Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Commons^™

Exploring The Therapeutic Relationship As A Central Focus Through Expressive Arts Therapy In Oncology, Akshata Parekh

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The treatment for cancer can be physically, mentally, emotionally and socially challenging. These treatments have side effects like physical body pain, hair loss, changes in weight, energy, nausea and more. These physical changes impact the social, mental and emotional well-being of the patient and makes this journey of the life-threating prognosis of cancer very tough to confront. Expressive arts therapy provides a safe space for the patients to address their mental health concerns as a result of this treatment. The Capstone Thesis Project explored expressive arts therapy interventions with 95 patients through single or multiple sessions while going through their ...

Evaluating Standardized Assessments’ Ability To Capture Lived Experience Of Cancer Patients And Survivors In Art Therapy Groups, Lara Desanto, Sarah Han, Cecilia Sánchez

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the use of quantitative assessments typically used in research to evaluate experiences of cancer patients and survivors receiving group art therapy services. Literature exploring program evaluation as a methodology, how current research selects standardized measurement tools for the evaluation of art therapy interventions with adult cancer patients and survivors, and on the efficacy of art therapy with this population is reviewed.

Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from four participants, who were clients in two eight-week art therapy groups. Quantitative data were collected in the form of pre- and post-test measurements using six commonly used standardized quality ...

Treatment Access For Dual Diagnosis Substance Use And Mental Health Disorders, Pedro Banuelos

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In 2018, of 1.3 million Latinx adults in the United States facing concurrent issues with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health disorders (MHD) 93% remained untreated for either diagnosis. This is concerning since Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) data reveals that this population is at greater risk for suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. They also face structural barriers such as employment, housing, legal involvement, and insurability that further impede access to treatment.

This study’s purpose was to examine barriers to accessing treatment for Latinx populations confronting co-occurring SUDs and MHDs. This study used a ...

Keeping Count: Studying The Effects Of Previous Sexual History On A Current Coupling, Kaelyn Pate

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis details a quantitative study focusing on the sexual double standard and how its impact on sexual attitudes and behaviors has a possible influence on relationship satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to understand how attitudes regarding the prevailing double standard reflect the hesitancy towards having a partner with a previous sexual history as the discussion suggests. There will be a review of previous literature for the traditional, cultural, and even paradoxical aspects that make up the standard. Findings of the study showed that there was no significant relationship found between a respondent’s acceptance of the ...

It's About Time: Examining The Role Of Time Together And Perceived Stress In Couple Relationships, Rachel J. H. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because stress is a common struggle in romantic relationships and because stress can spill over into couples’ interactions and affect their level of relationship connection, it is important to understand what can help couples adapt to stress and maintain meaningful relationships. Quality time together has been found to have positive effects on relationship outcomes overall. Additionally, family stress theory has posited that having sufficient resources can help couples adapt to stress and avoid a crisis situation. As such, time together was examined as a potential resource for couples to draw upon to adapt to the potential negative effects of perceived ...

The Value Of Community Psychiatric Services For The Elderly’S Dementia Caregiver Group: Exploring The Perspectives Of Participants, Elise Greto

Patient Experience Journal

Community Psychiatric Services for the Elderly (CPSE) at a large teaching hospital in Toronto has offered a monthly support group for caregivers of persons with dementia for over 30 years. Participants were surveyed in January 2018 about group attendance, benefits of attending the group, and areas for improvement. Results are shared in this case study. A total of 8 participants responded to the survey with a response rate of 47%. The feedback was predominantly positive. The most prevailing theme that emerged from the survey responses was group members’ appreciation for the opportunity to meet with one another to discuss relevant ...

Five Love Languages: Assessment Of Marital Satisfaction In African American Couples, Freddricka C. Lee

LSU Master's Theses

This mixed-methods study examined marital satisfaction among five (n = 10) heterosexual, African American married couples. In particular, this study examined how acknowledging a partner’s love language (Chapman, 1995) can affect these couples’ level of marital satisfaction. The participants were native to the South and ranged from 26-55 years of age. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed couples were satisfied with their marriages. Although only marginally significant, the findings also revealed acknowledging a spouse’s love language was positively related to higher levels of marital satisfaction. Seven themes emerged throughout the interviews, namely communication; financial stability; understand a ...

