Counseling Psychology Commons^™

The Art Of Dying: Living Fully Into The Life To Come, Rob Moll

Alumni Book Gallery

How now shall we die? Death will come to us all, but most of us live our lives as if death does not exist. People are living longer than ever, and medicine has made dying more complicated, more drawn out and more removed from the experience of most people. Death is partitioned off to hospital rooms, separated from our daily lives. Most of us find ourselves at a loss when death approaches. We don't know how to die well. Rob Moll recovers the deeply Christian practice of dying well. For centuries Christians have prepared for the "good death" with particular …

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (Pbss) Across Racial Groups, Sasha Joy Lambert

Dissertations

Alcohol consumption among college students, and the negative alcohol-related consequences that accompany that consumption, have been consistent concerns for colleges and the general public for several decades. Protective behavioral strategies are emerging in the literature as a potentially effective means of reducing harm to students; however, psychometrically sound measures for protective behavioral strategies are only in a development stage at this point. One such measure, the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS), showed particular promise in this area, but previous research suffered from sample limitations, particularly very low sampling of students of color. In the current study, additional items were added …

Implementing An Asca-Informed School Counselor Supervision Model: A Qualitative Field-Based Study, Janet M. Glaes

Dissertations

The American School Counseling Association's (ASCA) National Model has been recognized in the field of professional school counseling as an effective framework for the training and supervision of school counselor interns. Despite this recommendation, school counselor supervision models which incorporate the ASCA model have until recently been rare and are still in the early stages of development. This qualitative study describes the supervision experiences of six pairs of school counselor supervisors and their interns (at the elementary, middle, and high school levels) as they employed an ASCA-based school counselor specific supervision model in their internship practices. The supervision model utilized …

Assessing Michigan School Counselors' Preparedness To Meet The Needs Of Attractional/Sexual Minority Students, J. Frederick Bland

Dissertations

This study assessed the attitudes, skills, knowledge, graduate counseling training, and willingness to engage in professional development of Michigan school counselors regarding issues and concerns of students who identify as lesbian, gay, biattractional, transgender, and students who are questioning their attractional orientation (LGBTQ).

A total of 120 Michigan school counselors completed useable surveys either online or a paper-and-pencil version at a Michigan school counseling conference. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the demographic variables age, gender, ethnicity, attractional/sexual orientation, and professional characteristics such as years of school counseling experience, school level, and school location (urban, suburban, rural). One-way ANOVAs were used …

The Abortion Attitudes Of Counselor, Social Worker, And Nursing Trainees, Mary J. Ball

Dissertations

This study examined the similarities and dissimilarities in abortion attitudes among counselors (CTs, n = 51), social workers (SWTs, n = 42), and nurses in training (NTs, n = 78), based on profession, age, race, gender, and religion. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and standard multiple regression. It was predicted that profession, religion, age, gender, and race would predict the abortion attitudes of CTs, SWTs, and NTs in training. It was also predicted that the attitudes of CTs and SWTs would be most similar, and that both of these groups would hold more positive abortion attitudes than NTs. …

Experienced Clinician’S Understanding And Approach To Treatment With Male Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse, Blendine Perreire Hawkins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The number of males abused sexually as children are significant and while the awareness of the needs of this population has increased, the process in treatment has not been sufficiently examined. The purpose of this study was to explore experienced clinicians' approach and understanding within treatment with adult male survivors of child sexual abuse. A qualitative research design was utilized, using purposeful expert sampling procedures. In this study, data was collected from phone interviews with five participants who were identified as highly experienced clinicians in the area of male survivors of child sexual abuse treatment. Using qualitative methods within phenomenological …

Understanding Posttraumatic Growth Among Individuals With Cancer: The Role Of Social Support And Unsupportive Interactions, Wendy Balliet

Theses and Dissertations

The experience of being diagnosed with and treated for cancer is an extremely stressful experience for most individuals. Historically, the literature on stress and coping has focused on negative outcomes, such as depression and anxiety, in relation to one‘s experience with cancer. Under-represented in the literature has been a theoretical framework that examines positive and transformative experiences that may occur throughout the cancer experience. The current study assessed interpersonal variables that rarely have been investigated in relation to one‘s experience with cancer (i.e., received social support and unsupportive interactions) and their association with depressive symptoms, positive emotion, and posttraumatic growth …

