Counseling Psychology Commons^™

Training Needs Of Counseling Trainees In Corrections: A Survey Of Clinical Directors, Frank Dicataldo, Brett Dejesus, Don Whitworth

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

As the mental health treatment needs of adults and adolescents within the criminal justice system has garnered increasing attention, the training of mental health professionals has increasingly focused on serving individuals in forensic and correctional settings. We surveyed 55 clinical directors of mental health programs in forensic and correctional settings in a New England state. Respondents reported that Clinical Mental Health Counselors (CMHCs) broadly participated in assessment, treatment and supervision within these programs. Counseling experience emerged as the most important knowledge/experience domain for prospective job applicants and CMHCs were rated as providing a large share of the treatment within these …

An Examination Of The Impacts Of Childhood Trauma On Healthy Intimate Relationships In College-Aged African Americans, Broquelynn D. Shepard

Theses and Dissertations

For African Americans, the dynamics of relationships are rooted in childhood experiences of unconditional love, restraint, and respect. These experiences help individuals form their understanding of how relationships function. Experiencing healthy relationships has an enduring impact on social development and interpersonal relationships. However, regarding studies on childhood trauma and intimate relationships, there is insufficient literature that includes African American samples as the primary foci of the research. Due to gaps in extant literature, the present study aims to explore whether experiences of healthy intimate relationship in African Americans are associated with childhood trauma (neglect, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse). Using …

The Person Of The Therapist: Therapists’ Personal Characteristics As Predictors Of Working Alliance And Treatment Outcomes, Alyssa Laura Clements

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Recent years has seen an increase in studies examining the unique contribution that the therapist has on treatment outcomes, which is commonly referred to as “therapist effects” (Barkham et al., 2017). Therapist effects on outcomes are believed to occur primarily via how the therapist’s interpersonal and intrapersonal qualities influence the therapeutic relationship, which in turn influences outcomes (Wampold et al., 2017). The current study focused on professional self-doubt, counseling self-efficacy, and humility because of previous writings about their potential to influence therapists’ interpersonal behaviors. Data was collected from Southwest Behavioral and Health Services (SBHS), a non-profit, comprehensive community behavioral health …

Whiteness And Multiculutral Competence: Counseling Psychology Faculty As Gatekeepers To Understanding Whiteness, Blanka Angyal

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The current phenomenological study aimed to explore how counseling psychology faculty’s understanding of whiteness informs their definition of multicultural competence and practice of psychology. The study presents a conceptual model for researching multicultural competence informed by critical race (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001), feminist standpoint (Smith, 1987, 1997), and intersectional (Collins, 1986; Chrenshaw, 1989) paradigms. Twelve counseling psychology faculty (N=12) teaching in APA-accredited programs were nominated by graduate trainees who deemed them multiculturally competent. Participants’ understanding and experiences of whiteness are described, including the dispositions, behaviors, and academic socialization that propagate whiteness. White faculty’s experience of whiteness and that of faculty …

Skills For Living With Loss, Emily Mcneil

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Grief is a normative but highly life changing experience. Bereavement may disrupt one’s life as well as alter the way in which one lives and takes care of oneself. By approaching an individual’s grief as unique, specific skills and goals can be created to assist them in the midst of their new life. Specific skills and goals include engaging in self-care, developing a routine, and staying connected to others. Through the development of specific skills, one can learn to live with the losses experienced as well as take care of their physical and mental well-being. This talk will focus on …

Do Aces Moderate Expressive Writing Outcomes? Examining The Relationship Between Exposure To Adverse Childhood Experiences And Expressive Writing Outcomes, Nick Vasquez

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Repeated exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increases risks for various physical and mental health problems during adulthood. While research and policy decisions have focused primarily on early interventions and preventions, less research to date has looked at treatment options for adults with high exposure to ACEs. Cognitive behavioral therapies are viewed as an effective alternative; however, the high costs of therapy and limited efficacy for physical health problems warrant research into alternatives. Expressive writing is a well studied alternative to traditional talk-based therapies with limited demographic moderators. However, no research to date has looked at the role of ACEs …

