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2017

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Articles 1 - 30 of 48

Full-Text Articles in Theory and Philosophy

Stasi Brainwashing In The Gdr 1957 - 1990, Jacob H. Solbrig, Jacob Hagen Solbrig Dec 2017

Stasi Brainwashing In The Gdr 1957 - 1990, Jacob H. Solbrig, Jacob Hagen Solbrig

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the methods used by the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), more commonly known as the Stasi, or East German secret police, for extraction of information from citizens of the German Democratic Republic for the purpose of espionage and covert operations inside East Germany, as it pertains to the deliberate brainwashing of East German citizens. As one of the most efficient intelligence agencies to ever exist, the Stasi’s main purpose was to monitor the population, gather intelligence, and collect or turn informants. They used brainwashing techniques to control the people of the GDR, keeping the populace paralyzed with fear …

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The Horse's Ass: A Survey Of Comediology, William M. Fisk Dec 2017

The Horse's Ass: A Survey Of Comediology, William M. Fisk

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

What is comedy? Can someone learn to be funny? Are there rules or guidelines for the production of laughter, the universal language? This paper, which outlines an investigation of successful comedians and the production of a short film, determines to aggregate as many of the relevant prerequisites of inducing giggles as possible, especially as they relate to the audiovisual medium of cinema.

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Mentalization In Counseling Processes, Matthew J. Swartzentruber Dec 2017

Mentalization In Counseling Processes, Matthew J. Swartzentruber

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The purpose of this literature review is to demonstrate the profound influences and numerous applications the concept of mentalization has within counseling processes. The skill of mentalizing extends across theoretical orientations within existing counseling frameworks and has been suggested to be a core factor within the counseling process (Allen, Fonagy, & Bateman, 2008). Mentalizing capacities have been linked to positive therapeutic alliances (Markowitz & Milrod, 2011), positive client outcomes (Bernbach, 2002; Bouchard et al., 2008; Fonagy & Target, 1996; Karlsson & Kermott, 2006; Levy et. al., 2006; Meehan, Levy, Reynoso, Hill, & Clarkin, 2009), and counselor effectiveness (Cologon, 2013); and …

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Increasing Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists Clinical Self-Efficacy Using Peer Mentoring, Megan Christine Bass Dec 2017

Increasing Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists Clinical Self-Efficacy Using Peer Mentoring, Megan Christine Bass

Doctoral Projects

The purpose of this project is to determine if clinical self-efficacy is increased in SRNAs at The University of Southern Mississippi after participation in the peer mentoring program. The project was a one-group pre and posttest design in a sample of SRNAs who received peer mentoring. To evaluate the students’ perceived clinical self-efficacy before and after the peer mentoring educational intervention, the Rowbotham and Schmitz Student Self-Efficacy scale (SSE) (2013) was adapted and administered to second-year SRNAs (N=17). Clinical performance, skill and knowledge development, social interaction with clinical faculty, and coping with clinical stress are the four areas evaluated by …

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Is Agent-Neutral Deontology Possible?, Matthew Hammerton Dec 2017

Is Agent-Neutral Deontology Possible?, Matthew Hammerton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It is commonly held that all deontological moral theories are agent-relative in the sense that they give each agent a special concern that she does not perform acts of a certain type rather than a general concern with the actions of all agents. Recently, Tom Dougherty has challenged this orthodoxy by arguing that agent-neutral deontology is possible. In this article I counter Dougherty's arguments and show that agent-neutral deontology is not possible.

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Nonlinear Dynamical Systems And Humanistic Psychology, David Pincus, Adam W. Kiefer, Jessica I. Beyer Nov 2017

Nonlinear Dynamical Systems And Humanistic Psychology, David Pincus, Adam W. Kiefer, Jessica I. Beyer

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The recent debunking by Brown, Sokal, and Friedman of some high-profile results applying chaos theory to positive psychology creates the opportunity to shed light on the quality work that has been done by others in this area. Too many humanists may be unaware of the large volume of legitimate work that exists in the literature apart from Fredrickson and Losada’s article. Often, such legitimate lines of research are ignored, not for lack of scientific merit, but because of artificial guild boundaries and similar silos that separate groups of scientists—even when working in similar areas. It would be unfortunate to have …

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Why People Play Table-Top Role-Playing Games: A Grounded Theory Of Becoming As Motivation, Darrin F. Coe Nov 2017

