Counseling Psychology Commons^™

A Humanistic/Existential Approach To A Universal Symbol, Linda Sweeney

Theses

This paper explores the therapeutic potential of the universal heart symbol in the context of humanistic–existential art therapy. The author situates the work within a tradition that emphasizes creativity, spirituality, and the search for meaning, presenting the heart as a transcultural and archetypal image capable of guiding clients toward self-discovery. Unlike symptom-focused or diagnostic approaches, this perspective underscores the transformative role of symbols and imagery in facilitating psychological growth and healing.

The heart, as both biological organ and cultural metaphor, is shown to occupy a central place in human imagination and artistic expression. Across history and across cultures, it has …

External Versus Internal Locus Of Control In Longterm Drug Abusers, Heidi Knipe

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Administration Documents

The WKU Student Honors Research Bulletin is dedicated to scholarly involvement and student research. These papers are representative of work done by students from throughout the university.

• Condis, Rebecca. Reconstituted Families: Counseling Concepts and Application
• Miller, Brad. Does Congress Effectively Regulate the Ethics of its Members?
• Grizzle, Dennis. Electron Microscopy of Polytrichum Moss Spores
• Collins, Lynell. Transformational Effects on Cytoskeleton and Cell-Surface Antigens
• Hamilton, Joy. A Summary of Flaws in Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd
• Martin, Lanna. Sadie F. Price: Artist, Botanist, Author and Naturalist
• Wood, Irene. The Imagery of Smoke, Fire and Ash: A Study of the …

Wipe Out Depression, Milton R. Cudney

All Books and Monographs by WMU Authors

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Religious Beliefs On Preferences Among Four Types Of Christian Counseling, Suzanne Ruth Gascoyne

Theses and Dissertations

Forty-five participants from Protestant denominations completed surveys designed to investigate the effects of religious beliefs on preferences among four types of Christian counseling. The proponents of the counseling theories were Clyde M. Narramore, Jay E. Adams, Lawrence J. Crabb, and Andre Bustanoby. Participants read a case history of a fictitious client, and four short treatment plans which represented each Christian counselor's approach. Then, they completed questionnaires designed to assess their preferences for the counseling approaches, as well as completing other measures, including a religious fundamentalism scale, the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS), and the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS). It was found …

An Investigation Of Identity And Self-Esteem In Traditional Married Women During Their Middle Years, And The Impact Of The Life Planning Seminar, Susan E. Ellett

Theses and Dissertations

There is contradictory evidence as to whether the middle years are problematic for women. The research indicates that the middle years, particularly the empty nest period, are traumatic for some women, but for others a time of relief. More recent research suggests that for women who do find the middle years problematic, certain types of group experiences may be helpful. The purpose of this study was to investigate this time of life for a specific population of women, traditional married women who have devoted their time primarily to raising a family. This study examined identity and self-esteem in these women …

Personal Responsibility In The Medical Treatment Of Cancer: The Role Of Counseling And Patient Understanding Of The Dynamics Of Disease, Evelyn Waterman

Theses

This thesis explores the role of personal responsibility, counseling, and holistic understanding in the medical treatment of cancer. Moving beyond the traditional medical model that focuses solely on physical symptoms and treatment modalities, the study emphasizes the psychosomatic dimensions of cancer—highlighting the interconnections between mind, body, spirit, and emotions in disease development and healing.

Using a personal case study methodology, the author recounts her own experience with a cancer diagnosis, illustrating how counseling became a transformative tool in confronting psychological and relational stressors that contributed to her physical symptoms. Through this journey, she argues for a redefinition of the "doctor-patient …

Adjustment To Psycho-Social Stress, John William Carnes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between adjustment to life-event stressors and selected psycho-social variables. Recent research has consistently identified an etiological link between stressful life-events and physical and/or emotional disorders. It has often been noted, however, that exposure to seemingly identical stressors results in varying levels of adjustment among individuals. Lazarus (1966, 1967, 1971, 1974) has proposed that variations in stress responses are attributable to differences relative to the implicated individual's appraised threat from the stressor. Based on this conceptualization, adjustment to stressful life-events was selected as the dependent variable for the study. Five independent …