Helping In The Home: Counselors’ Experiences Providing Clients With In-Home Services, Melissa Jane Franzen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Counseling is an essential service that helps individuals work through struggles and live their best lives. Such service now includes providing counseling in clients’ homes. Counselors may require specific training or education to prepare for counseling in a home environment. This need for training and education is due to a lack of knowledge of the lived experiences of counselors providing services in the home. Transcendental phenomenology was used to guide a qualitative exploration into the lived experiences of counselors providing services in clients’ homes. Participants were 7 professional counselors, 5 female and 2 male, having met minimum state licensure requirements …

Rehabilitation Counseling Perceptions And Psychosocial Stressors Of Arab-Immigrant Caregivers Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Maram Alfulayyih

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

This research study provides important insights on the psychosocial stressors faced by U.S. Arab immigrants when raising a child with ASD, their perceptions of rehabilitation counseling, and the implications of rehabilitation counseling practice based on gender, age, education, and race. More specifically, this study has provided a detailed literature review as well as new insights into the challenges faced by the caregivers and recommendations that rehabilitation counselors should consider when helping these families overcome psychosocial issues and adjust to their circumstances. Using the DASS-21 questionnaire and a multi-factor analysis, it has identified specific groups of caregivers that may need help …

Vicarious Traumatization And Quality Of Life Among Supervisees : Testing Moderation And Mediation, Mackenzie Lee Mcnamara

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study sought to replicate and extend existing research (i.e., DelTosta et al., 2019) on predictors of vicarious traumatization among mental health counseling trainees and tested empirically the effects on trainees’ quality of life. The current investigation examined relations among personal distress empathy (PDE), the supervisory working alliance (SWA), mindfulness, vicarious traumatization (VT), and quality of life (QoL) in a sample of 294 mental health counseling trainees in the United States and Canada. Multivariate path analysis was used to test serial mediation of PDE and QoL through the SWA and VT. Additionally, this study examined the extent to which (a) …

Investigating The Role Of Therapist-Client Discussion Of Illness Beliefs On Clients' Treatment Outcome Expectancies And Perceptions Of Working Alliance, Sarah Davina Slotkin

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The working alliance, conceptualized as an emotional bond and client/therapist agreement on tasks and goals is considered integral to psychotherapy success. However, the mechanisms by which the working alliance develops are poorly understood. The Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation is well supported in understanding the role of patient illness beliefs in physical health management. The present study evaluated the role of discussion of psychotherapy clients’ illness beliefs in the development of working alliance in psychotherapy. Further, the contribution of client expectations for psychotherapy on treatment outcomes was investigated as the mechanism by which discussion of illness beliefs contributes to the …

Black Bisexual Women's Experiences Of Growth Following Gendered Racism And Biphobia, Alexandra Agiliga

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The psychological impacts of marginalization have been well documented in the social science literature. Black bisexual women are a group that has experienced marginalization and oppression related to their racial, sexual, and gender identities. What has not yet been examined is the extent to which Black bisexual women report experiencing growth following instances of discrimination. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, this study aimed to explore and understand the growth experiences of Black bisexual women who have experienced biphobia and gendered racism. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with self-identified Black bisexual women, ranging in age from 21 to 63. Nine interviews were completed, …

A Cross Cultural Comparison Of Asian College Students' Well-Being : Exploring The Impact Of Cultural Factors In A Social Cognitive Framework, Jennifer Joy Bordon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study tested the cross-cultural validity of a modified version of Lent and Brown’s (2006, 2008) satisfaction model. Hypothesized predictors and mediators included social-cognitive variables (supports, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goal progress), personality variables (extraversion and emotional stability), self-construal variables (interdependence and independence), as well as a variable that is specifically rooted in Asian culture (i.e., academic family shame). Data of 315 Asian American and 260 Singaporean college students were collected using an online survey in English. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques, showing satisfactory fit of the modified model for both samples. For the Asian American …

Assessment Tools In Clinical And Counseling Psychology, Alea Reifenrath

Undergraduate Research Journal

Evidence-based assessment (EBA) is defined as the use of standardized assessment tools that have research support for their psychometric properties (Jensen-Doss & Hawley, 2010). Assessment is a key aspect of the therapeutic process. It involves screening individuals who are at risk for a particular mental health concern, determining the severity of a given issue, and monitoring the effectiveness of treatment. EBA allows for best practice by providing empirically sound, valid, reliable measures of assessment.

