Counseling Commons^™

Case Study: Provider For Program To Prevent The Revictimization Of Persons Trafficked For Sex, Janis G. Arlow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This case study seeks to identify behavior, skills, and attitudes of a professional providing an effective reintegration program for persons trafficked for sex. New demands on medical and social services were created over the past two decades by legislative changes. Initial research focuses on rescue and unmet primary needs. The service program selected for this study has stepped beyond awareness and rescue efforts to the rehabilitation and prevention of revictimization of trafficked persons. A literature review covers the history of sex trafficking in the United States; the recovery environment; materials, trainings and programs available for professionals seeking knowledge to serve …

2016-05-06 Pca Election Results, May 5, 2016, Pennsylvania Counseling Association

PCA Board of Directors Meetings

No abstract provided.

High Risk Drinking Concerns Across College Campuses And A Look At Jmu Programming, Rachel C. Tysinger

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The purpose of this project is to take a deeper look at excessive alcohol use in the college setting and to review prevention and support programs and services available for this population in reducing the likelihood of ongoing high risk drinking. This project contains a literature review of emerging adulthood and their developmental tasks, the impact of alcohol on an emerging adult’s brain and gender differences that may impact attitudes and decisions about alcohol. In conclusion, this project includes implications for counselors who may want to work in a college setting and provide substance abuse counseling.

Healing Body, Healing Mind, Hayley O'Brien

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Relapse is a common phenomenon amongst clients in eating disorder recovery. Although we expect the road to recovery to be challenging, the high rates of relapse are a cause to reevaluate traditional eating disorder treatment. Teaching clients to ignore levels of hunger and satiation during treatment leaves individuals with a disconnect between mind and body. Healing this disconnect is a critical element in long-term recovery. My purpose is to review the literature and link the therapeutic benefit of yoga to eating disorder treatment and recovery. To help develop my Ed.S project, I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in the …

Protecting The Protectors: Enhancing Emotional Well-Being In Law Enforcement, Olivia Gillies

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Law enforcement officers face a myriad of stressors, both personally and professionally, and regularly suffer serious outcomes that affect their physical health and psychological well-being. Fortunately, counselors have important skills that can be used to assist officers in building resilience, coping with stress, and managing negative outcomes, such as posttraumatic stress syndrome and interpersonal troubles. This project outlines the various difficulties that law enforcement officers may experience, explores current practices to manage these concerns, and provides a discussion of useful approaches counselors and law enforcement agencies can take in supporting their most valuable assets.

Creative Counseling Techniques For Elementary-Aged Children, Brian C. Caperton

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Research suggests widespread decline of creative ability in elementary-aged children, particularly kindergarten through 3^rd grade (Kim, 2012). The increase of mental health disorders in children, the exponential rise of technology use, and the surge of psychotropic medication use indicate the need for nuanced, divergent clinical interventions. Creative counseling fills this demand by offering children opportunities to engage in open-ended, reflective abstraction and other therapeutic processes. The author opens with an overview of creativity and psychology, conceptualizes the target population, and discusses theories, models, and interventions of creative counseling with elementary-aged children. The paper will provide clinicians with an understanding …

Counseling Refugees Of Middle Eastern Descent In The United States, Jennifer Semaan

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Refugees of Middle Eastern descent in the United States face a countless number of challenges throughout their journey. Many of these obstacles are overlooked or unaccounted for. This research paper serves to help mental health counselors identify the unique challenges of each phase during the refugees’ migration process, as well as provide information on evidence-based practices that can be useful when working with this population. This project also speaks to the different roles that counselors play in a therapeutic relationship, including direct therapy, advocating on behalf of refugee clients, and educating other counselors and the public on the specific needs …

A Change Of Heart: Understanding Spirituality Following A Shift In Values Or Beliefs In Young Adults, Aaron Boggs

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

As a counselor, how does one sit with others who have experienced a dramatic change in their belief system and values? This paper seeks to identify the effects of a significant change in values or beliefs on young adults and the recovery of the spiritual dimension of their lives. Spirituality, defined as an individual's inner process to define their purpose, meaning, and values through a connection to others (which may include God) and themselves, is an increasingly important component to consider in assessment and therapy. The case study of Angela and the personal journey of the author illustrate the psychological …

Reciprocity: Caring For America's Caregivers, Courtney Dunn

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Should families be forced to choose between the health of a caregiver and patient? Through the eyes of a woman caring for her husband with Alzheimer's disease, we see that family caregivers suffer tremendous amounts of stress while caring for the patient. Despite the time and efforts required to care for someone with Alzheimer's disease, people every day choose this as an alternative to out-of-home care. This often leads to depression, anxiety, and physical stress which can result in series medical issues. Considering the increase of people with Alzheimer's disease in the United States, this article argues that support programs …

School-Based Traumatic Brain Injury And Concussion Management Program, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), including concussions, can result in a constellation of physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that affect students’ well-being and performance at school. Despite these effects, school personnel remain underprepared identify, educate, and assist this population of students. This article describes a model of service delivery for students with TBI in a large urban school district. The district's TBI Program and Concussion Management Team addresses unique issues related to assessment, intervention, and transition planning for this population of students, as well as prevention and education efforts in the district as a whole.

