<p> The research involved an examination of the exorbitant growth of the prison population in this country over the past 30 years from a Jungian perspective, showing how this phenomenon can be seen as a manifestation of an American cultural shadow. It then undertook an in-depth examination of the universal symbol of the circle&mdash;particularly in terms of how its inherent characteristics have been used to bring about healing across the centuries&mdash;and explored how these attributes can be used to help bring incarcerated people back into the circle of humanity by restoring and strengthening the ties that bind them to the greater community. Finally, the study involved an in-depth examination of one particular circle-based initiative--the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP)--to examine its effects on individuals in prison and upon their return to society. </p><p> Initial work involved an extensive review of the literature from a critical hermeneutic perspective, as seen through the interpretive lens of liberation psychology. The fieldwork phase involved the researcher's participation in and observation of AVP in action, particularly in prison settings, and carrying out in-depth interviews with eight formerly incarcerated AVP facilitators. The results indicate that AVP appears to not only be meeting its goal to reduce levels of violence, but has also helped the interviewees in the difficult transition back into society. Some core elements identified included: use of the circle format, the experiential nature of the process, emphasis on building consensus, and an array of tools that give people the opportunity to make conscious, positive choices. </p><p> While there are myriad ways to approach bringing positive change to a correctional system that is flawed in so many ways, I personally believe that depth psychological approaches that understand and honor the deep-seated causes embedded in our cultural shadowland, and that utilize the healing power of the circle, will have a much better chance to seriously bring about real change than any quick fixes to the mechanisms of imprisonment.</p>

<p> Increasing numbers of women are pursuing doctoral degrees in psychology, and the stress of being a female doctoral student can create a risk for aversive consequences (e.g., ineffective clinical work, impaired competence). Psychologists lack an understanding of the extent to which women can protect themselves from undue stress in professional psychology programs by engaging in self-care. The lack of a comprehensive framework for this phenomenon calls for the need to apply and test the Health Promotion Model to the experience of women in professional psychology programs. The current investigation assessed the extent to which self-care activities would moderate the negative association between stress and quality of life in a sample of five hundred and fifty eight women from clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs throughout the U.S. Norm comparison tests indicated that women in the sample reported significantly more stress, significantly less self-care, a significantly higher self-reported physical quality of life, and a significantly lower self-reported psychological, environmental, and social quality of life in comparison to previous samples. Multivariate multiple regression analyses did not support the moderation hypothesis, in that the interaction between self-care and stress did not contribute significantly to quality of life. On the other hand, self-reported stress was significantly negatively associated with quality of life and there was a significant (though relatively small) main effect of stress on quality of life. These results suggest that stress may supersede the self-care efforts in maintaining or improving an individual's quality of life. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed in addition to strengths and limitations of the study.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of psychosocial factors and psychological flexibility on rehabilitation protocol adherence in a sample of injured collegiate athletes. Self-report measures were given to injured athletes prior to the outset of a physical rehabilitation protocol, and a measure of rehabilitation adherence for each athlete was completed by the Chief Athletic Trainer upon the completion of rehabilitation. Logistic regression analyses with bootstrapping were conducted to determine if broad psychosocial factors such as those indicated within the BBHI &ndash; 2, and level of psychological flexibility as measured by the AAQ &ndash; 2 would significantly predict engagement and adherence to a rehabilitation protocol. The AAQ &ndash; 2 was found to significantly contribute to the overall logistic regression model. This measure would give medical providers a way to quickly and quantitatively assess for the presence of potentially problematic behavioral responding that has been demonstrated to negatively impact the course of rehabilitation.</p>

