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The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the lived experience of nine African-American men and women who spent a significant amount of their childhood and adolescent years in the foster care system and the effects on their adult development. Participants were recruited for semi-structured interviews using purposeful and snowball sampling. Participants included nine African-American men and women ages 25 to 55 (mean = 43.3) identified as being raised for a minimum of five years in foster care with no less than three changes in foster care placement, they were legally and gainfully employed in a chosen field with evidence of progressive responsibility for a minimum of three years. They graduated from the foster care system at age 18 or 21 without being adopted and were reported to be in good physical and mental health. Participant interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The resultant data corpus included transcriptions of the audio taped interviews, demographic and supplemental question forms and documents authorized for use by participants such as interviews and autobiographies. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyze the data corpus. The analysis resulted in eleven sub-ordinate themes that were organized under four super-ordinate themes that served to explain the lived experience of being raised in long-term foster care. The four super-ordinate themes were: Feeling thrown away while needing to belong; Participant's perceptions of memorable relationships while in care; Navigating the pathways to resilience; and Finding meaning through reconciling the past and creating a future. Study results were discussed in terms of a life-span exploration of the participants' lived experiences that included their time before placement, during placement and at emancipation/after placement. The substantive findings of this study showed that the overarching themes centered on how the participants navigated the multiple and complex relationships they were exposed to and what they learned about themselves and internalized based on the messages they received in those relationships. Of additional significance was the development of coping strategies to manage those feelings and beliefs that ultimately contributed to their resilience and survival. / Counseling Psychology

Counselor educators are responsible for training counselors-in-training (CITs), equipping them with knowledge and skills to best serve racially diverse clients (CACREP, 2015). CITs may demonstrate multicultural competence by broaching race, or inviting clients to consider the extent to which race contributes to one's presenting problem (Day-Vines et al., 2017). Practicum and Internship experiences offer counselor educators the opportunity to prepare CITs to broach race through group supervision. Thus, this interpretative phenomenological analysis aimed to explore experiences of Black counselor educators in CACREP-accredited counseling programs, as their voices have historically been overlooked in scholarship (Haskins and Singh, 2015). Five GETs were revealed including: (a) Degree of Multiculturalism in Counseling Program, (b) Regular Conversations of Race, (c) Defining Broaching, (d) Centering Clients' Culture, and (e) Feeling Tension with Students as well as three divergent experiences. Overall, these findings highlight the ways in which Black counselor educators navigate the task of supporting CITs with the broaching intervention. This study illuminates what counselor education programs, counselor educators, and CACREP can do to improve what is currently being done about broaching preparation in counselor education. / Doctor of Philosophy / Counselor educators are responsible for training counselors-in-training (CITs), equipping them with knowledge and skills to best serve racially diverse clients (CACREP, 2015). CITs may demonstrate multicultural competence by broaching race, or inviting clients to consider the extent to which race contributes to one's presenting problem (Day-Vines et al., 2017). Practicum and Internship experiences offer counselor educators the opportunity to prepare CITs to broach race through group supervision. Thus, this qualitative study aimed to explore experiences of Black counselor educators in CACREP-accredited counseling programs, as their voices have historically been overlooked in scholarship (Haskins and Singh, 2015). Five GETs were revealed including: (a) Degree of Multiculturalism in Counseling Program, (b) Regular Conversations of Race, (c) Defining Broaching, (d) Centering Clients' Culture, and (e) Feeling Tension with Students as well as three divergent experiences. Overall, these findings highlight the ways in which Black counselor educators navigate the task of supporting CITs with the broaching intervention. This study illuminates what counselor education programs, counselor educators, and the accrediting body for counselor education programs can do to improve what is currently being done about broaching preparation in counselor education.

