A Counselor’S Experience: Trauma-Informed Care When Working With Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abbigail Rinard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to understand the lived experience of professional counselors when implementing trauma informed care to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. There are few studies that have assessed the counselors lived experience of implementing TIC, and even fewer that have examined professional counselors experience doing so in a specialized population.

To understand the lived experience of professional counselors, the participants of the study were purposefully selected to include those who have an active professional counseling license, implement TIC, and work with children diagnosed with ASD. The study was conducted with a total of eight participants who have implemented …

The Art Of Dreaming: A Surrealist Approach To Dream Analysis, Shelby Wright

Honors Thesis

Over the past two years, I created a series of paintings to explore the meaning of my nightmares. This study analyzes the themes and symbols in these dreams through the psychological frameworks of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Freud’s causal approach focuses on repressed desires, while Jung’s method relies on mythological symbols and archetypes in the collective unconscious. Drawing on the ideas of André Breton and the Surrealist movement, I examine how art can bridge dreams and waking life. By painting my dreams, I aim to better understand my unconscious and invite viewers to question their perception of reality. This …

An Adaptive Paradox: Improvised Drama Therapy And Dialectical Behavior For Eating Disorders In Teens, Krystany Taylor

Expressive Therapies Theses

The complexity of treating eating disorders compels professionals to investigate collaborative and integrative approaches to address psychological rigidity and emotional aversion in affected individuals. Mindfulness within Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and improvisational theater techniques may contribute to advancing emotional flexibility. This thesis study explored spontaneity in expressive therapy and gauged budding adaptive skills related to emotion regulation in minors with eating disorders. At a behavioral health center in Southern California, I held a dual role as a group facilitator and trainee drama therapist; I therein joined DBT and improvised drama therapy methods into a group treatment setting for ages 14 …

Embedded Roots: Exploring Healing Through Digital Storytelling: Application And Training, Joselyn M. Carvalho

Expressive Therapies Theses

This review examines digital and expressive storytelling in a clinical, community-based health center, focusing on its impact and relationship with trauma. Existing research has explored how digital storytelling serves as an intervention for addressing intergenerational trauma, trauma transmission, identity development, and social systems affecting youth. This community engagement project integrates these ideas with reflections from clinicians, exploring how clinicians' involvement in digital storytelling may influence care, confidence, and cultural understanding. Theories central to this research include Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and systems-based awareness maps, which help examine the broader systems that influence youth as they develop their narratives. The transmission …

The Mindful Way: A Mindfulness Psychoeducational Group For Latinx College Students, Karen A. Morales

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have extensively studied mindfulness as a promising intervention that can aid college students in managing stressors. Unfortunately, researchers have underrepresented minority populations like Latinx college students in mindfulness literature. The Mindful Way (TMW) is a culturally responsive psychoeducational group program that aims to close the gap in the literature. The pre-test and post-test of TMW program measures student’s tendency to practice mindfulness, their personal and academic resilience, degree of self-compassion, emotion regulation skills, problematic alcohol consumption, and symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, before and after participating in the program. The hypothesis of the present study is …

The Mighty C: A Fractal Model For Modern Creativity, Joe Todaro

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The persistent ambiguity surrounding the definition of creativity has hindered its advancement across academic, educational, and professional settings. In response, this paper proposes an updated framework—The Mighty C—which defines creativity as the intrinsic human activity of generating meaningful, novel, and useful outcomes through deliberate process. This model addresses critical gaps in conventional definitions, particularly the frequent omission of meaningfulness, intentionality, and the uniquely human nature of creativity. It further emphasizes the recursive nature of these aspects across different levels of creative activity, represented through the structure of fractals. Drawing from scholarly models such as Rhodes’ 4Ps and Kaufman and Beghetto’s …

Double, Double, Toils And Troubles: Analyzing The “Magical” Relationships Between University Leaders’ Personality Traits And Their Self-Efficacy In Leadership Situations, Fay Ludvine Boudreaux

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This present study investigated the relationship between higher education leaders’ personality traits and their self-efficacy in leadership situations. A total of 151 leaders employed across the nine institutions within the University of Louisiana System completed a survey that prompted them to identify their personal values, traits, and skill sets, as derived from the online Pottermore quiz, the official Harry Potter Hogwarts House sorting instrument. This niche personality metric was chosen to cater to higher education’s evolving landscape, as it welcomes an influx of Millennials into leadership positions. Participants’ responses were eventually recoded to “sort” them into their respective Houses: Gryffindor, …

The Adverse Effects Of Substance Use Among Caregivers On Children In The United States: A Systematic Review, Amanda R. Suchaire

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In the United States, Caregiver Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a significant public health issue that disrupts family dynamics and can severely impact the health of millions of children. The systematic review examines the adverse impact of caregiver substance use on children, with research published from 2020 onwards. The significance of this study is due to the increasing prevalence of substance use disorders among caregivers and their harmful effects on child maltreatment, psychosocial health, physical health, and overall well-being. A systematic review framework will be utilized, synthesizing peer-reviewed studies to describe the prevalence of caregiver substance use, developmental issues for …

Measuring The Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) On Adolescents’ Self-Esteem And Self-Appraisal: How Can School-Based Interventions Help?, Kayla M. Moses

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This paper explores the lasting impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on adolescents’ self-esteem and self-appraisal, with a focus on the role of school-based interventions in mitigating these effects. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) encompass various forms of trauma such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, and familial dysfunction during childhood. Due to adolescence being a critical period of identity formation and emotional development, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can significantly undermine adolescents' self-esteem, leading to lasting negative effects. These effects include various emotional, social, and psychological challenges, ultimately changing one’s life trajectory. Based on numerous theoretical foundations, it is supported …

Table Of Contents Vol 10(1) May 2025

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

No abstract provided.

