationship to multicultural competency and cultural humility. The article highlights how clients' language may connect to their …

The Antecedents Of The Experience Of Light In Dreams, Gregory Scott Sparrow, Ryan Hurd

Counseling Faculty Publications

The experience of inner light and ecstasy is widely accepted as a universal mystical experience, regardless of cultural or religious context. While one can read first-hand accounts in the historical record, the direct experience of light remains elusive for most people. This study analyzes a series of dream-based experiences of light provided by a single subject. In our analysis of 19 dreams, we pursue a process-oriented, relational analysis based on co-creative dream theory, which views the dream as an interactive experience in real time rather than a fixed product of the unconscious mind. By analyzing dreams as relational events, in …

From Adverse Childhood Experiences To Adulthoodjob Satisfaction: Mediating Roles Of Posttraumaticbeliefs And Self-Evaluation, Jaeyoung Kim, Isak Kim, Kaiqi Zhou, Wongeun Ji

Counseling Faculty Publications

This study investigates the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and job satisfaction in adulthood, mediated by posttraumatic beliefs and core self-evaluation (CSE). Based on the literature, we hypothesized that posttraumatic beliefs, potentially developed following ACEs, would have negative effects on individuals’ CSE and job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling of survey data from 384 employees with at least one ACE revealed that posttraumatic beliefs fully mediated the effect of ACEs on both job satisfaction and CSE. Furthermore, CSE was a partial mediator between posttraumatic beliefs and job satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of adopting trauma-informed approaches in employment counseling.

The Impacts Of Problem Parenting On College Student Mental Health: A Pilot Study, Deirdre O'Sullivan, Isak Kim, Jennifer L. Hanna, Justin R. Watts, Amber O'Shea

Counseling Faculty Publications

This study validated a scale to explore family dynamics on a continuum of problematic to positive parenting practices that are believed to relate to college student distress and well-being. A two-factor scale was revealed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis with each factor demonstrating good internal reliability and convergent validity with another validated scale. The new scale better predicted college student mental health and well-being when considered with the frequently used Adverse Childhood Experience Scale (ACES).

Latent Profiles Of Counselor Burnout: Associations With Self-Discrepancy, Isak Kim, Donghun Lee, Janghee Lee, Sang Min Lee

Counseling Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research study was to identify heterogeneous counselor burnout profiles using a latent profile analysis (LPA) and examine the profiles in association with counselors’ personal and professional self-discrepancies in counselor qualities. Data from 360 practicing professional counselors were used for analysis. LPA identified four distinct profiles: Well-Adjusted Counselors (n = 167, 46.4%), Disconnected Counselors (n = 68, 18.9%), Impaired Counselors (n = 22, 6.1%), and Persevering Counselors (n = 103, 28.6%). A series of Chi-square tests indicated there were significant associations between the burnout profiles and self-discrepancies in some counselor qualities, such as …

Exploring Dimensions Of Bias-Based Bullying Victimization, School Fairness, And School Belonging Through Mediation Analysis, Deanna L. Burgess, Isak Kim, Youngwoon Seon, Seriashia J. Chatters

Counseling Faculty Publications

Bias-based bullying (BBB) is a serious problem for school-aged adolescents. However, limited attention has been paid to the mechanism of how BBB may affect youths' sense of belonging to the school. The purpose of the current study was to understand the associations between BBB victimization, school belonging, and school fairness among school-aged adolescents. The present study also examined whether school fairness mediated the link between BBB victimization and school belonging. Data were drawn from the “No Place For Hate” project, which examined bias-based incidents, school equity, and school belonging of a school district. The analytic study sample consisted of 2600 …

Critical Consciousness Through An Anti-Racism Lens: Teaching Strategies For Counselor Educators, Eunice Lerma, Clarissa L. Salinas, Javier Cavazos Vela

Counseling Faculty Publications

This teaching brief describes a creative and innovative teaching strategy to create inclusive and anti-oppressive learning spaces. Counselor education faculty can use the instructional strategy described in this teaching brief to: (a) engage in reflexivity and positionality regarding antiracist teaching and racial justice; (b) use specific actions that counter racism; (c) address microaggressions; (d) provide skills for dialogues around difficult conversations such as racial justice (Thurber et al., 2019); and (e) assign learning activities and assessment practices that allow students to reflect on and address racial justice (Gonzalez & Cokley, 2021; Ng et al., 2022; Thurber et al., 2019).

