Wellness is an integral component of the helping professions (Myers & Sweeney, 2005; Witmer, 1985). Specifically, wellness is included in ethical codes, suggestions for practice, and codes of conduct throughout counseling, psychology, and social work fields (see American Counseling Association Code of Ethics, 2014; American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, 2010; National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, 1996). Even so, wellness in helping professionals is a difficult construct to measure. Thus, the purpose of the research investigation was to develop the Helping Professional Wellness Discrepancy Scale (HPWDS) and examine the psychometric features of the HPWDS in a sample of helping professionals and helping professionals-in-training. A correlational research design was employed for this investigation (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007). Specifically, the researcher examined: (a) the factor structure of the HPWDS with a sample of helping professionals; (b) the internal consistency reliability of the HPWDS; (c) the relationship between HPWDS scores and Counseling Burnout Inventory (CBI) scores; (d) the relationships between helping professionals' HPWDS scores and their reported demographic data; and (e) the relationship between HPWDS factor scores and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale-X1 (MCSDS-X1). The research questions were examined using: (a) Factor Analysis (FA), (b) Cronbach's alpha, (c) Spearman Rho correlation, (d) Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and (e) internal replication analysis. A review of the literature is provided, discussing theoretical and empirical support for all the items on the initial model of the HPWDS (n = 92) as well as for all the items included on the final HPWDS exploratory model (n = 22). The researcher investigated helping professionals' perceived levels of wellness, aspirational levels of wellness, and the discrepancy between perceived and aspirational levels of wellness. The data was collected via online, mail out, and face-to-face administration to increase methodological rigor. The sample size for the investigation was 657, with 88 coming from Face-to-Face sampling, 87 from mail out sampling, and 484 from online/email sampling. Data analysis resulted in a five-factor exploratory HPWDS model that accounted for 69.169% of the total variance. Model communalities were considered acceptable with only three communalities below the recommended .5 value. Factor 1 represented Professional & Personal Development Activities and accounted for 32.605% of the variance, Factor 2 represented Religion/Spirituality and accounts for 13.151% of the variance, Factor 3 represented Leisure Activities and accounted for 9.443% of the variance, Factor 4 represented Burnout and accounted for 7.198% of the variance, and Factor 5 represented Helping Professional Optimism and accounted for 6.773% of the variance. In addition to a literature review, the research methodology and research results are provided. Results of the research investigation are discussed and areas for future research, limitations of the study, and implications for the helping professions are presented. Some implications of the findings include: (a) a theoretically and methodologically sound instrument for assessing wellness discrepancies in helping professionals is important; (b) helping professionals should be aware of both the personal and professional activities they are engaging in to increase their knowledge and self-efficacy, as well as their leisure activity engagement; (c) it is advantageous for researchers to use the scale development procedures, rigorous sampling methodologies, and FA guidelines outlined throughout Chapters 3 and 4 when developing new assessments for evaluating helping professionals; and (d) a five factor wellness assessment allowing helping professionals to evaluate themselves in Professional & Personal Development Activities, Religion/Spirituality, Helping Professional Optimism, Leisure Activities, and Burnout arenas is integral in assessing wellness discrepancies in helping professionals.

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The Infant and Early Child Mental Health (IECMH) workforce is essential in improving the lives of vulnerable children and families. IECMH practitioners are exposed to challenging emotional experiences which increases their risk of internalizing disorders, burnout, and emotion regulation difficulties, especially in the time of COVID-19. Thus, it is important to identify possible interventions to increase provider wellness in the face of taxing work. The construct of self-care offers a promising area of study as a possible intervention point. However, current operationalizations of self-care have been limited and have emphasized behavioral components rather than cognitive components (e.g., beliefs) pertinent to self-care. This two-part study created and tested the psychometric properties of a novel measure, Self-care Belief and Behavior Questionnaire, in two different samples (e.g., a college sample and IECMH workforce sample). Additionally, this study determined the impact of self-care on professional quality of life and wellbeing outcomes. Exploratory and confirmatory factor results from Study 1 showed that the measure had 3 factors (e.g., self-care behavior, worthiness related to self-care, negative perceptions of self-care) with the first factor of self-care behavior meeting convergent, divergent and concurrent validity standards. These psychometric results were replicated in Study 2 and hierarchical regression results showed that self-care beliefs impact one’s engagement in practicing self-care. Further, self-care behavior impacted professional quality of life and wellbeing for IECMH workers. Self-care is a multi-faceted concept that involves beliefs, thoughts about the self and actual behaviors. Future research should determine the role of organizational support in providing an infrastructure that allows the exploration and education of self-care across system and individual levels.

The purpose of this experiment was to measure participants' normative judgment and willingness to help a woman who is being assaulted by a man.

Babies and toddlers are known to help others in the second year of life, by doing simple things like picking up dropped toys. However, researchers now believe helping develops earlier, in the first year of life. After reviewing what is known about early helping, my thesis examined how babies begin to help others by first helping their mothers (Study 1), and, for the first time, babies' requests for help from others, and how their requests are related to their other helping experiences (Study 2). The two studies presented here look at how babies interact with their caregivers, naturalistically and in structured game-like activities, from the time that they are five months old until they are ten months old. Study 1 used video-chat with 40 babies and their mothers to see the connection between how mothers and their babies completed activities together naturalistically, and how babies performed in simple helping games, as well as how babies' helping in these activities changed over time. This study found that mothers used gestures and phrases with their babies that were like the ones used by researchers in experiments, that younger babies were more likely to help their moms in cooperation type activities than in problem solving type activities, and that babies were more likely to help in problem solving type activities when they were older. Study 2 looked at 34 different pairs of babies and mothers to identify how babies and their caregivers ask for help from each other. This study found that babies ask for help from their mothers and use similar types of communication as their mothers. This research gave information to help us understand babies' helping and how it develops through both mother-child interactions and babies' own actions. This research is new and gives exciting new information to other researchers that are interested in learning about how babies help others and how they ask for help from a very young age.

This social constructionist study originated from the researcher’s exposure to the counselling volunteers environment. The study aimed to document the voices of three people, constructed as counselling volunteers. The three semi-structured interviews are with individuals who constructed themselves, or accepted the constructions of their role, as volunteers. The “case study approach” was chosen as the most suitable method to gather the information. “Thematic content analysis” was the method of analysis. The case studies of participants were reconstructed in terms of themes. Recurring themes in these case studies were expounded and linked within the literature. This study allowed valuable and rich information about the volunteerism to emerge. Amongst the themes that emerged, the need to help, being a good counsellor and resilience were identified as particularly important areas for future research. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The diploma thesis "Current issues in adult education in the helping professions" deals with present possibilities of life-long education of a helping professional. In the theoretical part it focuses on the general terminology and specifies the terms that characterise the helping professions. It introduces the issue of competencies, which, at the present time, have become output categories in the educational process. The thesis describes individual phases of a professional career and educational opportunities which are connected with the different phases. The theoretical part is linked to qualitative research focused on personal experience of helping professionals with education. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This social constructionist study originated from the researcher’s exposure to the counselling volunteers environment. The study aimed to document the voices of three people, constructed as counselling volunteers. The three semi-structured interviews are with individuals who constructed themselves, or accepted the constructions of their role, as volunteers. The “case study approach” was chosen as the most suitable method to gather the information. “Thematic content analysis” was the method of analysis. The case studies of participants were reconstructed in terms of themes. Recurring themes in these case studies were expounded and linked within the literature. This study allowed valuable and rich information about the volunteerism to emerge. Amongst the themes that emerged, the need to help, being a good counsellor and resilience were identified as particularly important areas for future research. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)