Class of 2005 Abstract / Objectives: To determine the level of patient satisfaction regarding counseling services provided at a local community pharmacy. Methods: 100 questionnaires were handed out randomly to pharmacy customers who received counseling services on new prescription medication(s). The questionnaires contained multiple criteria/statements regarding the provision of counseling services. Customers were also asked to select from a list of potential additional categories of information that they would like to receive during counseling. Results: 48 of 100 questionnaires were received at the time this report was written. Customers strongly agreed that the criteria regarding the content of the counseling services were met: (name/strength/dose, and with all of the statements regarding the pharmacist's professional attributes and the counseling environment except one regarding privacy involved with counseling). Suprisingly, only 20% of customers would feel more comfortable being counseled in a more private area such as a separate room or walled off area. Implications: This study provided important feedback to the community pharmacy as well as the pharmacists working there in regards to the evaluation of counseling services provided to their valued customers. Customers have the opportunity to provide their input in regard to their satisfaction level of the quality of counseling services they receive at this community pharmacy (in the form of a questionnaire). Customers, through the completion of the questionnaire, may realize the value of this questionnaire and its use as a tool to improve the areas of the counseling services that customers agree need improvement as well as the opportunity to realize that this community pharmacy does care and value it’s customers and their level of satisfaction in the counseling services provided. This questionnaire may be used as a tool by the community pharmacy in the future to re-assess these criteria of counseling services in the overall purpose of improving the quality of counseling services provided by this community pharmacy.

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Zululand, 2001. / Sporadic violence, both politically and criminally related, has led to KwaZulu-Natal being labeled the most volatile region in South Africa. The Human Science Research Council, in a nationwide survey conducted in 1994, found that one in four South Africans has been a direct or indirect victim of crime. The urban areas offer a multiplicity of lay counseling services' to victims of violence; however, the availability of basic counseling services is almost non-existent in many far-reaching rural areas. Factors such as poverty, the subsequent non-availability of transport and telephonic linkage disadvantages the rural inhabitants even further. The University of Zululand, a founder member of the Zululand Community Mental Health Programme, has initiated various community projects in and around northern KwaZulu-Natal. As part of the University of Zululand's Community Psychology Project, the Psychology Department has been actively involved in various community outreach programmes in northern KwaZulu-Natal, including the Mandeni region. From a series of meetings organised by the Mandeni Transitional Council that comprised representatives of the local community, it emerged that there was a dire need to equip laypersons with basic counselling skills. It was decided by these representatives (who comprised people from all professional spheres including members of the police force and nurses from the surrounding clinics and hospital) that police personnel and nurses were most often the first line of contact for victims of violence. However, these individuals themselves felt that they were ill equipped to counsel victims of violence. An appeal was thus made to the University of Zululand's Psychology Department to assist in training these first-line contacts who deal with victims of violence on a daily basis. The aim of this research was to use phenomenological explication to determine the nurses' and police personnel's experiences of dealing with victims of violence and, extending from this, to tailor a lay counselling programme that will benefit the community. Whilst the evaluation of lay counsellors' performances indicated a reasonable success in equipping them with basic counselling skills, an interesting extension of these findings portray a degree of resistance exhibited by select rural male lay counsellors. This could indeed provide an impetus for further research in the area of training rural male counsellors. / Centre for Science Development

U.S. colleges and universities have hosted international students from all over the world. Along with the increase of international student enrollment, campus counselors are challenged with identifying the students who need professional help but are reluctant to utilize their campus counseling services (Zhang and Dixon, 2003; Mitchell et al., 2007). Employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current study investigated Virginia Tech international students' help-seeking process in terms of their attitudes toward counseling services, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. A total of 132 international students completed a cross-sectional online survey. Contrary to TPB, the results indicated that attitudes toward help-seeking and subjective norms were not correlated with help-seeking intentions. Perceived behavioral control, however, was identified as a predictor of international students' willingness to seek professional help. Intentions and perceived behavioral control were not predictors of international students' utilization of the Thomas E. Cook Counseling Center. The correlation between acculturation and self-stigma with international students'] help-seeking intentions and behaviors was insignificant. Gender was a marginally significant predictor of help-seeking behavior. Previous experience of counseling services was strongly correlated with international students' help-seeking intentions and behavior. The majority of Virginia Tech international students reported emotional issues as their biggest challenge while studying in the U.S. Overall, as the first study which investigated international students' help-seeking process within the Theory of Planned Behavior framework, the present research expanded the literature about foreign students' adjustment issues and utilization of their campus counseling services. Limitations, future directions, and general implications were addressed. / Master of Arts

