Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed August 10, 2009). "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Counselling Psychology, Educational Psychology, University of Alberta." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-151). Also available via the Internet.

As a female counselor working with individuals who have been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused, I have become aware of, and affected by, the issue of vicarious traumatization (VT) in the lives of counselors and other helping professionals who deal on a repeated basis with those experiencing trauma and abuse. This research study in the Faculty of Education has arisen from my personal practice preference for a narrative approach to counselling. In this exploration of the manner in which counselors' lives are changed in their work with trauma-related issues, I present an integrated narrative model of vicarious traumatization. Three female trauma counselors respond to three narrative VT vignettes I have constructed, and reflect on stories of their own relationship to vicarious traumatization over the course of their professional practice. By researching and developing these narratives, and sharing them with other counselors, I have increased my understanding of vicarious traumatization and of the effectiveness of a narrative approach in exploring this topic with other counselors. Through this research, my own relationship to vicarious trauma has undergone a transition. Further, this exploration of narrative as a tool for self-reflection, self-awareness, and re-storying professional practice draws together branches of the narrative tree of knowledge: Feminist narrative writings stress the importance of women developing their own voice through writing their own experience; narrative psychology acknowledges the manner in which language maps reality and invites us to explore alternative realities in the service of healing; narrative therapy invites us to explore our lives more fully by honoring all who have contributed to them; narrative research in education urges us to attend to continued professional development in the form of increased self-knowledge. The conversations with other counselors serve to deepen my own knowledge about the impact of trauma work on me, and on others who perform similar work. This research contributes to existing works that explore narrative ways that professionals can come to know themselves, their identities, and their practice, and to teach that knowledge to each other. / viii, 161 leaves ; 28 cm.

The Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI) and a Data Form were used to describe levels of occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources of 500 randomly selected elementary school counselors across the United States. Stress, strain, and coping were examined at levels of demographic variables including age, gender, school size and setting, parental status, years in profession, schools served, marital status, students assigned, and hours worked. Data were collected by mail survey which had an 84% (n = 410) return rate. Of these, 310 were usable for data analysis. Respondents averaged 44.18 years old; 87.1% were female. Approximately three fourths had less than 10 years experience in their jobs, worked in education more than 8 years, were married, and were parents. Scores on the OSI for stress, psychological strain, and coping resources fell in the average ranges for all subscales. Examination of levels of demographic variables revealed Role Overload, Role Boundary, and Role Ambiguity subscales were higher for counselors serving three or more schools. Counselors serving schools in two or more kinds of geographic settings reported higher Role Overload and Responsibility stress. Elementary school counselors who were parents of one child had higher overall scores on Psychological, Interpersonal, and Physical strain scales compared to parents with two children. Counselors aged 56 & older showed better Self-care and Recreational coping scores than some younger counterparts. Parents scored significantly lower on the Recreational and Self-care scales compared to non-parents, as did counselors who were parents of one child compared to parents of two. It is recommended that counselor educators attempt to increase student awareness of the importance of developing coping skills to apply to their own occupational stress. This should be emphasized during practicum and internship activities. Legislative or administrative action may help provide support for counselors in the form of increased parental leave time, assignment to fewer than three schools, or assignment to schools located in similar geographic settings. Counselor education programs are urged to teach counselors organizational skills, systematic problem solving, and time management skills. Recommendations for further research are made. / Ph. D.

Seriously emotionally disturbed adolescents in residential placement tend to act out aggressively. Such behavior often creates an atmosphere of intimidation and fear which contributes to the high stress, sense of incompetence, and frequent turn over of youth care staff. Formal training for these practitioners is limited in scope and availability. The training program, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) (Budlong I 1983) which was the focus of this study, was designed to train youth care workers to deal with aggressive youth. It was anticipated that the program would increase youth care workers perceived sense of competence and reduce their perceived level of job stress. The Occupational Stress Inventory (OST) and the Correctional Institution Environment Scale (CIES) were used to measure reported perceptions of competence. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure reported perceptions of job stress. Fifty one subjects, from four residential centers, were randomly assigned to a training group, a training group with follow-up, or a control group. A four way ANOVA was used to analyze main effects and single interactive effects of the classification variables (i.e., age, educational attainment and experience) with training. In general, the analysis provided the following conclusions: (1) Neither reported self efficacy nor reported job stress were significantly impacted by TCI Training; (2) Although younger participants receiving training without follow-up reported a greater sense of depersonalization (i.e., higher perceived stress) and a lower sense of competence in using supportive skills than their older counterparts, younger participants who received follow-up in addition to the training, reported a lower sense of depersonalization (i.e., lower perceived stress) and a higher sense of competence in using support skills than their older counterparts; (3) Older participants reported lower levels of depersonalization after receiving training. Implications for these findings are discussed. / Ed. D.

