Counseling Psychology Commons^™

Easy Effective Counseling: A Strategy For Busy Pastors, Benjamin Karner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors are expected to counsel various people with various problems. However, in most circumstances, pastors have little time to prepare for counseling sessions and cannot be long-term therapists. Therefore, it is critical for the pastor to be able to quickly and effectively give substantial guidance to counselees. The purpose of this project is to develop and implement a pastoral counseling program with a decision management focus. A survey will be conducted with at least one hundred (100) pastors who engage in counseling as part of their regular ministry duties. This project will develop and communicate a practical counseling approach for …

Primary Caregivers Of Children With Williams Syndrome: Posttraumatic Growth And Related Health Outcomes, Laura Slosky

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Current literature on caregivers of children with chronic illnesses and developmental disabilities primarily focuses on negative aspects of adjustment, with maternal stress and depression as common outcome variables (Duvdevany & Abboud, 2003; Shin and Crittenden, 2003). While these pediatric caregivers have been shown to struggle more than caregivers of typically developing children, the possibility of positive psychological outcomes from such an experience is only beginning to be explored (Kim, Greenberg, Seltzer & Krauss, 2003; Scallan, Senior & Reilly, 2010). One such positive outcome is the idea of Posttraumatic Growth (PTG), a construct for which a widely accepted theoretical model …

Investigating Similarities And Differences As Measured By The Durel And Gsq Between Three Subgroups Attending A Local Aa Meeting To Develop A Profile Of Long Term Attendees, Keesha Masean Kerns

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Alcoholics Anonymous groups are growing in popularity due to their cost effectiveness and history of dependability. Although the program clearly has the numbers to support its popularity, skeptics continually analyze its claims of effectiveness through research. While research pertaining to AA is diverse, very little is presented concerning factors that contribute to retention in the program. The primary purpose for this quantitative study was to investigate the similarities and differences in the various stages of participants of a sample attending a local AA program, identify variables that contribute to retention in the AA sample, and to use Grounded Theory to …

Initial Development And Validation Of The Rural Competency Scale, Cassandra Gail Pusateri

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Rurality is a term that can be used to describe rural residency and the cultural characteristics of rural individuals and areas. The counseling profession has increased its attention to culture with the development of the multicultural counseling competencies (Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992) and assessments designed to measure competency levels for providing services to diverse clientele (e.g., Kim, Cartwright, Asay, & D'Andrea, 2003; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Hernandez, 1991; Ponterotto, Gretchen, Utsey, Rieger, & Austin, 2002; Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin, & Wise, 1994). However, the commonly used definitions of culture as well as the instruments available to measure multicultural counseling competence do …

Counselor Educator Knowledge, Experience, Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Jennifer Mills Langeland

Dissertations

Following growing public interest and widespread use, many health professions have begun to explore the attitudes toward, knowledge of and experience with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) of the various stakeholders within their professions. This foundational information has enabled disciplines such as medicine, nursing, psychology, and marriage and family therapy to take a closer look at how students, patients, clients, and faculty think about and utilize CAM and its relevance to their professions. Surveying the practices and attitudes of stakeholders has been an important starting point for professions undertaking the task of integrating these practices into training programs.

This study …

Exploring The Experiences Of Counselor Educators Recognized For Their Excellence In Teaching, Allison E. Buller

Dissertations

Teaching is a deeply held value for counselor educators. Nonetheless, counselor education programs have historically provided only minimal attention to preparing doctoral students to actually teach. Furthermore, little of the research in the field of counselor education addresses the way counselor educators are prepared to teach. Using qualitative methods, this author engaged counselor educators identified as excellent teachers in an examination of meaningful experiences that contributed to their development as faculty in counselor education. By exploring experiences that prepared them to teach, excellent teachers provided the next generation of faculty members with rich descriptive strategies for teacher preparation in counselor …

Counselor Demographics, Client Aggression, Counselor Job Satisfaction, And Confidence In Coping In Residential Treatment Programs, Erik Braun

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Counselors at residential agencies are sometimes assaulted by physically aggressive clients (Flannery & Walker, 2001, 2008). As a possible result of this professional hazard, mental health professionals typically resign from residential counseling positions after approximately 14.6 weeks (Connis, 1979). Although job satisfaction and counselor confidence in coping with client aggression have been widely studied individually in the context of residential settings, researchers have examined these variables together. The overarching purpose of this study was to examine the association between counselor demographic characteristics, agency/environmental characteristics, and crisis intervention training and job satisfaction and confidence in coping with client aggression. Data were …

Barriers To Accommodation Use For Students With Disabilities In Postsecondary Education, Michael James Lyman

Theses and Dissertations

Students with disabilities at the postsecondary level face a number of different barriers to accommodation use. Past research has shown that students with disabilities that use accommodations obtain greater academic achievement and higher graduation rates. Limited research has been conducted to identify barriers to accommodation use, and the research that has been conducted has not sampled a population that was specifically identified as having faced barriers to accommodation use. By interviewing students with disabilities, who had been identified as having faced barriers, this study identified seven themes. Four of the identified themes were considered complex as they contained sub-themes, while …

The Hispanic Mortality Paradox: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of The Longitudinal Literature, J. Ruiz, P. Steffen, Timothy B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Objectives: The current objective was to compare Hispanic mortality rates to those of other racial/ethnic groups in order to investigate the possibility of a Hispanic mortality advantage.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the published longitudinal literature reporting Hispanic individuals’ mortality of any cause compared with that of any other racial/ethnic group.

