<p> Over the course of a therapist&rsquo;s career, absences from work are inevitable. Although therapist absences undoubtedly impact the therapy process, the topic has not received sufficient attention to produce helpful guidelines. Instead, clinicians looking to the literature for recommendations find less in peer-reviewed journals regarding therapist absences than they would if they were to turn to popular media geared toward a client audience (Barchat, 1988). This study sought to begin to remedy this research gap using a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) research design focusing on anticipated therapist absences. Ten therapists with at least two years of experience post-licensure were asked about their general thoughts and approach to absences and the training they had received regarding therapist absences. They were also asked to discuss in depth a time that they were absent during therapy with an individual, adult client, focusing on the period before, during, and after the absence, as well as its overall impact. Participants reported generally receiving minimal or no formal supervision or training regarding therapist absences, and experiencing emotional distress when thinking about absences as a whole. When asked about specific absences, however, participants reported experiencing more positive than negative emotions, creating a plan with the client, and generally achieving positive outcomes. Implications are discussed, including recommendations for training, clinical work, and future research.</p><p>

<p> This thesis explores issues of accessibility, quality, and effectiveness in the treatment by mental health professionals of children exhibiting severe cases of parental alienation syndrome (PAS). It presents treatment options that reflect the most up-to-date approaches, research and extensive experience, and the current knowledge base established by expert clinicians. Hermeneutic research finds the need for increased support, education, and additional resources to enable professionals to provide PAS-informed approaches when working with children and families in high-conflict divorce situations, particularly children presenting with extreme behaviors, including traits associated with psychopathology and mental illness. The author integrates personal experience in seeking to support a loved one who was the targeted parent of a severely alienated child. This heuristic account is based on witnessing a family struggling to find a way out of alienation and seeks to highlight the challenges of this client population.</p><p>

<p> Cyber bullying; the act of hurting someone with the use of advanced technology, has become a significant problem in educational institutions around the world. While schools have policies in place related to on-site bullying, they have yet to develop policies related to cyber bullying. Administrators found assessing educator responses to student concerns difficult. However, the proposed hermeneutic phenomenological study is to discover how educators in the secondary school experience managing cyber bullying. Specifically, the purpose is to explore the perceptions of secondary educators&rsquo; experience from the direct experiences related to them by their students. The goal of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to explore the phenomenon of cyber bullying and its perceived management by educators who have dealt with students&rsquo; ages 12&ndash;17 years old. The overarching research question that this qualitative study will evaluate is: how do educators experience managing cyber bullying? The use of Vygotsky&rsquo;s (1986) sociocultural learning theory along with Maslow&rsquo;s (1943) hierarchy of needs may give a focused perspective at the problem and possible solutions. Securing a safe environment for students assists parents of school-aged children who have been cyberbullied. With the impact of social networking, the home has become a high priority where safety is now threatened. The findings of this study may initiate a closing of gap to understand how policies may assist in cyberbullying issues.</p><p>

<p> The current study highlights symptoms of early childhood trauma that are often overlooked. It challenges the common assumption that if children are not talking about the trauma then it does not bother them but rather focuses on symptoms that may be surfacing unconsciously, through play, dreams, and somatic symptoms. Drawing from the current researchers experience with trauma composed the statement: Therapists and primary caregivers can help children work through early childhood trauma, without knowing their narratives, but rather with combinations of depth approaches using dream work, play therapy, and somatic techniques that are interwoven with the use of imagination. This led to pulling from the works of Judith Herman, Peter Levine, Bessel van der Kolk, Patricia Garfield, and Violet Oaklander. Generating findings that prove effective to easing symptoms of early childhood trauma when combining techniques from these different areas of study: dream work, somatic work on the body and play.</p><p>

