Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Clinical health psychology'

The purpose of writing Pastoral Health and Burnout: Spiritual Maturity, Emotional Health, and Physical Environment is to integrate biblical and psychological insights to test three suspected factors of burnout among senior pastors. This is accomplished through the creation of the Ream Pastoral Health Scale (RPHS), a 60-question Likert scale survey designed to assess the health of a senior pastor according to spiritual maturity, emotional health, and physical environment. The RPHS was validated using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI is a nationally recognized assessment tool for measuring burnout in the secular word. Eighty-three Christian and Missionary Alliance senior pastors from various districts in the United States were surveyed with the Ream Pastoral Health Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Strong correlations were found between the RPHS and the MBI.

This parent training program was designed to be utilized within the Early Head Start Program. The proposed program is an eight-module program design to be implemented in eight sessions, two hours each, for a one-month duration. The aim of the parent training program is to increase parent participation in their child’s therapy sessions. The participants are parents of children with developmental delays who are found to be eligible for the Early Head Start Program. Through attending the parent training program, several outcomes are likely to occur including, increased social and emotional developmental outcomes for the child, a stronger parent-child bond, an increased awareness for the parent regarding how to effectively promote learning for their child with special needs, a more authoritative parenting style to be adopted by the parents, and a decreased likelihood of abuse and neglect for the child. The proposed parent training program provides a parent training implementation outline, an initial parent survey, and several quizzes to determine the parent’s competency throughout the modules. Suggestions for future research, discussions of strengths and limitations, and program evaluations were offered for discussion.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine licensed mental health professionals' attitudes towards rape survivors. Research indicates that the attitudes of police officers, mental health professionals, and the general public may influence the psychological adjustment of rape survivors and, consequently, whether or not that person seeks mental health treatment after the assault (Vincent, 2009). The negative impacts of rape on a person may not be specific only to the act of violence, but may also include secondary victimization from the survivors' negative experiences with authorities such as legal and mental health professionals (Campbell & Raja, 1999) who may hold negative beliefs about sexual assault and rape survivors (Nagel, Matsuo, McIntyre, & Morrison, 2005). Exposure to these negative beliefs held by others may be associated with negative secondary emotions in the survivor, such as guilt; guilt associated with actions taken or not taken in the context of rape has been observed to be positively correlated with posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, low self-esteem, social anxiety, and suicidal ideation (Kubany, Abueg, Owens, Brennan, Kaplan, & Watson, 1995). It is therefore important to examine the attitudes licensed mental health workers hold towards rape survivors, as these rape survivors may seek services from mental health professionals, and the clinicians' attitudes towards these clients' experiences may significantly impact survivors' recovery from a sexual assault. In addition to measuring the acceptance of rape myths in licensed mental health providers, this study aims to explore how demographic variables in mental health professionals, such as gender, type of graduate degree, or participant rape survivor status, are related to the attitudes participants report about sexual assault. It was hypothesized that male study participants would attribute greater responsibility to survivors than female study participants would, based on the results of the updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, and congruent with published research highlighting this gender difference (Grubb & Harrower, 2009). It was hypothesized that mental health providers who have had more years of training in their graduate degree program would report lower levels of rape myth acceptance compared with those who had a shorter degree program. It was also hypothesized that participants who themselves identified as a rape survivor or who had a close friend or family member who is a survivor would attribute less responsibility to rape survivors, as research supports the observation that those who identify as survivors or friends of survivors may reject negative biases towards sexual assault survivors.

After completing both independent t-tests and Mann-Whitney U statistical analyses, gender identity was the only demographic for which statistically significant mean differences were seen in total rape myth acceptance scores (p = .012). This finding is not surprising, as much of the current literature supports that men, in general, attribute more blame to rape survivors than women. Prior to the current study there was no published research using licensed mental health providers as participants in a study using the updated Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale. Data gathered from the current study will therefore offer a valuable contribution to the literature on this topic. Further, it is hoped that this data can be used in the development of graduate programs, continuing education courses, and didactic seminars that debunk rape myths and promote competency around rape survivor issues.

This depth psychological study explores the possibility that the drawing and subsequent recognition of chaotic looking irregular and misshapen shapes, lines, and marks applied in a lopsided and unbalanced manner within and protruding outside a mandala circle represent the beginning of a psychological development in the patient's psyche. Such a shift in the psyche may set the stage for using mandala psychology to facilitate the psychotherapeutic work of gathering and containing additional destructive and shadowy psychological material.