<p> Consistent with the contemporary positive psychology movement, dispositional gratitude has gained considerable empirical evidence as a valuable emotion in increasing an individual's subjective well-being; however, gratitude has not yet been validated as a contributing factor to sobriety in individuals in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In the current study, participants were self-selected outpatients and staff members in recovery at a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center. The researcher assessed respondents' psychological symptoms, coping skills, dispositional gratitude, experience of relapse or abstinence, and demographic influences. Results indicated a significant negative correlation between gratitude and relapse, suggesting that a grateful disposition has emotional and psychological benefits for individuals in recovery from substance addiction. Additional findings revealed that the coping strategy of using alcohol or other drugs to feel better was statistically significant and made the strongest unique contribution to relapse; coping strategies including gratitude and religion/spirituality, although not statistically significant, each contributed less to the variance in relapse amongst participants. Finally, results suggest that education made the strongest unique contribution to relapse, which was statistically significant, while annual household income made less of a contribution and was not statistically significant. Research limitations, clinical implications, and future directions for the field are discussed. </p>

<p> The moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the relationship between parental attachment levels and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) beliefs in university students was investigated. The hierarchical regression model identified the predictive role of emotional intelligence on career decision self-efficacy in university students (<i>N</i> = 214). Emotional intelligence accounted for 30% of the variance in CDSE. Individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence indicated higher career self-efficacy beliefs. Parental attachment levels, secure or insecure, were not predictive of career self-efficacy beliefs, and emotional intelligence was not found to be a moderating variable. Avoidant maternal attachment level as well as avoidant and anxious parental attachment levels were negatively correlated to CDSE. Insecure individuals were associated with lower career self-efficacy beliefs. Additionally, attachment theory and trait emotional intelligence theory were conceptually liked to social cognitive career theory (SCCT). Support for attachment and emotional intelligence as a person inputs within SCCT was provided. Practice implications for vocational and career counselors are discussed. Results highlighted the importance of addressing emotional intelligence within a counseling context. Self-efficacy and emotional intelligence enhancing counseling modalities were explored.</p>

<p> This production thesis utilizes artistic-creative and heuristic methodologies along with an organic inquiry in exploring expression of and dialogue with images as a therapeutic method of healing and restoring soul. Specifically, accessing the unconscious by working with images facilitates the reintegration of fragmented parts of self, thereby restoring the soul/psyche loss that occurs during trauma dissociation. Influenced by Jungian, depth, and archetypal theory as well as expressive arts therapy, the author presents her personal work and engages in interactive and intuitive dialogue with energetic images arising from experiences during graduate studies. The production, 53 original drawings and one sculpture, informs depth psychology through the author&rsquo;s access to the <i>mundus imaginalis,</i> in the realm of the world of the soul, through dialoguing with images as a way of healing from traumatic dissociation. This image-based depth psychological method is informative for mental health clinicians working with trauma survivors.</p>

<p> Loving is an authentic psychological task. Falling in love is a creative act, an initiatory process, and an opportunity for psychological transformation. Adolescence is a phase of life when one lives on the border, no longer a child, not yet an adult. It is during this phase when psychic and cultural imbalances are most acutely felt, making heartbreak and loss particularly difficult. This dissertation asks: how does the loss of first love, leading to a journey of descent, transform an adolescent girl's identity? This study explores the view that when we begin to view loss not as a failure, but as a journey of discovery and meaning, the adolescent girl will be transformed in a positive way. </p><p> Review of the literature establishes the work in the overlap of four key areas of study: psychological perspectives on adolescence, images of ritual of initiation, experiences of grief and loss of love for adolescents, and popular culture studies featuring adolescence. The depth psychological perspective allows commonly held beliefs about romance and love to be held up to question, most explicitly the romantic notion of the Magical Other, the idea that another person is responsible for our happiness. Depression is an important part of the initiatory process if we are to raise consciousness and make space for a new way of being. </p><p> Utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis as a research methodology, six women shared their stories of heartbreak in an interview format. Although each case is analyzed individually, in each account there are several overlapping themes, most notably around the shadow side of love. Some encountered suffering through the loss of the relationship, whereas others during the relationship. Each participant experienced love's pathos in relationship to power, emotions, culture, sexuality, and the media. The findings of this study suggest that if we can view heartbreak as an initiatory step towards wisdom, this may help teenage girls change their view of their darkest moments as opportunities toward a meaningful life. </p><p> Key words: adolescence, depth psychology, heartbreak, initiation, love, grief.</p>

