Counseling Commons^™

The Lived Experiences Of School Counselors Related To Natural Disaster Trauma, Jennifer Baxley Bellinger

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand and describe the lived experiences of school counselors in South Carolina regarding natural disaster trauma and their perceptions regarding their ability to work effectively with students during and after disasters. The experiences of school counselors regarding their perceptions of effectiveness when working with students both during and after natural disasters prior to this study were unknown. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model provided the framework for this study as it outlines the necessary preparation for and execution of a school counselor’s work with students, while Herman’s trauma theory and …

Co-Fathering With Nonresident Biological Fathers: A Phenomenological Study On Stepfathers, Cherlyn R. Lane

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the experiences of stepfathers when both the non-resident biological father (NRBF) and stepfather are involved in the parenting efforts. This study will explore the stepfather’s co-fathering experiences with the NRBF and its overall effect on stepfamily functioning and marital satisfaction. The theories guiding this study are the family stress theory and the family systems theory. These two theories will help to explain how stressful events, such as stepfamily formation and the presence of the NRBF, disrupt the family’s equilibrium and challenge the stepfamily to find adaptive ways to reestablish their balance. …

The Effects Social Media Has On Depressive And Neuro Developmental Disorders, Daniel James Goble

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social media has played a huge role in society today and is one of the most common activities in everyday life for people of all ages. Due to the long amount of time that most users spend on social media daily, some trends seem to grow and become very visible over time that have a negative impact on mental health but also on neuro developmental disorders. Neurodevelopmental disorders are identified through a list of symptoms and characteristics that show a problem in how the brain is developing. Due to social media still being very new in this generation and with …

God Will Wipe Away Every Tear - A Phenomenological Study Of Two Faith-Based, Grief Support Groups, Cynthia Velerianee White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative study was to describe the impact of GriefShare, a faith-based, grief support initiative for the participants at Diamondhead, Mississippi and Gulfport, Mississippi. The theory guiding this study was Robert Neimeyer’s social constructionist theory as it explains the meaning found in GriefShare’s narrative processes. The study participants were nine females and one male who attended at least three GriefShare sessions. The researcher interviewed and audio-recorded all participants using Otter ai. live transcription. The researcher used the constant comparison method and member checking to analyze the data collected during the interviews. As participants described their lived …

Negative Police Interactions And Resulting Depression In Black Men, Darren Lamont Dubose

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In recent years research has revealed that there is incommensurate treatment toward Black men at the hands of law enforcement, but there is minimal research that is dedicated to displaying if there is a connection between these interactions and depression in Black men. This study sought to find out if there is a correlation between experiential, first-person, and vicarious witnessing of negative police interactions and depression in Black men. The study involved a non-probability purposeful sampling of 50 Black men from various geographical locations who met the following prerequisites: Black males between 21-55, natural-born American citizens, no previous incarcerations, and …

The Effects Of Religiosity On College Students’ Anxiety And Depression, Moderated By Church Attendance, Elizabeth Cross Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current studies confirm that depression and anxiety are prevalent among college students in the United States and are often recurring during early adulthood. There are various causes of this condition and evidence that parental influence affects a college student’s religiosity and church attendance. The current study investigated the effects of religiosity on the level of anxiety and depression among college students in the United States, moderated by church attendance. Studies have found that religion has a positive relationship with physical, mental, and physiological factors (Steffen, 2014). The results of this study indicate religiosity has a significant effect on depression in …

Experiential Interrelationships Of Learned Helplessness, Military Culture, And Chronic Veteran Homelessness, Adam Joseph Russo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative research study examined psychological resiliency factors. The theories that guided this research study were Peterson et al. (1993) Learned Helplessness (LH) Theory, military, cultural conditioning, and Seligman’s (2018) PERMA psychological resiliency model, which is rooted in Positive Psychology. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to describe the lived experiences of veterans who had experienced homelessness for at least 90 consecutive days and who were currently living in a therapeutic housing shelter in the northeastern United States. I investigated veterans’ military-to-civilian transitional experiences, social support transitions, cultural norm differences, and routine engagement experiences. The data …

Targeting The Gap In Mental Health Advocacy For First-Year College Students, Hailey Kurtz

Honors Projects

The transition from high school to attending a university has been shown to have an impact on the mental health and well-being of first-year university students. First-year students struggle with anxiety and depression in relation to being in a new environment, feeling lonely, fitting in, and taking more academically rigorous coursework. Current students have an awareness of what mental health and well-being resources on their campus are available to them, but such resources are not widely used, though a majority of students indicate that they do or have struggled with their mental health. This indicates that though students are struggling …

Interest-Major Fit And Satisfaction: Extending Theories Of Occupational Fit To Predict Academic Outcomes, Sneha Kamath

Honors Projects

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2008), only 58% of students enrolled in a four-year bachelor’s degree program between 1995 and 1996 had successfully completed their degree by 2001 (Allen & Robbins, 2010). Some studies examining the frequency with which students change their major during their undergraduate education also offer insight into the potential reasons underlying the delayed graduation rates observed in Allen and Robbins’ (2010) study; for instance, a study by the U.S. Department of Education (2017) found that within three years of enrollment, about 30% of students pursuing a bachelor’s or associate’s degree had changed their …