<p> The development of episodic autobiographical memory (EAM) has been well documented in those with typical development (TD), yet many questions remain about the development of EAM and its operations in those with high functioning autism (HFA). In this study, youths (9 to 18 years old) with and without HFA (<i>N</i> = 48) participated in a semi-distressing event and then 3 weeks later were interviewed using one of two forensic interview protocols (10 Step or Cognitive Interview [CI]). Accuracy was assessed via cued recall narratives and responses to direct questions. Individual differences in working memory, cognitive flexibility, and pragmatic language were assessed. Results indicated that, although HFA youths&rsquo; cued recall memory for event details was diminished, memory accuracy for people, actions, and objects depended upon interview protocol and youth age. Younger HFA youths performed comparably to younger TD youths when receiving the 10 Step protocol. Yet, older HFA benefitted more from the Cognitive Interview&rsquo;s methods. Deficits in working memory, cognitive flexibility, and pragmatic language were more readily associated with performance in the CI condition and for youths with HFA. Indirect effects of age on memory performance via individual differences were observed mainly for the HFA group; maturational changes in these abilities may be occurring during adolescence, a period when youths with HFA begin to use compensatory mechanisms to perform EAM tasks. Direct question performance did not vary diagnostically, expanding the application of the task support hypothesis to a younger age. Implications for existing theories and forensic interview methods are discussed.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is to investigate how participation and racing in ultra-endurance events contribute to an executive's self-leadership habits. Some research indicates that physical fitness is a key component of an executive's program (e.g., Neck, Mitchell, Manz, Cooper and Thompson, 2000; Neck and Houghton, 2006; Lovelace, Manz, and Alves, 2007; Moore, 2015, Manz, 2015). However, much of this research reflects approximately one hour of physical fitness work per day, five to seven days a week. Scant research exists on how extreme levels of exercise (i.e., 18&ndash;30 hours per week) can contribute to successful self-leadership. Some research indicates that participation in ultra-endurance sports increases self-efficacy (e.g., Simpson et al., 2014). Likewise, a growing body of research (e.g., Baker, 2015; Simpson et al., 2014) shows that ultra-endurance athletes commonly apply constructive thought patterns, behavioral strategies and natural rewards strategies synonymous with the self-leadership literature without realizing it. This study will investigate how an ultra-endurance athlete develops self-leadership habits through the formative experience of ultra-endurance racing and how he/she applies these habits away from racing. Furthermore, this study intends to lay the foundation for the creation of a prescriptive theory of self-leadership habit building that other executive leaders can apply to their own lives.</p><p>

<p> Transcultural migration is a growing phenomenon, yet research on the lived experience of individuals who willfully leave the security and comfort of their home nation and socio-cultural support to migrate alone as adults to a foreign nation where they do not have citizenship, do not look like the locals, and do not share the local mother tongue had not been previously researched. Marcia&rsquo;s (2002) work on identity exploration and May&rsquo;s existential psychological works (e.g., 1953), particularly his notion of &ldquo;the stages in consciousness of self&rdquo; (p. 100), served as major theoretical foundations of this research. Giorgi&rsquo;s (2009a) descriptive phenomenological psychological method was used, as it aligns with the qualitative and existential nature of this topic. I interviewed three transcultural migrants and analyzed the data sets with imaginative variations to yield an essential psychological structure that describes the phenomenon. Fourteen constituents were identified: the presence of a call to adventure, an urge to defy the sense of confinement or frustration, an appetite to develop one&rsquo;s potential for action in the world, indefinite and flexible migration plans, an imagined or desired horizon as the destination, commitment depending on the passion for and pursuit of growth and challenges, identity reflections on being different, a sense of extra effort or work, constant revival of earlier psycho-social crises, questioning traditional cultural boundaries, integrating cultural experiences into cultural identity and orientation, rebellion against cultural judgment-based interactions, cultural flexibility through experiential understanding, and heightened awareness of global, local, and identity politics. These findings support the existing literature emphasizing migrants&rsquo; openness to experience and interest in developing personal potential (Madison, 2009), their sense of extra effort (Moreau et al., 2009), and a pluralistic sense of political and socio-cultural identity (e.g., Ortega, 2016). In addition, the present findings challenge preconceived notions of culture, suggesting that concepts of cultural orientation, rather than racial/ethnic identity, and cultural humility in place of cultural competency have greater functional applications to the transcultural phenomenon. Some clinical, educational, socio-cultural, and political implications are presented. Future studies are encouraged to examine various transcultural possibilities.</p><p>

