Counseling Psychology Commons^™

An Investigation Of Posttraumatic Growth Experienced By Parents After A Miscarriage, Barbara Elizabeth Powell Boyd

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

This quantitative study examined relationships between demographic and pregnancy loss related predictors and scores on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Participants included 355 women and men who had experienced at least one miscarriage before January 1, 2018. Data were collected through an online survey that consisted of the 21-item PTGI and a demographic and pregnancy loss related factors information sheet. Demographic information collected included gender, age, ethnicity, race, annual household income, and relationship status. Pregnancy loss related factors collected included number of pregnancies, number of miscarriages, length of gestation, assistance with conceiving, and whether the participant …

Multiple And Intersecting Experiences Of Women In Prostitution: Improving Access To Helping Services, Kathryn Hodges, Sarah Burch

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

When women involved in prostitution experience multiple and intersecting needs, they may face barriers in accessing help and support. These barriers can include geographical location and opening hours of agencies, limited childcare support, and a lack of female-only provision. As a result, women are frequently disadvantaged, and their personal safety put at risk, as they become increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, particularly if they do not have access to secure accommodation. This research project seeks to understand the choices and decisions women make when they engage with helping services. The findings report on an in-depth qualitative study with 11 women involved …

When A Stone Is Not A Stone: Memories Of Clerical Abuse, Charles V. Sords

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

From the fourth to the sixth grades, Charles V. Sords suffered traumatic sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. He suppressed these memories, yet the pain of what happened impacted every aspect of his life. As an adult, several strong, sensory experiences brought the truth of his childhood into focus. He confronted the Church—and the system that protected clerical criminals. This memoir is an account of childhood sexual abuse, the particularly shameful nature of being raped by priests, and how the Catholic Church’s method of handling this and similarly horrifying revelations has re-traumatized survivors.

Suicide And Neoliberalism: An Imminent Critique Of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Noël Ingram

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

In her paper, “Suicide and Neoliberalism: An Imminent Critique of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy,” Noël Ingram, following the tradition of scholars such as Philip Cushman and Mark E. Button, challenges the dominant discursive framework of suicide through an examination of one of the dominant psychological therapeutic frameworks used to understand and treat suicidal ideation, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Ingram argues that CBT assumes the site of disorder is situated in the atomized neoliberal subject whose failure to think and behave rationally has led to their suicide attempt. Further, Ingram discusses how the framework of CBT is influenced by inherent neoliberal assumptions with its …

Flawed Goddesses: An Exploration Of Expressive Arts Therapy Theory Through Personal Narrative, Karen Estrella, Lora Williams

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

Flawed Goddesses is a graphic arts and performance-based exploration of Jungian theory applied to Expressive Arts Therapy for healing the psyches of breast cancer patients. Jungian approaches within expressive arts therapy use active imagination, myth, archetypes and creative exploration. Dr. Karen Estrella, Expressive Arts Therapy core faculty, brings her interest and research into the ways in which personal narrative shapes theory building - in particular she will make reference to Gloria Anzaludua's and bell hooks' work. Lora Williams, first year Expressive Arts Therapy master’s student, brings her writing and artistic explorations from her own breast cancer recovery journey. Together, they …

Adolescent Substance Abuse Patients Within The Therapeutic Alliance: An Integrative Literature Review, Emily Decker

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Background: Adolescent patients with substance use disorders (SUD) struggle with seeking treatment, staying motivated during treatment, and are at a higher risk of relapse following treatment compared with other SUD patients. A positive therapeutic alliance between provider and patient has been shown to positively affect treatment outcomes. Therefore, describing interpersonal patient traits which influence this alliance is integral to keeping patients in treatment and preventing relapse post-treatment.