A retrospective single case study design is combined with a heuristic approach to discover the effects of producing an asymmetrical mandala, as described above, while following the chaotic mandala images through a change in the plot line of the research/participant's psychological story. Information is collected and outlined for the depth psychotherapy community that describes the process of mandala psychology from this vantage point of unbalanced and chaotic mandalas, illustrating the mandala's usefulness as a container for psychological and emotional chaos. The change in the plot line of the subject's mandala story is compared to and amplified with the structure of the plot line of the prototypical fairytale narrative at the moment when the darkly woven female character of the witch enters the narrative. This mythological component is introduced to enrich the telling of this case study. The archetypal analysis hypothesizes that at the moment the research/subject engaged her chaotic mandalas, the shift she experienced represented the collective and empowering primal energy of the dark energies of the feminine, personified for this study as the witch. Key words include: asymmetrical, mandala, chaos, case study, witch, art therapy, creative, container, chaotic images, destructive psychological material, dark feminine, fairy tale.

Throughout the United States are institutions abundant with violent offenders who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI). The decision to release these insanity acquittees into the community is a vital one, both for the patient and the larger community. While these decisions should be informed by evaluations that combine clinicians’ opinions with validated tools of assessment, no standard of care regarding such evaluations exists. Forensic specialists are thus often left to base discharge decisions on clinical judgment alone. This dissertation assumed a critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature relevant to conditional release decisions of NGI patients, including the research on structured assessment of risk of future violence. Based on this critical review, the author proposed recommendations for five standards to enhance conditional release decision-making for violent offenders in forensic settings: (a) Adherence to professional and ethical conduct; (b) documentation of patient progress; (c) incorporation of empirically-validated risk assessment tools; (d) creation of a comprehensive release plan; (e) verification of patient’s commitment to successful reintegration. This dissertation additionally examined the strengths and limitations of the critical review strategy, as well as delineated areas for research to empirically evaluate the recommended standards and promote improved quality of conditional release evaluation for NGI acquittees.

Meditation is increasingly integrated into therapeutic interventions. Metta (loving-kindness) meditation, which cultivates compassion, is relatively unstudied. Metta’s emphasis on compassion has spurred speculation that metta meditation may benefit mental health professionals at risk for compassion fatigue, a condition characterized by depression-like symptoms that results from paying witness to others’ trauma. The current study employed psychological phenomenology—a qualitative research methodology which uncovers the essential meaning of an experience—to explore mental health professionals’ lived experiences of metta meditation. Moustakas’s recommendations for phenomenology guided data collection and analysis. Semi-structured interviews with 17 mental health professionals, clinicians and clinical supervisors, yielded 58 invariant components clustered into eight themes regarding metta meditation experience. These themes were used to write textural descriptions for each participant, from which a textural composite was created. Structural mechanisms interwoven into the composite created the essential description of participants’ lived experience of metta meditation. Implications are discussed.

Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) is a pathological preoccupation with muscularity, more common in men than in women. MD is estimated to affect several hundreds of thousands of individuals. There has been little research related to MD in the male adolescent population and the prevalence is unknown. The mean age of onset of MD is estimated to be 19 years, and sports participation increases the risk for developing MD as well as other psychological difficulties. The pilot study revealed a potential relationship between MD symptoms and athletic and academic performance, low levels of self-esteem, high levels of perfectionist qualities, and use of performance-enhancing drugs. This study was conducted to substantiate previous findings and to understand MD symptomatology among male adolescent student athletes and its relation to athletic and academic performance as well as media influence, low levels of self-esteem, high levels of perfectionist qualities, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Participants included 67 male student athletes ages 14 through 18 who completed a four-page questionnaire. Results showed that MD symptomatology is prevalent among male high school athletes and is positively correlated with perfectionism and media influence. Current findings indicate the need for school programs and treatments to address MD symptoms. Further, the results offer important implications for school psychologists to make meaningful contributions in the school system through professional development to staff, counseling for students, and collaboration with parents.