An Art Therapist's Use Of Art Making As Self Care In Pediatric Medicine, Emily Hargraves

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This heuristic research project examines my personal use of art making as a form of self-care while interning in a pediatric hospital. The review of the literature investigates the concept of self-care and the use of art making as a therapeutic outlet for working art therapists, for professionals in the healthcare field, and for art therapy students working specifically in hospital settings. The literature suggests that self-care is a necessary process, that self-care is not just for the physical self, but also for one’s mental health. The literature also indicates that art therapists have found that art making as ...

Art-Making During A Global Pandemic: A Collaborative Autoethnography, Caitlin Carey, Parisa Frost, Jon Harguindeguy, Sarah Heller, Susan Lee, Christina Smith, Eva Wang

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Between March 11, 2020 and May of 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) counted over 100 million cases of COVID-19, resulting in three million deaths worldwide (WHO, 2021). In order to examine the effects of art-making on social and psychological well-being, seven graduate students from the Marital and Family Art Therapy Program at LMU conducted the following study utilizing a qualitative, arts-based research approach through collaborative autoethnography (CAE). The research question — What are the effects of personal art-making on well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic? — was posed by the seven graduate student authors. The data revealed that pandemic-time art-making impacted well-being ...

Exploring The Efficacy Of The Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic’S Transition To Telehealth During Covid-19, Brittany Benjamin Amante, Alejandra Hernandez, Emily Lin, Amanda D. Martin, Chao Zhao

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

This research qualitatively explores the impacts of the Helen B. Landgarten Art therapy Clinic’s transition to art therapy telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this research was to explore the efficacy of interventions and the clinical themes that emerged as a result of telehealth art therapy services delivered to marginalized communities through the Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic. Data that was collected includes anonymous surveys from administrators, teachers, and caregivers of those receiving services and facilitators of services, semi-structured interviews with administrators, teachers, and caregivers of those receiving services, as well as a focus group ...

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

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

This presentation will explain the historical development of pornography. It will highlight four segments: 1- Porn’s impact on brain development of reward pathways, ultimately increasing the appetite for more porn. 2- Porn can be a false substitute for real intimacy, resulting in decreased sexual satisfaction with a real person and increased verbal and physical aggression. 3- Porn promotes sex trafficking, promotes multiple sex partners and reduced STD prevention. 4- A review of interventions available to assist clients in navigating a lifestyle away from pornography.

Beyond The Competency Model Of Therapist Trainings - Developing Expertise Through Deliberate Practice, Daryl Mahon Ba, Ma

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The purpose of the present paper is to describe how Deliberate Practice (DP) can be used to assist individual therapists develop expertise and improve their ability to effect change in their clients' psychotherapy outcomes. The author provides a targeted review of this literature and articulates a method of training therapists based on this relatively new and exciting concept. The initial training of psychotherapists represents an important milestone in an often lifelong career and one that is marked with a continuous professional development trajectory. While it is particularly important to achieve competency in many foundational skills and techniques during training, this ...

Using Ambiguous Loss To Address Perceived Control During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rosemary A. Leone

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The concepts of ambiguous loss and perceived control will be used to explore ways to embrace the unknown during COVID-19. By defining COVID-19 as an ambiguous loss, effective therapeutic interventions emerge that can guide clinicians in creating lasting change amidst widespread uncertainty. Four ambiguous loss interventions will be proposed to alleviate the distress of living in fearful semi-isolation for an unknown period of time. In paradoxically embracing uncertainty, clients can create new hope in the context of a global pandemic. New hope is the ideal outcome when coping with ambiguous loss. In literature on ambiguous loss, the concept of new ...