Refugee families who flee their homes as a result of conflict or persecution and face stressful migration experiences often struggle with trauma that may put them at increased risk for family discord and dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to use an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of 8 refugee mothers resettled in the United States, in particular their experiences pre-, during, and post-migration, and to further examine the impact that these experiences had on their relationships to their children and families. The study also examined mothers' experiences with different forms of support systems post-resettlement. Participants were recruited through a resettlement agency in Roanoke, Virginia. This study illuminated a number of key findings to further inform research, theory, and practice with this population. Refugee mothers reported stressful and traumatic experiences across their migration, describing harsh living conditions, prolonged stays in refugee camps, and loss of children and other family members as some of the most stressful experiences. Once resettled, mothers spoke of continued challenges, including language barriers and inconsistent or arbitrary support from formal social support services. Findings also suggest resiliency among this sample of refugee families, with mothers highlighting strong relationships with their children during and post-migration. The current study further informs the family stress literature and contributes a strength-based framework to understanding challenges faced by refugee families across the migration period. / Doctor of Philosophy / Refugee families who flee their homes as a result of conflict or persecution and face stressful migration experiences often struggle with trauma that may put them at increased risk for family dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of 8 refugee mothers resettled in the United States, in particular their experiences pre-, during, and post-migration, and to further examine the impact that these experiences had on their relationships with their children and families. The study also examined mothers’ experiences with different forms of support after resettlement. Participants were recruited through a resettlement agency in Roanoke, Virginia. This study highlighted a number of key findings to further inform research, theory, and practice with this population. Refugee mothers reported stressful and traumatic experiences across their migration, describing harsh living conditions, prolonged stays in refugee camps, and loss of children and other family members as some of the most stressful experiences. Once resettled, mothers spoke of continued challenges, including language barriers and inconsistent support from social services. Findings also showed mothers’ resiliency, with mothers highlighting strong relationships with their children during and post-migration. The current study further informs the family stress literature and contributes a strength-based framework to understanding challenges faced by refugee families across the migration period.

Existentiell hälsa är ett relativt nytt begrepp i Sverige och handlar om vårt sätt attse på och förhålla oss till livet i stort. Trots vissa påvisade hälsoeffekter, harmöjligheten att träna den existentiella hälsan på arbetstid ännu inte nått sammastatus som möjligheten att träna och förbättra den fysiska och psykosocialahälsan.Studiens syfte var att undersöka erfarenheter och upplevda effekter av enarbetsplatsförlagd hälsointervention under en serie av åtta tillfällen, medutgångspunkt i den existentiella hälsoaspekten. Semistrukturerade intervjuergenomfördes med sex informanter som genomgått hälsointerventionen under detsenaste året. Studien är kvalitativ och materialet analyserades med den tolkandefenomenologiska analysmetoden (IPA). Fyra huvudteman identifierades varav detre första kopplas till erfarenheter och det sistnämnda till egenupplevda effekter:Att bli sedd och uppskattad; Vikten av delandet; Existentiell hälsa – en del av migoch Ett nytt förhållningssätt. Resultatet visar på mycket positiva erfarenheter avatt ha blivit sedd som människa mer än som arbetstagare samt en stark gemenskapmed övriga deltagare. Resultaten indikerar en ökad grad av öppenhet och tillit,både till sig själv och till sina kollegor, i takt med träffarna. Detta gav pågruppnivå en upplevd ökad effektivitet i dagliga arbetsuppgifter tack vareförbättrad samarbetsförmåga. På individnivå indikeras en upplevd ökad inrestyrka tack vare starkare självkänsla och integritet. Slutsatsen vi drar av studienär att gruppträning i existentiell hälsa är ett kompletterande verktyg i kampen förförbättrad hälsa, ökad arbetsglädje och effektivitet. / Existential health is a relatively new concept in Sweden and is about our way oflooking at and relating to life in general. Despite some proven health effects, theopportunity to exercise existential health during working hours has not yetreached the same status as the opportunity to exercise and improve physical andpsychosocial health.The purpose of the study was to investigate experiences and perceivedeffects of a workplace-based health intervention over a series of eight occasions,based on the existential health aspect. Semi-structured interviews were conductedwith six informants who had undergone the health intervention during the pastyear. The study is qualitative and the material was analyzed using the interpretivephenomenological analysis method (IPA). Four main themes were identified, ofwhich the first three are linked to experiences and the latter to self-perceivedeffects: Being seen and appreciated; The importance of sharing; Existential health- a part of me and A new approach. The results show very positive experiencesof having been seen as a human being more than as an employee and a strongcommunity with other participants. The results indicate an increased degree ofopenness and trust, both to oneself and to one's colleagues, during the meetings.At a group level, this resulted in a perceived increase in efficiency in daily tasksthanks to improved collaboration skills. At the individual level, a perceivedincreased inner strength is indicated thanks to stronger self-esteem and integrity.The conclusion we draw from the study is that group training based on existentialhealth is a complementary tool in the fight for improved health, increased jobsatisfaction and efficiency.

