<p>The purpose of this grant writing project was to fund a two-fold support group: one for chronically ill individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, in conjunction with one for family members providing emotional and social support outside the home. The proposed project seeks to reduce conflict and stress by providing consumers and their family members with education about schizophrenia, medications, and interventions to help them better understand and cope with the diagnosis. This program also seeks to increase awareness of the therapeutic value family support plays in fostering hope and empowerment to promote collaboration in the recovery journey. The targeted area is Los Angeles County, specifically communities surrounding Long Beach, CA which are eligible for services at The Village. The California Wellness Foundation was selected as the ideal funding source for this grant project. The actual submission of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the thesis project.

<p> Physicians require discipline, determination, a tolerance for delayed gratification, and brainpower to navigate college, medical school, postgraduate education, and their personal and professional careers. A high degree of resilience is needed for this journey. Adding to research on the concept of resilience, this thesis recognizes two factors beyond one&rsquo;s control that influence one&rsquo;s capability for resilience: infant attachment pattern and adverse childhood experiences. Alchemical hermeneutic methodology was employed to examine the influence of these factors on the development of resilience and to explore the vulnerability of medical students and physicians to a failure of resilience. A heuristic approach taken to incorporate the author&rsquo;s experience and observations as a physician provides evidence of the pressures and potential pitfalls in physician lives. The author proposes changes in medical training and the structure of medical practice that take into account individuals&rsquo; strengths and limitations in regard to their capacity for resilience.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to locate a potential funding source and write a grant to implement an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) intervention program at Westchester Secondary Charter School, a culturally diverse middle and high school located in Los Angeles, California. In addition to conducting an extensive literature review on childhood ADHD, the Eisner Foundation was identified as a possible funding source for this program.</p><p> Due to their impairments in sustaining attention and completing tasks, children with ADHD are more likely to repeat grades, receive special education services, and drop out of school than typically developing children. In order to support these students with increasing their overall academic and social functioning, a comprehensive program was developed combining empirically supported child and parent interventions. Following the formulation of a program budget, lessons learned were discussed. Actual submission of the grant was not required for successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> This program was designed to provide culturally and linguistically relevant mental health education and support for Korean caregivers. The primary goal of this project was to help Korean caregivers increase knowledge and overall awareness of mental health issues of the Korean immigrant older adult population, focusing on how mental health issues are perceived and how they are treated in the United States. Additionally, this curriculum provides interactive activities and discussions to help caregivers develop proper caregiving skills, increase access to available resources in the community, and secure caregiver support to maintain their own physical and mental health. This program was designed based on an extensive literature review that was conducted to identify prevalent information and promising approaches for meeting the needs of Korean caregivers.</p>

<p> The present study investigated the efficacy of two brief intervention programs, biofeedback and mindfulness meditation, on levels of state anxiety and perceived stress in Thai nursing students beginning clinical training. Eighty-nine participants from a public nursing college in Thailand were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups, biofeedback group or mindfulness meditation group, or a control group. All participants were given pre- and post-intervention surveys including demographic information, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (State Anxiety Scale), and Perceived Stress Scale. Results indicated that biofeedback significantly reduced anxiety and maintained stress levels in nursing students. Mindfulness meditation similarly reduced anxiety levels while also significantly reducing stress levels. Additionally, the biofeedback group exhibited significant reduction in anxiety levels among the three groups at post-intervention. Despite the stressors and demands nursing students can experience as they begin clinical practice, findings from this study support the effective use of biofeedback and mindfulness meditation interventions to assist nursing students in managing stress and anxiety.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was write a grant and to locate a potential funding source for a psycho-educational program. The program would provide Latino caregivers access to services and information regarding dementia. A literature review was conducted to investigate the obstacles that informal Latino caregivers face and to understand what interventions may reduce the gap between service providers and the caregivers.</p><p> This program would address the issues of the lack of culturally sensitive services and information. The Archstone Foundation was chosen as the funding source for the program. The host agency that was chosen for this project was A Day Away Adult Day Health Care located in La Mirada, California. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the project.</p>

<p> Religion and spirituality has become a widely researched topic within the field of psychology, however most research studies focus on the quantitative measures of religion used as a coping mechanism for individuals undergoing difficulties and struggles. The terms religion and spirituality are often misunderstood in the field of psychology and used interchangeably. Individuals who share their religious/spiritual experiences are often dismissed and not taken seriously therefore exacerbating the stigma and creating even more distance between the field of science and religion. The goal of this research is to capture the lived experience of prayer for individuals moving through psychosis without enframing the experience in a negative way by placing labels or categories on them or their experiences, but rather by letting the experience show itself in its own unique way. Thus 3 participants who have experienced psychosis were asked about their experience of praying during a time that is typically understood as a psychotic experience. The purpose of this approach is to better understand how the practice of prayer in religion/spirituality is more than just an instrumental coping mechanism, and is, rather, lived out as a way of being in the world. This study uses an existential-phenomenological method to understand participants' experiences of this phenomenon in light of common, existential givens shared by the participants. This study will close with implications for further research and clinical care.</p>