The Effectiveness Of Rational Behavior Therapy In Reducing Anger Of Inmates, Dennis Jerome Meers

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relative effectiveness of Rational Behavior Therapy and a waiting-list control condition for reducing the frequencies and intensities of anger of inmates. The sample consisted of 46 adult male inmates who attained elevated psychopathic deviate scale scores on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and who expressed a desire to join an anger treatment group. The subjects in the treatment condition were exposed to fifteen group sessions of Rational Behavior Therapy, over an eightweek period. The subjects in the control condition experienced a no-treatment waiting-period. All subjects responded to pretest and posttest measures on the Novaco Anger Scale …

The Relationship Of A Counselor-Guided Meditation To Counselor Presence As Defined In Psychosynthesis, David Bradley Green

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate the relationship, in a counseling session, of an initial guided meditation by a counselor to presence, a core condition of counseling and psychotherapy as defined in psychosynthesis. Presence consists of two variables--the quality of the therapeutic relationship and the ability of the counselor or therapist to disidentify from his or her personality and become identified as a 11 Self. 11 The quality of the therapeutic relationship was measured by the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory. Counselor disidentification-"Self"identification was assessed by the number of distracting thoughts, feelings, and body sensations experienced by the counselor during the counseling …

The Measurement Of Anger In Children: A Multi-Modal Approach, Edward Shirrell Eastman Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to utilize self-report, peer-report and teacher-report techniques in measuring (reporting) anger in children; and to determine the intercorrelation between these three approaches in order to determine their relationship to one another and in turn, to assess these reporting tools. Subjects were 38 male and female emotionally disturbed children from the Virginia Treatment Center for Children, a short-term residential psychiatric facility in Richmond, Virginia. There were 28 boys and 10 girls, with a mean age of approximately 11 years.

Each student was given the Children's Inventory of Anger (CIA) and the Peer-Report of Anger (PR). …

The Psychodynamics And Process Of A Small Group, Priscilla G. Shoemaker

Theses

This study, conducted by Priscilla J. Shoemaker in partial fulfillment of a Bachelor of Arts degree at The Lindenwood Colleges in 1979, explores the psychodynamics and processes within a small group setting focused on improving communication skills. The research group, composed of six women aged between 30 and 55, engaged in weekly sessions held in the author's home. Under the guidance of faculty advisor Dr. H.D. Johns, the sessions incorporated principles from Transactional Analysis (TA) and Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) to foster better interpersonal understanding and self-awareness.

Shoemaker structured the sessions using a curriculum developed from her academic studies and …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Maternal Employment History And A Woman's Sex Role Orientation And Career Development, Susan Elizabeth Ellett

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the research reviewed suggests that there is some relationship between a woman's mother's employment history, a woman's sex role orientation, and a woman's commitment to a career. In this study, the sex role orientation, career commitment, and career decision making of college women were examined in relation to length of maternal employment history. It was found that the longer a mother worked during the daughter's lifetime, the greater was the daughter's own desire to work. The length of maternal employment history was not found to significantly influence the daughter's sex role orientation or career decision making process. It …

Closet Woman: A Study Of Societal Changes, The Infantalized Woman And The Ways In Which Psychotherapy Can Effect Change, Alice Beck Simmons

Theses

This 1978 Master’s thesis by Alice Beck Simmons investigates the psychological phenomenon of the "infantilized woman" within the context of middle-class American society. The study posits that traditional cultural attitudes toward marriage, family, and sexuality systematically repress female potential, resulting in women who mature physically but remain emotionally dependent and child-like. The author defines "infantilization" as a condition characterized by low self-esteem, a lack of personal identity, and an inability to function or make decisions without relying on another person.

The paper traces the origins of this condition through developmental stages, arguing that parental reinforcement of dependency and the repression …

A Comparison Of Three Treatments For The Outpatient Alcoholic, Michael J. Telch

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The abuse of alcohol is a complex behavior pattern exhibited by approximately nine million people in this country (Tarter & Sugarman, 1976) and has become a field of interest to science, industry, and the helping professions.

