Counseling Psychology Commons^™

Therapist Self-Disclosure And Recall Of Therapy Content, Shivani Mansharamani, Steven Robbins

Capstone Showcase

SHIVANI MANSHARAMANI

Therapist Self-Disclosure and Recall of Therapy Content

Research Mentor: Dr. Steven Robbins

Patients’ faulty memory of what they learned in therapy is often associated with poor outcomes. One way to improve therapeutic outcome is to improve patients’ memory of therapy content. Therapist Self-Disclosure (TSD) refers to a therapist’s disclosure of personal information to facilitate the client-therapist relationship. It has been employed as a tool to improve alliance and overall treatment outcome, and has often been used to prime more client disclosure. Past research on a memory support system has been unsuccessful at significantly improving client memory. In this …

A Natural Remedy: Nbccpt Approach In School For Adhd Diagnosed, Kiran Patel

Capstone Showcase

Nature-based child centered play therapy (NBCCPT) is a non-directive approach that can be practiced by the counselor in a natural environment consisting of natural tools. The approach allows a child to lead a therapy session without the counselor’s input. Such an approach can be beneficial for children with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), especially in a school setting. Therapy in school can aid families that cannot afford outpatient therapy as well as allow counselors to track the child’s therapy progress. In school, counselors can utilize an outdoor garden to conduct NBCCPT with the help of five stages, planning, preparing, planting, …

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between Religiosity And Internalized Heterosexism In Same-Sex Attracted Individuals, Lauren Knight

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This correlational study was designed to evaluate the relationship between religiosity and internalized heterosexism among lesbian, bisexual, and gay (LGB) individuals. Religiosity was examined in terms of positive religious coping (PRC), redefining stressors as a positive spiritual opportunity, or negative religious coping (NRC), defining stressors as a negative struggle between the individual and a Higher Power. The researcher hypothesized that, as seen in previous studies, use of negative religious coping methods would correlate with internalized heterosexism, and that use of positive religious coping methods would significantly correlate with lower internalized heterosexism. Data analysis of participants (N=162) illustrated significant Pearson’s product-moment …

Determinants Of Motivation For Mentoring Among Adults Volunteering To Mentor Youth, Miriam Miranda-Díaz, Hyuny Clark-Shim, Thomas E. Keller, Renee Spencer

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most youth mentoring programs rely on volunteers to serve as mentors to youth. This study investigates factors associated with motivations for volunteering in this capacity, specifically altruistic and self-oriented reasons for becoming a mentor. Because adults who volunteer as mentors and youth mentees typically come from different socio-cultural backgrounds, the study examines demographic characteristics associated with these different motivations. In addition, the study addresses the empathy-altruism hypothesis suggesting that individuals with higher levels of empathy exhibit greater altruistic tendencies. For this analysis, the focus is on ethnocultural empathy and its association with volunteer motivations. The sample consisted of 1,000 volunteers …

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.

Play's Role In The Development Of Antisocial Behavior, Cheyenne Vazquez

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper is a literature review which examines the relationship between play and prosocial behavior. More specifically, it examines its inverse, questioning whether a lack of play in early childhood may be correlated to the development of antisocial behavior later in life. Comparing research from an abundance of psychologists, criminologists, and sociologists, this paper answers various questions pertaining to play and prosocial behavior: What happens if play is inhibited in childhood? Would different reasons for play to be inhibited result in different results (i.e. abusive childhoods, desperate situations such as homelessness and poverty, chronic illness, etc.)? Is a lack of …