Why People Play Table-Top Role-Playing Games: A Grounded Theory Of Becoming As Motivation, Darrin F. Coe

The Qualitative Report

There is a paucity of research related to the motivation of people who play table-top role-playing games (TRPGs). Two questions drove this research: (1) What motivates people to play TRPGs and (2) Can a single supra-motivator be developed which envelopes a larger theory of why people participate in TRPGs? Grounded Theory methodology was used to investigate why people initiate and continue to participate in table-top role-playing games. Fourteen people who attended a 4-year college who played TRPGs and two people who did not play were interviewed regarding their participation in role-playing games. Open codes, emergent categories, conceptual categories, and a …

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Attaining The Peak: Three Factors That Inhibit Performance, Marcus Marsden Nov 2017

Attaining The Peak: Three Factors That Inhibit Performance, Marcus Marsden

Asian Management Insights

The willingness of individuals and teams to experience the ‘discomfort of adaptation’, as opposed to the ‘comfort of learning’, is the crucial meta-factor in the drive to increase performance. Too much time and effort is spent on strategy and knowledge. This is not to say that strategy and knowledge are not important. However, the focus on looking ‘outside’ rather than ‘inside’ for performance solutions, while it may be more comfortable for everyone concerned, does not quite cut it. As Grashow and Heifetz state in The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, “The most common error organisations make is to try and solve …

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Syntax And Semantics Of Perceptual Representation, James K. Quilty-Dunn Sep 2017

Syntax And Semantics Of Perceptual Representation, James K. Quilty-Dunn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a defense of perceptual pluralism, the thesis that perceptual systems deliver multiple types of representations including those used in thought. In particular, it argues that perceptual systems output iconic (i.e., image-like, analog) representations as well as discursive (i.e., language-like, digital) states. A central thesis is that perceptual representations of objects are propositional and composed of concepts. It also develops a compositional syntax of iconic representation called the coordination model, according to which icons are sets of primitive parts, each of which determines values along multiple analog feature dimensions simultaneously. The dissertation supports the conclusion that perceptual …

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The Golden Age Of Phenomenology At The New School For Social Research, 1954–1973, Lester Embree, Michael D. Barber Sep 2017

The Golden Age Of Phenomenology At The New School For Social Research, 1954–1973, Lester Embree, Michael D. Barber

Ohio University Press Open Access Books

This collection focuses on the introduction of phenomenology to the United States by the community of scholars who taught and studied at the New School for Social Research from 1954 through 1973. During those years, Dorion Cairns, Alfred Schutz, and Aron Gurwitsch—all former students of Edmund Husserl—came together in the department of philosophy to establish the first locus of phenomenology scholarship in the country. This founding trio was soon joined by three other prominent scholars in the field: Werner Marx, Thomas M. Seebohm, and J. N. Mohanty. The Husserlian phenomenology that they brought to the New School has subsequently spread …

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Zombie Perennialism: An Intelligent Design For Psychology? A Further Response To Taylor's Soft Perennialism, Glenn Hartelius Sep 2017

Zombie Perennialism: An Intelligent Design For Psychology? A Further Response To Taylor's Soft Perennialism, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In a recent paper Taylor has suggested that perennialist models are or should be resurgent within transpersonal psychology. However, perennialist models such as those of Wilber and Taylor are metaphysical philosophies of spirituality typical of New Age religions; while such systems may be studied by a psychology that considers human spirituality, they are not and should not be proffered as psychology. Claims that Taylor's soft perennialism are partly evidence based are compared with invalid claims that the narrative of Noah's flood or the Christian-based idea of intelligent design are partly evidence based. Critiques of Wilber's integral perennialism and Taylor's soft …

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Circular Reasoning Is Not The Uroboros: Rejecting Perennialism As A Psychological Theory, Glenn Hartelius Sep 2017

Circular Reasoning Is Not The Uroboros: Rejecting Perennialism As A Psychological Theory, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Efforts to present valid evidence for perennialist models do not withstand critical scrutiny. One strategy common to most versions of perennialism points to perceived patterns in reports of spiritual experiences, whether from traditional, clinical, or phenomenological accounts as evidence for such an approach; the shortcoming is that these same patterns are the basis for perennialist premises. Offering one’s premises as evidence for their conclusions is circular reasoning, and does not constitute valid support for an idea. Pointing to similarities between reports of spiritual or other transformative experiences is what inspires perennialist models, but is not evidence for their validity. Careful …

