Counseling Commons^™

Student Perspectives On The Selection And Suitability Of Emotional Support Animals, Ella G. Speer

Create@State

Emotional support animals (ESA) are classified as any species of animal that provides cognitive and emotional benefits for individuals struggling with mental health impairments (Ferrell, Crowley 2021, p. 561). Emotional support animals differ from service and therapy animals because there are no restrictions regarding the specie selection if the owner perceives their benefits (Ferrell, Crowley 2021, p. 561). Relaxed regulations on the specie of emotional support animals allow individuals the opportunity to choose any animal based on their perceived benefits (Pettable Staff, Fleming 2024). Recently, universities have implemented an emotional support animal policy to protect students who live on campus …

Beyond The Tour: Designing Graduate Library Orientations That Build Research Confidence And Belonging, Megan York

Transforming Libraries for Graduate Students

Graduate student orientations often lean heavily on logistics: where to find resources, how to log in, and which services the library offers. While this information is important, it rarely addresses the deeper needs of graduate learners. Many of the students I work with arrive on campus already balancing careers, families, and demanding academic programs. At the University of Arkansas, graduate orientations in the College of Education and Health Professions frequently take place on weekends, serving students who travel from out of state and receive an overwhelming amount of information in a short time. For them, orientation is not simply a …

Conflict Clarity: How To Teach Students To Turn Disputes Into Growth Opportunities, Eileen Paige Petzold-Bradley

Learning and Educational Center Virtual Teaching and Learning Conference

Conflict is an unavoidable part of learning and working in today’s fast-changing industries. Faculty often observe students struggling with teamwork, communication breakdowns, and emotional self-management during group projects or internships. This session equips educators with practical strategies to help students build durable skills—conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness—that translate directly into professional success.

Drawing on research in conflict management, leadership, and organizational psychology, participants will explore the “Conflict Clarity” framework: a set of teaching tools, reflection prompts, and case scenarios designed for classroom use across disciplines. Faculty will learn how to integrate conflict styles, the CLEAR conversation framework, and role-play …

Crisis Text Line: "An Empathic World Where Nobody Feels Alone", Amy Stoermer

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Through this internship, I’ve learned so much about how to be an empathetic and non-judgmental listener. I’ve also learned about how to respond to individuals that are in crisis situations. Thanks to the help of the Platform Supervisors, I’ve also gained valuable knowledge about how to collaborate with team members so I can best assist clients in need. The safety plan training I’ve received has been so helpful, too.

Supporting Lgbtq+ Youth In Disaffirming Legal Climates, Sarah Hibner-Kiperman Phd, Madeleine Reardon Ma, Caitlin Johnson M.A., Nina Michon Ma, Liz Ballinger B.A., Jesse Chen Ma, Sahar Altweej Ma, Gabriel Delong Ma

Great Lakes Regional Counseling Psychology Conference

Psychologists are ethically charged with providing culture-responsive, affirming care to LGBTQ+ youth clients as legal climate continue infringing on their rights (ACLU, 2025; APA, 2023; NASP, 2020). This roundtable serves to facilitate conversation about how to support our LGBTQ+ community members seeking affirming care, when laws may limit this ability.

When Grief Comes To Court: Supporting Bereaved Court Involved Youth, Lane Pease, Erin Richter

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Youth who are court involved have higher rates of bereavement than the general population. Learn how grief impacts youth involved in the Juvenile Court. This session will focus on how bringing together court stakeholders and partnering with outside experts to provide grief support can decrease further court involvement and lead to positive outcomes.

Importance Of Principal-School Counselor Relationship, Moya A. Pope Ed.S, Monica Y. Pace Ed.S

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Principals and School Counselors - y'all alright?!? What's your relationship like: Good? Bad? Ugly? The relationship between the school counselor and principal can affect the school as a whole - and when they have a strong relationship, the school community is stronger. This presentation will give you tips on how to strengthen your relationship, become better leaders and positively affect student achievement and school climate.

Addressing Obesity In Cancer Survivorship: Referral Gaps And Patient Engagement In Nutrition And Lifestyle Interventions, Brian Dinh, Kelly Nguyen, Whittney Thoman, Katherine Gilmore, Ying Qiao, Kathy Carpenter, Zayed Razouki, David Santos, Michael Roth

Cancer Survivorship Research Retreat

No abstract provided.