"No One Can Make That Choice For You": Exploring Power In The Sexual Narratives Of Black Collegians, Candice Hargons, Della V. Mosley, Carolyn Meiller, Jardin Dogan, Jennifer Stuck, Chesmore Montique, Natalie Malone, Joseph Oluokun, Carrie Bohmer, Queen-Ayanna Sullivan, Anyoliny Sanchez, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Power is enacted to oppress others, pursue wellness, or resist oppression. For Black people, societal and relational oppression influences racialized and gendered expressions of power within sexual encounters. The current study analyzed power dynamics within Black university students' first and most recent sexual encounters. Using narrative inquiry within a critical paradigm, five narrative strategies were identified within participants' interviews: 1) Offering a Peek into Powerlessness, 2) Detailing Disempowerment, 3) Privileging Stereotypical Power, 4) Reclaiming Power, and 5) Emphasizing Empowered Sex. Racialized, gendered sexual socialization among Black students is discussed. Counseling considerations to increase sexual wellness for Black people are explored.

Work Hope And Work Volition: Exploring The Influence Of Community College Students’ Rurality And Socioeconomic Status, Jesse A. Wingate

Theses and Dissertations

Data from a sample of community college students (N = 478) in Virginia were used to examine relations among rurality, socioeconomic status, work hope, and work volition. Socioeconomic status, work hope, and work volition were positively associated. However, rurality, measured both as a continuous and categorical variable, was not correlated with work hope or work volition. Additional analyses showed convergence between measures of work hope and work volition confirming construct similarity. Results, limitations, implications, and recommendations for future study are included.

Psychometric Evaluation Of The Calling And Vocation Questionnaire-Revised (Cvq-R) And Calling And Vocation Questionnaire-10 Item (Cvq-10), Caitlin Coyer

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

The notion of calling toward career or life roles is salient for many, and as research on calling progresses, cohesive theories are solidifying. However, measurement challenges from lack of consensus on calling definition, and specifically perceived source of calling, pose a barrier. One of the most common definitions defines calling as being prosocial in nature, involving purposeful work, and arising from an external, transcendent summons. However, research suggests this definition may not adequately capture the experience of calling for people who instead or additionally perceive their calling as arising from an internal source. Consequently, I revised one of the most …

Sexuality Training In Counseling Psychology, Debra Mollen, Theo Burnes, Samantha Lee, Dena M. Abbott

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The United States (U.S.) is characterized by some of the poorest sexual health outcomes in the industrialized world, as indicated by the teen and unplanned pregnancy rates, rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and occurrence of sexual dysfunction. Many people seek psychotherapy for sex-related concerns, yet little is known about the specific education psychologists receive during their training regarding sex. Existing research has largely been conducted in Canada and among clinical psychologists. While studies have revealed that few applied psychology graduate programs offer training in sexuality, very little is known about the specific content areas covered by those programs who …

Addressing Students’ Mental Health Needs In Faculty-Led Study Abroad Courses, Elizabeth Niehaus, Angela Bryan, Matthew J. Nelson, Kaleb Briscoe

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

The increased enrollment of students with mental health needs in U.S. higher education, paired with increasing emphasis on study abroad participation has led campus mental health professionals to consider how their services might extend to serve students with mental health needs who are studying abroad. When it comes to faculty led courses, instructors can play a key role in providing on-the-ground support for students experiencing mental health challenges. The findings from this study provide key insights that college mental health professionals can use to better understand and support these instructors as they serve on the front lines of addressing students’ …

“A Victim/Survivor Needs Agency”: Sexual Assault Survivors’ Perceptions Of University Mandatory Reporting Policies, Kathryn J. Holland, Allison E. Cipriano, T. Zachary Huit

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In institutions of higher education, mandatory reporting policies require certain employees to report students’ sexual assault disclosures to university officials, even if the student does not want to report. It is commonly assumed that these policies will benefit survivors, but there is a paucity of research to substantiate this assumption. The current study examined college sexual assault survivors’ perceptions of mandatory reporting policies, including three specific policy approaches (Universal, Selective, Student-Directed). Interviews were conducted with 40 college sexual assault survivors and thematic analysis was used to analyze these data. Results found that the mandatory reporting policy approaches that survivors prefer, …

Domestic Violence In Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (Cald) Communities: Perceptions, Therapeutic Approaches And Responses Of Frontline Workers In New South Wales (Nsw), Oluwatoyin A. Dedeigbo

Theses

Domestic violence is a universal public health concern (VicHealth, 2011; World Health Organisation [WHO], 2013). Domestic violence cuts across all countries, regardless of economic, social, cultural or religious differences (Ali et al., 2020; VicHealth, 2011; WHO 2013). Men are often responsible for perpetrating domestic violence against women (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2019; Australia Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW], 2018).