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Moving Beyond Materialism: Can Transpersonal Psychology Contribute To Cultural Transformation?, Steve Taylor Sep 2017

Moving Beyond Materialism: Can Transpersonal Psychology Contribute To Cultural Transformation?, Steve Taylor

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The issue of whether it is possible to separate science and metaphysics is discussed, with reference to William James and the writings of quantum physicists. The metaphysical framework of scientific materialism is analysed and some of its key assumptions are identified. It is suggested that these assumptions are becoming increasingly untenable, as is evident by the advocacy of post-materialist science by some contemporary scientists. The main appeal of transpersonal psychology to students and practitioners is arguably its lack of allegiance to a materialist metaphysics. Rather than allying itself to the metaphysical paradigm of naturalistic science or attempting to bracket out …

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The Return Of Perennial Perspectives? Why Transpersonal Psychology Should Remain Open To Essentialism, Steve Taylor Sep 2017

The Return Of Perennial Perspectives? Why Transpersonal Psychology Should Remain Open To Essentialism, Steve Taylor

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In reply to Hartelius’s (2016) response to my paper “From Philosophy to Phenomenology: The Argument for a ‘Soft’ Perennialism” (Taylor, 2016a), I provide arguments in support of my model from contemporary scholars of mysticism, who advocate a move from a philosophically-based perennialism to a phenomenologically-based essentialism. This discussion illustrates that perennialist perspectives are far from outmoded. I discuss the metaphysical aspects of my model, suggesting that there is no reason why transpersonal psychology should not address metaphysical issues, as long as they are secondary to phenomenological issues, and as long as they are based on evidence rather than wholly speculative. …

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Spiritual Emergency: The Understanding And Treatment Of Transpersonal Crises, Christina Grof, Stanislav Grof Sep 2017

Spiritual Emergency: The Understanding And Treatment Of Transpersonal Crises, Christina Grof, Stanislav Grof

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

There exists increasing evidence that many individuals experiencing episodes of nonordinary states of consciousness accompanied by various emotional, perceptual, and psychosomatic manifestations are undergoing an evolutionary crisis rather than suffering from a mental disease (Grof, 1985). The recognition of this fact has important practical and theoretical consequences. If properly understood and treated as difficult stages in a natural developmental process, these experiences—spiritual emergencies or transpersonal crises—can result in emotional and psychosomatic healing, creative problem-solving, personality transformation, and consciousness evolution. is fact is reflected in the term “spiritual emergency,” which suggests a crisis, but also suggests the potential for rising to …

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Bridging Transpersonal Ecosophical Concerns With The Hero’S Journey And Superheroes Through Comicbook Lore: Implications For Personal And Cultural Transformation, Mark A. Schroll, Claire Polansky Sep 2017

Bridging Transpersonal Ecosophical Concerns With The Hero’S Journey And Superheroes Through Comicbook Lore: Implications For Personal And Cultural Transformation, Mark A. Schroll, Claire Polansky

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper explores how mythical figures and comicbook superheroes can 1) inspire personal growth, social and planetary change, and 2) explicate aspects of the deep ecology movement and transpersonal ecosophy that invite further academic inquiry while at the same time 3) speak to concerns that ignite the interests of popular culture and personal mythology. Likewise the ecopsychological significance of modern fictional characters in comicbooks, graphic novels, and films will be examined. It is divided into two parts. Part 1 provides a theoretical examination of how definitions of the terms myth and hero and hero’s journey are framed, and their implications …

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Keeping The Account Open: On Metaphysical Mistrust In Transpersonal Psychology (A Response To Hartelius, 2017), Steve Taylor Sep 2017

Keeping The Account Open: On Metaphysical Mistrust In Transpersonal Psychology (A Response To Hartelius, 2017), Steve Taylor

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

In response to Hartelius (2017), I suggest that the evidence for perennialism or essentialism can be tested, and is publicly accessible, through engagement with the spiritual practices that have given rise to cross-cultural mystical experiences with common characteristics. This suggests that essentialism could be included in transpersonal psychology (and psychology in general). I suggest that there is no reason why transpersonal psychology should exclude metaphysical claims, as long as they are inferred or implied by research and evidence, explicitly stated and viewed as secondary. It is impossible to avoid metaphysics, and it is important for transpersonal psychologists (and all psychologists …