Estimates of spontaneous recovery among alcoholics vary drastically. In 1971 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism began sponsorship of a comprehensive alcoholism treatment program located in 45 community centers throughout the nation. Using a multiple criterion measure of improvement, their report (Rand Corporation, 1976) estimated the rate of spontaneous improvement for alcoholics to be as high as 53%. In reviewing the rates …

The Prediction Of Success-Failure And Terminating-Remaining In The Bibliotherapy Treatment Of Obesity, David John Mckay

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

136 obese adults, 119 females and 17 males, all at least 15% over their ideal weight, participated in a ten week self-administered bibliotherapy treatment of obesity. The study examined the relationship between socio-economic status, locus of control, field dependence and their interaction terms and success-failure and terminating-remaining in a totally self-administered behavioural self-help treatment. A multiple regression data analytic strategy was used for data analysis. Significant relationships were found between locus of control and total number of lessons completed and success-failure. Also, significant relationships were found between participants’ age and locus of control and terminating-remaining. The marginal results of the …

Older Marrieds: Case Studies Of Six Traditional Marriages, Anne S. Weil

Theses

This thesis, Older Marriages: Case Studies of Six Traditional Marriages by Anne S. Weil (1977), explores the dynamics and developmental processes of long-term, traditional heterosexual marriages through a qualitative psychological lens. Using case study methodology, the author investigates six couples who have each been married for at least 20 years, aiming to understand how they have sustained their relationships over time.

The study is grounded in developmental and systems theory, proposing that marriages evolve through a series of life-cycle crises that require adaptation and restructuring by the couple. Each case study was developed from in-depth, taped interviews and supported by …

Least Biased Psychological Assessment Of Non-Verbal Severle Physically Handicapped Persons, Gloria Maitlen Kemper

Graduate Thesis Collection

The general social problem which this study addresses is the inaccessibility of accurate psychological assessment to some expressively communicatively handicapped members of our society.

The Ability To Love As A Therapist-Offered Condition For Effective Therapeutic Encounter, Allan David Edson

Graduate Theses

This report begins with a historical reconstruction of the concept of therapist effectiveness in psychotherapy.

The ultimate objective is to further the work of Truax, Carkhuff, Bergin, et. al., by proposing that there is a still more basic comprehensive therapist-offered condition than accurate empathy, non-possessive warmth and genuineness. The thesis, as developed in this report, demonstrates that the aforementioned three conditions are merely constituents of the therapist's "ability to love."

Explained within, are the proposed reasons "why" the therapist's "ability to love" effects constructive personality change and the implications of the thesis for development of new models of psychotherapeutic technique, …

Investigation Of The Responsive And Initiative Dimensions In The Client-Therapist Relationship In Gestalt And Behavior Therapy, Lynda M. Pierce

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research findings to the present have indicated the responsive and initiative dimensions to be important in the therapeutic process in influencing positive outcome; yet, investigators of current therapeutic approaches have not discussed how these dimensions might be integrated into their particular orientation. Therefore, a review of the literature investigating emphasis on the responsive and initiative dimensions in the major theoretical approaches seems warranted. This procedure involves superimposing Carkhuff’s theoretical model, developed for facilitation of therapeutic outcome, upon certain of the therapeutic approaches.

The Development And Validation Of Self-Actualizing Education: A Primer For Affective Education, Carolyn G. Barcus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study describes the development and evaluation of a communications skills course for elementary teacher inservice training. The development and evaluation strategy centered on a research and development (R & D) process. The major steps of the R & D process were: (1) product selection, (2) literature review, (3) prototype planning, (4) development of preliminary prototype, (5) expert appraisal and product revision, (6) main fieldtest, (7) product revision, and (8) operational fieldtest.

The course was composed of 13 communication skills with 20 behavioral objectives and evaluations. Experiences in self-awareness and practical application of the skills presented were stressed.