Exploring Latinx Graduate Students’ Experiences In Online Classes At A Hispanic Serving Institution, Javier Cavazos Vela, Clarissa L. Salinas, Ming-Tsan Lu, Federico R. Guerra, Elizabeth Zamora

Counseling Faculty Publications

Guided by a Culturally Relevant Pedagogy framework, we used a phenomenological research design to explore nine Latinx graduate students’ lived experiences in online courses at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). In this study, we analyzed nine Latinx graduate students’ interview transcripts that focused on lived experiences with online learning. The following themes emerged from phenomenological data analysis: accessibility, organization and structure, distractions and connectivity, instructor approachability, communication, flexibility with online learning and self-paced, active learning, guidelines and purpose for assignments, and criteria for success. We structure findings around three effective teaching practices: (1) designing an effective learning environment, (2) structuring …

Perceived School Fairness And Willingness To Report Bias-Based Bullying Among Youth During Covid-19 Pandemic, Isak Kim, Deanna L. Burgess, Seriashia J. Chatters

Counseling Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND

As COVID-19 has let many students into remote learning environments and exacerbated inequality among marginalized individuals, there is a growing concern about Bias-Based Bullying (BBB) in online spaces among school-aged youths. Learning modality and perceived school fairness may affect youth's likelihood of reporting BBB.

METHODS

Data were collected as part of “No Place For Hate” (NPFH) project, which was conducted by an equity office of a school district. A sample of middle and high school students (N = 1117) in the school district was used as an analytic sample. We conducted a series of independent samples t tests and …

Evaluating The Impact Of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy On Hope And Clinical Symptoms With Latine Clients, Krystle Himmelberger, James Ikonomopoulos, Javier Cavazos Vela

Counseling Faculty Publications

We implemented a single-case research design (SCRD) with a small sample (N = 2) to assess the effectiveness of solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) for Latine clients experiencing mental health concerns. Analysis of participants’ scores on the Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS) and Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45.2) using split-middle line of progress visual trend analysis, statistical process control charting, percentage of non-overlapping data points procedure, percent improvement, and Tau-U yielded treatment effects indicating that SFBT may be effective for improving hope and mental health symptoms for Latine clients. Based on these findings, we discuss implications for counselor educators, counselors-in-training, and practitioners, which …

Profiles Of Participation In School Bullying: Association With Student Well-Being, Isak Kim

Counseling Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the bullying participation profiles inrelation to the demographic variables (sex, grade, and ethnicity), and to further inves-tigate the associations between the profiles and student well-being indicators. A finalsample for analyses consisted of 725 elementary school children (fourth to sixthgrades). Four latent profiles were identified through the latent profile analysis: bul-lying passive bystanding (8.00%), victimized active defending (8.41%), uninvolvedpassive bystanding (21.24%), and uninvolved active defending (62.35%). Significantgroup differences were found in key variables representing student well-being, thatis, school connectedness and life satisfaction, across the four latent profiles. Childrenin the uninvolved active defending were …

Discerning The Ontology Of Dream Characters From The Standpoint Of Co-Creative Dream Theory, Gregory Scott Sparrow

Counseling Faculty Publications

It is not uncommon to have dreams with familiar characters who appear to exhibit independent agency and personhood, whether the actual persons are alive or dead. Discerning the ontological nature of dream characters presents a challenge in contemporary dreamwork, especially if one wishes to adopt an inclusive approach that allows for dream characters to be derived from intrapsychic or transpersonal sources. An inclusive model avoids two possible errors inherent in an either-or approach: 1) Believing that a dream character is a “real” person, a dreamer may disavow ownership over unacknowledged or rejected aspects of self; or, 2) Believing that the …

Exploring The Impact Of A Brief Counseling Intervention For Improving Mental Health Factors And Learning Strategies Among College Students At An Hsi, James Ikonomopoulos, Kristopher Garza, Javier Cavazos Vela

Counseling Faculty Publications

This study evaluated a counseling intervention called the University Turn Around Program (U-Turn) for college students experiencing mental health issues and low academic performance. Social Anxiety, Hostility, and Alcohol Use were measured on the CCAPS-34, and Attitude, Information Processing, Selecting Main Ideas, Test Strategies, and Using Academic Resources were measured on the LASSI-3. Paired samples t-tests revealed improvement for each measure (d = 0.45 to 1.09) supporting the U-Turn program’s inclusion in university counseling centers.

