Counseling Psychology Commons^™

Continuing Education And Predictors Of Self-Reported Professional Competency Among Trauma Counselors, Desiree Lynn Grin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractContinuing Education and Predictors of Self-Reported Professional Competency Among Trauma Counselors by Desiree Lynn Grin

MS, Walden University, 2019MA, Capella University, 2009 BS, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 2003

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Counseling Psychology

Walden University November 2021 Abstract Currently, there is limited research about outcomes for therapists who choose to engage in professional trainings for ongoing education. Although other professions track this kind of information, there is a dearth of information for mental health counselors. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of counselors’ motivations, …

Divine Narcissism: Raising A Secure Middle-Aged Adult, Rachel Sachs Riverwood

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Utilizing an arts-based feminist autoethnographic stance and method, this dissertation is an evocative exploration of the process and experience of attempting to develop a cohesive identity and build a secure attachment to the self. The author uses countercultural methods—prioritizing and centralizing her experience and uncovering and acting in defiance of oppressive norms—to identify and experience their impact on her identity and intra- and inter- personal relationships. Various tensions are explored, including the suppression of self and desire, self-objectification, fearful-avoidant attachment, and shame; and their influence on engaging in emotional and sexual intimacy is examined. Critique on the role of female …

An Association Between Perceived Social Support And Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Among Women With Lifetime Sexual Victimization: The Serial Mediating Role Of Resilience And Coping, Michiyo Hirai, Ruby Charak, Laura D. Seligman, Joseph D. Hovey, John M. Ruiz, Timothy W. Smith

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

This study examined the association between perceived social support and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms, serially mediated by resilience and coping among women exposed to different patterns of sexual victimization experiences: childhood sexual abuse (CSA) only, adult sexual assault (ASA) only, and sexual revictimization (SR). A total of 255 sexually victimized women recruited from four U.S. universities completed self-report measures online; 112 participants reported provisionally diagnosable levels of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The proposed model was largely supported in the CSA only group and the SR group. Different patterns of mediational effects were found across the three groups. …

Understanding A Child’S Social-Emotional Development, Kimberly S. Duris

Psychology Department Faculty Workshops

Children encounter numerous forms of stressors in their daily living. Some of these stressors are mild, and the child can continue to function with minimal negative consequences. Other stressors are more impactful on the child's development and can result in various levels of impairment. Often children experience difficulties in their social-emotional functioning when faced with severe stressors. The ACE survey outlines the negative impact on a child's overall living when one or more stressors are present in their life. The ability of a counselor to understand what influences a child's social-emotional development is critical to helping that child adjust successfully. …

Socially Just Trauma-Informed Responses To Covid-19 With Undocumented Communities, Daniela Dominguez

Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Assessing A Cognitive Model Of Trauma-Related Sleep Disturbance, Rebecca Chesher

Dissertations

Sleep disturbance is a symptom of many mental health disorders that may negatively affect cognition and mood. Trauma-related sleep disturbance is a core reaction of traumatic stress and PTSD, similar to symptoms experienced by individuals with insomnia or other sleep-wake disorders. Although the cause and symptom progression of trauma-related sleep disturbance may be very different, research and clinical practice assess and treat it with measures and interventions designed for general insomnia. Using a cognitive model of insomnia modified for trauma-related sleep disturbance, the current study assessed the relations between select trauma and sleep variables within the proposed constructs of: 1) …

Experiences Of Latinx's Adult Transition To The U.S. And The Clinical Implications That Arise In Acclimating Into The Dominant Culture: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Gabriela Olavarrieta

Doctoral Dissertations

There has been a significant gap in the literature regarding the lived experience of the Latinx adult transition to the United States and the clinical implications that arise in acclimating to the dominant culture, particularly under the Trump Administration. The approach for the current research examined Latinxs’ adulthood transitions to the United States, experiences of acculturative stress, including instances of discrimination as well as their experiences acclimating or assimilating into the dominant culture. This study also examined what seeking, or being unable to seek, mental health services looked like in the current sociopolitical climate. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was utilized to …

Mindfulness And Technology: Evaluating An Online Mindfulness Intervention For Symptoms Related To Sexual Assault, Erica Catherine Johnson

