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No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Graduate school for most students can be quite stressful. When combined with the responsibility of being a spouse, parent, and/or employee, the stress is elevated. Research has indicated that the greatest area of discord for married graduate students and their nonstudent spouses is communication. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a relationship enhancement program on the marital adjustment of graduate students and their spouses. The sample consisted of 28 married graduate students and their nonstudent spouses. These couples were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups or a control group. Some of the treatment group participants received one-on-one training by a therapist certified in Relationship Enhancement (RE while others received the training through an RE self-study manual (Guerney, 1987). Marital adjustment was measured pre and post test to intervention by the Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Test (Locke & Wallace, 1959). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant differences between treatment group and control group as measured by scores of marital adjustment. This study also provides suggestions for how institutions of higher education can provide support to married students and their spouses on college campuses. / Ph. D.

The objective of this dissertation study was to investigate the lived experiences of intimacy in married couples in India. The researcher specifically explored the couples' intimacy experiences in six dimensions: emotional closeness and self-disclosure, shared ideas and support, sexual intimacy, relationship skills, commitment and social intimacy. The Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET), an innovative method of data collection was used to collect pictures as metaphors from 11 couples (N=22) and the researcher conducted 45-90 minutes in-depth phone interviews. Phenomenological approach was used for data analysis and five themes (description, positive and negative experiences, barriers and strategies used, changes over time and perceived societal norms) provided information on the six dimensions of intimacy. The findings confirmed that intimacy is experienced in married Indian couples in each of the above mentioned dimensions. In addition, when intimacy is experienced they are viewed positively and lack of intimacy is viewed negatively in each dimensions. Couples also perceived barriers to their achievement of intimacy and developed strategies that helped them maintain intimacy in their marriage over time. Gender differences were present, for wives, emotional closeness and self-disclosure was more important, whereas for men, commitment was more important. The findings have implications for marriage education programs and clinicians working with married Indian couples. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this research was to explore what women who are, or have been, in therapy for an eating disorder find helpful about that therapy. Since the perspectives and voices of women in therapy are largely absent from the treatment literature, participants were asked to talk about their experiences in therapy, particularly those aspects they identified as helping them change in desirable ways. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine women and one therapist who treated each of them individually. Qualitative methods of analysis were employed that privileged the voices of participants and used the therapist's comments to add depth to the understanding of the results. The results of this research are organized to help clinicians arrange their thinking about how to work with clients who have eating problems. Five categories, or aspects, of helpfulness were created: relationship aspects, self of therapist aspects, within therapy aspects, outside therapy but related to treatment aspects, and having nothing to do with therapy aspects. Participants' voices are used to add depth and details to each of these aspects. Suggestions for therapists are included. / Ph. D.

Children' s relationships with their childcare teachers and its effects on their subsequent behaviors, attachments, and outcomes have been an interest in the last two or three decades primarily due to the significant increase of young children in full-time childcare. Attachment Theory, and its identifying behaviors in children categorized by the Strange Situation or the Attachment Q-Sort, has been the main focus of previous research. The purpose of my study, using an ethnographic approach, was to understand and describe the varied and multiple relationships between children (approximate ages 12 to 24 months) and their childcare teacher in their day-to-day interactions. Observations were my primary source of data, supported by videotaped sessions, and parent and teacher interviews. My focus was on secondary caregiver-child dyads, their relationships, and the parameters and identifying behaviors characterizing each pair. Data collection took place over an eight-week period in one toddler center classroom where I was a passive participant observer. Results indicated the children had warm, nurturing relationships, often with multiple caregivers, without the prevailing attachment behaviors. My research did not support the customary categorization of childcare relationships using the attachment paradigm, nor an increase in the insecure-avoidant category among children in full-time childcare. Evidence suggested, instead, a broader base of relationship descriptions, and a future development of a multiple caregiver model analogous to the extended family for understanding the varied relationships within a childcare center setting. / Ph. D.

Personal interaction and proximity have been the cornerstones for relationship development in counselor education for decades. However, these concepts are opposed by the physical distance and lack of proximity inherent in a distance classroom environment. As the use of distance education increases in higher education, counselor educators must ensure that quality teaching and learning is maintained in the distance classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore student perceptions of counselor education courses taught at a distance using video teleconferencing (VTC); specifically, student satisfaction with course delivery and relationship development in the VTC environment was the focus of the study. Research questions included the following: 1.To what extent are counselor education students satisfied with graduate counseling classes delivered via videoconferencing? Specifically, student satisfaction with: a. the instructor characteristics, b. the technological characteristics, and c. the course management characteristics of the class? 2. What are counselor education students' perceptions of teacher/student relationship development in the VTC classroom environment? 3. What is the relationship between student satisfaction and relationship development when counselor education courses are taught via VTC? Responses from 43 Virginia Tech master's and doctoral level students who participated in VTC Counselor Education courses between 1998 and 2006 were used to explore student satisfaction and instructor/student relationship development in the VTC class environment. The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory © (BLRI; Barrett-Lennard, 1962) and the Telecourse Evaluation Questionnaire (TEQ; Biner, 1993) were the instruments used to create an on-line questionnaire. Participants reported highly positive feelings about the instructor/student relationship (M = 4.1) and perceived that relationship to be honest, direct, sincere, and open. Student satisfaction and relationship development in the VTC class environment were found to be related to one another (r = .48) However, the technology used to deliver VTC courses was not found to be related to students' feelings about their instructor or to their ability to build a relationship with the instructor. Reliability scores in this study were comparable to published scores for these instruments. / Ph. D.

Supervision of counselors-in-training (CITs) is complex and multifaceted. While supervision is critical to the professional development of CITs, they are also being evaluated for a grade that will advance them academically. Therefore, CITs may feel pressured to intentionally withhold information in supervision that could reflect badly on them or their supervisor and/or hinder their progress. Indeed, one study indicated that 97.2% of CITs intentionally withheld relevant information in supervision (Ladany, Hill, Colbert, and Nutt, 1996). Fortunately, there are ways to reduce supervisee non-disclosure. For example, when CITs perceive a strong supervisory relationship, nondisclosures occur less frequently (Mehr, Ladany, and Caskie, 2010). There is some evidence that the supervisory relationship is impacted by the supervisory working alliance and supervisee attachment styles. More general social perceptions may also impact the supervisory relationship, but that has not been assessed in the context of CIT supervision. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine these factors, supervisory working alliance, supervisee attachment styles, and social perceptions, and their impact on intentional nondisclosure by CITs. This quantitative study included a sample of 112 master's-level counselor-in-training students enrolled in internship at a CACREP-accredited (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs) counselor education program. Results indicate that CITs report more discomfort in disclosing supervision-related issues compared to client-related issues. An exploratory factor analysis of the three constructs of interest resulted in a four-factor model. These factors were: (1) Perception of a Supervisor, (2) Anxious Attachment in Supervision (3) the Supervisory Working Alliance, and (4) Avoidant Attachment in Supervision. A multiple regression analysis indicated that a model including social perceptions of supervisors, the supervisory working alliance, and supervisee attachment styles explained 64% of the variance in intentional nondisclosure. Avoidant attachment styles and rapport of the supervisory working alliance were significant predictors of intentional nondisclosure. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are included. Limitations and recommendations for future studies will be discussed based on the unique findings from this study. / Ph. D.