Results: Across 58 studies (4,615,747 participants), the random effects weighted average effect size was OR = 0.825 (P < .001, 95% CI = 0.75 to 0.91), corresponding to a 17.5% lower risk of mortality among Hispanic populations compared to other racial groups. The difference in mortality risk tended to be greater among older populations and varied as a function of pre-existing health condition, with effects apparent for initially healthy samples and for those with cardiovascular diseases. The results also differed by racial group comparison: Hispanics had lower overall risk for mortality than non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks, but overall higher risk for mortality than Asian Americans.

Conclusions: These findings provide evidence of a small Hispanic mortality advantage, with implications for conceptualizing and addressing racial/ethnic health disparities.

Predictors Of Perfectionism In Latter-Day Saint Students, Preston V. Tenney

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to gain insight into the prevalence, nature and etiology of perfectionism in a sample of devout Latter-day Saint college students at Brigham Young University. A number of variables-including self-conscious emotions, mental health, interpersonal/cognitive style, and religious orientation-were entered into multiple regression models to determine the strongest predictors of perfectionism. Participants were 245 students studying at Brigham Young University in Provo, UT in the spring of 1995. The self-conscious construct of shame demonstrated to be the strongest predictor of perfectionism followed by depression and religious fundamentalism. In addition to these findings, it was found …

Effects Of Teacher Gender On Screening For Social, Emotional, And Behavioral Concerns For A Middle School Population, Susan E. Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD) often experience serious educational difficulties and negative outcomes (Gresham, MacMillan, & Bocian, 1996; Landrum, Tankersley, & Kauffman, 2003; Rock, Fessler, & Church, 1997). School-wide screening to identify students with social, emotional, and behavioral concerns (SEB) allows school personnel to identify at-risk students and connect them with needed resources. Some students appear to be identified disproportionally, with male students identified as at-risk more frequently then female students (Young, Sabbah, Young, Reiser, & Richardson, 2009). There are many possible factors that could contribute to this disproportionate identification. Since screening for EBD is often based on …

Se Habla Inglés Aquí: Las Dificultades En El Tratamiento De La Depresión En Latinos En Los Estados Unidos, Melissa Kim Dundas

World Languages and Cultures

This project attempts to identify and bring to light the issues relating to treatment of Latinos and native Spanish speakers in the United States. The stigma surrounding depression is already strong in the U.S., and when minorities, who tend to have their own views of mental health disorders and who are less likely to seek treatment for any mental health disorder they might have, are added to the picture, the rates of treatment go drastically down. There are many factors that play into whether or not Latinos will seek treatment for depression, many of which revolve around language and culture, …

Preliminary Examination Of International Students' Adjustment And Loneliness Related To Electronic Communications., Timothy B. Smith, David A. Shwalb

Faculty Publications

Electronic communication (e.g., e-mail, internet) may facilitate international students’ adjustment through contacts maintained with their native country. In the present study, the scores of 45 international students on a measure of adjustment and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale were significantly associated with their electronic communications involving their native country but not with general internet or e-mail use. International students’ scores on the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure were positively correlated with their amount of contact with people in their native country but were not correlated with scores on the measures of adjustment or loneliness.

Reducing The Divorce Rate Among Christians In America: Making Premarital Counseling Prerequisite For Marriage, Scott Vail

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

God instituted the covenant of marriage to provide the means by which two individuals become one for life. This covenant between a man and a woman is intended to satisfy the God-given longing each person has to love and be loved for a lifetime. The reality is, according to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2008, the divorce rate in America is nearly fifty percent. To remedy this, the church must require a formal premarital program as a prerequisite for marriage. The result would be fewer divorces and an increase in marital satisfaction. Resources formerly consumed by counseling and ministering …

Fall To Grace, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Fall to Grace (2013) directed by Alexandra Pelosi.

Culturally Congruent Practices In Counseling And Psychotherapy: A Review Of Research., Timothy B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Are mental health interventions that are intentionally made congruent with clients’ cultural contexts more effective than traditional practices? If a large body of empirical data supports an affirmative response to this question, then multiculturalism may be deemed not only legitimate within but integral (primary) to mental health interventions. However, if the data are inconclusive or deemed inadequate, then multiculturalism will remain marginalized (secondary) as an egalitarian ideal, possibly worthy of public praise but privately labeled as “impractical” or worse. All other things being equal, empirical evidence should determine which path will be taken; this chapter will attempt to provide direction.

Student Wellness And The Residency Experience, Joseph Spillman, Laura R. Haddock, Michelle Perepiczka

2010-2016 Archived Posters

This project surveyed MS Mental Health/Marriage Couple and Family /Career residency students. Data was collected over the course of two year s of residencies in a variety of geographic locations to determine what impact the residency experience had on the ProQuol Compassion Satisfaction, burnout and secondary traumatic stress levels of Walden Master’s counseling students. The goal was to use the information to assist Walden faculty in the training, education, and personal support of counseling students in their professional and personal growth and development.

Childhood Rage: Diagnosis And Treatment Strategies For Severe Mood Dysregulation - Part 2: Diagnosis And Treatment, Gary A. Sibcy, John Kuhnley

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Attachments And Neurobiology: Helping Children With Anxiety Disorders And Severe Mood Dysregulation, Gary A. Sibcy, John Kuhnley

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Treating Severely Depressed Adolescents With Integrated, Relational, Cognitive Therapy, Gary A. Sibcy

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.