Dissertations

Sexual assault has been found to increase the risk of distressing psychological symptoms including PTSD, depression, somatization, drug and substance use, lower quality of life and experiential avoidance. As such, interventions for reducing the distress and negative impacts of sexual assault are of importance. Mindfulness is of particular interest as it addresses one of the prominent factors known to maintain psychological distress after trauma, experiential avoidance (Polusny et al., 2004; Merwin et al., 2009). Furthermore, an online mindfulness-based intervention can increase the accessibility and reduce the barriers to treatment. A within subjects repeated measures open clinical trial design was used …

Natural Disasters And Attachment Quality: The Mediating Roles Of Self-Compassion And Positive Mental Health, Alexandra Teller

Dissertations

Emerging adults exposed to natural disasters may develop posttraumatic stress symptoms, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders. Attachment quality has been found to be negatively associated with psychopathology in emerging adult hurricane survivors; however, the mechanisms by which this occurs have not yet been explored fully. Self-compassion may act as a protective factor against developing psychopathology while potentially promoting positive mental health outcomes following hurricane exposure. Furthermore, positive mental health has been identified as a potential resilience resource and may be impacted by attachment quality and self-compassion. The present study investigated the relationships between attachment quality, self-compassion, positive mental health, posttraumatic …

Critically And Creatively Engaging With Trauma-Informed Mental Health Research And Treatment Of Lgbtqia+ Communities As Expressive Arts Therapists: A Literature Review, Kelli Lavallee

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Expressive Arts Therapists are uniquely situated as both artists and mental health counselors working in psychological pedagogy rooted in systems of oppression. Given the arts-based approaches to the therapeutic relationship, it can be unethical to offer these approaches without acknowledgement of the ways in which the arts intersect with social justice, and justice is only viable if practitioners critically review the clinical mental health education they are consuming from the institutions they learn in, specifically trauma-informed mental health research assimilation and treatment approaches for Expressive Arts Therapists in training, practice, and education. A review of the literature in this paper …

Development Of A Method For Utilizing Oriental Belly Dance Rhythms To Deepen A Client’S Understanding Of Their Emotions After Experiencing Trauma, And Move Towards Healing, Jenny Nehir Eish-Baltaoglu

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

A workshop was offered to local women in North Eastern Ohio who have experienced trauma and are facing uncomfortable emotions or unpleasant memories as a result. A guided body scan, Focusing Oriented Art directives, and improvisational movement explorations were employed to deepen awareness and understanding of the emotions and memories participants wished to have better control over. Three movement rhythms, which are central to the ancient feminine dance form popularly known as belly dance, were explored through improvisational movement both as a group and independently. These movement rhythms included staccato pops and locks, fluid figure eights, and vibratory shimmies. Participants …

Rhythm And Safety Of Social Engagement: Polyvagal Theory Informed Dance/Movement Therapy, Suzanne Weare

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The polyvagal theory has exerted great influence on the field of clinical therapy since the 1990s by proposing an understanding of the psychological expression seen in clients as a reflection of their physiological state of safety or threat of danger. When affect and psychological states are viewed through the lens of the autonomic nervous system directed by neuroception through bidirectional vagal nerve information, therapeutic presence and somatic therapy practices, such as those utilized in the field of dance/movement therapy, become more conceivable as best practices to treat a variety of psychological conditions to include trauma recovery, autism spectrum disorders, and …

Drawing Out Trauma: Visual Art Therapy For Child Sexual Abuse Victims, Katelynn K. Mckinnon

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a global problem that can have lasting effects cognitively, physiologically, and emotionally for the victim. If the psychological damage from CSA goes untreated, it can lead to unstable conditions within one’s self, and in relationships. When children are affected by sexual abuse, it can be difficult for them to verbalize the traumatic incident. This inability to express can lead to problems in viewing and experiencing the self, and may lead to dissociation. Many aspects of trauma symptoms are difficult for individuals and especially children to express verbally. Visual arts therapy offers an alternative to verbal-based …

An Exploratory Study Of An Arts-Based Measure And Research Model That Examines The Relationship Between Attachment Style, Trauma, And The Use Of Adhesive Materials In Art Therapy, Lisa Furman

Counseling and Psychology Dissertations

Though the use of art materials (pencil, paint, clay) have been widely researched in art therapy, little has been written about the role of adhesives (glue, tape, staples) in the art making process. This exploratory, sequential mixed methods study examined the relationship between attachment style, trauma, and the use of adhesive materials in art therapy and serves as a model for arts-based research which combines the scientific rigor of quantitative inquiry with a rich narrative descriptive of qualitative data. This research was the first step in developing the Arts-based Attachment Style Assessment (ABASA), a newly created art-based diagnostic tool to …