Female Medical Students’ Lived Experiences Of Financial Stress And Coping, Untara Shaikh, Dr. Kimberlee Bonura

Georgia Public Health Association Annual Meeting & Conference

Financial stress is a pervasive concern among medical students, with documented associations with adverse physical health, psychological morbidity, and ineffective coping. This study focuses on understanding the financial stressors female medical students face and the coping strategies they employ. While financial stress and coping mechanisms have been explored in the literature, a notable gap exists in understanding these dynamics among female students.

The study employed a phenomenological research approach to obtain data from the respondents, where data collection involved face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The Adaptation Model of Nursing, complemented by Lazarus and Folkman's Coping Theory, was a comprehensive framework for analyzing …

Using Novelty Methods To Teach Counseling Students Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Multiculturalism, Keesha M. Kerns, David J. Ford Jr, Jill Ardely

National Cross-Cultural Counseling & Education Conference for Research, Action & Change (2016-2024)

The presentation will utilize knowledge of novelty methods to educate counseling students on how to cultivate a brave space and sense of belonging while allowing cultural exploration in counseling and education on a post secondary grant. Presenters will facilitate an understanding of participants' own cultural beliefs as related to diversity, multiculturalism, tolerance, and acceptance in counseling and education to promote professional growth as a counseling and education student.

Continuing The Legacy: Navigating Grief And Loss While Pursuing A Degree, Sharon Lewis, Hope Charles, Nivischi Edwards

National Cross-Cultural Counseling & Education Conference for Research, Action & Change (2016-2024)

A 2013 study found 74.8% of Black girls graduated high school, while only 37.6% of the Black females in early adulthood were enrolled in college (Kalu, 2022). The added pressure of navigating grief while also endeavoring higher education only exacerbates that statistic. Learning to process grief healthfully is a useful lesson to ensure one’s ability to thrive during their grief.

Hurting The Helpers: Mental Health And The United States’ Education System, Simone Fh Banks

National Cross-Cultural Counseling & Education Conference for Research, Action & Change (2016-2024)

Teachers in US public schools are in the midst of a workforce crisis. Mounting responsibilities, struggling to make a liveable wage, and the impact teaching has on a person’s mental health are reasons why teachesr are leaving the profession in huge numbers. This presentation will highlight the impact the current system has on teachers’ mental health.

A Revolution In School Counselor-Administration Collaboration, Kimberly Farley-Smith, Jill Minor, Neil E. Duchac

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Forging sustainable school counseling programs is the essential foundation for school counselors leadership in creating equitable programming. Transformative school leadership and transformational school counselors' leadership is crucial in creating sustainable programming, increasing positive school culture, and propelling systemic change in the school. Through an ecological perspective, positive working relationships can be achieved between school leadership and school counselors.

Pornography: Social, Emotional And Mental Implications Among Adolescents, William K. Canady

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This presentation will explain the historical development of pornography. It will highlight three segments: 1- Porn’s impact on brain development of reward pathways, ultimately increasing the appetite for more porn. 2- Porn can be a false substitute for real intimacy, resulting in decreased sexual satisfaction with a real person and increased verbal and physical aggression. 3- Porn promotes sex trafficking, promotes multiple sex partners and reduced STD prevention.

Radical Youth Work: A Community Based Approach To Working With Youth, Young Adults And Families, Weston J. Robins

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Radical Youth Work: A Community Based Approach to Working with Youth, Young Adults and Families

A focus on experiential mentoring, humanistic counseling and community engagement as a way to work with youth, young adults and families to provide true holistic therapeutic support and guidance.

Teaching Students About Trauma, Stress And Brain Regulation, Kathy J. Van Horn

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

All students are impacted by stress and can benefit by understanding their brains, their stress response, and strategies for regulation. This presentation will provide practical principles and ideas for teaching students strategies and skills for physical, emotional, and cortical regulation.

Helping All Herons - A School Based Mental Health Team Initiative, Kiersten H. Morgan, Erin Thrift, Teri Hendrix, Shannon Murray

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Our school system has experienced an increase in the number of students with significant mental health related issues. Interactions with these students were occuring on a crisis by crisis basis. Through a series of trial and error we developed Helping All Herons - A School Based Mental Health Team initiative. The team has regular contact with students, parents, outside counseling agencies and staffings to ensure that the needs of the students are being met. This team encourages a more proactive approach to student mental health compared to a reactive one.

