Thesis (M.A.)--Central Connecticut State University, 2000. / Thesis advisor: Charles Mate-Kole. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts [in Psychology]." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 41-45).

<p> The US wields the most powerful military in the history of the world, and deploys military personnel throughout the globe to fight, kill and die in atoned conflict. US veterans number around 22.5 million or about 14% of the US population. Some veterans, troubled by violence, enroll in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and receive care from mental health providers who have developed, through their particular framework, the medical constructs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury (MI) to diagnose and/or "treat" these veterans as "patients." The PTSD construct casts veterans as "patients with a disorder," minimizes legitimate moral pain, and enables the US public to avoid the work of reckoning with harmful consequences of US military action for which they hold ultimate responsibility. MI, a more recent and fluid construct, occurs at the intersection of religion and violence and thus invites the contribution of chaplains. A focused MI group for combat veterans within the VHA co-facilitated by a chaplain and psychologist provides veterans the opportunity for <i>frame breaking</i> and <i> reframing</i> and holds the possibility of systemic change in a response grounded not in individual therapy or treatment but rather in shared spiritual and moral community. A public ceremony with ritual and spiritual discipline creates sanctuary for veterans to provide <i>adaptive leadership</i>, as they transform themselves from patient to prophet, bearing witness to unsanitized and inglorious truths while the US public listens and wrestles with issues of culpability, obligation, and moral responsibility. The outcome is post-traumatic growth and spiritual development&mdash;indicated by greater moral engagement, awareness, forgiveness, and compassion. Such adaptive change may lead to increased resistance to militarism and greater reverence for all life on this fragile earth.</p><p>

<p> Since publication in 2005, the Young Schema Questionnaire Short-version 3^rd Edition (YSQ-S3) has increased in popularity over the years among psychologists in Europe and the U.S.; yet to date it has not been normed within a U.S. sample. A sample of 148 participants completed eight demographic questions, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder -7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire -9 (PHQ-9), and YSQ-S3 via Survey Monkey.</p><p> Participants were classified into clinical and non-clinical groups depending on responses to the GAD-7, PHQ-9, and demographic questions. YSQ-S3 results were analyzed via SPSS 23.0 to conduct descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and exploratory analyses to test the following hypotheses: (a) There will be significant mean score differences between the clinical and non-clinical participants on each YSQ-S3 schema except entitlement/grandiosity and unrelenting standards/hypercriticalness; and (b) That the clinical sample will have a higher number of schemas active. An additional goal was to produce preliminary cut-off scores for distinguishing pathological from normal scores for the schema-based scales.</p><p> Results indicated significant differences between clinical and non-clinical participants on YSQ-S3 mean scores with moderate to mostly large effect sizes. Due to substantial overlap between the two groups, we were unable to establish cut-off scores for the YSQ-S3 subscales. Regression analyses demonstrated perfect classification for anxious participants for the Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS) and weaker classification in predicting depression and the comorbidity of anxiety and depression in participants.</p><p> The main limitation to our study was that schemas are commonly conceptualized as a partially unconscious phenomenon; thus the self-report approach of the YSQ-S3 may not readily capture schemas (Bowlby, Ainsworth, Boston, &amp; Rosenbluth, 1956), and we lacked a severe clinical group.</p><p> Results indicated that at least in the present sample the YSQ-S3 was only somewhat able to effectively distinguish the normal group from those with mixed anxiety and depression for individual schemas. Due to overlap between the clinical and normal samples and absence of an established method, we were unable to propose preliminary cutoff scores on the YSQ-S3 subscales, or suggest a difference in EMS quantity between pathological and normal samples.</p><p>

<p> The changing relationship of Americans to their churches has been documented but has not been explained. This is a narrative qualitative research inquiry for the purpose of exploring the perspectives of members of Southern Baptist churches who experienced disaffection as a result of marginalization within the church as they practiced their religious faith. Using Social Identity Theory (SIT) and the microaggressions literature, this study described negative interactions and explained the group processes that marginalize church members and motivate their disaffection from the church. The narratives of this study extend the literature on negative interactions in the religious community, describing and examining antecedents and consequences. Two semistructured interviews with ten participants who were once members of Southern Baptist churches informed this study. Four Southern Baptist churches were represented by the ten participants. Data analysis was aided by NVivo 11. In spite of the inclusive mission of the church, the results of this study clearly place microaggressions, with their accompanying marginalization, within the church. Characteristic of microaggressions, this study found that microaggressions in the church: a) leave the responsibility of reparation with the target; b) deny the existence of microaggressions within their congregation; and c) breed a sense of rejection as a result of marginalization. This study affirms and extends Pargament&rsquo;s (2002) suggestion that short-term distress may lead to long-term spiritual growth. This study also emphasizes the need to address issues of faith as a dimension of diversity.</p><p>