This study aimed to determine the need for practical and academic training in Spanish for bilingual social work students. Using an exploratory method with a qualitative approach, the researcher interviewed bilingual MSW students who were providing counseling services in Spanish and who had not received any training in clinical Spanish. The study used purposive sampling to interview and evaluate participants’ perception of competence in providing services to Spanish speakers. Through data analysis, the researcher identified three themes: linguistic issues in clinical terminology, discomfort feelings, and language expectation. A limitation of this study included that the results could not be generalized to the larger population due to the small sample size. Recommendations included support from bilingual field instructors to process cases in Spanish and to strongly recommend students to participate in the Certificate Program in Healthcare at CSUSB to assist students who wish to continue working with Spanish speaking clients.

The purpose of this study was to assess mental health counseling services provided by Florida public community colleges and universities. The researcher of this study designed the Counseling Center Questionnaire instrument. This instrument consisted of two different questionnaires, one for community colleges and the other for universities. The questionnaires were developed to ascertain information regarding mental health services provided by higher education institutions. The questionnaires yielded information pertaining to (a) which Florida community colleges and public universities were offering mental health counseling services to students, (b) the types of mental health counseling services provided, (c) the types of problems/issues students were reporting to counseling centers, and (d) the scope of mental health counseling services provided by Florida community colleges and universities. The findings indicated that only 5 of 20 Florida community colleges provided mental health services to students and all 7 universities who responded to the questionnaire provided such services to students. Community colleges provided fewer mental health services than did 4-year institutions. According to higher education counseling officials, students in all institutions experienced many of the same types of issues or problems including Anxiety, Depression, Bi-polar Disorders, Substance Abuse, Eating Disorders and Schizophrenia. Depression was the most frequently reported mental health issue among all students.

While previous research has explored the relationship between combat exposure and mental health disorders, the effects of mental health disorders on attrition rates of Service members, the discrepancy between mental health counseling services available and utilized by Service members, and barriers to seeking mental health counseling services, the majority of studies thus far have only been conducted with Service members and have been quantitative in nature. While researchers have begun to explore the experience of deployment on Service member spouses, little research has focused specifically on their service seeking behavior regarding accessing mental health services. This is unfortunate given that multiple studies have indicated the importance of including Service member's spouses in future research. This qualitative study included both Service members and spouses of Service member's in an attempt to capture their mental health counseling service seeking behaviors. Thematic analysis was employed to develop a model of mental health seeking behavior among Service members and their spouses. The resulting model is unique in that it attempts to account for the influence of multiple contextual and ecological factors. Limitations of the study, future research and clinical implications are also discussed. / Master of Science

This study was designed to explore the different perceptions of college students' counseling service needs as well as the perceptions of counseling services by the student, faculty, and student affairs staff groups and subgroups of each group. The research approach of this investigation was a case study of one national university in the Republic of China. This study tested seven hypotheses and the major findings are as follows: there were significant differences among students, faculty, and student affairs staff members' perceptions of counseling services in terms of importance and success. Although all three groups agreed that the achievement of the counseling goals were important, the students showed a significantly stronger expectation than did faculty members. Findings related to the success of counseling services in the institution indicated that student affairs staff members showed higher mean scores than did the faculty and students. All three groups perceived a significant discrepancy between the importance of counseling services and the success of counseling services. Moreover, all subgroups of students, as divided by demographic variables, perceived a significant discrepancy between the importance and success of counseling services. All subgroups of faculty and student affairs staff members, except the members of military instructors and members with a mainland China educational background, perceived significant differences between the importance and success of counseling services. The sex, age, class level, academic major, and grade point average of students indicated significant differences either in the importance or the success of counseling services. Likewise, the status, educational background, and degrees earned of faculty and student affairs staff members also showed significant differences in the perceptions of either the importance or the success of counseling services. The study suggested that program planners should be aware of demographic variables when planning counseling programs. Further definitive research is recommended in order to investigate the college student counseling service needs.

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The purpose of this study was to determine which play therapy techniques were most effective when applied to working with children who have angercontrol problems.