Qualitative phenomenological methodology was used to explore the lived experiences of African American women diagnosed with breast cancer. Phenomenology focuses on the meaning of the lived experiences of individuals experiencing a concept, structure, or phenomenon (Creswell, 2007). The purpose of phenomenological research is to identify phenomena as perceived by the individual. Utilizing an existential perspective, the focus of this study was to uncover meaning which defined the essence of the participants’ experiences. Seven African American women diagnosed with breast cancer participated in this study. The participants’ ages ranged from 33-63 years. A semi-structured interview process with open-ended questions was utilized to gain an understanding of the participants’ personal experiences related to the phenomenon. Data was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 2004) to ascertain emergent themes and to interpret the meaning of the participants’ breast cancer experience. Seven common themes emerged from the cases. Those themes included: spirituality; support systems; self-care; resiliency; existential meaning; education; and perception of counseling. These seven themes will help to provide insight into how counselors can help to facilitate emotional wellness within this particular population. Implications and recommendations for counselor educators, counselors, and counselors-in-training with this population are also addressed.

The present study sought to determine whether or not state anxiety levels were significantly reduced when individuals participated in aerobic dance workouts of 15 minutes and 30 minutes. Undergraduate university students and faculty enrolled in an aerobic dance class were volunteers in this study. As hypothesized, subjects in the aerobic dance classes did reduce anxiety acutely following both their 15 minute and 30 minute workout as assessed by the STAI (Y-Form State Anxiety). Thus, results indicate that state anxiety may be reduced through aerobic dance with similar situations and individuals. In addition, the study also looked at the posttest state anxiety score differences between the 15 minutes and 30 minutes. The results were not significant, indicating neither length of aerobic dance workout session was superior to the other. These results contribute to a currently expanding area of research examining the relationship between anxiety reduction and aerobic dance.

This research project was a mixed method of both a quantitative and qualitative design to examine the perception of 38 gay male’s life satisfaction post coming out. In the past few years, laws affecting the gay community have been at the forefront of policies and debates, given all communities an insight into the specific challenges that are endured. As the gay community starts to openly live their lives as a gay man, there has been a need to accept and understand not only the challenges, but to give acceptance. Additionally, this project sought out to determine if the gay community feels that their life satisfaction has increased post coming out to their family, friends, and coworkers, furthermore to be able to live a life not of shame, but of pride and acceptance of themselves.

An adolescent’s time in school is not merely academic; they are developing socially, physically, and emotionally. Prior research has demonstrated a correlation between a student’s poor academic performance and his/her need for emotional and mental health support. This research project sought to answer the following research questions: 1) Do mental health services in a high school setting help facilitate students’ academic achievement? and 2) Does a focus on mental health issues improve overall health and well-being in high school students? Participants for this study are 10 staff members (including teachers, administrators, counselors, and others) of a high school in San Diego, California. Qualitative data in the form of interviews was collected for this study, and subsequently transcribed and analyzed using a “bottom up” approach. Results of this study indicate adolescents have many challenges to their emotional health during their high school years and staff have unique access to assist youth in navigating these challenges. The study describes the need for more mental health professionals to be available in schools. Implications for micro include the need for more mental health staff including counselors and school social workers and the implications for macro practice include the need more staff and teacher training on how to better support students.

Self-care can be seen as not only critical for individual professionals, but also for the growth of the helping professions and the quality of care which clients receive. The purpose of this study was to investigate use of career-sustaining behaviors and the levels of professional quality of life in music therapy professionals. This study investigated research questions regarding use of career sustaining behaviors and levels of professional quality of life, the relationship between these variables, the differences in the use of career sustaining behavior by demographics, and the use of music as a self-care strategy. An online survey was sent to all professional members of the American Music Therapy Association. A total of 403 participants were included in the study for the purposes of data analysis. Findings from the study indicate that music therapy professionals are in the average to low ranges for burnout and secondary traumatic stress. However, a portion of the sample was identified to be at risk for these factors. Differences existed in the use of career sustaining behaviors between demographic variables, indicating self-care behaviors vary among professionals. The field of music therapy should further investigate these areas to best provide opportunities for professional self-care.

