Counseling Commons^™

Integration Of Shame Resilience Theory And The Discrimination Model In Supervision, William B. Lane Jr.

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Shame is a destructive feeling if unaddressed leads to difficulty in the supervisory hour. A supervisorial model to address shame within supervision could guide supervisors on how to work with and diffuse the symptoms and defense mechanisms of shame. Shame Resilience Theory (SRT) and the Discrimination Model (DM) of supervision have been synthesized within this conceptual article to create the Shame Resilience Discrimination Model (SRDM) which is designed to help supervisees work through shame. Examples of how to use the model and a case example have been provided. The SRDM has been displayed in a table at the end of …

Reflective Practice: Counseling Students’ Letters To Their Younger Selves In Practicum, Daniel A. Decino, Phillip L. Waalkes, Joel Givens

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

In this reflective narrative study, we explored the stories of counselors-in-training at the end of their practicum courses. Thirty-six counselors-in-training (N= 36) engaged in reflective practice and wrote letters to their younger selves about their practicum experiences. Using a narrative-focused data analysis process, we created a thematic structure to retell the grand narrative of participants' practicum training experiences. Discussion and implications of this letter writing activity are offered to help understand how counselor educators can use reflective practices in their training courses.

Racial Mislabeling In Multiracial Individuals: Implications For Professional Counseling And Education, C. Peeper Mcdonald, Catharina Y. Chang Ph.D., Caroline O'Hara, Kan Guvensel, Lindy Parker

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

With the extreme growth of people who identify as Biracial or Multiracial, it is evident that their unique racial experiences need to be better understood, especially within the field of professional counseling to underscore competent practice (Charmaraman, Woo, Quach, & Erkut, 2014; Jackson, Yoo, Guevarra & Harrington, 2012; Tran, Miyake, Martinez-Morales, & Csizmadia, 2016). As a result, the researchers in this study investigated the lived experiences of racial mislabeling for Multiracial individuals. The participants of this study were fourteen (n=14) individuals who identified as Multiracial and endorsed experiencing the specific form of racial invalidation entitled racial mislabeling. Data were collected …

A Duoethnographic Exploration Of Two Counselor Educators’ Growth In Assessment In Teaching, Phillip L. Waalkes Dr., Daniel A. Decino Dr.

Teaching and Supervision in Counseling

Assessment in teaching is a challenge for many beginning counselor educators. Although many researchers have discussed the importance of student learning outcomes, few have explored counselor educators’ experiences using assessment in their courses. In this duoethnographic inquiry, we engaged in a critical and reflective dialogue of our experiences with assessment. We aimed to acknowledge our biases, identities, and emotions related to assessment in transformative ways. For [researcher 1], our dialogue helped me gain theoretical and emotional perspective on assessment and inspired specific changes to my assessment practices including focusing more on process-based, low stakes assessment, developing clearer learning goals, and …

Insight Gains Of Narrative Case Studies, H. Luis Vargas

Counseling and Family Therapy Scholarship Review

The Editor provides an Editorial for the new issue.

Organizational Change: The Experiences Of Practitioners Transitioning To A Fee-For-Service Model, Anthony Zazzarino, Zakia Clay, Ann Reilly

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Many human service agencies are in the midst of a transition for a fee-for-service model. Through the midst of the transition, organizations must shift the culture of their agency and adapt to the new service delivery approach. Some organizational changes can create feelings of insecurity among staff, fewer resources, and greater potential for employee burnout. Though there is some research that provides valuable information, it often fails to highlight the individual experiences of the worker. This phenomenological study begins to explore the experiences and perceptions of practitioners working in supported housing agencies during the transition to a fee-for-service approach. The …

Therapeutic Effects Of Building Resilience: An Observation Of Two Case Studies, Susan Stuntzner, Angela Macdonald, Michael Hartley

Counseling Faculty Publications

Resilience is an emerging area of research interest. Resilience has much relevance and applicability to persons with disabilities and to the situations lived and experienced by people with disabilities.1–3 However, few resilience interventions, specifically tailored to the needs of people with disabilities, have been developed and empirically studied. Stuntzner and Hartley3 began to change this trend with the development of a 10-module resilience intervention. Presented as a part of this article are two case studies of people who completed an initial resilience intervention pilot study conducted by Stuntzner and MacDonald.4 The case studies represent people living with varying disabilities and …