The broad areas of anxiety and depression represent extremely common disorders. Because of their high prevalence, evidence-based assessment tools catered toward depression and anxiety could be …

Understanding The Role That The Internet And Social Media Plays In Suicide Survivor Bereavement, Catherine Merle Perusse

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Every year more than 47,000 individuals die by suicide in the United States, leaving behind numerous family and friends who become suicide survivors. While there are prodigious amounts of research on suicidal behavior, little research has focused on what the surviving family members, friends, and community members need after the loss. Many suicide survivors use social media to address their grief and pain in a very public manner. A constructionist social theory of grief and existential phenomenology provided the framework for this qualitative study to examine the use of the Internet and social media as a forum for those grieving …

Attitudes Toward Seeking Counseling Of Women Residing In Public Housing, Belinda M. Newkirk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Women living in public housing projects experience adverse outcomes because they do not seek treatment for mental illness. It is unclear whether such women have attitudes toward voluntarily accessing mental healthcare services affected by their optimism, experienced stigma, self-efficacy, and resilience. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether the individual determinants of resilience, self-efficacy, experienced stigma, and optimism predicted attitudes toward seeking professional mental health services of women living in public housing based on the self-efficacy, resilience, stigma, optimism, and help-seeking behavior theories. The first research question focused on bivariate correlations among resilience, self-efficacy, experienced stigma, and …

Reflections On The Bgj Anti-Racism Seminar, Michelle Billies

Publications and Research

In this Letter to the Editor, Billies (2021) responds to critical and supportive opinion pieces in the British Gestalt Journal (BGJ) following their plenary presentation at BGJ’s 2018 annual seminar (see Asherson Bartram, 2019; O’Malley, 2019). As author of the companion article "How/ Can Gestalt Therapy Promote Liberation from Anti-Black Racism?” (Billies, 2021), Billies, who identifies as white, discusses the intent at the seminar to support white people to increase accountability and reduce harm in dialogue with people of color, while supporting the work and needs of people of color on their terms from a Gestalt perspective. Describing a fishbowl …

Stress, Coping, And Adjustment Of Young Adults Who Have Transitioned Out Of Foster Care, Helen S. Hogin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current research lacked information on the stress, coping, and adjustment of individuals transitioning to adulthood from foster care. Transitioning out of foster care when adulthood is reached can be challenging, resulting in mental and physical health problems, decline in overall wellbeing, and poor outcomes. Elevated stress can make coping and adjusting to social life more difficult. The purpose of this study was to explore former foster youths’ perspectives and experiences of stress and what coping strategies were effective as they adjusted to society. The transactional model of stress and coping served as the study’s framework. The research questions focused on …

Experience Of Gender Role Expectations And Negotiation In Second Generation Desi Couples, Deepa Patel

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Due to the lack of research on the Desi community, this qualitative study was the first of its kind to investigate the process of gender role expectation and negotiation style among second generation Desi couples. Previous research provided awareness of unequal treatment amongst the male and female genders within the patriarchal structure of the Desi community. However, this study provided a unique understanding on Desi couples’ perspective on gender dynamics. Six couples, ages 25- 35, who were married for at least 3 years and identified as second generation Desi were interviewed in order to gain a deeper understanding of gender …

The Relationship Amongst Faith, Perceived Discrimination, Sexuality Acceptance, And Psychological Well-Being In Black Sexual Minority Individuals, Sandra Fanning

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present study explored the relationship amongst faith, internalized homophobia, outness, perceived discrimination, and psychological well-being in Black sexual minorities (BSM). BSM participants (N = 211) completed an online survey assessing these variables. The result of this study indicate that faith is not related to internalized homophobia, outness, perceived discrimination, or psychological well-being in BSM individuals. However, internalized homophobia, outness, and perceived discrimination all independently predict psychological well-being. Explicitly, greater reports of internalized homophobia, outness, and perceived discrimination predicted worse psychological well-being in participants. However, the effects of internalized homophobia and outness were no longer present when accounting for …

Parenting Stress As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Child Emotional And Behavioral Problems And Parental Readiness For Change, Connor Fais

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current study applied the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983) to parenting behavior, as past research has suggested that increasing parental motivation and readiness for change is associated with greater client participation and improved therapeutic outcomes (Dowell & Ogles, 2010; Karver et al., 2006). The current study attempted to replicate Jones et al.’s (2017) primary findings and add to the current body of literature on parental readiness for change by examining parenting stress as a moderator of the relationship between internalizing and externalizing child problems and parental readiness for change (Jones et al., 2017; Wade & …