<p> Divorce and coparenting are widely studied topics in the field of marriage and family therapy. Clinicians and researchers have attempted to develop interventions to assist couples in which one or both partners are considering divorce so their decision-making processes result in better outcomes, which might safeguard adults and children from the potentially negative effects of divorce. Discernment counseling is such an intervention&mdash;intended for mixed-agenda couples with the goal of helping the partners gain clarity and confidence in making a decision about the future direction of their marital relationship. Using open-ended survey and interview questions, this phenomenological qualitative research explored Path 2 partners&rsquo; experiences of discernment counseling, divorce, and coparenting. Participants were recruited through gatekeepers at the Minnesota Couples on the Brink project and eleven (11) Path 2 partners participated in the survey/interviews. Three major themes emerged: 1) clarity and honesty, 2) appreciation for structure, and 3) cooperation in divorce and coparenting. Generally, the data findings suggest Path 2 partners described their discernment counseling experience as helpful for gaining clarity and honesty, providing necessary structure in their divorce decision-making process, and led to more cooperative divorce processes and post-divorce coparent relationships. </p><p>

<p> Quality of life in mentally ill older adults is an important area to target in psychiatric rehabilitation. Additionally, the ability for these individuals to live a more independent lifestyle and/or to feel fulfilled is a major contributor to their happiness. Therefore, mental health practitioners must have an understanding of how to help older adults diagnosed with a serious mental illness reach their optimal potential as enrollment continues to increase in mental health day programs. The intent of this study was to better understand mental health day program caregiver&rsquo;s experience in working with this population and to provide a description of what a mental health day program was like for the mentally ill residents under their care. The first task was facilitated by semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Secondly, a set of more survey-based questions were added to the interview design in an attempt to set the contextual stage of the described experience. It was believed that combined data would provide a more in depth perspective and set the stage to better explore the caregiver experience. Moreover, this approach is consistent with the generic qualitative method, which allows survey data to be integrated with interview data; in this case to help produce the work context of the caregiver. The combined data would then include attitudes, values, opinions and perspective on what works, what does not work and what could work better in relation to their work with this population. Using a data-driven, inductive coding model advocated by Boyatzis (1998) for conducting thematic analysis, three stages were developed: Stage 1. Sampling and design; Stage 2. Developing themes and codes; and Stage 3. Validating the use of the code. The results of this analysis yielded a total of 33 codes and 299 coded segments (participant comments coded). As a result, three themes were derived from the 12 patterns: 1) Caregivers&rsquo; Attitude towards Mental Health Day Programming, 2) Value that Caregivers Found within Mental Health Day Programs and 3) Caregivers&rsquo; Thoughts, Opinions and Feelings of Necessary Programmatic Model and Services. The original intent of his study was to determine 1.) how residential caregivers perceive specific characteristics or services as being an essential part of a mental health day program based upon their experience in working with older adult residents who have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, 2.) whether identified services describe a particular mental health day program model or approach (Clubhouse, Psychosocial Rehabilitation or Rehabilitation Skills Training, or Peer/Consumer-Run) that would be the best program fit for older adults diagnosed with a serious mental illness, and 3.) the personal care home caregivers&rsquo; perception of how these services are expected to: provide stimulation and a desire for older adults to learn or grow; create an opportunity for older adults to be a part of the program; and promote older adults in taking part or engaging program activities are addressed. However, it was soon apparent that this type of evaluative research was well beyond the scope of the dissertation. Consequently, a less evaluative and more general descriptive qualitative approach was undertaken wherein the focus was changed with the attempt to 1.) better understand mental health day program caregiver&rsquo;s experience in working with this population, 2.) provide a description of what mental health day programming was like for the mentally ill residents under their care, and 3.) set the contextual stage of the described experience. To the extent that this objective was met was left to the eye of the beholder, but it was hoped that the results would set the stage and lay the groundwork for the next step of the more evaluative approach abandoned for the generic qualitative descriptive study that follows. Thus the original intent was included here given the adage that the best evaluation is always description (Patton, 2008).</p><p>

<p> This research describes psychological values as they appear in social commerce related online marketing campaigns. Values are studied by their functional roles, which is what they do, rather than what they are (Gouveia, Milfont, &amp; Guerra, 2014). According to the functional theory of values, values guide actions and express needs. Marketing campaigns and values are explored because both marketing and values seek to guide actions and express needs. Exploring this calls for a qualitative study using content analysis. This research conducts two content analysis studies to verify accuracy. The first uses an open coding method, and the second uses a qualitative deductive analysis approach. The results retrieved throughout both studies use different word codes, but when listed together indicate that insightfulness, knowledge, and social support show the highest frequency and co-occurrence. Both studies also show that digitoral marketing campaigns rely much more on thriving needs than survival needs. Both studies confirmed, however, that survival needs are mostly expressed through displays of power, obedience, personal stability, and survival.</p><p>