Adult Criminal Offenders Recollection Of Childhood Exposure To Trauma And Its Impact, Taneshia V. Sims

Dissertations

Trauma can occur at any age and occurs as a result of an individual experiencing or witnessing an event that threatens or has the potential to threaten their life, well-being, or psychological state of mind. The type, duration, and effect of the trauma varied per person and experiences were shared that had negative effects that could last for the duration of their lifetime. The identification of specific risk factors may help in the development of specialized treatment options that may provide an individual with a greater chance of learning skills that could teach them how to deal with the effects …

Making Space For The Adolescent Unconscious: A Case-Based Reflection On Practice, Donna M. San Antonio Dr., Nathan Gorelick

Faculty Scholarship

Community-based psychotherapists and school counsellors work to assist adolescents through sharing resources, building awareness of cognition and behavior, and skill development in communicative competence. However, adolescents, eager to delve deeper into the unknown territory of their being, also present us with speech and acts coming from the unconscious, in the form of metaphors, forgetting, behavioral excesses, mishaps, and physical symptoms. As adolescents search for ways to manage childhood trauma, find meaning and purpose in their lives, and clarify an aspirational direction that makes sense to them, they rarely have opportunities to work at a deeper level. In this article, psychoanalytically …

A Meta-Analytic Review Of The Relationship Between Interpersonal Trauma And Committed Romantic Relationships, Geneva Polser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of trauma can be wide reaching and long lasting. In effort to create more comprehensive theories for the effects of trauma, there is a focus on the association between trauma and intimate relationships. For example, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; APA 2013) is associated with deficiencies in romantic relationship satisfaction through an increase in maladaptive communication patterns, relationship instability and intimate partner violence. Furthermore, relationship satisfaction can predict decreases in an individual reliving the trauma, emotional numbness and irritability.

The focus in this study is on interpersonal trauma. This encompasses trauma enacted from one (or more) individual(s) onto another …

Black Minds Matter: A Phenomenological Inquiry Examining The Prevalence Of Racial Trauma Among Black Doctoral Students, Jazmyne Markeeva Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Systemic and institutionalized racism is endemic to life in the United States and contributes to the daily marginalization of Black people. While the negative psychological and physiological effects of racism have been well-documented, the notion that racism can be experienced as a trauma is a newer theory. Racial trauma has been understudied and underappreciated, though it is a theory that clinicians should incorporate when working with Black clients and other clients of color. Exploring the ways in which Black doctoral students attending a predominantly White institution (PWI) have experienced racism is an essential contribution to the existing racial trauma literature. …

Shadow Women: Wives Betrayed By Sex Buyers, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Shadow women are women whose husbands betray them by using prostituted women. Until now, there has been almost no attention paid to the harm to the wives or partners of men who use prostituted women. In this interview, Dr. Ingeborg Kraus talks to the former wife of a sex buyer. She describes the impact of her husband’s betrayal on her and her family. This type of harm needs to be taken seriously and more research done on it.

Police Officer Trauma In Rural Minnesota: A Narrative Study, John J. Littlewolf

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

We call on police officers to respond to all of society’s tragedies. Whether in our metropolitan areas or our rural communities, law enforcement will respond when called upon. The culture of law enforcement is laden with traits of masculinity. These cultural traits can inhibit the processing of traumatic experiences in the individual. While the nature of law enforcement has remained the same, our scientific knowledge regarding trauma has grown. Trauma has a biological impact which can manifest as stress symptomology or PTSD. Our systematic response to trauma in law enforcement has not kept pace with the body of knowledge on …

The Double-Edged Sword Of Diagnosis: Medical Neoliberalism In Rape Crisis Center Counseling, Shannon M. Peters

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The prevalence of sexual violence in the United States is a critical issue and the aftermath of sexual assault can have profound effects on psychological well-being. Rape Crisis Centers play a vital role in supporting sexual violence survivors. The framework through which Rape Crisis Center clinicians understand the experiences of survivors has a substantial impact on the course of counseling, how survivors interpret their own experiences, and survivors’ psychological health. A neoliberal medicalized framework conceptualizes distress post-sexual assault as a disease or disorder and places the responsibility on an individual to ‘fix’ themselves, situating the problem within the person, rather …

Reviewing The Heroic Experience: A Humanistic And Existential Counselling Perspective, Peter Bray, Peter James

