Counseling Commons^™

Meaning-Making In Early Adolescence: Practices And Perspectives Of School Counselors, Jill E. Schwarz

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Adolescence is a crucial life stage involving aspects of identity development and decision-making that have potential life-long consequences. A sense of meaning is related to many beneficial factors during adolescence, including psychological health, academic engagement, and overall well-being. This qualitative interview study was designed to investigate middle school counselors’ perspectives and practices regarding exploring meaning with their early adolescent students. Analysis of ten individual interviews and a focus group revealed that the school counselor participants did engage in work with middle school students around meaning-making. They primarily helped students to find meaning through identity exploration, specifically focusing on navigating challenging …

Relationship Science And Interventions: Where We Are And Where We Are Going, Kieran T. Sullivan, Erika E. Lawrence

Psychology

Relationship distress and divorce often have profound effects on couples and their children. Relationship science has long sought to prevent and alleviate relationship distress; this chapter is a summary of many important recent developments in the field. Ongoing challenges in studying and assisting intimate relationships are also discussed.

2016 August Newsletter, Nancy Rockey

Human Subject Research Archive

No abstract provided.

Communication Intervention For Individuals With Down Syndrome: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Nicole Neil, Emily A. Jones

Education Publications

A systematic review was conducted to identify effective intervention strategies for communication in individuals with Down syndrome. We updated and extended previous reviews by examining: (1) participant characteristics; (2) study characteristics; (3) characteristics of effective interventions (e.g., strategies and intensity); (4) whether interventions are tailored to the Down syndrome behavior phenotype; and (5) the effectiveness (i.e., percentage non-overlapping data and Cohen’s d) of interventions. Thirty-seven studies met inclusion criteria. The majority of studies used behaviour analytic strategies and produced moderate gains in communication targets. Few interventions were tailored to the needs of the Down syndrome behaviour phenotype. The results …

Life Balance In Adult Healthy Siblings Of Individuals With Childhood Cancer., Yolanda Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Siblings of children who were diagnosed with cancer in childhood experience significant stress and psychological difficulties as a result of the cancer. Furthermore, the needs of siblings have often been overlooked in the cancer literature, prompting the need for more studies. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the life balance and social support outcomes of adults who grew up in the household with a sibling that was diagnosed with cancer. The study sample consisted of 120 adult healthy siblings who grew up in a household with a sibling that was diagnosed with cancer prior to age 19. Participants …

Exploring Interpersonal Variables Within The Supervisory Relationship: The Role Of Supervisory Alliance, Supervisory Style, And Supervisee Attachment, Kathryn Wierda

Dissertations

In the current study, I examined the role of the supervisory working alliance, supervisory style, and supervisee attachment within the supervisory relationship. A sample of 79 supervisees from a large Midwestern University in the United States, as well as 26 supervisors from a large Midwestern University and from the surrounding community, participated in this study. Interested participants were asked to complete an online survey, which included instruments measuring the supervisory working alliance, supervisory style, and supervisee attachment. Correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions were used to examine the relationship between and among supervisee attachment, supervisory style, and the supervisory working …

Assessing Change In Attachment Security Of Adolescents At Residential Therapeutic Programs, Laura Santa Thum

Dissertations

Adolescents with significant, persistent behavioral and mental health problems are increasingly being treated in private residential treatment programs (RTPs). Recent research at such programs shows that adolescents’ symptoms improve over the course of treatment and that such positive results persist up to a year post discharge. This study attempts to address what is occurring below the symptom level by exploring if attachment security increases as symptoms improve over the course of treatment in private RTPs. The level of attachment security was assessed along the dimensions of attachment avoidance and anxiety as a general construct and according to specific relationships (with …

Dimensions Of The Doctoral Dissertation Advising Relationship In Counselor Education: Mentoring Expectations, Satisfaction, And Time-To-Degree, Lasonda Wells

Dissertations

High attrition rates among doctoral students are of great concern. Based on national statistics in the United States, at least 50% of students who start a doctoral program do not complete their degree (Council of Graduate Schools, 2008; Lovitts, 2000). Although factors leading to attrition can vary given the individual student and the discipline, the faculty-student relationship is the most commonly noted problematic factor across disciplines (Fedynich & Bain, 2011; Lovitts, 2001). However, the research on doctoral advisor-advisee relationships remains sparse, particularly in counselor education (Protivnak & Foss, 2009).

The purpose of this study was to explore the demographic profile …

The Lived Experience Of Individuals With Chronic Back And Neck Pain, Depression, And/Or Anxiety, Tara L. Palmeri

Dissertations

More than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain (CP). People who experience chronic pain are 20 to 40% more likely to meet criteria for an anxiety disorder, and three to four times more likely to be clinically depressed than their pain-free counterparts. The relationship between CP and mental health has been studied quantitatively; however, few researchers have investigated co-morbid CP and mental health through a phenomenological lens. The subjective nature of the relationship is not comprehensively addressed within the literature.

