<p> Homelessness in the United States is recognized as a grave societal problem with longstanding and pervasive implications. A substantial body of research has shown that substance use disorders occur at higher rates among homeless adults than among housed persons. Mental disorders, particularly depressive disorders, are also known to occur at substantially higher rates among the homeless. Given the prevalence of these conditions, it is important that clinicians working with homeless adults have access to reliable and valid assessment tools. The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of the Drug Abuse Screening Test-20 (DAST-20) in a sample of treatment-seeking, homeless men engaged in a residential substance abuse recovery program. Other goals included analysis of the relationship of the DAST-20 to the Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II). The participants were 86 males with a mean age of 43.08 years. The sample was ethnically diverse, tended to be single, and most participants had at least a high school education. This was an archival study. All participants had voluntarily sought psychological services in a university-affiliated clinic at the inner city mission that provided the substance abuse recovery program. In addition to the DAST-20 and BDI-II, the instruments included an intake application form for psychological services and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Mean scores on the DAST-20 and BDI-II were 10.07 and 21.94, respectively. Internal consistency reliability was .862 for the DAST-20 and .91 for the BDI-II. There were no statistically significant differences across ethnic groups in mean DAST-20, BDI-II, or AUDIT scores. As predicted, DAST-20 scores were positively correlated with intake form-based measures of drug abuse, supporting the validity of the DAST-20 as a measure of substance-related concerns. The DAST-20 also correlated significantly with the BDI-II, consistent with other research findings. There was a trend (p = .083) for the DAST-20 to be correlated with the AUDIT. Other findings, clinical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also explored. The results supported the reliability and validity of the DAST-20 as a measure of problematic substance use among treatment-seeking homeless men.</p>

This research attempts to answer the demands from previous literature to extend the use of systematic preference testing, and to enable people to make choices by enhancing the modes of communication of preference. It looks at the viability of systematic preference testing, embedded observations of preference, and the use of staff opinion to predict the person preference of people with a profound learning disability and high support needs. The data collected from 17 adults with a profound learning disability and high support needs was analysed using the city block metric to permit informal statements about the trends within the data. More formal statistical testing was invalid due to difficulties during the data collection phase. The results suggest that the use of systematic preference testing without previous training has limited application within this population. There is a tentative suggestion that embedded preference observations may be more widely accessible for this population. However, there is not a measurement of embedded observations validity within this study. Also, the accuracy of staff opinion of preference seemed to depend on the relationship between the participant and the staff member. Caution is advised in generalising the results of this study due to the difficulties in recruiting staff to be involved.

<p> This study has two parts: first, the development and execution of an abbreviated focusing-oriented dreamwork (FOD) treatment protocol for those with replicative PTSD nightmares, and second, an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of the experience of refugees who participated in the treatment. Participants included five clients from the Vancouver Association for the Survivors of Torture (VAST) who experienced clinically significant PTSD symptoms, including repetitive trauma-related nightmares. As a result of their participation in the FOD treatment, most experienced clinically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, and their dreams began to change in specific ways, including a shift in the nature of the aggressor, dream ego actions, temporal and setting changes, and reduced fear responses within and after their nightmares. The fear responses in the dream content appear to relate directly to the physiological fight, flight or freeze responses the body initiates in response to threat. For those who are good candidates for the intervention, the FOD protocol appears to break the cycle of fear response and move the dreamer toward more empowered responses within dreaming and upon waking, and positively affect daytime functioning. </p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1988. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: B, page: 1504. Chairperson: Karl J. Mueller.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1989. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-03, Section: B, page: 1494. Chairperson: Douglas Wallace.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1990. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: B, page: 2062. Chair: Deborah Brenner-Liss.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1990. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-07, Section: B, page: 3564. Chair: Karl J. Mueller.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1990. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-08, Section: B, page: 4064.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1991. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-08, Section: B, page: 4481.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1991. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-11, Section: B, page: 5999.