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) share many similarities such as the presence of obsessions and compulsions, a similar age of onset and also similar activation of underlying structures within the brain related to obsessions and compulsion formation. The recently published DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) has grouped the two conditions together in a chapter entitled Obsessive Compulsive -and related disorders, recognising the similarities in presentation. This appeared to echo the classification within the NICE guidelines for OCD and BDD (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2006) where the two conditions were grouped together on the presence of obsessions and compulsions, neurological evidence pointing to the activation of brain areas responsible for obsessive thoughts and compulsive acts alongside strong familial links. Both OCD and BDD were understood (from both sets of guidelines) to respond well to the use of Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors and the treatment use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. This qualitative research study focuses on the gap in existing literature by studying the lived experience of individuals living with obsessions and compulsions. Much focus has historically remained on understanding the clinical symptomology and underlying constructs as related to living with obsessions and compulsions, through the use of questionnaires or brain imaging. With recent changes in the DSM-V (Statistical Manual for mental Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) recognising OCD and BDD as part of the same family of conditions, it appeared timely to focus on the individuals living with OCD or BDD and their sense and meaning making as informed by their experiences of obsessions and compulsions.

Research psychologists often complain that practitioners disregard research evidence whilst practitioners sometimes accuse researchers of failing to produce evidence with sufficient ecological validity. The tension that thus arises is highlighted, using the specific illustrative examples of two treatment methods for post-traumatic disorder (PTSD): Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and exposure based interventions. Contextual reasons for the success or failure of particular treatment models that are often only tangentially related to the theoretical underpinnings of the models are discussed. Suggestions regarding what might be learnt from these debates are put forward and implications for future research are discussed.

Background: The death of a child has been found to have long term consequences for both individual and family functioning. This is particularly true for bereaved siblings who have been found to be at increased risk of developing mental health difficulties in later life. Literature on parental bereavement proposes that the parenting phenomenon, such as replacement child syndrome, subsequent child syndrome and the parenting paradox, which can emerge after the death of a child, may account for this. However, there is very little research on these labels of observed parenting phenomenon and, as a result, any hypothesis offered remains under elaborated. In addition, limited evidence suggests that, due to the sudden, unexpected and unexplained nature of the loss, SIDS parents are more likely to experience a greater degree of distress and adjustment difficulties than other perinatally bereaved populations. Given this, it could be hypothesised that SIDS parents may be likely to experience these parenting phenomena. Despite this, however, SIDS remains a neglected area of research. Aims: As a consequence of this research gap, the study aims to explore mothers’ experiences of parenting in their transition from being a parent unaffected by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome to a parent affected by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Methodology: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven mothers who had experienced an incident of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: Five master themes emerged from the analysis: ‘Channelling the Parent Within’, a naturally developing and responsive parenting style that is facilitated by internal mechanisms, such as flexibility and confidence; ‘Parenting Outside of Yourself’, a parenting style that develops in the aftermath of a SIDS event, which is characterised by self doubt and a reliance on external mechanisms such as reassurance and restriction; ‘Restoration Through You’, the restorative effect of the subsequent and surviving children, which allows vindication and re-establishes happiness; ‘The Bitter Restoration’, a restoration that encompasses internal knowledge and external evidence of loss, including a disrupted family composition and a continued awareness of existential threat; ‘A Disruptive Appreciation’, the development of a greater appreciation for the subsequent and surviving children that impacts discipline and incorporates indulgence. These, along with the subthemes contributing to them, are presented as a narrative account. Conclusion: The results imply that mothers who have experienced a SIDS event shift into a permissive and anxious style of parenting which is characterised by safety behaviours. A model of parenting in the aftermath of SIDS has been proposed in order to explain the underlying cognitions and processes which drive this behaviour and the factors which serve to maintain it. By doing this it is hoped that, when working with bereaved parents and siblings, clinicians will be better positioned to frame parenting practices and intervene at a cognitive level.