This study arose out of a search for a suitable scale to measure religion and spirituality. The literature suggests that religion and spirituality are potentially powerful explanatory variables in health and social research, but there do not appear to be any instruments that are generally accepted as measures of an individual's religious or spiritual characteristics. While a lack of consensus in such a complex area is probably to be expected, it is the lack of accepted measures or instruments that drives this study. The literature review describes the historical influence of religion on public health practices, and the most recently reported associations between religion and both physical and mental health. This establishes religion as a potentially useful construct to include in any health study. However, the reported association between religion and health is often unclear, and the measures used differ widely between studies. This study goes beyond the health context and explores the reasons why existing methods have not resulted in broadly accepted measures of religion and spirituality.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 1993. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-06, Section: B, page: 3335.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-103).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Lisa Armistead, committee chair; Greg Jurkovic, committee co-chair; Sarah Cook, Rod Watts, committee members. Electronic text (133 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 3, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-109).

<p> This qualitative study explored African-American women Generation Xers' (ages 35-50) experience with religion and its connection to mental well-being. The purpose of this study was to develop a thorough understanding of the experience of African-American women with religion, and how religion may contribute to mental well-being. Using a phenomenological research design approach, the researcher examined the stories, occurrences, and help-seeking behaviors of African-American women in their day-to-day lives. The sample consisted of 20 women who identified as African-American and were interested in the topics of mental well-being and religion. The analysis of comprehensive semi-structured interviews allowed the researcher to generate new insight into the connection between religion and mental well-being. New information will inform social work practice in the development of interventions designed to increase mental well-being of African-American women. The study&rsquo;s theoretical framework emerged from both womanist theology and empowerment theory with the goal of improving the lives of African-American women. The experience of religion and the women&rsquo;s view of this phenomenon had a bearing on the mental well-being of the women in this study. </p><p> Chapter One contains a brief introduction into the topics of religion, African-American women and mental health, the purpose for the study, the rationale for using qualitative research methods, particularly phenomenology, the theoretical framework, a statement of the problem, and the research questions. Chapter Two includes a broad review of the literature. In Chapter Three, the researcher delineates the research methods used in the study, including participant recruitment, data collection, data analysis, approaches taken to increase the validity and reliability of the study, possible ethical issues, and the role and background of the researcher. Chapter Four contains the analysis of each interview, with an emphasis on the emerging patterns and themes. Chapter Five comprises a discussion of the results of the analysis. Chapter Six includes the discussion and implications for public policy, social work practice, future research, strengths, and limitations of the study. Lastly, the appendix includes copies of the internal review board approval from Howard University, consent forms, the well-being scale, the demographic questionnaire, and the flyer with the announcement of the study.</p><p>

Despite the current emphasis on person centred, holistic care in health, the concept of spirituality has been discussed very little in the field of speech and language therapy (SLT). The nursing spirituality literature has proliferated in the last twenty years but, by contrast, very few SLT studies exist which mention the spiritual needs of patients with communication problems and how they express them. Individuals experiencing severe, life-changing events, such as a stroke, may need to engage with and discuss their spiritual needs, in order to make sense of what has happened to them. The aim of this study was to discover what it is like to express spiritual issues when one has an acquired communication impairment (aphasia). I also wanted to discover what it is like to be a healthcare professional working with people with communication impairment expressing their spirituality. I used a phenomenological approach in order to interview eight people with aphasia about their spirituality. Participants with aphasia used a variety of strategies to express these ideas, which included employing non-verbal communication techniques, such as gesture, writing key words, intonation and artefacts. I also interviewed five members of the multidisciplinary stroke team (MDT) about what it is like to work holistically with people with aphasia. Each interview resulted in a participant story. People with aphasia talked about religious themes, such as visions and prayer, but also non-religious life meaning-makers, such as gardening and art. MDT members discussed themes such as spirituality as part of their remit and giving the patient time to communicate. The stories were then explored through the interpretive lens of some concepts propounded by Merleau-Ponty (2002), namely ambiguity, lived body, language and thought, and wonder. Frank’s illness narratives (chaos, restitution and quest) were also considered in order to analyse the participants’ stroke journey in relation to expressing spirituality. People with aphasia can and do discuss their spiritual concerns, particularly when they are entering a quest phase of their illness narrative. They employ many non-verbal mosaics in order to convey spiritual issues, and are helped by the listener employing a phenomenological attitude of openness and attentiveness. Healthcare professionals expressed their willingness to listen to their patients’ spiritual stories, in the interests of holistic practice. Being able to express spiritual needs can enhance wellbeing, help foster therapeutic rapport, and enable people to engage more fully in the rehabilitation process.