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Taylor’S Soft Perennialism: Psychology Or New Age Spiritual Vision?, Glenn Hartelius Sep 2017

Taylor’S Soft Perennialism: Psychology Or New Age Spiritual Vision?, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Taylor has responded to critiques of his soft perennialism model in relationship to what he has called awakening experiences. The fact that some individuals have this type of experience away from the context of religion or spirituality, according to soft perennialism, is explained by a sort of landscape of experience representing the diverse ways in which one may engage with and experience this essential beingness. While this inspiring vision could possibly be true, just as numerous other speculations about ultimate reality might be true; however, the evidence advanced in support of soft perennialism notion is not valid in the context …

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Dreams And The Maternal Imaginary: From Nostalgic Intersubjectivity To Mourning, Julie Ackerman Sep 2017

Dreams And The Maternal Imaginary: From Nostalgic Intersubjectivity To Mourning, Julie Ackerman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation concerns the history of psychoanalytic thinking about dreams. It is about both the psychic function of dreams and their theoretical function, or the function that they have served within psychoanalytic discourse. It begins with a consideration of the significance of the dream in classical thinking, where it was conceptualized as a psychic emergence in the context of maternal absence. It traces the way in which the rise of object relational paradigms led to the reconceptualization of the dream in relation to the presence of the maternal mind rather than the absence of the maternal body. It describes how …

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Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro Sep 2017

Walking As Ontological Shifter: Thoughts In The Key Of Life, Bibi (Silvina) Calderaro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With walking as ontological shifter I pursue an alternative to the dominant modernist episteme that offers either/or onto-epistemologies of opposition and their reifying engagements. I propose this type of walking is an intentional turning towards a set of radical positions that, as integrative aesthetic and therapeutic practice, brings multiplicity and synchronicity to experience and being in an expanded sociality. This practice facilitates the conditions of possibility for recurring points of contact between the interiority perceived as ‘body’ and the exteriority perceived as ‘world.’ While making evident the self’s at once incoherence with it-self, it opens to a space beyond the …

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Ecologies Of Embodied Minds Embedded: Radical Romantic Perspectives On Architectures Of Technology, Sharmaine Browne Sep 2017

Ecologies Of Embodied Minds Embedded: Radical Romantic Perspectives On Architectures Of Technology, Sharmaine Browne

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores Romantic responses to the role of architectural technologies in the development of material being, consciousness, and culture by applying a critical approach in which I combine radical embodied cognitive theory, ecocritical perspectives, and a phenomenological lens to select Romantic texts written from 1789 to 1884 in response to industrial modernity. While scholarship has thoroughly explored technology as a cultural force which inevitably shapes consciousness, I propose that a slight shift of emphasis from technology’s external influence to the material internalization of its influence allows for new perspectives—particularly in light of recent proposals in cognitive philosophy which assert …

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The Imagine Project: Inspiring Vulnerable Adults Through Art And Mindfulness, Janelle Defiesta Aug 2017

The Imagine Project: Inspiring Vulnerable Adults Through Art And Mindfulness, Janelle Defiesta

Master's Projects and Capstones

The IMAGINE Project tackles the issue of stress reduction for a population that faces high stress levels due to environmental instability with co-morbidities of prior physical, cognitive, and social issues. Despite the need of stress reduction approaches in a population under these circumstances, external factors make it difficult to reduce the problem. Consequently, the lack of stress reduction skills can lead to the exacerbation of existing problems and the onset of many others. However, until basic needs such as housing and sustenance are met, stress reduction cannot be attempted effectively. Thus, the target population for this project focused on people …

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Ask The Pendulum: Personality Predictors Of Ideomotor Performance, Jay A. Olson, Ewalina Jeyanesan, Amir Raz Aug 2017

Ask The Pendulum: Personality Predictors Of Ideomotor Performance, Jay A. Olson, Ewalina Jeyanesan, Amir Raz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

For centuries, people have asked questions to hand-held pendulums and interpreted their movements as responses from the divine. These movements occur due to the ideomotor effect, wherein priming or thinking of a motion causes muscle movements that end up swinging the pendulum. By associating particular swinging movements with “yes” and “no” responses, we investigated whether pendulums can aid decision-making and which personality traits correlate with this performance. Participants (N=80) completed a visual detection task in which they searched for a target letter among rapidly presented characters. In the verbal condition, participants stated whether they saw the target in each trial. …