This study acknowledges the fact that compassionate witnesses working with traumatised clients suffer from secondary traumatisation. Weingarten (2000, 2001, 2003) and Figley (1995) are some of the authors on this subject. The study is based within the Zimbabwean context, which is going through a period of transition involving political and economic factors. Survivors of political violence seek assistance from counselling agencies like CONNECT and Mopane Trust. Mopane Trust chose to specialise in this work through counselling and research. This study explores how Mopane Trust trauma counsellors cope with secondary trauma. / Practical Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

This study acknowledges the fact that compassionate witnesses working with traumatised clients suffer from secondary traumatisation. Weingarten (2000, 2001, 2003) and Figley (1995) are some of the authors on this subject. The study is based within the Zimbabwean context, which is going through a period of transition involving political and economic factors. Survivors of political violence seek assistance from counselling agencies like CONNECT and Mopane Trust. Mopane Trust chose to specialise in this work through counselling and research. This study explores how Mopane Trust trauma counsellors cope with secondary trauma. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Pastoral Therapy)

The purpose of this manuscript style dissertation was to increase understanding of the experiences of counselor's with compassion fatigue as they participated in a yoga intervention. Compassion fatigue is a condition that creates both physical and psychological impairment as a result of working in the helping role. Yoga is an ancient body and mind practice that is thought to reduce various negative physical and psychological effects. In order to address how and why counselors with compassion fatigue were affected by a yoga intervention, research using an exploratory case study method was conducted. Four counselors were first interviewed for 45 minutes; next they participated in four 60 minute yoga classes, kept journals on their experience before and after each class, and finally participated in 60 minute focus groups. Five major themes emerged from the analysis of the qualitative data in response to the research question of how and why yoga impacted counselors with compassion fatigue: participating in both the intervention and the study, experiencing a change in how the counselors internally processed compassion fatigue, experiencing a reduction in compassion fatigue, experiencing a change in the counseling relationship, and experiencing a change in how they practice yoga. Counselor post-intervention scoring on the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) suggests lower secondary traumatic stress and burnout, and increased compassion satisfaction. In-depth qualitative interviews with participants further substantiated these findings. Both the literature review and case study provide implications for future research in the areas of compassion fatigue, counselor wellness, yoga interventions, and self-care. / Graduation date: 2013

Text in English / Staff turnover affects employees, employers and their clients. When counsellors leave a particular employment context, relationships have to be modified or terminated, and in some instances, clients have to start counselling afresh. This study focused on testing whether self-esteem and burnout can be predictors of voluntary turnover. Relating the three variables of self-esteem, employee burnout, and employee turnover intentions among counsellors reveals a dearth in literature and research. This study utilised qualitative and quantitative data. A sample of 200 counsellors received questionnaires to collect quantitative data and 162 questionnaires were analysed. The Intentions-To-Stay Questionnaire by Roodt (2004) measured turnover intention, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981) measured Burnout and the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965) measured self-esteem. Qualitative data collection utilised the focus group interview. 23 participants for one group interview were selected using Convenience sampling. Significant relationship was found between self-esteem and age, gender, marital status, duration of work, academic qualification and job status. Results indicated that the emotional exhaustion subscale has statistically significant relationships with age, academic qualification, marital status and employment status. The depersonalization subscale indicated a statistically significant relationship with age, gender, marital status and employment status. The personal accomplishment subscale indicated statistically significant relationship with gender, academic qualification, marital status, duration of employment and employment status. A statistically significant relationship was found between turnover intention and age, marital status, highest academic qualification of participant and employment status. Further, a statistically significant relationship was found between turnover intention and burnout but not between turnover intention and self-esteem. This analysis confirmed burnout as a predictor variable and self-esteem as not. Study findings revealed three categories of reasons influencing turnover among counsellors; namely diversification reasons, growth and development reasons, and remunerative reasons. Counsellor narratives of burnout revealed three major themes namely: exhaustion, work settings, characteristics, and sources of stress. Workplace and institutional interventions were categorized into two namely developmental and normative. An integrated model of clinical supervision for responding to burnout and turnover intention was presented as part of the discussion. / Psychology / D.Phil. (Psychology)