Heroism Science

Taking a humanistic and existential counselling stance, this brief review of heroism and the heroic experience begins by discussing the utility and structure of Joseph Campbell’s (1949) monomythic narrative of the hero’s journey, whilst considering the Jungian conceptualisation of the archetype and the collective unconscious. With their shared assumptions about transformation and growth, modern psychology and the therapeutic practice of counselling and psychotherapy are reviewed in terms of their utilisation of the hero-journey as a developmental metaphor for clients, particularly in trauma recovery. It is also suggested that, as a metaphor for transformation, Campbell’s hero-narrative may also have the potential …

Developing A Model Of Sexism-Based Traumatic Stress, Marcus Cherry

Doctoral Dissertations

In contemporary society, women regularly endure sexist microaggressions—messages that convey aversive, demeaning sexist slights toward women. Sexist microaggressions have been associated with anger, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, job stress, increased risky health behavior and trauma. Additionally, sexist microaggressions effects are cumulative and can result in the internalization of sexist beliefs and undermine selfcompassion. Research suggests that these distortions of self-views and self-regard can in part contribute to the development of trauma symptoms. Notably, research has found that prolonged exposure to sexism, in general, has been associated with trauma symptoms. However, the traumatic effects of sexist microaggressions have remained largely theoretical. …

Decreasing Stress Through An Emotion Regulation And Non-Judging Based Intervention With Trauma-Exposed College Students, Megan Cherry

Doctoral Dissertations

Among college students, trauma and PTSD symptomatology are associated with negative consequences (e.g., poor academic performance, stress sensitivity, and negative coping). College is often a stressful time, and those who have experienced trauma, particularly those experiencing PTSD symptoms, are vulnerable to heightened stress sensitivity and negative outcomes. It is imperative to identify interventions that decrease stress for trauma-exposed college students to reduce the deleterious effects of related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether emotion regulation and non-judgment could be enhanced in trauma-exposed college students through a short, mindfulnessbased intervention, and whether the intervention would lead to …

The Effects Of Dance And Movement Therapy With Adolescents Who Have Experienced Trauma, A Literature Review, Katherine Anderson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

With the growing number of trauma-informed practices in the mental health field, it is necessary to look at what best practices should be implemented in treating adolescents who have experienced trauma, specifically from a body-based intervention, such as dance and movement therapy. In this literature review, articles are discussed that encompass the following topics: dance and movement therapy and trauma, general dance interventions for the adolescent population, empowerment models as a way to cope with trauma symptoms, and cultural considerations of treating adolescent females of color. The gaps in current research must be acknowledged, specifically dance and movement therapy interventions …

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 …

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.

Wounded Heroes And Heroic Vocations: Heroism And The Storied Lives Of Therapists, Peter Bray

Heroism Science

For many the world can be a dangerous place. Life is random. Survival is conditional, and individuals inevitably sustain physical and psychological wounds along the way. Challenged by change, human beings seek meaning in the making and remaking of personal myths that acknowledge both failure and the heroic achievement to endure and flourish. Revealing the heroic character of their creators, this impulse to make and share stories also elevates prosaic, day-to-day struggles into inspirational tales that can transcend context and speak into others’ lives. The sharing of stories permits others to purposefully consider their own struggles and can inspires them …

Military Wife Participation In The Family Readiness Group During The Deployment Cycle, Donetta Doris Quinones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A comparative review of statistical summary results of the Survey of Army Families demonstrated that there is a gap in the research on the emotional experiences of civilian military wives who do not participate in the Family Readiness Group (FRG). The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to supplement the limited amount of scholarly research on the emotional experiences of civilian military wives and their lack of participation in the FRG during the deployment cycle. The theoretical framework of this study explored the military family syndrome through application of the double ABCX model in examining this phenomenon. The foundational …

Assessment Of “Meaning Made”: An Empirical Examination Of Factorial Structure And Measure Validity, Andrea M. Despotes

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Meaning-making theory posits that appraisal of a stressful event leads to distress if it is discrepant with one’s sense of “global meaning,” and such distress stimulates meaning-making processes aimed at eliminating the discrepancy. If meaning making leads to new meaning (i.e., “meaning made”), the stress-induced discrepancy is reduced, which generally is expected to result in positive adjustment. This study investigated the factorial structure of the meaning made construct using a sample (N = 372) of Amazon Mechanical Turk workers in the United States having “Masters” status and a minimum approval rating of 95%. Participants reported an average age of about …