This qualitative phenomenological study explored (a) how individuals with chronic back and/or neck pain (CBNP) experience, understand, and …

Personality Factors, Self-Care, And Perceived Stress Levels On Counselor Education And Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students, Jennifer L. Bauer

Dissertations

Doctoral students in Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education training programs are commonly thought to experience high levels of stress due to the nature of graduate school (Badali & Habra, 2003). Many (Blount & Mullen, 2015; Meyers, 2015; Moorhead, Gill, Minton, & Myers, 2012; Sawyer, 2013) argue that self-care is an important and necessary topic to discuss and integrate into graduate training. This study quantitatively explores aspects of personality, self-care, and perceived stress levels of graduate students in American Psychological Association (APA) accredited Counseling Psychology doctoral programs and Counselor Education doctoral programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and …

Workforce Innovation And Opportunity Act Implementation: Ethical Considerations For Counseling Practice, Christine Anderson

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

The Vocational Rehabilitation program exists to assist individuals with disabilities to attain, secure and benefit from employment. The purpose of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), which included the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, is to empower individuals with disabilities to maximize employment. The Act was reauthorized as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014. The Act includes significant changes to rehabilitation service delivery including a stronger emphasis on services to youth and outreach to minority populations. Despite the changes, the Act is vague and does not include methods for implementation. Although the specifics for implementation of WIOA …

Campus Climate For Lgbtq Students, Rick Brown

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

As institutions of higher education have become increasingly cognizant of the need to ensure a welcoming campus climate for all members of their student populations, they have begun to undertake campus climate studies to assess student experiences and perceptions. While the majority of studies have been quantitative in nature, in-depth qualitative studies have been conducted in recent years. These studies have started to provide institutions with opportunities to really hear and understand the experiences of their students. The purpose of this study was to hear and understand the reported experiences of LGBTQ college students with campus climate at a mid-sized …

Keeping Up With The Times: Improving The Modern Counselor Through Professional Identity Development, Technological Policy, And Positive Risk Taking, Patricia C. Weatherford, David Brooks, Lynne B. Allred

Journal of Counseling and Psychology

Awareness of ‘best practices’ and ‘critical issues’ assists counselors-in-training as they attempt to navigate the expectations of their programs and prepare for their future careers. This article identified the development of a professional identity as a significant goal for counselors-in-training and a curriculum responsibility for counselor educators. The authors also identified two critical issues that counselors-in-training and working professionals face currently. The first critical issue addressed is how technologies fit into counseling practices and their impact on the counseling process. The second critical issue is the potential impact of counselor-client willingness to take a risk with therapeutic options. New and …

Ptsd In The 20th Century American Military: Its Diagnosis, Effects, Treatment, And Management, With A Focus On The Vietnam War, Christy L. Connell

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Soldiers have been affected by PTSD for as long as war has existed. The American Military in the twentieth century is no exception. PTSD did not become a diagnosable disease until 1980, and before then it was misdiagnosed as different anxiety disorders and neuroses. Symptoms, treatment options, and long-term affects of PTSD are also discussed. Though other other wars in which America was involved are mentioned, those that receive a more thorough analysis are World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Although PTSD is an increasing problem in modern times for those involved in military conflicts, there …

Mindfully Discovering One's Authentic Self, Lisa S. Sosin

Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is a compelling link between counselee symptoms and the developmentally based capacity to put authentic thoughts, feelings, and choices into words (Greenspan, 1997). When emotional safety and secure attachment are not available and “scaffolding” was not provided to support the development of these capacities, truth is still spoken, but at an undifferentiated, behavioral level, instead of clearly represented with words. Often the symptoms people come to counseling with are related to these undeveloped or constricted aspects of the self (Siegel, 2010). The ability to tolerate and regulate painful emotions is a highly complex skill that requires practice and discipline …

Student Success Skills: An Evidenced-Based Program To Impact Student Outcomes, Nick R. Abel

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

No abstract provided.

Important Strategies For Effective Family Planning Counseling, Savera Aziz Ali, Minaz Mawani, Gulshan Bano, Sumera Aziz Ali

School of Nursing & Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Marginalized Sexuality And Masculinity: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Adolescent Homophobic Language In A Rural High School, Benjamin M. Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have examined homophobic language (HL) with both qualitative and quantitative methods and have studied HL's relationship to multiple factors such as sexual prejudice, masculinity, and religiosity. However, our understanding of this language, while expanding, is still limited because the meaning of this evolving language varies depending on the context in which the language is used. In order to get a more in-depth and current understanding of this language, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 males who were high school seniors. I also conducted 102 hours of observations in their high school. I analyzed the interviews and observations with a …

Taking Charge 2016: A Study Of The Strategic Budgeting Priorities Of The Residents Of Lincoln, Nebraska, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Addison Fairchild

Lisa PytlikZillig Publications

This report presents the results of the 2016 Taking Charge initiative sponsored by the City of Lincoln. This initiative included an online survey and a half-day, face-to-face, Community Conversation. Most previous Taking Charge activities have focused more narrowly on the immediate concerns of an impending budget proposal (e.g. which specific programs should be funded or discontinued to maintain a balanced budget). This year’s efforts also focused on specific items relevant to the City’s future budget policy priorities. As usual, residents were also given the opportunity to rate the City’s performance and City officials on a variety of performance characteristics.

A …

Modes Of Mindfulness: Prophetic Critique And Integral Emergence, David Forbes

Publications and Research

As mindfulness becomes more secular and popular, there are more arguments about its purpose and use value. Because of its disparate uses, many proponents of any one side often talk past each other and miss their mark. This paper employs an integral meta-theory that accounts for subjective, inter-subjective, objective, interobjective, and developmental perspectives on mindfulness. This helps categorize modes of mindfulness in order to clarify their purposes and functions within a society characterized by neoliberal principles and structures. It adopts the standpoint of a prophetic critique similar to those critiques of McMindfulness and insists on the inseparability of both universal …