This transcendental phenomenological study sought to understand the experiences of graduate counselor students during the development of their ethnic and racial identity (ERI). The research questions for the study were: How do counseling students experience ethnic and racial identity development during their graduate program and what is the meaning made by graduate students in their experiences with ERI development in their graduate program? Participants were recruited from a CACREP accredited graduate counseling program and the purposive sampling technique was used to identify those who have experience with the phenomena. In-depth, open ended questions were utilized to gather comprehensive descriptions of the participants' experience. The Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen was used for the data analysis procedure (Moustakas, 1994). Findings included: Shifting Perspective of ERI, ERI Complexity, Personal ERI Development, Integrating ERI into Clinical Work, Faculty Support and Peer Support. Future research and implications for counseling institutions are discussed.

This study is a Narrative Analysis of the hidden strengths and positive qualities inherent to identified psychiatric diagnosis. Seven individuals were interviewed on two occasions and also corresponded with me via email and telephone. Analysis of individual narratives yielded common thematic elements and common plot points, these factors were further analyzed and contemplated in the light of their implications for the Counseling profession. an informed critique of the research design is presented, followed by implications and suggestions for future research.

There are a multitude of factors that influence college students’ mental health. Among such factors, there is little research on the influence of family functioning, social competence, and social support on the mental health of college students. This quantitative research study examined the relationships among the identified variables utilizing structural equation modeling. Results indicate that although there are relationships between each variable, the a priori theoretical model established by the researcher did not fit the data well. Implications for mental health practitioners and researchers are explored in light of the researcher’s findings.

Mindfulness has received growing attention as an empowering approach for the treatment of addiction and mental health disorders in the criminal justice system. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study explored the teaching practices of volunteers who currently facilitate mindfulness programs in correctional settings. A total of fifteen volunteer meditation teachers and three former group members were interviewed. The researcher utilized interview data to construct a grounded theory which conceptualizes the barriers volunteers face, helpful facilitation strategies, and factors which promote and threaten the engagement of group members. The results of this grounded theory illustrate culturally responsive facilitation strategies and empowering ways volunteers share mindfulness teachings with individuals who are incarcerated. Limitations and suggestions for future research are presented, along with implications for the counseling profession.

This study explores the confluence of Narrative Inquiry's three commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place on the experiences of five combat veterans with combat-designated Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) across the lifespan. In particular, the study examines the longitudinal components of Moral Injury (MI) before, during, and after combat operations. Chapter 4 explores the individual narratives of the participants, Chapter 5 examines common narrative threads between participants, and Chapter 6 is the author's subsequent extrapolations on the subject matter given his own experiences as a combat veteran of the Iraq War.

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According to Stamm (2010), variables in counselors’ work environment, personal environment, and client environment precipitate the development of compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue, which comprises secondary traumatic stress and burnout, is an occupational hazard for counselors, and new counselors are especially vulnerable. A supervisory style that exhibits servant leadership traits may provide necessary support and counteract compassion fatigue symptoms for counseling residents. Servant leadership shares many philosophical assumptions of the counseling profession and addresses the administrative challenges many clinical supervisors face today (Evans, Wright, Murphy, & Maki, 2016). A sample of 241 counseling residents participated in the study and completed several instruments. Data were analyzed with two structural equation models to identify the impact of the perceived servant leadership traits of supervisors on counseling residents’ compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress with other relevant predictors. Limitations, avenues for future research, and implications for counselor education and supervision are discussed.

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of Imams in their mosques during their personalized interactions with the congregants they serve. A review of the literature was conducted, and the theoretical framework of the study was social constructivism. Eight Imams were identified as meeting the criteria for the study. Data collection consisted of a demographic questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and artifact collection. A hermeneutic phenomenological method was used to analyze the data which resulted in five themes around Imam’s experience with their congregants. Additional findings are also discussed, along with implications, limitations, and future research.

In use for centuries across nations, meditation is still one of the widely used interventions to promote holistic health. Despite its large research base, many forms of meditation in use still have yet to be subject to empirical research. Centering prayer has been an established contemplative practice since the third century and has recently gained popularity at the turn of the last century. Individuals practiced centering to find stillness and, through the stillness, their inner strength. Due to its lack of empirical evidence, centering practice has primarily remained in religious or contemplative circles outside instead of counseling treatment. Furthermore, it is almost entirely out of the young adult population's knowledge, a generation that has increasingly identified with spirituality over the years. Due to this potential match with the population and other stated needs of the college counseling field for complementary and alternative forms of treatment, the present study aims to test the effectiveness of a centering prayer meditation on resilience in the college population. Further, it seeks to examine the temporal dynamics of resilience during this intervention over four weeks. To address this goal, I conducted a longitudinal randomized controlled trial where university students (n = 150) joined at random a treatment group or a control group. Each group took assessments measuring their resilience, hope, mindfulness, spiritual transcendence, and stress at three points in time with equal intervals of two weeks (T1, T2, and T3). Also, they took a brief assessment of hope every morning and every evening for the duration of the study. At the onset of the study, participants in the treatment group received a brief online introductory training to centering meditation. Afterward, the study procedure requested them to practice centering for 10 minutes every morning and every evening for the study duration. After meditation, they completed their brief assessments of hope, while the control group completed them at the same time without the meditation. This study used two research methods from temporal dynamics, including growth curve modeling and time series analysis. The growth curve model indicated a statistically significant difference in resilience over four weeks between the treatment and control group (p < .05). The 4-week treatment had approximately a moderate within-group effect on the treatment group (d = .48). A subsequent growth curve model indicated that hope was a significant explanatory variable (p < .05) and within-subject mediator (p < .01) of resilience over time. Based on the hypothesis of this effect of hope on resilience, the study included a time series analysis analyzing the bi-daily levels of hope between the treatment group and control group. Using an ARIMA modeling procedure, the analysis detected that the treatment group had an ARIMA (1, 1, 0) model, indicating a statistically significant increasing trend in hope and autocorrelation to aid in forecasting, p < .000. The model accounted for 56% of the variance in hope while controlling for the trend in the data (stationary R2 = .56). As expected, the control group did not have an increasing trend in hope, but it showed a forecastable model through its AR(1) and MA (1), p <.000. Lastly, the study explored how other psychosocial properties of resilience such as mindfulness, stress, and spiritual transcendence could affect the trajectory of resilience over time. A growth curve model indicated that each variable had a statistically significant fixed effect on resilience over time, p < .05. Time served as a statistically significant random effect in the models of stress and spiritual transcendence, p < .000. Discussion of limitations and implications for counseling practice and research will follow.

Implicit biases are known to have potentially damaging effects in counselors’ professional work. Although it is widely accepted that all people have these personal and unconscious biases, it has been difficult for researchers to identify strategies for consistently eradicating them on an individual level. To engage in multiculturally competent practice, counselors are directed to make every effort to eliminate latent biases. In order to understand how clinicians go about doing this, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis was employed to explore the nature of counselors’ experiences navigating and addressing their implicit biases. The findings of this study revealed a need for more training in counselor education programs targeted at equipping students to work through the complex psychological challenges that come with addressing personal biases. Unfortunately, participants of this study indicated that they often feel unprepared to manage their implicit biases as they entered the workforce. Racial identity, empathy, obstacles, and a personal orientation towards addressing biases were discussed in relation to individual experiences navigating implicit bias. The findings of this study imply that practitioners’ retention of implicit biases impose added risk for already marginalized groups and that cognitive and racial identity developmental frameworks might offer some insight in identifying effective practices for reducing implicit biases. Implications for counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators are provided along with limitations of the study and directions for future research.