The effects of domestic violence on victims can be serious and long-term; affecting their physical and mental wellbeing, and lingering even after the exposure to violence has ended (Mitchell, 2011). That is, the effect on victims’ mental health is …

Perceived Credibility Of Child Sexual Abuse Reporting, Bridget Lashbaugh-Barney

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Understanding factors that could influence attitudes and beliefs regarding child sexual abuse may inform efforts to educate clinicians, legal and medical personnel, and even the public on potential sources of bias and barriers to treatment and other service utilization, particularly in rural communities. The purpose of the current study was to experimentally investigate the impact of child accuser age and gender and participant rural status on ratings of perceived credibility of child sexual abuse allegations described in vignettes. With this study, I aimed to not only clarify and update previous findings on accuser age and gender, but also to expand …

What Does It Mean To Be White: Investigating White Culture, White Privilege And Allyship Through The Lens Of Aspiring White Allies, Brett Kirkpatrick

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

In 2017, prominent counseling psychologists stressed the need to make Whiteness and allyship a focus of future research. In particular, they noted that a comprehensive definition of what it means to be White was missing from the extant literature within counseling psychology. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the present study recruited 10 White individuals, who self-identified as an ally, and asked them to describe how they experienced being White and an ally in their everyday lives. Findings revealed that White culture and White privilege have components that are visible and invisible to White individuals. The more visible component of White …

What Do You And I Have To Lose? Influence Of Relationship Factors On Couple Help Seeking, Douglas Allen Spiker Ii

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Without intervention, most distressed couples will not see relationship quality improvement. Couple therapy has demonstrated efficacy, yet many distressed couples are reluctant to access these services. Despite this well-documented treatment gap, limited research exists on why relationally distressed individuals in relationships do or do not seek couple therapy. An unexplored avenue to increasing couple help seeking is leveraging research and theory on why couples stay together (i.e., relationship-based motives). Interdependence theory and Investment Model of Commitment posit that couples persist in relationships for both self-focused (i.e., commitment, positive and negative relationship quality) and partner-focused relationship reasons (i.e., perceived partner commitment, …

The Influences Of School Counselors' Professional Development On Their Comfort Levels Addressing Mental Health And Substance Use, Megan Lynne Hines

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was an investigation of the comfort levels of school counselors to address PK-12 students’ mental health and substance use concerns. While incidents of bullying and school shootings rise it is unclear how school counselors’ professional development has influenced their level of comfort identifying and addressing PK-12 students’ mental health and substance use concerns. Accordingly, this quantitative descriptive survey examined school counselors’ recognition of mental health and substance use symptoms, frequency of encounter, and whether their developmental stages influenced their comfort levels in addressing students’ mental health and substance use concerns. Rønnestad and Skovholt’s counselor development model was the …

Lived Experiences Of Gay Men And Barriers To Reporting Intimate Partner Violence, Nicola A. Seahorn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gay men encounter barriers when reporting same-sex intimate partner violence (IPV) to officials. This phenomenon is vital to address, given that IPV impacts gay men more than others in the LGBTQ community, with gay men making 31.5% of the IPV reports among that population. The identified gap in the literature showed the lack of research regarding the lived experiences of barriers encountered by gay men in reporting IPV, which was the purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study. Merten’s strain theory served as a framework to answer the study’s two research questions on how barriers in reporting IPV affect gay men’s …

