<p> Text messaging may offer a useful tool for shaping psychotherapy homework compliance. Patients may send text messages to report compliance and psychotherapists may respond with text messaged verbal praise. In this analog study, the effects of text message reporting and reinforcement on homework compliance behavior were examined. Ninety-four college students, who agreed to attend two lectures about stress management, were asked to complete a daily, five-minute online relaxation exercise between lectures. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In one group, they were not asked to report on completion of the exercise. In the second group, they were asked to report their daily completion of the exercise via text message. They did not receive responses. In the third group, they were asked to send text message reports and they also received text message responses containing praise. Compliance was measured through objective monitoring of online relaxation exercise use. It was expected that receiving text messaged praise would lead to greater homework compliance. It was also anticipated that simply being asked to send text message reports would improve compliance. As predicted, homework compliance was significantly greater in the group that received text messaged praise. However, significant differences were not found between the other two groups. Rapport did not differ between the groups and there was no relationship found between rapport and compliance. Based upon these results, it was concluded that text message reporting with reinforcement may be helpful in improving psychotherapy homework compliance.</p>

<p> Literature has widely documented the link between stress and serious physical and mental health consequences (e.g., depression, heart disease, Alzheimer&rsquo;s Disease, cancer). Women in middle-adulthood face a number of commingling stressors that may exacerbate their existing stress levels and place them as a higher risk of developing stress-related health issues. For example, in middle-adulthood women experience biological/hormonal changes (i.e., menopause, increased cortisol response to stressors), neural changes (i.e., cognitive declines), changes in skin function and appearance (i.e., wrinkles, sagging), as well as assuming multiple challenging roles (i.e., caregiver, employee, spouse). Due to the gravity of the effects of stress, there has been an increased need for a deeper understanding of stressors that women in middle&ndash;adulthood face and an increased need to target those specific stressors in an attempt to ameliorate their negative effects. In this context, the research reported here focused on developing a curriculum to conduct a one-day workshop for women in middle-adulthood in order to provide a deeper understanding of the various types of stress (e.g., hormonal/biological, age-related appearance changes, discrimination, gender role strain, multiple roles, cultural expectations, finances, etc.) experienced by women in middle-adulthood and providing culturally congruent stress reduction interventions. The development of the curriculum used to conduct a workshop is targeting women between the ages of 45 and 65 who are experiencing significant levels of stress and who wish to expand their knowledge of stressors and repertoire of stress reduction/management strategies. The curriculum was reviewed by two doctoral level mental health professionals who rated the content, strengths, and weaknesses of the curriculum. Their feedback was incorporated into a compilation of suggestions and future directions for the curriculum.</p>

<p> The study investigated the relationship of physical activity (domain, frequency, amount, and intensity) on mental health (depression, stress, and anxiety) in the general population. Two hundred and fifty-three individuals eighteen or older completed either an online or paper survey for the study. Pearson Correlation, T-tests, and multiple regression were used in the data analysis. Results indicated vigorous activity correlated negatively with stress (<i>r</i> = -.16 <i>p</i> &lt; .01) and anxiety, (<i> r</i> = -.15 <i>p</i> &lt; .01). Amount of activity correlated negatively with anxiety, <i>r</i> = -.15 <i>p</i> &lt; .05. Leisure time activity, frequency of activity, and amount of activity were significant predictors of stress among females, R² = .07, <i> p</i> &lt; .05 and anxiety among males, R² = .09, <i> p</i> &lt; .05 (vigorous for men and moderate for female). Males were found to participate in significantly more vigorous leisure activity than females, <i>t</i> = 2.50, <i>p</i> &lt; .01. Given the limited research on factors of physical activity, results of the study offer useful information for future research into the complexities of physical activity and its effects on mental health.</p>