De-Mystifying The Magic: Meaningful Moments In Music Therapy When Working With Children That Have Severe Special Needs, Kayla C. Daly

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The purpose of my study is to explore the “magic” that occurs in these music therapy sessions, and to discover what this word means for those who use it. For the purpose of this study we will define “magic” as having the occurrence of meaningful outcomes or moments in music therapy sessions. This study will attempt to reveal methods and techniques that are being used by music therapists to further facilitate the therapeutic process for children with severe special needs in their lives and everyday experiences. This study included naturalistic inquiry and phenomenological inquiry.

A Butterfly Effect: The Impact Of Marriage And Family Therapy Training On Students' Spouses, Carla M. Dahl, Mary L. Jensen, Jane L. Mccampbell

Faculty Publications

This qualitative study examines the impact of mar- riage and family therapy (MFT) training on the

marriages of trainees. Analysis of data from 18 spouses of alumni from a training program in an evangelical Protestant seminary found participants reporting mostly negative impacts related to time and finances, both negative and positive impacts related to role changes and adjustments, and mostly positive impacts related to marital communication. The additional contribution of this study has to do with the report of an overwhelmingly positive impact of systemic, integrative MFT training on the student’s faith as observed by their spouse and on the …

College Students Who Self-Injure: A Study Of Knowledge And Perceptions Of Self-Injury, Stacey Edwards Clinard

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Archived data was utilized for the present study which examined self-injurious behaviors in a college population. College students, who engage in non-suicidal self-injury, or NSSI, were expected to evidence a higher knowledge base for the behavior than those who do not. The demographic variables of gender and sexual orientation were predicted to be over represented in the NSSI group. Further, this study examines the perceived riskiness of the behavior in individuals who self-injure, as well as their perceptions of others who engage in NSSI. The survey consisted of four sections: demographics, knowledge ofNSSI, experience with NSSI, and perceptions ofNSSI. Individuals …

Spiritual Bypass: A Preliminary Investigation, Harriet L. Glosoff, Craig S. Cashwell, Chereé Hammond

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

The phenomenon of spiritual bypass has received limited attention in the transpersonal psychology and counseling literature and has not been subjected to empirical inquiry. This study examines the phenomenon of spiritual bypass by considering how spirituality, mindfulness, alexithymia (emotional restrictiveness), and narcissism work together to influence depression and anxiety among college students. Results suggested that mindfulness and alexithymia accounted for variance in depression beyond what is accounted for by spirituality and that all 3 factors (mindfulness, alexithymia, and narcissism) accounted for variance in anxiety beyond what is accounted for by spirituality. Implications for counselors are provided.

Urban School Counselors' Perceptions Of Low-Income Families, Rebekah F. Cole

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

There is a paucity of research on the topic of professional school counselors and their perceptions of families. The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative study was to examine how urban professional school counselors perceive low-income families in their schools. To accomplish this investigation, ten school counselors in two urban school districts were interviewed twice and were then sent an email with follow-up questions. The data was analyzed for themes and patterns, which were subjected to verification procedures. Three categories emerged from the data: urban school counselors' perceptions of the low-income families in their schools, effects of school counselors' perceptions on …

The Effectiveness Of Counselors As Care Managers In Improving Self-Management And Medical Outcomes In Persons With Poorly Controlled Diabetes, Ularisi Rebecca Green

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated whether providing counselors as care managers to individuals who were having difficulty managing their Type II diabetes improved their self-management, health, and functioning. Counselors used the Motivational Interviewing Model and met weekly over a six month period with patients who had Type II diabetes who had been identified as not functioning well in managing their disease. The success of the intervention was determined by a number of measures including physical symptoms of patients; patients' perceptions of the care they received; and patients' self-efficacy in managing their diabetes. The results of this study suggested that providing counselors as …

The Effects Of Video Self-Modeling On Elementary Students' On-Task Behavior As A Response To Intervention, Anika Kronmiller Bales