Negative social reactions that sexual assault survivors receive upon disclosure have been correlated with psychological distress such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and problem drinking. However, the impact of ethnicity in the relationship between unsupportive reactions to assault disclosure and the psychological sequelae remains unclear. Using hierarchical linear regressions and a sample of 665 African-American, Latina, and Caucasian female adult sexual assault survivors, the present study examined the role of ethnicity in that relationship. The results suggest that ethnicity moderates the influence of negative disclosure reactions on psychological symptoms, however, the moderation impact was not similar across races and psychological outcomes. With regard to posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, contrary to expectations, African-Americans were less impacted by negative reactions as compared to Caucasians. However, as predicted, more African-Americans and Latinas reported problem drinking upon receiving unsupportive responses than Caucasians.

Research has shown that being a mental health therapist (MHT) is an extremely stressful vocation and often leads to burnout (Gibson, 2009). Evidence supports that humor and mindfulness assist in mitigating the negative effects of stress and burnout (Malinoski, 2013; Brown & Ryan, 2003). It is also known that the effective use of humor (McGhee, 2010a) and mindfulness practices (Hayes, 2005) can be learned, practiced, and integrated into daily interactions across the lifespan. This research examined humor styles, trait mindfulness, and burnout of 94 licensed MHTs in community mental health centers located in Western Massachusetts in an attempt to add to research regarding burnout and protective factors that may minimize the impact of burnout.

Results found that MHTs with higher scores of trait mindfulness reported reduced levels of burnout, which supports existing research. Additionally, those reporting higher frequency of maladaptive styles of humor tend to report higher levels of Depersonalization. MHTs who reported the regular use of affiliative types of humor reported a lower rate of Emotional Exhaustion. These findings may be used to inform future pre-service and in-service training of MHTs to include attention to the possible protective factors of adaptive humor styles and trait mindfulness in an effort to prevent burnout among practicing MHTs thereby improving longevity in the field.

This critical analysis of the literature explores the potential of liberation psychology to address the sequelae of historical trauma in Native American communities. 21st century Native America faces significant health and wellness challenges including socio-economic disparities, interpersonal violence, substance abuse, psycho-spiritual distress, and physical health issues (Brave Heart, 2004; Dickerson & Johnson, 2010; Manson, 2000; Manson, Beals, Klein, Croy, & AI-SUPERPFP, 2005; United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2001). The literature questions the validity of mainstream psychological science to effectively conceptualize and treat Native Americans, and calls for the identification of specific, culturally relevant interventions to increase physical and psychological wellness (Duran, 2006; Manson, 2000; Wendt & Gone, 2011). The concept of historical trauma helps to elucidate the psycho-spiritual distress experienced by many Native Americans, including internalized oppression, as the sequelae of unhealed wounds from 500 years of physical and cultural genocide (Brave Heart, Chase, Elkins, & Altschul, 2011; Duran, 2006; Gone & Alcantara, 2007; Manson, 2000; Struthers & Lowe, 2003; Whitbeck, 2006). Duran, Firehammer, and Gonzalez (2008) suggest a liberation psychology approach may alleviate suffering related to historical trauma. This dissertation further integrates the literature on the historical trauma response with the literature on liberation psychology. Native American wellness goals are identified in the literature of scholars, researchers, practitioners, activists, community members, and allies. Concepts and strategies from a liberation psychology framework are then explored for their potential to help illuminate challenges, address needs, and support goals, in alignment with cultural values and work currently being done in this field. Implications in the areas of epistemology, research, clinical practice, practitioner training, and public acknowledgement are explored in depth, and recommendations for incorporating liberatory strategies in therapeutic interventions are made. This dissertation also identifies its own theoretical and methodological limitations, and proposes areas for future investigation. Emerging hypotheses suggest that incorporating liberatory practices in therapeutic work with Native American communities may offer a congruent and compatible pathway to promote psychological well-being in this community.

Personal biases exhibited by mental health professionals can adversely affect treatment outcomes (Servais & Saunders, 2007; Currin, Waller, & Schmidt, 2009). Eating disorders are often stigmatized and ultimately marginalized even within professional realms, thereby presenting (1) an unnecessary barrier to treatment and (2) adverse consequences for affected individuals (Hackler, Vogel, & Wade, 2010; Roehrig & McLean, 2010; Ebneter, Latner, & O'Brien, 2011; Walker & Lloyd, 2011). Conjunctively, the presence of weight discrimination has increased drastically in recent years. (Bannon, Hunter-Reel, Wilson, & Karlin, 2009). This study assessed levels of weight-related and eating disorder-related stigma in a sample of clinical psychology doctoral students.