<p> Aim &amp; Objective: The aim of this project is to review the background literature and discuss the PICOt question as follows: In adult nursing students, age 30+, who are experiencing anxiety in the clinical setting, does peer dyad mentoring support in the clinical setting enable these students to decrease their anxiety level and pass their clinical effectively over a 90 day period of time?</p><p> Background: Clinical experience is an integral part of nursing education and prepares students nurses to integrate knowing with doing. Anxiety can cause a disruption in the learning and professional functioning of the student, and subsequently of the graduate nurse. Further to this, many non-traditional mature nursing students are adults entering the college or university setting with life experience unrelated to their new nursing career. They are attempting to balance work, home and school responsibilities. This anxiety has a variety of causes and also appears to have a variety of solutions.</p><p> Design: This project is a mixed method analysis, which contains both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Participants in the project were a convenience sample of Nursing students age 30+, in the BSN program at California State University Sacramento, willing to partake in this intervention, to assist in reducing their anxiety level during clinical. The project engages the use of true peer dyads (students at the same level of education) for the purpose of collaborative learning in the clinical setting. All subjects were given pre- and post-tests consisting of the State form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults&trade; (STAI-AD) is the definitive instrument for measuring anxiety in adults. The participants also completed a written qualitative interview guide at the end of the semester. </p><p> Results: The mean score of the STAI Anxiety Scale shows a definite decrease in anxiety after the peer dyad intervention in clinical. Of interest is the fact that the trait anxiety level also decreased in the final measurement. All sixteen mature students completed the peer dyad experience. The overall quantitative response to the peer dyad experience in clinical was a positive one according to the mature students involved.</p><p> Conclusions: Nursing students, are stressed and anxious in both the clinical setting (State anxiety) and appear to be more anxious in general (Trait anxiety). Formalized peer learning can decrease anxiety, help students learn effectively and is an important addition to the repertoire of learning activities that can enhance the quality of nursing education. Meeting the present and future challenges of educating nurses will require innovative models of clinical instruction, such as collaborative learning using student peer dyads.</p>

<p> Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT), an empirically supported and evidence-based third-wave behavioral approach for treatment of couples, is examined in this multiple case study. Specifically, the qualitative experiences of therapists using IBCT in their work with intercultural couples are examined through each therapist&rsquo;s typed responses to open-ended questions. Each participating therapist in this study contributes by describing one case in which IBCT was used to help the couple navigate cultural differences as part of treatment. This study describes the various stressors faced by intercultural couples, therapists&rsquo; formulations of cultural differences, change processes and change mechanisms during treatment, and similarities and differences across therapists&rsquo; reports. The study concludes with participating therapists&rsquo; recommendations for treatment of intercultural couples in general, and recommendations for utilizing IBCT with intercultural couples. Lastly, implications for future research are provided.</p>

<p> Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) exhibit low motivation to participate in educational leisure activities at Clubhouses accredited by Clubhouse International (CI). This correlational study examined the relationship between each of 4 motives, intellectual, social, competence-mastery, and stimulus-avoidance, to engage in leisure activities, and the perception of recovery from SMI. Knowles&rsquo;s theory of andragogy supported the concept of informal self-directed learning, which occurs with leisure activities. Literature indicates that participating in leisure activities such as those offered at Clubhouses aids in the recovery from SMI. Quantitative data were collected from a convenience sample of 75 individuals at 4 CI clubhouses using 2 Likert-scale instruments, the Leisure Motivational Scale (LMS) and the Recovery Assessment Scale &ndash; Domains and Stages (RAS-DS). Pearson correlation coefficients indicated significant moderate positive correlations between each of 4 motives, intellectual, social, competence-mastery, and stimulus-avoidance, to engage in leisure activities, and the perception of recovery from SMI. These findings were used to design a professional development program on motivation to teach the staff at a Clubhouse about how to engage members in leisure activities. The study has the potential to inspire positive social change by motivating members to improve their quality of life, learn social and work skills, develop friendships and a support system, reengage with society, and to become employed.</p>

