It is only over the last two to three decades that the professional literature has reflected a growing interest in therapeutic humor. The purpose of this project was to design and implement a training workshop in therapeutic humor that would give psychotherapists practical techniques to utilize in their clinical work. This research represented the only attempt known to this author in receiving post-test ratings both from the workshop participants as well as from their clients. Due to the field setting nature of the study, it was of a quasi-experimental design. A total of twenty-one therapists and sixty-one clients participated in the study. The three-hour training covered such therapeutic humor techniques such as joke-sharing to enhance client/therapist rapport, telling jokes and stories with metaphoric messages, and aiding clients to become more aware of life's absurdities. The workshop was given varied mental health settings. Pre-test scores on the Situational Humor Response Questionnaire (SHRQ) and the Revised Questionnaire on the Sense of Humor (RQSH) revealed no significant difference between the clinicians who enrolled in the workshop and those who participated as control subjects. Within the limitations of the design, post-test scores appeared to reveal a significant difference between the workshop and control clinicians, with those who attended the training reporting a higher usage of the humor techniques that were covered. Responses on the client post-tests indicated that patients of the workshop clinicians who took the humor questionnaires in the pre-test reported a higher frequency of humor in their sessions than did the patients of the control clinicians. The two pre-test questionnaires failed to predict which clinicians would be more apt to use therapeutic humor. There was a significant negative correlation between the RQSH sub-scale that measured affective inhibition and clinicians' reports of humor implementation. Among the humor techniques offered in the training, telling metaphoric jokes and stories produced higher frequency reports among experimental subjects.

This study addresses the question of how a group of eight Colombian adults, who were persecuted and displaced by political violence, have made sense of their personal survival in the midst of the political turmoil that the country faces. It focuses on the life stories they use to describe their experiences and the explanations available in their social context to talk about their trauma and survival as they make sense of their proactive work with other victims. Eight activist survivors of displacement and political violence were interviewed about their experiences and explanations for their overcoming adversity, and their views on how available academic discourses on the Colombian conflict speak to them. The meaning of politically based trauma and resilience is analyzed within their life stories. A narrative analysis of the transcripts is used to describe the themes that speak about the participants' life experiences coping with the adversities of political violence in Colombia. Trauma and resilience stories are discussed to further an understanding of empowerment, human rights activism and community survival. I suggest that their ways of coping with adversity within the particular historical and socio-economic conditions of Colombia challenge several individualistic Western concepts about trauma: that traumatic responses are universal and therefore, victims of human rights violations presenting certain symptoms should be thought of as “disordered” according to mental health assessments; and that traumatic experiences should be defined as personal experiences; and that there is an essence to traumatic experiences that allow their detachment from the context in which they occur. The participants' ways of coping with adversity illustrate that resilience is both a community and a personal process. The collective dimension of resilience encompasses processes that counteract social trauma. These processes aim to rebuild and sustain social relationships to heal the wounds of trauma and a sense of belonging and personal identity. The personal dimension of resilience processes is embedded in the collective.

This study aimed to determine the reasons why undergraduate students left a selected small, four-year, liberal arts college before finishing their degrees. This study compared the reasons for leaving college given by the withdrawing students to those perceptions of the students' academic advisors and six selected administrators. The issue in question is were these student withdrawals actually necessary or due to inadequacies in the systems on campus servicing the student. The research data, comprised of the responses of 143 withdrawing students, their academic advisors and selected administrators to specific questionnaires, formed the data for analysis to answer three interrelated research questions: (1) What are the timing patterns of when students tend to leave college before completing their degrees? (2) What are the major reasons why students leave college before completing their degrees? (3) What are some recommendations that may aid institutions of higher education in their efforts to improve student retention? The major findings based on the collected data were summarized and presented according to the three research questions that guided this study. The major findings related to the lack of connection, both academic and social, between some withdrawing students and their academic advisors and the six selected administrators. Theoretical recommendations were formulated from the collected data that will aid in the retention efforts on campuses across the country. The recommendations are as follows: (1) Foster an environment that aids in the development of the student's connection with the college; (2) Monitor the progress of each matriculating student on campus; (3) Develop a college specific plan for determining why students are leaving before completing their degrees. Practically speaking, these recommendations will look differently for each college campus. For example, how an institution fosters an environment that aids in the development of a connection between student and college depends upon the nature of the campus. Decision-makers need to evaluate what type of environment currently exists on campus and how this environment affects overall student retention. Once this is realized, then the process of developing a strategic plan for increasing student retention can commence.

The ASCA National Model for School Counseling Programs and the Education Trust's Transforming School Counseling Initiative indicate the importance of school counselors being heavily involved in eliminating disparities in achievement. Social Capital theory presents a rich framework for understanding how school personnel can reduce the achievement gap by serving as a source of resources for disadvantaged students. By providing resources that are not available in challenged families or communities, school counselors can empower students and help them succeed. Application of social capital theoretical constructs to school counseling practice and research is hampered by a lack of exact definitions and measurement instruments. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to develop and evaluate a theory based instrument. The School Counselor Social Capital Instrument applies five constructs from Coleman's social capital model to school counseling. Four hundred and twelve high school students took the survey. The scales proved to have high reliability, are related yet discriminable, and a three factor solution proved to be interpretable. Social Capital theory and the School Counselor Social Capital Instrument can help counselors become leaders, change agents, and advocates for the elimination of systemic barriers that impede academic success for all students.

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Women in a male-dominated world face a myriad of societal obstacles impeding their occupational development and effectiveness. Yet, even when external barriers are altered not all women are able to respond advantageously due to their own self-limiting philosophies and patterns. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the internal barriers inhibiting women occupationally so as to develop a model that expands our knowledge of these barriers. Ninety minute interviews conducted with fifteen female educator/trainers considered to be knowledgeable in the research area. The subjects, many of whom also function in career counseling capacities, design and implement occupationally-related workshops and training seminars for women. Data from subject observations and insights were viewed within the context of the relevant literature. Triangulation of these two data sources, coupled with pilot testing, provided a checking system for determining patterns and correlations. Prevalent themes were coded, grouped, and analyzed. The result was the development of a model describing internal barriers inhibiting women occupationally. The model presents the three topic areas determined to be most salient. These are: (1) sociocultural expectations and realities, which refers to societal and cultural expectations for appropriate female-male roles and behaviors as well as certain social inequities, i.e., sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, and age discrimination; (2) other-directedness, which refers to women's profound sense of connectedness to others; and (3) performance, which refers to the ways in which women's definitions, fears, and standards relative to competence, success, and failure impact on their self-expectations and self-assessments. The consideration of this model can lead to improved educational technology aimed at expanding women's occupational development, effectiveness, and options. Conclusions emphasized the need for training designs to take into consideration all three dimensions of the model.