This project presents dance as treatment for Orthorexia Nervosa, an eating disorder defined as an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. Eating disorders disconnect body, mind, and spirit of an individual, and dance therapeutically connects these aspects. The specific effects of orthorexia on the body, mind, and spirit are analyzed; supported by evidence from research sources such as literature of books and scholarly journals, videos, an interview with board-certified dance/movement therapist Rachel Gonick-Mefferd, and a series of interviews with Dr. Thomas Doyle, in which he supplied a case study exemplifying dance as treatment for orthorexia. Conclusively, eating disorders and specifically orthorexia affect one’s entire being — physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual health — and interfere with one’s entire life and daily functioning. Dance, as a holistic therapeutic approach, is effective in addressing and remedying every single one of these elements, healing one’s whole self. Therefore, it is suggested that dance may be an effective treatment for orthorexia.

The purpose of the present study was to examine general loneliness, hospital loneliness, and the patient-physician relationship in regards to their associations with Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) recovery outcome variables (days until engraftment and quality of life). Fifteen (66.7% female, 33.3% male; 93.3% white, 6.7% Black/African American; average age 61.73) individuals who had an allogeneic or autologous BMT at The Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville completed the FACT-BMT, UCLA-Loneliness Scale Version 3, the CARE Measure, and provided disease and treatment information at the 6 month posttransplant date (+/- 30 days). Patients recovering from BMT indicated significantly higher scores of hospital loneliness in comparison to their general loneliness scores. This increase is believed to represent the outcome of experiencing hospital isolation during the post-transplant recovery process. Increases in hospital loneliness were marginally significant in predicting decreases in the patients overall quality of life. The patient physician consultational relationship was found to have a significant relationship with the number of days until engraftment, however the direction of the relationship was opposite the hypothesized direction. This may suggest that engraftment influences the quality of the relationship instead of vice versa. These results imply that there is a relationship between hospital isolation and increases in the amount of loneliness experienced during recovery from a BMT. Loneliness has been found to have a negative relationship with a number of physiological and quality of life outcomes. The present study also elucidates possible correlates with the patient-physician relationship.

The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate mindfulness strategies and their influence on working memory. The potential role of music in facilitating mindfulness practice is explored. Various listening exercises were investigated along with their influence on working memory (i.e. attention control). Thirty-four individuals were randomly assigned to participate in one of four listening groups: 1) mindfulness with music, 2) mindfulness without music, 3) music only, and 4) silence. Thirty-four participants engaged in a computerized digit-span task before and after the listening exercise to assess pre- and post-test working memory performance. Thirty participants were included in data-analysis due to technical errors in data collection. Differences between listening exercises were explored and comparisons were made between mindfulness, non-mindfulness, music, and non-music based exercises. Two-tailed independent samples t-tests found no significant differences in working memory when comparing mindfulness versus non-mindfulness and music versus non-music based exercises. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated no significant differences in working memory for any of the listening conditions. Results call for further examination of control variables and methodology to explore the role of music listening in mindfulness practice. Implications for further research and contributions to music therapy and music education are considered.

When staffing reductions occur in the workplace, staff left behind may face increased stress, may not be given the support they need to manage the feelings caused by the reduction. This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of stress caused by staffing reductions has on medical technologists (MT), medical technicians (MLT) and respiratory therapists (RT), and to identify any common methods of stress management used by those staff who remain in the organization. Literature research showed the negative impact stress can have on individuals when it is not addressed, such as decreased work performance, health issues, and even the inability to lead a normal life. After an extensive review of the data, no statistically significant common methods of coping strategies were identified between these two professions using prescribed variables. However, the same three strategies used to cope with staffing reduction-related stress were ranked at the top in both professions.

The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the lives of most Americans. People with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) were particularly vulnerable to the negative effects brought on by the pandemic. This study explored the increase in deaths due to opioid overdose during the pandemic exacerbated by factors such as increased stress, decrease in treatment options due to social distancing requirements and facility closures, social isolation, and an increase in spare time. Access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) was interrupted by the measures meant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Through a systematic review of current literature, it was demonstrated that existing patients were able to maintain access to care, while few new patients were able to initiate treatment. Telehealth proved to be a vital means of assuring PWUD were able to access life-saving treatment amid a pandemic. Further research is needed to determine whether SUD treatment measures during the COVID-19 pandemic warrants changing the policies long term.