<p>In Aotearoa New Zealand, M?ori are overrepresented in criminal and mental health contexts, comprising only 14.9% of the nation, yet over 50% of institutional populations. These figures are not unique, but represent a broader struggle to overcome the legacy of colonization affecting indigenous communities worldwide. In response to these issues, I examine the impacts of M?ori cultural expression in forensic mental health through an ethnography of the kapa haka r?p? (group) in the Kaupapa M?ori forensic psychaitric unit, Te Papak?inga O T?ne Whakapiripiri. This unit reconceptualizes Western frameworks for mental health service provision, incorporating cultural education as an integral aspect of treatment, such as M?ori performing arts (i.e., kapa haka). The unit also imbues M?ori cultural values, practices, and forms of expression into daily life, an act that transforms the experience of institutionalization for t?ngata whai i te ora (patients) and the practice of forensic mental health more broadly. In this dissertation, I first unpack the collaborative methodology developed in this research, providing a set of recommendations for a more ?codetermined? research process. I then explain the research?s broader academic and social contexts, tracing the history of M?ori music scholarship, and then the history of New Zealand?s cultural and political transformation from 1840 to the present. This culminates in an ethnography of T?ne Whakapiripiri, where I examine the impacts of the kapa haka program and the unit?s broader musical activities on t?ngata whai i te ora and the clinical environment in four domains: te taha wairua (the spirit), te taha hinengaro (the mind), te taha tinana (the body), and te taha wh?nau (the community). Overall, this research illustrates that embedding forms of cultural expression such as kapa haka into the clinical model positively impacts t?ngata whai i te ora, improving their understanding and experiences of themselves, their illnesses, and their environment. Such cultural expression also shows how a Kaupapa M?ori framework transforms the institutional environment from a Western model emphasizing individualism, hierarchy, and isolation toward a more holistic, collective, and wh?nau-centered model that holds the potential to shift our understanding of what forensic mental health is and can be.

<p> A traumatic and life-altering event, such as sexual assault, can adversely affect a survivor&rsquo;s psychological well-being. In conjunction with an individual&rsquo;s natural resources, religious and/or spiritual resources can provide additional and critical support as the realities of the Interpersonal trauma come to fruition. However, many mental health professionals do not feel comfortable or prepared to include spiritual or religious issues, within the therapeutic relationship. The objective of this research study was to examine the connection between a female sexual assault victim&rsquo;s perceived God-image, attachment to a perceived God-image, and her experienced psychological distress, when processing Interpersonal trauma. This study employed Bowlby&rsquo;s attachment theory and Rizzuto&rsquo;s God-image theory. A convenience, nonprobability sample of 132 women, 18 years or older, who had experienced a sexual assault (but not within the past two years), completed a demographic questionnaire, Froese and Bader&rsquo;s God Questionnaire, and Lovibond and Lovibond&rsquo;s Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Data was analyzed using a MANOVA. The data concluded a lack of significant difference between the participant&rsquo;s perceived God image, her attachment to a God-image, and her selfreported levels of psychological distress due to the traumatic, Interpersonal experience. In the future, qualitatively analyzing this population would further explore valid themes and personal perspectives on the relationship between perceived God-image, an individual&rsquo;s attachment to a God-image, and her experienced psychological distress, which may further be used to inform mental health professionals on the most conducive treatment for sexual assault survivors. </p>

The purpose of the present study is to develop an operationally defined standard of psychological health which will be proposed as: 1) one of the goals of psychotherapy; 2) a device for aiding in the evaluation of psychotherapy, and 3) a tool for screening those individuals in the general population who are in need of counseling in order to maintain their mental health.

<p>This study explores the phenomena of birth and life in the womb and the possibility that much of the psychological suffering experienced throughout the lifespan is a result of deep wounds felt in the maternal womb. The findings of this thesis were honed from a heuristic process of investigation, and the analysis was informed by the theories and approaches of depth psychology. This thesis conceptualizes the human psyche by exploring Jung?s structure of psyche and his notion of the conscious and the unconscious in correlation with development of the fetus in utero. Using Jungian and object relations theory alongside the science of fetal development, it is found that trauma occurring before birth impacts psychological well-being of children later in life. This thesis sheds light on the importance of nurturing and caring for unborn children and brings awareness to this essential fact in the clinical world of psychology.