Team Student: Putting Families And Students First, Gabrielle S. Brundidge

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

What does it take to be a true family-friendly, student-focused school? Putting families and students first means making hard choices; meeting students where they are; ensuring that all aspects of learning are relevant and engaging; helping students own their learning and control their pace; and personalizing the learning for each student-even when it's more work for the adults. In this engaging and relevant session, the team from Myers Middle School will practice what they preach. They will share processes and strategies for building relationships with students and families, communicating effectively and supporting all students through social-emotional learning and other resources. …

Defusing Escalating Situations, Louis Lamont Fletcher Phd, David Allen Watson

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

The Executive Director of Facilities and Operations and the Director of Safety and Security for a Colorado School district with 28,000 students will share tools, techniques, and experiences with conflict resolution. The presenters will outline the recognizable precursors to conflict, the importance of the individual's initial reaction, and provide tools to facilitate de-escalation. This interactive presentation provides relevant tools to de-escalate conflicts between peers, supervisors and subordinates, teachers and students, teachers and parents, school security officers and students, superintendents and board members, and school districts and community members.

Concepts Of Chemical Dependency, Amy Evans

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Concepts of Chemical Dependency's 11th edition continues the work of the original author, Harold Doweiko. Dr. Amelia (Amy) Evans revised the 10th and 11th editions, when Doweiko was no longer able to continue his work on this textbook. Used in a variety of undergraduate and graduate departments, the text provides a solid understanding of substance use disorders and covers a variety of relevant topics related to addictions. After introducing the reader to reasons we should all be concerned about substance misuse in society, there is an overview of why individuals may choose to turn to substances and how these substances …

Relational Virtues And Alliance Correspondence In Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Peter Jankowski

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Objective: We responded to the need to establish psychodynamic psychotherapy as evidence-based by utilizing a practice-based research design involving non-manualized outpatient treatment. (This poster is non-peer reviewed or non-refereed.)

The Traumatic Impact Of Community Violence Exposure On Children: Perceptions And Experiences Of School Mental Health Workers In Trinidad, Nadine Isaac-Dennis, Michael Milmine, Alyssa A. Sussdorf

Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship

This qualitative study explores the perceptions and experiences of school mental health personnel who support children living in communities with high levels of community violence in Trinidad. This study aims to gain insight into the type/s and frequency of community violence children are exposed to, the possible trauma symptoms observed, and the interventions used to respond to these children through the experiences of these school mental health workers. Eight school mental health workers (5 school social workers and three guidance counselors/officers) were interviewed via Zoom using semi-structured interviews. The audio recordings from the interviews were transcribed and are being analyzed …

Together We Rise: Reaching Inclusivity For Student Excellence, Hiedi A. Larson, Rebekah H. Magee, Molly R. Kollross, Menna A. Hendricks, Danielle A. Loera, Ethan M. Homeyer

Together We RISE (Making Excellence Inclusive)

This presentation outlines the BIONIC (Believe It Or Not I Care) Program at Mattoon High School. For the past 10 years, Dr. Larson and a team of counseling interns have partnered with Mattoon High School to implement BIONIC (Believe It Or Not I Care), a school-wide peer mentoring program.

Using The Modified Delphi Method To Establish Consensus For Gambling Treatment Core Competencies, Greta Coe

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

Core competencies define the knowledge and skills believed to be necessary to practice within specific professional fields effectively and serve as benchmarks to guide professional preparation, supervision, and evaluation. In this presentation, we will share the results of a modified Delphi study when we asked the question, ‘‘What are the core competencies that problem gambling counsellors must master to be considered professionally prepared?’’ and relied on the collective wisdom of experts in the field to find an answer. Our study used 52 problem gambling treatment experts to reach consensus on gambling treatment core competencies. An expert was defined as …

Near Death: Shame And Stigma Among Survivors Of Overdose, Monique Barber

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Navigating A Phd Program In The Middle Of Chaos: A Ces Doc Student Reflection, Kerbie Marc, Chele Weiglein, Rhonda Gaston

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Blurred Lines: Developing My Professional And Personal Self As A Ces Doc Student, Kerbie Marc, Louis Alvey, Sharon Beatty

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Childhood Sexual Abuse And Adult Relationships: Spiritual Struggles And Acceptance Of God's Love, Deanna Eddy

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Radical Youth Work: A Community Based Approach To Working With Youth, Young Adults And Families, Weston J. Robins

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Eternal Strength Center for Radical Youth Work is a blended community center with customizable mental health therapeutic support for youth, young adults and families. Providing humanistic and person centered psychotherapy and counseling, alongside experiential therapies and community engagement we support families and youth struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, self harm, suicidality and other challenges on their developmental growth journey.

What Do I Do After A Student's Mental Health Crisis, Francie Livingston

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Most educators have been trained in prevention of mental health emergencies, but what do we following a crisis. Participants will learn strategies for assisting students to return to school, meeting their emotional needs, providing support for classmates, and involving the families in this process.