<p> Despite the increase of attention in the counseling profession to spirituality, extant literature examining spirituality and adolescent mental health is limited (Powers, 2005; Van Dyke, Glenwick, &amp; Kim, 2009). Few studies were conducted related to the spirituality of adolescents in residential treatment settings (Dew, et al., 2008; Hawke, Hennen, &amp; Gallilone, 2005; Taylor, 2005). In particular, no studies were conducted to determine the relationship between spirituality and goal attainment or symptom change of adolescents in crisis residence. The purpose of the study was to identify the extent to which there is a relationship between spirituality and spiritual/religious coping, change of symptoms, and therapeutic goal attainment of adolescents in crisis residence. </p><p> A correlational design was used to examine the relationship between spirituality, spiritual and religious coping, goal attainment and symptom change of adolescents in crisis residence. A canonical correlation was conducted. The two sets of variables under investigation were spirituality (as measured by the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale and Brief Religious and Spiritual Coping Scale) and treatment outcome (as measured by the Goal Attainment Scale of Stabilization and the Target Symptom Rating Scale). </p><p> The participants in this study were adolescent clients from an acute care psychiatric facility in the southern gulf coast. Male (n = 47) and female (n = 37) adolescent participants ranged in age from 12 years to 17 years. Ethnicity and religious preference of the adolescents were reported. </p><p> Results of the study indicated that no statistically significant relationship existed between spirituality and treatment outcome for adolescents in crisis residence. </p><p> Spirituality may not be an essential component to crisis stabilization of adolescents. Rather, counselors should be aware that spirituality is a uniquely personal construct. Counselors who utilize spiritual principles as the primary tool for stabilization of adolescents may want to rethink their treatment protocols. For adolescent clients in crisis who place much importance on spiritual matters, addressing spirituality in treatment may be beneficial to attaining goals and reducing symptoms. However, adolescent clients who place no importance on spirituality may still achieve the same treatment outcomes in crisis residence. Additional studies that explore individual perceptions of spirituality, investigate the results of infusing spirituality into treatment strategies, and take into account individual diagnosis with this population would be useful.</p>

<p> The purpose of this dissertation was to explore whether training and clinical supervision were predictive of compassion fatigue when controlling for burnout and personal history of trauma. The study used quantitative methodology to analyze the relationships among the predictor variables training, clinical supervision, burnout, and personal history of trauma and the criterion variable, compassion fatigue as measured by compassion satisfaction and secondary traumatic stress. The sample was 217 mental health care providers serving traumatized persons in Washington State, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Maryland. Participants completed the ProQol and endorsed one of three levels of training (no trauma-specific training, some trauma-specific training or trauma certificate training), whether or not they receive clinical supervision, and whether or not they have a personal history of trauma. Sequential multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess whether the predictor variables predicted compassion fatigue. A multiple regression with interaction terms was performed to assess whether clinical supervision moderated the association between training and compassion satisfaction. The results show that, burnout was the best predictor of both secondary traumatic stress (<i>t</i>(215) = 13.60, <i> p</i> &lt; .001) and compassion satisfaction (<i>t</i>(215) = -15.51, <i>p</i> &lt; .001). Neither training nor clinical supervision were significant predictors of secondary traumatic stress when controlling for burnout and personal history of trauma. Training was a significant predictor of compassion satisfaction. However, clinical supervision was not a unique predictor of compassion satisfaction. None of the interaction terms were significant predictors of either secondary traumatic stress or compassion satisfaction. </p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to design a comprehensive anti-bullying program aimed to not only involve students, but also to involve parents or guardians in order to prevent and intervene bullying at home. Bullying is an ongoing issue that has caused a lot of attention in the media. Although several measures have been taken in order to help tackle the increasing prevalence of bullying, a factor is always left out. Unite Against Bullying An Educational After-School Program aims to empower students and parents or guardians through education. After the 12-week long program, students and parents or guardians will hopefully become more intrinsically motivated to engage in positive behaviors and have a better understanding of the ramifications bullying can cause. The actual submission and/or funding of this grant were not a requirement for the successful completion of this project.</p>