<p> Depressed smokers are a group of individuals whose health and overall functioning can benefit from interventions aimed to enhance well-being. Researchers have recently found significant relations between positive affect and smoking cessation success, and between low affect and smoking relapse, and unsuccessful abstinence (Cook et al., 2010; Leventhal et al., 2008, 2009; Niemiec, 2010). The examination of the effects of happiness interventions for a population considered to be "underserved" has only just begun (Borrelli, 2010, p. 2; Kahler et al., 2013). In this study, the independent variable was a happiness intervention and the outcome variables were psychological well-being and motivation to quit smoking. Using motivation to quit as a definition of success for smokers, this study included smokers who could benefit from treatment, yet who may not be ready to begin smoking cessation treatment. Smokers with depression who were interested in self-administering a happiness intervention, known at West Virginia University as the chillPACK, were randomly assigned to the treatment group with the <i>chillPACK</i> or to a comparison condition. Both groups were instructed to report their time spent completing activities intended to enhance their happiness. It was hypothesized that increases in psychological well-being and motivation to quit smoking from baseline to post-treatment would be greater in the treatment group compared to the comparison group. Although the hypothesized group differences over time were not supported, results showed improvements over time on measures of psychological well-being and motivation to quit smoking for all participants who completed the study. Results also showed relationships between minutes completing positive activities and satisfaction with life and motivation to quit smoking after the study period. Non-white participants who were relatively less stressed and higher in motivation to quit smoking prior to the study period were more likely to spend time completing positive activities. The findings from this study may improve our understanding of ways to: (a) increase psychological well-being and motivation to quit smoking among depressed smokers, (b) advance the design of specialized smoking cessation treatments for depressed smokers, and (c) decrease the considerable public health burden associated with depression, smoking, and the comorbidity of depression and smoking.</p>

<p> Affinity 2.5 is a computer-based instrument designed to assess sexual interest using viewing-time measures. Viewing-time measures of sexual interest have been developed to identify individuals with deviant sexual interest. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of Affinity 2.5 in screening and diagnosing individuals with sexually deviant interests. This study used viewing time profiles of known sexual offenders compared to norm-referenced profiles of an exclusively heterosexual, non-pedophilic college population. Participants were 155 males and 3 females who had sexually offended against children and 63 male and 84 female non-offender college students. Results show that 43.7% of offenders were correctly identified as having significantly deviant sexual interest, compared to the reference group. Further 12.0% of offenders showed statistical significant interest in at least one category of individuals from a protected population and offended against that same category. The results of this study do not provide support for the utility of the Affinity 2.5 as a screening or diagnostic tool.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the psychosocial adjustment of professional counselors-in-training. The current study entailed the creation of a measure of psychosocial adjustment. The total sample consisted of 390 participants. The majority of the participants were female (90.9%). Additionally, all of the participants were sample from CACREP master's counseling programs across the US. This study employed multivariate correlational methods. Specifically, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was utilized to explore for a latent factor structure underlying the measure. Data were collected via online questionnaires. The psychosocial adjustment measure, called Psychosocial Adjustment of Counselors-in-Training Scale (PACTS), demonstrated strong psychometric properties with a clear factor structure and high internal consistency (>.70). The latent factors discovered from the EFA were, (1) stress management, (2) interpersonal skills, (3) family support, (4) healthy lifestyle, and (5) graduate program support. Additionally, the PACTS factors were examined to see if self-presentation bias had an influence on participants' responses through adapting the Marlow-Crowne Social Desirability Scale Form X1. There was a low degree of self-presentation bias in relation with the five factors and the full scale score. Implications and recommendations for future research, applications, and theory are discussed as well as limitations of the study. Replications with other counseling trainees would be useful to confirm the factor structure and the overall measure.</p>