Rural Community Mental Health Agency’S Strategies To Involve Parents In Children’S Psychosocial Treatment, Kerry Ellen Morrell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The increased prevalence of children’s mental illness and the need for community-based treatment with enhanced outcomes is propelling the need to improve children’s mental health treatment to the forefront of children’s mental health policy reform. Including parental involvement in children’s mental health treatment increases the possibility of improved treatment outcomes. However, policy, social, attitudinal, and fiscal factors have affected the strategies used to overcome the barriers to facilitating parental involvement. The purpose of this in-depth qualitative case study was to understand the strategies that one mental health agency used to overcome the barriers to facilitating parental involvement in the psychosocial …

Counselor Preparedness When Working With Survivors Of Human Trafficking, Jenise Wilson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human trafficking is a social epidemic that impacts people globally. Human trafficking survivors are often left with a variety of physical and mental health concerns that need to be addressed by counselors. Due to the complex nature of the trauma, counselors may be unprepared to work with survivors. Using a qualitative transcendental phenomenological approach, this study looked at counselors’ perceived preparedness to work with human trafficking survivors by asking what counselors’ experience had been when working with survivors, and what information they would need to know to feel better equipped to work with such survivors. Seven licensed counselors who worked …

Rural Counselors’ Use Of Technology To Address Professional Isolation, Jacqueline Dale Grantland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractRural counselors experience high levels of stress and burnout because of increased job demands, a lack of professional resources, and professional isolation in rural community practice. Technology can be a useful tool for counselors to maintain connectivity and access resources not readily available. However, a gap in the literature exists on rural counselors’ experience with technology to remediate professional isolation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological framework with an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was to explore licensed professional counselors’ experiences with using technology to address professional isolation in rural community practice. The inclusion criteria included the counselors having 2 years …

Service Members With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Who Face Employment Challenges Postdeployment, Donna Scurlark Sargent

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe Iraq War was the longest war in the history of the United States, involving over 2 million service members. Service members who served in Iraq or Afghanistan experienced a high rate of mental health disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and substance abuse as they returned from deployment. Research is lacking in regard to how Army reservists and National Guardsmen function at home, school, work, and in the community upon their return from service. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of service members with PTSD who experienced challenges with work …

Double Jeopardy: African American Women And The Counselor Education And Supervision Dissertation, Beverly Lee Townsend

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Half of all doctoral students do not graduate, with attrition occurring because of the dissertation process. Outcomes for women and minorities are even worse. This study is an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the lived experiences of African American women working on their dissertation for a counselor education and supervision (CES) doctoral program. This study was guided by Flynn et al.’s emergent theory of the initiation, management, and completion of the dissertation, which highlights 6 themes important to successful completion of the dissertation in CES programs. Though the theory was originally applied to a largely White and Midwestern sample, this study …

Legal Status Effects On Parent-Child Relationships And Parent Well-Being, Isis Garcia-Rodriguez, Tamara Ribas-Camargo, Ronald L. Blackwell, Amy K. Marks

Graduate Research Posters

Despite heightened levels of parenting stress and psychological distress experienced by many immigrant-origin families in the United States, little is known about the resiliency of Latinx families, particularly in today’s political climate. This research presents the results of a pilot study examining the effects of legal stressors on parent-child relationships and parent well-being in Latinx immigrant families. Taken from the Latinx Immigrant Family Stories and Strengths project, this mixed-methods study was informed by the integrative risk and resilience model for understanding the adaptation of immigrant-origin children and youth (Suarez-Orozco, Motti- Stefanidi, Marks, & Katsiaficas, 2018). The pilot included a sample …

Predicting Caregiver Burden Over The First 4 Months After Tbi In Latin America: A Multi-Site, Multi-Country Study, Mickeal Pugh Jr., Paul B. Perrin, Yaneth Rodriguez, Silvia Olivera, Maria Cristina Quijano, Juan Carlos Arango-Lasprilla