Theses and Dissertations

Effective interventions are imperative for students who are at-risk for academic failure. Response to Intervention (RTI), a service delivery framework, is gaining momentum in schools as it aims to provide effective and appropriate interventions of varying degrees. Frequently used in the form of a three-tier process, RTI addresses academic and behavioral deficits for students first at a school-wide level; next, at an individualized level; and finally, at a more intense individualized level. This study examined the effects of video self-modeling (VSM) as a Tier 2 RTI for two students in general education classrooms. Both students exhibited low rates of on-task …

Application And Assessment Of Interpersonal Forgiveness, Anthony Holter, Chad Magnuson, Robert Enright

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Moral issues within psychology have been an object of study since the 1890s (see, for example, Hall, 1891). The majority of studies in the 20th century have centered on themes of justice, not mercy (see, for example, Killen & Smetana, 2006). In the 1980s, almost a century after the emergence of moral psychology, the construct of forgiveness began to emerge as a possible area of basic and applied research within psychology. From its humble beginnings, the psychology of forgiveness has now begun to emerge as a field worthy of researchers’ time. For example, in 1985 a perusal of the American …

On Forgiveness And Healing: Narrative Therapy And The Gospel Story, Lois E. Malcolm, Janet L. Ramsey

Faculty Publications

Psychologists and theologians often talk past each other, particularly when discussing forgiveness. Comparing narrative therapy and the gospel story provides a way to engage the conversation meaningfully, both realities providing ways to transform human lives

Gender Differences In The Prevalence Rates Of Self-Injury Among Individuals Who Suppress Thoughts, Kristina Isaacs

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A previous study (Najmi, Wegner, & Nock, 2007) has concluded that thought suppression and self-injury are related. Gender differences have been contradictory among those who self-injure. However, it has been found that females score higher than males on thought suppression scales (Wegner & Zanakos, 1994). Based on these findings, it was hypothesized that females would suppress their thoughts more than males. It was also hypothesized that females who suppress their thoughts would think about and engage in self-injury more than males who suppress their thoughts. Participants completed both the Self-Injurious Thoughts and Behavior Interview (SITBI) and the White Bear Suppression …

The Impact Of Adherence To Traditional Masculine Gender Role Norms On Anger And Depression, Matthew Charles Genuchi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large scale studies of the incidence and prevalence of psychological disorders have consistently shown that women meet full DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder at twice the rate of men (Kessler et al., 1994; Kessler et al., 2003; NCS-R, 2007; Robins & Reiger, 1991). Some have proposed (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000; Kilmartin, 2005; Pollack, 1998) that the current DSM-IV diagnostic criteria do not adequately reflect the depressive symptoms of some men. Men tend to use more externalizing defenses and distracting coping styles to manage negative affect, and anger is hypothesized as an externalizing symptom of a masculine variation of major …

Constructing A Neuroscientific Pastoral Theology Of Fear And Hope, Jason C. Whitehead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary therapeutic circles utilize the concept of anxiety to describe a variety of disorders. Emotional reductionism is a detriment to the therapeutic community and the persons seeking its help. This dissertation proposes that attention to the emotion of fear clarifies our categorization of particular disorders and challenges emotional reductionism. I propose that the emotion of fear, through its theological relationship to hope, is useful in therapeutic practice for persons who experience trauma and PTSD.

I explore the differences between fear and anxiety by deconstructing anxiety. Through this process, I develop four categories which help the emotion of fear stand independent …

Family Involvement For Children With Disruptive Behaviors: The Role Of Parenting Stress And Motivational Beliefs, Carrie A. Semke, S. Andrew Garbacz, Kyongboon Kwon, Susan M. Sheridan, Kathryn Woods

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Children with disruptive behaviors are at risk for adverse outcomes. Family involvement is a significant predictor of positive child behavior outcomes; however, little research has investigated parent psychological variables that influence family involvement for children with disruptive behaviors. This study investigated the role of parental motivational beliefs (i.e., role construction and efficacy) as a potential mechanism by which parenting stress impacts family involvement for families of children with disruptive behaviors. Results indicated that parent role construction mediated the relation between parenting stress and all aspects of family involvement examined (i.e., home-based involvement, school-based involvement, and home–school communication). Parent efficacy mediated …