Objectives: The purpose of this integrative review was to identify interpersonal characteristics of adolescent patients with a substance use disorder which can significantly influence their therapeutic alliance with the provider, ultimately leading to …

Medical Decision Making Among Individuals With A Variant Of Uncertain Significance In A Hereditary Cancer Gene And Those With A Chek2 Pathogenic Variant, Deanna J. Almanza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite national guidelines, women with a BRCA VUS or CHEK2 pathogenic variant are choosing to have risk-reducing surgeries such as bilateral mastectomies which are not aligned with their level of cancer risk based on genetic test results alone. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 6 women with a BRCA VUS and 12 with a CHEK2 pathogenic variant exploring the factors influencing their decision-making process when considering medical management options. Patients from a cancer registry agreed to a recorded telephone interview. Coding was performed using the main constructs from the Ottawa Patient Decision Guide including: knowledge, uncertainty, values, and support. Iterative …

Painting Intimacy: Art-Based Research Of Intimacy, Michal Lev

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This art-based research explores whether — and, if so, how — the process of painting, together with witnessing and reflection on the process and imagery, further an understanding of intimacy. The research also examines the conditions that favor intimacy, the obstacles to intimacy, and the particular features of artistic media, processes and reflection, through the editing of video footage, that can further the intimate experience. The participants in the study were five adults (including the researcher) between the ages of thirty and eighty who were familiar with the creation of visual art. Among them were three women and two men …

How To Make School-Based Mental Health Work, Jenny Wilhoite

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

This session is designed to give an overview of how to create a School-Based Mental Health program that benefits students on all tiers, providing universal prevention, early intervention, and intensive services for at-risk students. Meeting the unmet needs of students with mental health challenges impacts student attendance, behavioral and academic outcomes, and discipline in a positive way.

Unveiling The Mask:Sexual Trauma's Impact On Academic Achievement, Behavior, And Self-Identity, Teshaunda Hannor-Walker, Sarah Kitchens, Lacey Ricks

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Sexual trauma is an unfortunate but a common and often masked experience for many students in America. While sexual trauma in itself is not a mental health disorder, it can become a risk factor for many academic and mental health problems. Trauma-informed schools can play an important role in helping students deal with the aftercare of a traumatic experience.

Student Wellbeing Matters! Use Positive Psychology Interventions To Help Your Students Achieve And Succeed., Andrea A. Francis

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI), grounded in the psychological theory of Wellbeing (Seligman, 2002) are pathways to a life of purpose and meaning. Each intervention is proved to not only reduce anxiety and increase optimism, but to create protective factors needed to cope with stress, anxiety and trauma.

Internal Family Systems Informed Supervision: A Grounded Theory Inquiry, Daniel A. Reed

Dissertations

Internal family systems (IFS) is a meta-model of psychotherapy growing in popularity in the United States and internationally. In this process-oriented model, the psychotherapist supports clients in getting into relationship with parts of their experience to offer relief for aspects of themselves that have been stuck in tiring protective roles and provide corrective experiences for vulnerable aspects of themselves that have been stuck with limting beliefs and overwhelming feelings.

Coinciding with the IFS model's increased popularity, the evidence base for the efficacy of psychotherapists using IFS with clients continues to increase. In 2015, the United States Department of Health and …

Counseling Center Clinicians Experience Providing Assessments Of Risk To Self Vs Risk To Others, Jeffrey W. Pollard, David J. Disabato, Paul D. Polychronis, Mario J. Scalora

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

As part of collecting information for the purpose of threat assessment and management regarding a person of concern within an institution of higher education, a threat assessment and management team or another institutional official may request that a campus counseling center conduct a risk assessment of dangerousness-to-others. This study measured counseling center clinicians’ training and experience in conducting risk assessments of dangerousness-to-others. Survey data from mental health providers practicing in counseling centers within institutions of higher education revealed that these practitioners had significantly less training and experience in assessing dangerousness-to-others as compared to the training and experience they have in …

An Exploration Of The Experience Of Adults With Learning Disabilities Through Art, Adi Greenboim-Zimchoni

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study employed arts-based research with phenomenological, qualitative inquiry to understand and explore the perspectives of adults with learning disabilities and their sense of self and support in inclusive and special education classrooms in Israel during their school years. In this study, the researcher attempted to take Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1979) one step further by examining the participants’ feelings and relationships with the people in their daily lives during childhood. The researcher met with 12 participants ages 18-31 diagnosed with learning disabilities between third and eleventh grade. Participants created drawings illustrating how they felt about teachers, parents, friends and …