Graduate Research Posters

Disparities in TBI exist between developed and developing regions, and this neurological condition typically requires caregivers to provide aid and functional support for those with TBI (Hyder, Wunderlich, Puvanachandra, Gururaj, & Kobusingye, 2007). Latin America, among these global regions, has elevated risks of both sustaining TBI and poorer post-TBI functioning (Bonow et al., 2018). Previous literature has shown the poor cognitive, mental health, and social functional outcomes following the injury (Deloche, Dellatolas, & Christensen, 2000), but research has minimally explored both longitudinal trends of these outcomes, and if functional outcomes of the injury differentially predict caregiver burden. The aim of …

The Associations Between Sexual Victimization And Health Outcomes Among Lgbqa College Students: Examining The Moderating Role Of Social Support, Eryn Delaney, Chelsea Derlan Williams, Della V. Mosley, Sage E. Hawn, Danielle M. Dick, Phd

Graduate Research Posters

Sexual victimization is a prevailing public health concern that differentially impacts sexual minority populations (i.e., people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, or queer) compared with their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts (McCauley et al., 2018). Studies have shown that sexual violence is associated with depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, and alcohol use (Aosved et al., 2011; Bedard-Gilligan et al, 2011; Carey et al., 2018) among heterosexual college students. However, we know less about the potential effects of sexual victimization on health outcomes among sexual minority college students. Understanding these relations are especially important because sexual minority college students …

To Be (A Doctor) Or Not To Be – An Exploration Of The Abd Experience Of Female Minority Doctoral Students In Cacrep-Accredited Counselor Education Programs, Tracey Kim Snow

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This is a dissertation that focuses on the lived experiences of culturally diverse female counselor education candidates on their dissertation experience. Chapter 1 addressed the background of the issue and the need for such a study. It also addresses the research questions that drove the study. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive literature review of the main topics. Literature and research on six areas form this study’s conceptual framework: (a) “All but Dissertation” (ABD) status, (b) persistence, (c) the historical context of social justice within counselor education and supervision, (d) women’s development, (e) female doctoral students, and (f) culturally diverse doctoral …

Job Satisfaction As A Function Of The Five Factor Model Of Personality In The Community Mental Health Center Environment Of Northern Indiana, Robert Ryan

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality type indicators and job satisfaction in the community mental health setting. The focus of this study was to gain a better understanding of whether a not-for-profit can benefit from the use of a brief personality instrument to recruit and retain individuals with the highest probability of job satisfaction. This research complements previous research which has revealed a positive correlation between certain Big Five personality traits and job satisfaction in several sectors. The research population for this study consisted of community mental health employees working …

Morally Injurious Experiences Of Combat Exposed Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan: Moderating Effects Of Self-Forgiveness On Feelings Of Shame And Guilt, Timothy Swiger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Moral injury is a construct developed to explain a unique symptom profile of individuals who may have perpetrated, witnessed, or learned about events that transgress their held moral beliefs. Among combat exposed Veterans, particular attention has been focused on the ambiguous nature of recent military conflicts and the increased moral conflicts associated with more recent, unconventional combat tactics and strategies. This study examined the relationship between moral injury and feelings of shame and guilt among a large sample (n=198) of Veterans who deployed in support of conflicts in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Additionally, this study sought to examine self-forgiveness …

Barriers And Facilitators Of Seeking Psychological Help For Muslims In The United States, Sarah R. B. Milam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Due to increased social, cultural, and political struggles for Muslims in the United States (MUS), affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate mental health care is important for these individuals (Aloud & Rathur, 2009). MUS are an underrepresented group that use mental health services at low rates (Ciftci, Jones, & Corrigan, 2013; Khan, 2006). MUS, especially those with mental health concerns, hold a number of stigmatized identities, often including their race and ethnicity, religion, and mental health status that can result in discrimination (Ciftci et al., 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to self-stigma for seeking psychological …