How To Be Unfaithful To Eurocentrism: A Spanglish Decolonial Critique To Knowledge Gentrification, Captivity And Storycide In Qualitative Research, Marcela Polanco, Nathan D. Hanson, Camila Hernandez, Tirzah Le Feber, Sonia Medina, Stephanie Old Bucher, Eva I. Rivera, Ione Rodriguez, Elizabeth Vela, Brandi Velasco, Jackolyn Le Feber

The Qualitative Report

From a position of academic activism, we critique the longstanding dominance del production of knowledge that solely implicates fidelity to Eurocentric methodological technologies en qualitative research. Influenced by an Andean decolonial perspective, en Spanglish we problematize métodos of analysis as the dominant research practice, whereby las stories o relatos result en su appropriation, captivity and gentrification, first by researchers’ authorship and later by the publishing industry copyrights. We highlight the racializing and capitalist colonial/modern Eurocentric agenda del current market of knowledge production that displaces to la periphery all knowledge o relatos that do not subscribe to Euro-US American methodological parameters …

The Creative Exposure Intervention As Part Of Clinical Treatment For Adolescents Exposed To Bullying And Experiencing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Lisa S. Sosin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation introduces an eclectic intervention, incorporating these three techniques, designed for work with adolescents experiencing bully-related PTSD symptoms. The presentation includes a case example to illustrate Creative Exposure, which can be used in one session or across multiple sessions.

This technique is intended for use by counselors with the credentials and training to provide trauma treatment

Gaining Administrative Support For Doctoral Programs In Counselor Education, Rebecca Scherer, Regina Moro, Tara Jungersen, Leslie Contos, Thomas A. Field

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Initiating and sustaining a counselor education and supervision doctoral program requires navigating institutions of higher education, which are complex systems. Using qualitative analysis, we explored 15 counselor educators’ experiences collaborating with university administrators to gain support for beginning and sustaining counselor education and supervision doctoral programs. Results indicate the need to understand political elements, economical aspects, and the identity of the proposed program. Limitations and areas for future research are presented.

Teaming For Transition: Interprofessional Collaboration, Megan Sturdivant, Emily Thompson, Sam Skelton, Rebecca Mallory

2020 Honors Symposium

The transition from youth to young adult for individuals with severe disabilities is difficult, provides few opportunities for employment, and offers less of a chance to connect with friends and engage with people. This research presents ways that speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, school counselors, and special educators can collaborate to create a successful transition process for individuals with severe disabilities.

Trauma And Identity: A Reciprocal Relationship?, Steven L. Berman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Kaylin Ratner

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Trauma can alter the course of identity development and destabilize existing identity commitments. Trauma, whether past or current, can also impact the resources a person brings to identity work. However, identity can also be a lens through which trauma is perceived and interpreted, helping to determine whether a traumatic experience results in posttraumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic growth. Despite the apparent implications each construct has for the other, the scholarship at the intersection of trauma and identity remains sparse. This Special Issue explores how and when trauma and identity influence one another by considering their association across various adolescent populations, …

Conceptualizing Therapy As A Spiritual Discipline, Kristen M. White

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Psychological literature is in the beginning stages of reflecting the Church’s shift toward spiritual formation, incorporating theory and research regarding how spiritual disciplines might be relevant to the practice of therapy. This work may be expanded by viewing therapy itself as a spiritual discipline, particularly for the client. This article makes this connection by clearly defining spiritual disciplines and highlighting how therapy is or can be made congruent with them. It further discusses how therapy may be a very useful spiritual discipline within the Church today. Lastly, this article discusses the implications for viewing therapy as a spiritual discipline for …