Art Therapy And Internal Family Systems For Adolescents At A Therapeutic School: A Qualitative, Arts-Based Study, Emma Pici-D'Ottavio

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Adolescence is an important developmental period marked by a search for identity and an increase in impulsive behaviors and intense emotions. The current study explored how a combined art therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) model is beneficial and appropriate for adolescents in a school setting. A brief art therapy group was facilitated with students at a therapeutic high school. The intervention integrated IFS approaches, including externalization and guided visualizations, with the goal of understanding parts and increasing self-compassion. Three main themes emerged based on observations of the sessions: 1) the concept of parts encouraged self-understanding and reduced shame; 2) …

Near Death: Shame And Stigma Among Survivors Of Overdose, Monique Barber

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Navigating A Phd Program In The Middle Of Chaos: A Ces Doc Student Reflection, Kerbie Marc, Chele Weiglein, Rhonda Gaston

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Blurred Lines: Developing My Professional And Personal Self As A Ces Doc Student, Kerbie Marc, Louis Alvey, Sharon Beatty

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Childhood Sexual Abuse And Adult Relationships: Spiritual Struggles And Acceptance Of God's Love, Deanna Eddy

Liberty University Research Week

Graduate

Theoretical Proposal

Experiences Of Post-Master's Arts Based Supervision With Art Therapists Of Color, Madoka Urhausen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study explored experiences of art therapists of color who underwent post-master’s arts-based supervision (ABS) to obtain an art therapy credential. ABS emphasizes creation of clinical insight and knowledge through not only reviewing and evaluating client’s art and art processes but also having supervisees to engage in their own artmaking in response to their clinical work. The sample was chosen for their intersectional identities that added a layer of complexity to their identity formation. This qualitative phenomenological study employed Culturally Responsive Focus Group (CRFG) with Arts-based Research (ABR) methodology to explore two questions: (1) What are the experiences of …

Peer-Supervision Of Nursing Professionals: A Shield Against Burnout, Kyle Gamache, Sarah Gamache, Joseph Robillard

Journal of Wellness

Introduction: Burnout is a major risk in healthcare professions and is a significant contributor to the current nursing shortage. Strategies to combat burnout of healthcare professionals are in desperate need. The purpose of this project is to introduce the clinical peer supervision model as a method to alleviate burnout in nursing professionals.

Approach: Eight nurses from in-patient settings participated in a peer-supervision support group, modeled after existing European nursing and mental health provider-support protocols. To assess the effect of this intervention, qualitative data analysis was conducted on the transcripts of session and the results described. All participants reported statistically high …

Effects Of Adaptive Expertise On Counseling Self-Efficacy: The Mediating Role Of Adaptive Performance, Jiaying Meyer

Dissertations

Counseling and psychotherapy expertise research have been focused on three major areas, namely, characterization of Master Therapists, performance of Healing Involvement, and application of Deliberate Practice. The constructs of adaptive expertise and adaptive performance have never been investigated in the context of counseling or psychotherapy. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of adaptive expertise in psychotherapy by studying the relationships between adaptive expertise, adaptive performance, and counseling self-efficacy. A total of 460 psychotherapy practitioners from a variety of disciplines and experiences participated in the study, and they included counseling, psychology, social work, and others with …

Morale Of Educators Amidst A Pandemic: A Heuristic Phenomenological Inquiry, Dawn Dianne Peterson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This heuristic phenomenological qualitative research study aimed to understand the educators' perceptions of their lived experience teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on teacher morale in the U.S. The theory guiding this study is Narrative Identity Theory, in which Dan McAdams proposed the first full theoretical model. This theory contributed significant awareness to the phenomenon studied when trying to understand the evaluative and emotional meaning expressed through the stories of the teachers. The essence of morale is understood more holistically considering the contribution of Narrative Identity Theory. Data was collected through online interviews on Microsoft Teams and analyzed …

A Phenomenological Study Of Parents Accessing And Receiving Professional Care For Their Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) During The Covid-19 Outbreak In Washington State, Patrick Michael Barry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

COVID-19 changes and restrictions have necessitated a change in the way schools, mental health providers, medical providers, and other educational and therapy services provide for children with autism. This study explores, in-depth, the experience of parents of children with ASD as they have navigated the COVID-19 required changes to professional treatment and services for children with ASD and their families. Research suggests that raising a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be an overwhelming experience for parents and families, and greater family burden is positively associated with the number of unmet professional help service needs. As services were …

Teaching Trauma-Affected Students: A Qualitative Investigation Of Teacher Perceptions, Cheryl R. Haynes

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Trauma-affected children in early grades provide unique challenges for classroom teachers. To better understand these challenges, this study examined the experiences of 12 PreK to first-grade Northwest Georgia educators as they support trauma-affected students. Data collection came from semi-structured interviews, memoing, and member checking. Reasons for supporting trauma-affected students discussed in this study include aggressive behaviors in the classroom setting, volatility of home culture, social-emotional needs, and the impact of Covid-19 quarantines. Challenges facing teachers included a lack of knowledge about child trauma, the lack of training on working with trauma-affected students in teacher preparation programs, and the need for …