Viewing The Dream As Process: A Key To Effective Dreamwork, Gregory Scott Sparrow, Mark Thurston

Counseling Faculty Publications

The Co-creative dream paradigm posits that dreams are indeterminate from the outset and unfold in real time according to the dream ego’s moment-to-moment responses to the emergent content. This interactive dynamic can illuminate process parallels between the dream and waking relationships, even if content parallels cannot be easily discerned. If generic process can be unambiguously observed in the dream report, and maps onto waking relational process, then one might argue that the best initial approach to dream analysis should be to analyze the dream process as a prelude to further analysis, especially in cases where the visual content may seem …

Provisional Behavioral Health Licenses To Full Licenses: Analysis Of Nebraska Behavioral Workforce Data 2009–2019, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Christine Chasek, Marley Doyle, Allison Grennan, Julia F. Houfek, Zaeema Naveed, Erin Obermeier Schneider

Counseling Faculty Publications

There is a need to recruit and to retain behavioral health providers especially when providers are moving from the provisional licensing status to a full licensure status. This study estimated the rates of conversion of provisional licenses to full licenses among provisionally licensed psychologists, mental health practitioners, master social workers, and alcohol and drug counselors (ADCs) in Nebraska and examined potential associations among demographic characteristics and license conversion rates. Nebraska’s behavioral health licensure data (2009–2019) was obtained from the Health Professional Tracking Service (HPTS) program that was established as a joint effort between Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, …

Responses To The 2014 Police Shooting Of Michael Brown: Cosmology Episodes And Enacted Environments, Jessica Haas, Kari A. O’Grady, Jesse Fox, Hope Schuermann, Marion E. Toscano, Chun-Shin Taylor

Counseling Faculty Publications

This is a consensual multi-dyadic exploration of the diverse perspectives of seven community subgroups’ perceptions of events before, during, and after the 2014 police-involved shooting death of Michael Brown, Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri. Recognizing an enacted environment in the complex history that preceded the uprising, findings were contextualized and framed through the cosmology episode trauma model. A multicultural and visibly diverse research team conducted 34 interviews with involved citizens (protesters), law enforcement, clergy, politicians, business owners, media personnel, and educators. A culturally diverse cross-analysis team triangulated social perspective through consensus coding and audit. Consensual multi-dyadic method preserved the unique characteristics …

Crisis Counseling Self- Efficacy: Personal Abilities And Situational Influences, Suzanne Maniss, Yuleinys A. Castillo, Jason Cartwright, Selma D. Yznaga

Counseling Faculty Publications

Crises are unpredictable in nature and affect the general well-being of individuals. A proper crisis management foundation can prepare future counselors to effectively work with clients who are experiencing a crisis. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of counselors-in-training (CIT) in relation to their anticipated crisis intervention abilities. This paper reports the results of qualitative focus groups of counselors in training. Participants reported perceived strengthens and limitations shaping their ability to handle a crisis. Counselor preparation offers opportunities to properly train culturally responsive providers for crisis management.

Caregiver's Difficulty Paying Child's Healthcare Bills And Bullying Victimization Of Adolescents With Physical Disabilities, Jun Sung Hong, Mi-Jin Choi, Isak Kim, Carl L. Algood, Dorothy L. Espelage, Chad A. Rose

Counseling Faculty Publications

Guided by the ecological systems perspective, the objective of the study was to examine whether caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills is associated with bullying victimization directly and indirectly through the mediating mechanisms of caregivers' frustration, adolescents' internalizing problems, and social difficulty focusing on adolescents with physical disabilities. The 2019 National Survey of Children's Health dataset, which collected data on adolescents' and caregivers' demographic characteristics and health and well-being, was used. The study sample consisted of 368 caregivers of adolescents, 12–17 years of age with physical disabilities. No direct association between caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills and …

Substance Use Disorders In The Farming Population: Scoping Review, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Christine Chasek, Aaron M. Yoder, Jesse E. Bell

Counseling Faculty Publications

Purpose

The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the current knowledge base in order to make recommendations for prevention and treatment of substance use disorders among the farming populations.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed articles published between January 1989 and September 2019. The search yielded 3,426 citations and the final review was conducted on 42 articles. The full review was conducted by 4 authors to extract information about the target population, data collection methods, and main results.