What Happens Next? A Grounded Theory Exploration Of The Psychological Impact Of Leaving The Gang, Alana C. Liskov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Very little research exists regarding the psychological impacts of gang membership and the mental health needs of gang members. Of the few studies that have been conducted, gang members were found to have increased rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (1.77 odds), current substance abuse (2.58 odds), oppositional defiant disorder, (1.24 odds) and conduct disorder (4.05 odds) (Harris, Elkins, Butler, Shelton, Robles, Kwok, Simpson, Young, Mayhew, Brown, & Sargent, 2013). Violent ruminative thinking, violent victimization and fear of further victimization were also significantly higher in gang members and believed to account for high levels of psychosis and anxiety disorder in gang …

What Remains? An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Therapists’ Psychological Boundaries In Crisis Work, Dana Santiago

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little attention has been given to clinicians who work primarily with clients in crisis. The current study explored therapists’ psychological boundaries in crisis work. Qualitative data was collected from two semi-structured interviews with current mental health crisis professionals (n = 5). An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to gain access into participants’ perceptions and understandings of their experiences. Findings revealed 4 superordinate themes: Professional Self, Impacted Self, Relational Self and Evolving Self along with 11 subthemes that related to psychological boundaries. Results suggest psychological boundaries are fluid and closely tied with self-awareness and support from other professionals.

Perceived Quality Of Clinical Supervision And Level Of Vicarious Trauma In Therapists-In-Training, Jessica L. Mantia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between perceived quality of clinical supervision and levels of vicarious trauma (VT) and secondary traumatic stress (STS) in a sample of novice therapists who reported working with survivors of sexual trauma. The researcher included therapist’s personal sexual trauma history and history of therapy for sexual trauma as covariate variables. Results did not support the predictive value of clinical supervision in determining level of VT or STS in this population. There were no meaningful differences among groups based on personal history of sexual trauma or participation in therapy. A high percentage of participants in this sample …

A Meta-Analytic Review Of The Relationship Between Interpersonal Trauma And Committed Romantic Relationships, Geneva Polser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of trauma can be wide reaching and long lasting. In effort to create more comprehensive theories for the effects of trauma, there is a focus on the association between trauma and intimate relationships. For example, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; APA 2013) is associated with deficiencies in romantic relationship satisfaction through an increase in maladaptive communication patterns, relationship instability and intimate partner violence. Furthermore, relationship satisfaction can predict decreases in an individual reliving the trauma, emotional numbness and irritability.

The focus in this study is on interpersonal trauma. This encompasses trauma enacted from one (or more) individual(s) onto another …

A Phenomenological Exploration Of Korean Adoptees’ Multiple Minority Identities, Jared Utley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the end of the Korean War, Korean children have been placed for international adoption due to their marginalized status in South Korea. In the United States, Korean children have predominantly been adopted to White families through transracial adoption (Bergquist, 2003; Lee, 2003). Transracial adoption describes the process of children being placed in a home where there are racial differences with one or both adoptive parents. Through international transracial adoption, Korean adoptees may undergo events that impact the salience and development of multiple minority identities, including: racial, ethnic, cultural, and as an adoptee. These experiences may be shaped by interactions …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Counselors In Training When Discussing The Existential Factors Of Death, Isolation, Freedom, And Meaning In Life With Their Clients, Sabina Musliu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Grounded in the theoretical framework of existential therapy, this study aimed to uncover the lived experiences of counselors in training when addressing existential factors of death, isolation, freedom, and meaning in life with their clients. To have a better understanding of this phenomenon and address the research questions, data was primarily collected via semi-structured interviews. The obtained data was analyzed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The data analysis process revealed six superordinate themes from the participants’ experiences: the emotional experience in the session and during the interview; transference/ countertransference; perspective on existential factors; factors that influenced counseling effectiveness in …

Sex, Love, And Masturbating: A Touchy Subject, Gabrielle Kaminsky-Bayer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The topic of female masturbation has long been considered taboo and this has impacted the sparse research on female masturbation. In addition to the limited literature that exists on women’s reasons for masturbating in general, there are even fewer studies regarding the motivation for women to masturbate while in a relationship or how masturbating in a relationship impacts relational and sexual satisfaction. To date, there has been no study that specifically looks at early adult women (25-35 years old) in relationships that assesses the attitudes and behaviors of masturbation on relational and sexual satisfaction. Additionally, this paper was structured …