Wounded Heroes And Heroic Vocations: Heroism And The Storied Lives Of Therapists, Peter Bray

Heroism Science

For many the world can be a dangerous place. Life is random. Survival is conditional, and individuals inevitably sustain physical and psychological wounds along the way. Challenged by change, human beings seek meaning in the making and remaking of personal myths that acknowledge both failure and the heroic achievement to endure and flourish. Revealing the heroic character of their creators, this impulse to make and share stories also elevates prosaic, day-to-day struggles into inspirational tales that can transcend context and speak into others’ lives. The sharing of stories permits others to purposefully consider their own struggles and can inspires them …

Latino/Hispanic Community Adults’ Healthcare Experience In A New Mexico Borderland Region, Hsiu-Lan Cheng, Anna Lopez, Jamey L. Rislin, Helen Youngju Kim, Joshua Turner, Heather Terhorst-Miller, Jessica Lopez-Harder, Chu Hui Cha

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

This study identifies factors associated with Latino/Hispanic adults’ healthcare experiences in a county along the U.S.-Mexico Border designated by the government as a geographic primary care, mental health, and dental health professional shortage area. An interpretative phenomenological approach was applied to analyze qualitative data collected through focus group interviews with ten Latino/Hispanic healthcare patients. Factors associated with positive healthcare experiences included short wait times, availability of same-day appointments, team-based care, and good interpersonal communication. Factors associated with negative healthcare experiences included long wait times, deficient communication (e.g., lack of provider-patient, provider-provider, and agency-patient communication), providers’ poor interpersonal skills, and perceived …

Online Blaming And Intimate Partner Violence: A Content Analysis Of Social Media Comments, Jason Whiting, Rachael Dansby Olufowote, Jaclyn D. Cravens-Pickens, Alyssa Banford Witting

The Qualitative Report

Social media has become a ubiquitous form of interacting and sharing information. However, comments on social media sites are often aggressive and contemptuous, especially when topics are controversial or politically charged. For example, discussion of intimate partner violence (IPV) tends to provoke strong reactions from outsiders, who make angry or blaming remarks about those involved. Although IPV is common, it has not been widely discussed in popular media until recent years when high-profile cases of abuse have come to light. In 2016, a celebrity accusation of domestic violence led to thousands of comments on social media, with outsiders weighing in …

A Physical Therapy Intervention To Advance Cognitive And Motor Skills: A Single Subject Study Of A Young Child With Cerebral Palsy, Stacey C. Dusing, Reggie T. Harbourne, Michele A. Lobo, Sally Westcott-Mccoy, James A. Bovaird, Audrey E. Kane, Gullnar Syed, Emily C. Marcinowski, Natalie A. Koziol, Shaaron E. Brown

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

No abstract provided.

Coping With Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms: The Role Of Illness Beliefs And Behaviors, Lisa M. Mcandrew, Nicole Sullivan, L. Alison Phillips, Wilfred R. Pigeon, Karen S. Quigley, Fiona Graff, David R. Litke, Drew A. Helmer, Joseph F. Rath

Educational & Counseling Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Background: Medically unexplained syndromes (MUS) are both prevalent and disabling. While illness beliefs and behaviors are thought to maintain MUS-related disability, little is known about which specific behavioral responses to MUS are related to disability or the way in which beliefs and behaviors interact to impact functioning. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between illness beliefs and disability among patients with MUS, and assess the extent to which behaviors mediate this relationship. Methods: The study examined data from the baseline assessment of a multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants were 248 veterans with MUS. Illness …

Ignatian Banners Of Hope And Support For Recently Detained Immigrant Families, Daniela Domínguez

Psychology

University of San Francisco (ASUSF) decided to allocate a portion of its annual budget each year to assist undocumented students with non-tuition dollars, most often used for the growingly expensive cost of living within the Bay Area. One year prior, in 2015, USF’s School of Law launched its Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic to represent unaccompanied children and migrant women with children in Northern California and the Central Valley.

Altogether, these acts of solidarity demonstrate how Jesuit institutions have strived for greater acceptance and empowerment of migrants and refugees. Contributing to this effort, the collection of essays in this book …