Findings

There were 21 articles on farmers and 21 articles on farmworkers. The majority of the articles were …

Identifying Protective Factors In The Association Between Peer Victimization And Internalizing Symptoms Of African American Adolescents In Four Chicago’S Southside Neighborhoods, Jun Sung Hong, Mi-Jin Choi, Isak Kim, Sheretta Butler-Barnes, Sarah Kruman Mountain, Dexter R. Voisin

Counseling Faculty Publications

Guided by the Risk and Resilience Model, the present study aims to generate hypotheses by investigating a wide range of variables that might buffer the association between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms from a convenience sample of African American adolescents in four neighborhoods in Chicago’s Southside. Measures for the study included internalizing symptoms, peer victimization, four protective factors (parental closeness, teacher’s care, religiosity, and positive future orientation) and covariates (age, sex, and government assistance). Controlling for the covariates, a series of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to explore the direct effects of peer victimization and internalizing symptoms and the interaction …

Parental Perceived Need For Counseling For Adolescents’ Anxiety And Depression Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Study, Isak Kim, Nayoung Kim

Counseling Faculty Publications

Objective

This study examined the association between parental perceived need for counseling or mental health care services and adolescents’ subgroups of anxiety and depression symptoms (Anxiety-only, Depression-only, Anxiety-Depression, and None).

Method

Adolescent sample (N = 20,486, M = 14.69  years old, SD = 1.69) was drawn from the National Survey of Children’s Health 2017–2018 (NSCH 2017–2018). A chi-square test was used to analyze the association between two categorical variables.

Results

The Chi-square test was statistically significant, Χ2(6) = 7,914.33, p < .01, V = .44. Adolescents from the Anxiety-Depression group received counseling or mental health care the most (80.94%), while 69.03% of those in the depression-only group and 44.86% in the Anxiety-only group received mental health services.

Conclusions

Caregivers of adolescents with Anxiety-only tended to perceive the least need for counseling or mental health care, …

Independent And Cumulative Impacts Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On Adolescent Subgroups Of Anxiety And Depression, Isak Kim, Angélica Galván, Nayoung Kim

Counseling Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to investigate the independent and cumulative impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on the subgroups of anxiety and depression among 12–17 aged adolescents in the U.S. A sample of 21,496 cases was derived from the 2017–2018 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Four adolescent subgroups were identified depending on their mental health condition: Anxiety-only (7.2%), Depression-only (1.5%), Anxiety-Depression (6.3%), and None (85.0%). All sociodemographic characteristics such as sex, age, race/ethnicity, and family structure had significant associations with the subgroups. Two multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the independent and cumulative effects of …

Playing To Heal: The Impact Of Bereavement Camp For Children With Grief., Clarissa L. Salinas

Counseling Faculty Publications

Child bereavement is a difficult topic to explore and study because of stigmas in discussing death, and because of restrictions in doing research with young children. Thus, research in childhood bereavement is limited. This study focused on children who attended a bereavement camp after the traumatic loss of a loved one. The purpose was to understand the participants’ grief experiences. This research study used phenomenological inquiry and analysis methodology. Five female participants were interviewed for this study. In addition, participants created a sandtray world to convey their experiences at bereavement camp. The essence of participants’ experiences as revealed through verbal …

It’S The Experience Not The Format: Successful Techniques To Transition Social Justice Coursework To A Distance Delivery Format, Peter L. Kranz, Paul Sale, John Lowdermilk

Counseling Faculty Publications

“Research on multicultural learning has focused on formal and local settings, such as schools, but young people are interacting with, and therefore learning from, informal settings and nonlocal contexts, including online platforms.” (Kim, 2016, p. 1). The instructor must be vigilant in selecting online teaching pedagogy when offering sensitive topics of courses because face-to-face intimacy is usually a component of more traditional courses in diversity (Matloob Haghanikar, 2019). The purpose of this current paper is to align critical parts of an experiential race relations curriculum (Clarke, 2019; Kranz & Lund, 2004) in a face-to-face setting with digital technologies available for …