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Truly Jewish: Diasporic Identity And “Chosen Glory” In “Monte Sant’Angelo”, Sara Heist Jun 2017

Truly Jewish: Diasporic Identity And “Chosen Glory” In “Monte Sant’Angelo”, Sara Heist

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

In her memoir Unorthodox, Deborah Feldman observes, “A Jew can never be a goy... even if they try to become one. They may dress like one, speak like one, live like one, but Jewishness is something that can never be erased” (96). Her intriguing observation parallels the major themes of Arthur Miller’s short story “Monte Sant’Angelo,” which explores Jewish identity. The modern psychological constructs of diasporic identity, “chosen glory,” and “chosen trauma,” developed after the short story was written, help to interpret the psychological drama unfolding in the little village of Monte Sant’Angelo. Bernstein, a diasporic Ashkenazi Jew, …

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Temporality In Phenomenology: Utilizing The Principles In Practice For Significance Of A Sex Research, Ka Wing Kevin Kwan Jun 2017

Temporality In Phenomenology: Utilizing The Principles In Practice For Significance Of A Sex Research, Ka Wing Kevin Kwan

The Qualitative Report

This article aims to demonstrate how the researcher can utilize the principle of temporality in phenomenology as a method to explore and to reveal the human experience through its application in sex research. Although phenomenological studies have been increasingly adopted for qualitative inquiry in the field of social science, the idea of the horizon of temporality and its practical utilization is rarely demonstrated explicitly. In this study, the researcher has investigated the interpretation of marital experience of Chinese spouses in Hong Kong who have been assessed with sexual dysfunctions with attention to the couples’ perspectives. Having adopted a synthetic qualitative …

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Pulse - A Consultation, Barry J. Mauer Jun 2017

Pulse - A Consultation, Barry J. Mauer

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. We may never know or understand what was in Mateen’s mind, but we can situate his attack within the history of eliminationism in America. Islamist terrorism is just part of a larger phenomenon: right wing eliminationism. But despite centuries of right wing eliminationist words and deeds in the U.S., there is little or no mainstream recognition of the phenomenon. Instead, we are treated to more denial, more distraction, more obfuscation. Until we look this problem squarely in the face, it will …

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Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner Jun 2017

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

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Down Syndrome, The Image Of God, And Personhood, Paris Webb May 2017

Down Syndrome, The Image Of God, And Personhood, Paris Webb

Dialogue & Nexus

People with Down syndrome help Christians understand what being made in the image of God truly means. After describing Down syndrome, we will examine the different views of the image of God and how these relate to people with Down syndrome. Another approach will be to define personhood in light of God’s image and relate it to Down syndrome. We will use the principles held by the L’Arche community as an exemplar in this discussion to demonstrate that those with Down syndrome encourage us to expand our understanding of the image of God. Consequently, Down’s persons allow us to apply …

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The Dialogical Principle In Counseling And Psychotherapy: An Exploration Of Martin Buber's "I And Thou", Matthew Martin May 2017

The Dialogical Principle In Counseling And Psychotherapy: An Exploration Of Martin Buber's "I And Thou", Matthew Martin

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The relationship has become increasingly decentralized as counselors and psychotherapists continue to turn towards evidence-based techniques and manualized intervention strategies. Although counselors must learn to incorporate appropriate technique and therapeutic strategy during the process of therapy, these interventions must be predicated on an understanding of the real meeting between counselor and client. Dialogical theory, based on the philosophical anthropology of philosopher Martin Buber, emphasizes the client-counselor encounter as the fundamental source of healing in counseling and psychotherapy. This paper will explore the Dialogical principle found in Martin Buber’s philosophy of “I and Thou,” and how these can be related and …

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The Social Progression Of Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder: Post Vietnam And September 11th Attacks, Ellie Mcdonald May 2017

The Social Progression Of Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder: Post Vietnam And September 11th Attacks, Ellie Mcdonald

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Social Progression of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Vietnam and September 11th Attacks is an examination on the infrastructure of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’and of the Department of Defense’s lack of clarity and misinformation of the challenges and effects of mental illness within military ranks. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) made the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) after Vietnam. Since then, PTSD has been reevaluate numerous times, to properly define it. This research is a comparative analysis of the misconceptions of PTSD as experienced by Vietnam veterans and the first responders of the September 11th tragedy. My research charts …

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