This model involved designating a …

Counseling Perpetrators Of Violence: Applying The Invitational Approach To Male Professional Ice Hockey Players, Barbara Katic

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Aggression and violence are common characteristics of professional ice hockey games. While hockey players are encouraged to be aggressive on-ice, these behaviors are not welcomed off the ice. Instances of athlete aggression occurring outside the context of professional sporting events have been documented, particularly within interpersonal relationships. In order to address this issue, the process of counseling professional male ice hockey players must be considered. The invitational approach, as outlined by Alan Jenkins, can be used to take into account the contradictions of violence and aggression in professional sporting contexts. Rather than label perpetrators of abuse with psychological shortcomings, invitational …

Beyond The Three-Category Model: An Exploration Of Sexual Orientation In Women Aged 18 And Older, Julie C. Wrocklage

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This qualitative study increases our understanding of sexual orientation in women aged 18 and older whose experiences do not fit within the three-category (heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual) model of sexual orientation. Through in-depth interviewing, this study explored the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of five women who described their sexual orientation as 'unlabeled', 'mostly heterosexual', and/or reported experiencing sexual fluidity. The results suggest that gender is not always the determining factor in an individual's experience of attraction and that the three-category model is an oversimplification of the complexity inherent in sexual orientation. The lived experience of the women in this study calls …

An Exploration Of The Prevalence Of Advocacy Efforts And The Role Of The School Counselor In Lgbt Student Advocacy, Lacey Beatrice Berry

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students are at a higher risk than their heterosexual and cisgender peers for harassment, depression, suicidal ideation and attempts, and engagement in risky behaviors. In an attempt to combat the marginalization of LGBT students in schools, advocacy organizations and research have provided evidence of the value of an LGBT-inclusive organization or club, LGBT-inclusive harassment and discrimination policies, and LGBT-inclusive curricula, access to resources, and staff trainings. A gap in the literature indicates the need for examining the school counselor's role in advocating for LGBT students, as well as the barriers that may be preventing …

Development Of The Transgender Attitudes And Knowledge Scale (Trans) And Evangelical Christians' Attitudes Toward Transgender, Yasuko Kanamori

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In recent years, issues surrounding transgender have gained more media and legal attention than ever before, contributing to rapidly shifting views on gender around the world. In the U.S., views of evangelical Christians on social issues are of particular interest because of the ways in which Christian thought has impacted the setting of various norms in this nation. Yet, to date, there are no known studies that have explored evangelical Christians' attitudes toward transgender persons. To address the shortcomings in the existing literature, the first phase of this study developed and validated a contextually relevant scale. A multi-phase creation and …

Challenges And Supports During The Transition From High School To College For Students With Traumatic Brain Injuries, Michaela M. Kramer, Susan C. Davies

Counselor Education and Human Services Faculty Publications

Students who have sustained traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) may experience a number of consequences, all of which can impede the transition from high school to postsecondary educational settings. This study, which relied on interviews with students who had sustained TBIs and who had persistent problems related to their traumas, helped gain an understanding of their postsecondary transition experiences. Students’ parents were also interviewed to provide a point of comparison. The reports of these students—all of whom were enrolled in college at the time of the study—revealed significant challenges with attention and focus, fatigue, short-term memory, and social situations. Comments from …

The Influence Of Age, Gender, And Leisure On The Life Satisfaction Of Widowed Older Adults, Marcela Kepic

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Spousal loss can be a stressful life event for older adults and a difficult experience that affects daily life and life satisfaction of older adults. Life satisfaction is considered an important part of successful aging. The purpose of this study was to examine how participation in leisure activities, a person’s gender, and time since spousal loss influence life satisfaction of widowed older adults. A sample of 222 widowed older adults selected from the Americans Changing Lives (ACL) dataset was used in order to determine the relationship and impact of predictor variables on time since spousal loss, change in physical leisure …

Helping Students Achieve Their Goals : The Experience Of Working With Students With Mental Health Concerns In A Residence Hall, Kevin P. Schafer

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Individuals living with a mental health issue and attending college may experience significant opportunities for growth and also personal challenges in their development into young adulthood. Residence hall directors may be instrumental in assisting this population during their college years. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experience of residence hall directors working specifically with students with mental health concerns. Grounded in Relational-Cultural-Theory and Chickering’s Student Developmental Theory this study was a two phase study conducted at universities and colleges in the northeast United States. Utilizing a basic qualitative approach deductive coding was used to examine the …

Priming And The Activation Of The God Attachment System, Kevin Conner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Attachment theorists seek to understand the development of attachment bonds in childhood and how these bonds serve as the foundation of continued close-relationship development in adulthood. These attachment bonds are established early through the development of internal working models of attachment, yet they may continue to be susceptible to change when opposing attachment information is received. Due to the potential plasticity of attachment bonds, researchers have considered priming, the introduction of cues in order to interact with attachment working models, as a means to stimulate change toward more secure attachment representations, resulting in potential health benefits. In religious individuals, one …

The Impact Of A Christian Adaptation To Mindfulness Training On Stress, Religious Coping, And God Attachment: A Randomized Trial, Kristy Ford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Multicultural sensitivity requires consideration of a client’s personal belief system in the administration of ethical and effective mental health treatments. Religiously accommodative treatments seek to increase therapeutic effectiveness, enhancing empirically supported treatments by adapting interventions as needed to respectfully incorporate the worldview of the client. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a religiously accommodative treatment in a Christian sample. Volunteer participants (n=78) were randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions. The Christian mindfulness training (CMT) group protocol was explicitly adapted to a Christian worldview, while the conventional mindfulness training (MT) group protocol lacked explicit …

2016 May Newsletter, Nancy Rockey

Human Subject Research Archive

No abstract provided.