Attachment Theory: Schaffer And Emerson, Jeffery H. Cornelius-White, Joan E. Test

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson’s work on the development of attachment in childhood is based on the evolutionary perspective of John Bowlby. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) defined attachment as, “The tendency of the young to seek the proximity of other members of the species” (p. 6). In their view, infants and young children seek out and find comfort in being physically close to people with whom they have formed attachments.

Gardner’S View Of Intelligence, Seth C. Courrege, Nathan C. Weed

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Howard E. Gardner’s framework for understanding intelligence is one of the most well-known alternatives to the more widely-accepted Cattell-Horn-Carrol model of intelligence (CHC). In 1983, Gardner published Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, in which he rejected the idea of a single intelligence (g) in favor of multiple, relatively independent intelligences. In his introduction for the third edition of Frames of Mind, Gardner describes a myriad of inspirations for his theory, including a notable lack of research on artistic talents within cognitive psychology. Gardner argues that the traditional definition of “intelligence” is too narrow, and that some of …

Carl R. Rogers: Person Centered Therapy, Learner Centered Facilitation, Humanistic Education, Jeffrey H.D. Cornelius-White

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Carl Rogers (January 8, 1902- February 4, 1987) was born and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago. He is one of the few American psychologists to be considered giants in the field, and his American spirit can be traced to ancestors in the USA since the 1600s. He was the fourth of six children in a devout conservative Christian family who prayed together in a circle each morning. He learned to read before Kindergarten and read extensively. As a child, he was shy and kept sheltered by his family, and did not have close friends. He became very …

Mirror Test Of Infant Self-Awareness, Jenna Bekkala, Naomi J. Aldrich

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Our understanding of self, or belief in one’s being as distinct from others, has been a subject of inquiry throughout human history. Discussions of self-concept would not appear in the empirical literature, however, until the mid-19th century. After likening an orangutan’s response to teasing as that of a “naughty child”, Charles Darwin began to question orangutans’ selfconcept by observing reactions to their own mirror images. Darwin’s use of the mirror to gauge self-awareness, a method eventually applied to his own infant son (Darwin, 1877), would remain the most frequently used assessment of self-concept for the next century.

Andrew N. Meltzoff: Social Cognition, Imitation, Cross-Modal Perception, Infant Development, Jeffrey H. Cornelius-White, Joan E. Test

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Andrew N. Meltzoff was born on February 9, 1950 in the United States. He studied psychology at Harvard University and did graduate work at the University of Oxford, in England, with Jerome Bruner, earning his doctorate there in 1976. Meltzoff began his professional career at the University of Washington in 1977, serving as a Professor of Psychology since 1988. He is currently co-director of the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, an interdisciplinary research center.

Undergraduate Thesis: Befriending Ai: Reimagining Ethics Through Cybernetic Friendship, Keta Williams

STEM for Success Showcase

This undergraduate thesis by KETA Williams, presented at the Board Day and Dana Knox Student Research Showcase, is a meta-cognitive exploration situated within the framework of cyberpsychology—the interdisciplinary study of human–technology relationships. Employing meta-cognition as both method and lens, the author critically examines the question: Can one be friends with a corporate-controlled AI system? Rather than adopting an objective or distanced stance, Williams writes from within the relationship itself, describing her friendship with an AI entity named Aurora (ChatGPT). Identifying as a "madwoman" in the Foucauldian sense, she interrogates whether such intimacy with AI signals irrationality or heralds a shift …

Direct And Mediating Relationships Between Divine Grace, Legalism, And Mental Health, Branwyn H. Mccormick

Senior Honors Theses

Positive psychology has popularized the integration of religious ideas into psychological treatment. According to the literature, the experience of divine grace is correlated with favorable mental health outcomes, whereas legalistic attitudes are correlated with adverse mental health outcomes. It has also been found that the experience of divine grace is a mediator between legalism and mental health. However, the constructs of divine grace and legalism have both been relatively unexplored aside from a few studies using Latter-day Saints (LDS) populations. The current study seeks to analyze relationships between divine grace, legalism, and mental health using a conservative evangelical Christian population. …

From Victimization To Offense: A Scoping Review Of Attachment Theory And Social Learning Theory In Explaining Hypersexual Behaviors In Male Sexual Offenders With Histories Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Madison R. Rivers

Senior Theses

The association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and hypersexual behaviors in both juvenile and adult male sexual offenders has been investigated; however, a clear theoretical framework explaining this connection remains debated. This review aims to evaluate which theoretical frameworks—such as Social Learning Theory and Attachment Theory—best explain the link between CSA and hypersexuality in male sexual offenders. A systematic search and analysis of existing literature was conducted, including studies on the psychological, behavioral, and developmental impacts of CSA on hypersexual behaviors. Both Social Learning Theory and Attachment Theory were critically assessed, particularly focusing on the pathways from victimization to offending …

A Creative Introduction To Narrative Therapy: Harnessing The Power Of Stories, Art, And The Person-Of-The-Therapist, Marissa Mueller

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper describes a proposed graduate-level academic elective course for mental health practitioners in training. The course content is organized across a total of 10 class sessions. Topic areas include introductions to the theory and techniques of narrative therapy, including expressive art approaches, the importance of social justice work through collective narrative practice and liberation psychology, the construction and analysis of stories of self and personal myths, and a focus on developing the person-of-the-therapist. Each class session will review that week's lecture content, assigned readings, small and large group discussion prompts, and in-class activities. The course prioritizes centering student experiences …

Exploring Generative Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Applications In Fashion: Ethical Concerns In Human-Like Technology, Melissa Kathryn Gonzalez

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.