The purpose …

Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors, Milton R. Cudney

All Books and Monographs by WMU Authors

• Chapter 1. The Creation of Self-Defeating Behavior Patterns
• Chapter 2. Introduction to the SDB Theory
• Chapter 3. Fears--Source of Energy for SDB Patterns
• Chapter 4. Choices Used to Implement SDB Patterns
• Chapter 5. Naming and Following the Integrated Self
• Chapter 6. Techniques
• Chapter 7. Disowning .
• Chapter 8. Prices--Source of Energy to Quit Using SDB Patterns .
• Chapter 9. Using Mental Pictures to Probe Within
• Chapter 10. Consciously Traveling the Non-SDB Life Road

Self-Defeating Characters, Milton R. Cudney

All Books and Monographs by WMU Authors

For some time I have been aware of a need to have additional ways of helping people open up to see what they do to defeat themselves. The need is to help people see, and honestly face, what they do to bring about defeating results in their lives. When people can see what they do to defeat themselves, they are in a better position to make non-defeating choices. The various characters in this book have been created by me to serve as vehicles to fulfill this need. The characters themselves do not represent real individual people, but the information contained …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Individual Counseling And Group Process Techniques Upon The Behavior Of Children In A Juvenile Detention Facility, Robert Arthur Struble

Dissertations and Theses

A three month project was designed to study the effects of individual counseling combined with group process techniques upon the behavior of children in a short term detentional facility. The length of stay was also a primary variable. In the study of this behavior.

The behavior of 282 males, 14 to 17 years of age, whom had been to the juvenile detention facility in Portland, Oregon, was analyzed via three separate instruments. The Behavior Activity Inventory was utilized to obtain daily observations concerning four separate areas of interest. An attitudinal rating scale was devised to obtain the staff’s assessment as …

The Use Of The Ohlsen Model Of Group Counseling With Secondary School Students Identified As Being Disruptive To The Educational Process, Jesse Barry Deesch

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of group sounseling with secondary school students identified as being disruptive to the educational process.

An Examination Of Navaho Witchcraft And Its Influence On The Thoughts And Actions Of The Navaho People, Tarrel R. Palmer

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In this paper, I will strive to bring together, both from literature and from my own experiences, pertinent information concerning Navaho witchcraft for the purpose of (1) presenting this information to the education staff at Wingate High School in the form of in-service training and (2) making this same information available to other Navaho high schools. It is hoped that this will help staff members to better understand the beliefs, fears, and emotional turmoils of the students with whom they are working and, thereby, be able to deal with them in a more knowledgeable and understanding manner.

The information presented …

Ideal And Real Self Concept Disparity: A Temporal/Educational Comparison, Maurice Marvin Sanders

All Master's Theses

This paper presents a comparison concerning the effects of age and formal education upon the self-esteem or self-value of individuals. Four groups -- Freshman, Seniors, and their non-college peers -- described their ideal and real selves, using the modified California Q-Sort. Statistical comparison of absolute differences by group showed age to be significant, education not significant, and the interaction very significant. Freshman were significantly the lowest in self-esteem.

Recommendations included the application of these findings concerning Freshman and suggestions for additional research.

Learning Of Facilitative Interpersonal Skills In Para-Professional Training, H. A. Suffron

All Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of Helping skills: a basic training program in the acquisition of facilitative interpersonal skills. A Solomon Four Group Design was used with 34 upper division college students as Ss. Analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons revealed significant effects on measures of interpersonal skills. Analysis of a questionnaire revealed positive outcomes and suggested improvements for the program. It was concluded that the program merits further research and application.

Locus Of Control And Achievement Incentive In A Risk Taking Situation, Frederick Gordon Carr

All Master's Theses

High and low achievement incentive conditions on the risk taking behavior of subjects identified on the Rotter Internal-External Control Scale as having orientations of internal or external control were examined.

The study involved tossing balls at a target in which subjects chose throwing distances. Successes from greater distances were worth more points. A five dollar incentive was offered to half the subjects.

Males took higher risks than females but no other significant differences were found.

Therapeutic Conditions And Helpee Outcomes As Perceived By Helpees Of Trainee And Lay Helping Relationships, Penelope Holmes

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences that occur between lay and trainee helpers as perceived by their helpees. A significant positive relationship between helpee perception of outcome and therapeutic conditions was hypothesized. A questionnaire was administered to 100 individuals: half had received help from lay persons and half were clients of counseling trainees. A significant interaction between outcome and conditions occurred and six comparisons between lay and trainees were significant. Although there was a trend in the expected direction, the hypothesis was not supported.