Global ETD Search

41	From battlegrounds to the backcountry : the intersection of masculinity and outward bound programming on psychosocial functioning for male military veterans Scheinfeld, David Emmanuel 28 October 2014 (has links) This study investigates the promise of using therapeutic adventure as an alternative therapeutic approach to address a public health issue: Veterans reticence towards seeking mental health assistance, despite their rising rates of mental health issues. To examine how the intersection between conformity to traditional masculine norms and Outward Bound for Veterans (OB4V) programming impacted psychosocial development, a quasi-experimental, longitudinal design was implemented on 159 male Veterans. The primary goals were twofold: 1) to determine whether improvement in six therapeutic outcome variables occurred due to the OB4V intervention; 2) to discover whether male Veterans’ level of conformity to traditional masculine norms influenced change in the therapeutic outcome variables. Outcome variables included: 1) mental health status; 2) personal growth initiative; 3) attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help; 4) psychological mindedness; 5) restriction of emotions; 6) subjective wellbeing. Results indicated a significant effect of treatment, suggesting that the OB4V treatment promoted Veterans improvement in all the therapeutic outcome variables, except psychological mindedness. Findings also showed that the significant effect of treatment was associated with Veterans’ improvement in therapeutic outcome variables over all time points irrespective of their level of conformity to traditional masculine norms. / text Veterans Military Men and masculinity Complementary and alternative approaches Complementary and alternative medicine Therapeutic adventure Adventure therapy Outward bound for veterans Counseling psychology Psychology Ecotherapy
42	Nature discipline : the practice of wilderness therapy at Camp E-Wen-Akee Dunkley, Cheryl Morse 05 1900 (has links) Wilderness therapy, the practice of sending troubled young people into nature in order to re-socialize them, poses a paradox. Time spent in wilderness is imagined to produce civilizing effects on young people, rendering them better prepared to live responsible and productive lives in society. Study of wilderness therapy, therefore, provides insight into constructions of youth and nature in contemporary American society. This thesis emerges from ethnographic research conducted at Camp E-Wen-Akee, a therapeutic camping program for troubled youth, in Benson, Vermont, USA. In addition to living with the three groups of campers in their rustic camp sites and engaging in camp activities, I facilitated two camper-run research projects, and interviewed camp staff members, and the state social workers responsible for sending adjudicated youth to residential programs. I find that camp life is an achievement of many heterogeneous actors, some of whom are human and others nonhuman. The resulting work is an ethnography of a nature-culture, wherein I describe how the camp mobilizes various resources to create the conditions for therapeutic change. The differing nature narratives of campers and the adults indicated that expectations for nature are at least in part, outcomes of class processes. Close attention to camp life shows that therapy is a social strategy brought into being at a number of scales: the material body, built and temporal architectures, landscape, and 'public' wilderness outside of camp's borders. I find at each scale a tension between the ordering tactics deployed by camp staff members and resistance posed by campers and 'nature' alike. Campers' identities are meant to change as a result o f repeated performances of prosocial behavior, and the on-going circulation of success stories. Together these practices underscore that what one person does always has effects on others. The irony uncovered i n this research is that while troubled youth are sent to a nature imagined as separate from society, Camp E-Wen-Akee provides young people with an ecological model for social life. Wilderness therapy is the outcome not of a separation between nature and society, but of ongoing relations between the two. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate Camp E-Wen-Akee (Benson, Vt.) Adventure therapy -- Vermont -- Benson Wilderness survival -- Vermont -- Benson Attitude change
43	Reimagining Ourselves at Madison (ROAM) : an innovative adventure-based peer counseling program for university students demonstrating high risk alcohol-related behaviors / Tice, Amy. January 2009 (has links) (PDF) Project (Ed.S.)--James Madison University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.
44	Can mindfulness enhance connectedness with nature? The case of in-depth nature experiences with adolescents McCloskey, Jake A. 03 May 2018 (has links) This thesis is an exploratory look into the use of mindfulness practice on in-depth nature experiences to determine if the practice has benefit to the participant, their outdoor experience, and overall connectedness with nature. An original research project examined three groups of adolescents from St. Michaels University School Outdoor Education program in Victoria, BC, Canada, as they hiked the Juan de Fuca trail. Two of the three groups undertook a simple mindfulness protocol to explore the outcomes. Based on participant-observation and interviews, mindfulness practice was determined to be a useful practice towards alleviating stress and anxiety associated with aspects of in-depth outdoor experiences, such as morning preparations. Participants who practiced mindfulness on the trip asked fewer questions about the future and remained present more often than those who did not practice mindfulness. A further finding was that there are aspects of mindfulness inherent in in-depth nature experiences, such as sitting around a fire. These inherent mindfulness moments should be encouraged as they provide benefit to trip experiences, and potentially towards greater connectedness with nature. Overall, this qualitative study suggests that mindfulness is a useful tool for the benefit of human well-being and nature connection. However, more research is needed to further identify the magnitude and mechanisms of the benefit. / Graduate mindfulness meditation sit spot mindfulness practice nature nature experience nature connection connectedness with nature human/nature connection nature association association with nature CWN nature affiliation biophilia nature deficit disorder attention restoration theory biophilia hypothesis psycho-evolutionary theory adolescent outdoor education nature education wilderness therapy adventure therapy qualitative nature experience in-depth nature experience stress-reduction anxiety reduction campfire hiking backcountry outdoor outdoors nature Mindfulness-based stress reduction MBSR

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