An Essay Concerning The Substance Of Counseling, Lance Kair

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Our modern world appears to lack a way to find truth. Philosophically, this problem is formulated in a manner of knowing which never gets beyond the subject of the universe; even objectivity in the universe is arguable. The effort called empirical science then gives us conclusions that regularly perpetuate an unstable world. Due to this real subjective empirical constraint, the usual approach to therapeutic Counseling offers methods focused on the individual obtaining skills and conceptions that function to mitigate the apparent and ubiquitous problem of modernity. Empirical science, whether it be physical, biological or phenomenal, has left us with only ...

Clash Of Values: Workplace Bullying And Moral Injury, Jarl B. Anderson Ma, Mftc

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

Moral injury is a psychological construct developed in military context, and although it has been expanded to include specific occupational fields outside of the military, it has not yet been proposed as an outcome of workplace bullying. Employees may experience moral injury when their personal values and the legitimate values of the workplace clash with unacknowledged shadow values during incidents of workplace bullying. Workplace bullying could be considered a potentially morally injurious event (PMIE) because it is transgressive, it is asymmetric, and it involves high stakes: livelihood and identity are at risk. Regarding counseling considerations, the use of ritual has ...

Observations On The Relationship Between Resilience And Mindfulness, Jason N. Linder Psy. D., Jay A. Mancini

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

In the last three decades, mindfulness and resilience have received extensive scholarly attention. Research has burgeoned and they have both become “buzz words” in the social sciences and mental health fields. That said, they are often presented as unrelated qualities, skills, or states, and few studies and texts have examined their linkages and/or how they complement each other. Masten’s (2001, 2009) seminal papers and subsequent book (2014) that presented resilience as “ordinary magic” have had large impacts on resilience scholarship, bringing forth that resilience is much more of a common human occurrence and proclivity than previously considered. In ...

The Experiences Of Iraqi Refugees In Canada: A Life History Study Of War And Resilience In The Aftermath Of Migration, Nada Nessan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis reports on a life history narrative on the experiences of Iraqi refugees who resettled in Canada after living through war. The aim of this study is to help change the narrow perspectives on the mental health of war affected populations to a broader perception shaped by cultural and social aspects and to inform the development of meaningful and cultural relevant programs and policies with a particular attention to the concept of resilience.

The first part of the study presents the chronological narratives, or profiles. of eight participants. The second part of the study is a thematic discussion of ...

When Is A Sandwich Too Much? A Critical Look At Teenage Parenthood And Its Impact On The Lives Of Their Parents, Shirley P. Grant

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The transition into early parenthood also implies a shift to early grandparenthood for the parents of teenage parents. The stigmas and stereotypes associated with teenage pregnancy and parenthood are also experienced by their parents for the decisions their children have made. Furthermore, some of these grandparents are caregivers to aging parents while also parenting their younger children. These people, recently called, “the club sandwiched” generation, appear to be experiencing physical, social, economic, and psychological impacts because of their responsibilities of caring for three generations but have not yet received much attention in academic literature. Teenage pregnancy can affect any family ...

The Lived Experience Of Hope In The Midst Of Recovery From A Substance Use Disorder: A Phenomenology, Mary Katherine Lance

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Substance use disorder (SUD) is difficult to treat, as evidenced by its high prevalence and relapse rates. Research shows, however, that hope may have the potential to create effective and efficient change in the way we prevent and treat SUD. In order to utilize hope in this way, we must have a good understanding of what hope is. This phenomenological study aims to explore and describe the essence of hope through the lived experience of individuals in recovery from a SUD. Through interviews with 20 informants to generate data and an iterative interpretative process to identify shared meanings, hope emerged ...

Parents Of Non-Binary Children: Stories Of Understanding And Support, Brooks Bull

Dissertations & Theses

Parents of non-binary children undergo profound changes as they learn to first understand and then support their child. In order to provide family therapists with a foundation from which to work with these families, a thorough review of the literature is provided as well as a narrative research study. Chapter one provides an introduction to the topic of non-binary gender and transgender identities, defines the terms non-binary, transgender, and transsexual, and clarifies the conceptual frameworks at use in the dissertation: social constructionism and transfeminism. Chapter two is a review of peer-reviewed literature on therapy with children and adolescents who identify ...