Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Evaluating an Online Intervention to Educate Psychology Graduate Students about Grief and Grief Counseling and to Increase Their Self-Efficacy in Working with Bereaved Clients(2022) Jankauskaite, Greta; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Grief is a ubiquitous human experience with most if not all individuals experiencing a death loss at some point in their lives. Prior research found that all surveyed therapists reported having worked with bereaved clients at some point in their careers, with many (44.4%) noting that they provided grief counseling fairly often (Jankauskaite et al., 2021). However, research suggested that majority of therapists never received formal graduate training on grief counseling and may rely on outdated knowledge and questionable skills in working with grieving clients (e.g., Dodd et al., 2020; Jankauskaite et al., 2021; Ober et al., 2012), yet expressed desire to learn more about this clinical skill (Jankauskaite et al., 2021). Thus, the purposes of the present study were to develop an online intervention to educate psychology graduate students about grief and grief counseling and to evaluate whether the intervention can increase knowledge on grief and grief counseling and self-efficacy in working with grieving individuals. The study compared three study conditions – full video intervention, partial video intervention, and a control consisting of a reading. The results indicated that while controlling for prior grief counseling training and experience, participants randomized to the full video intervention had higher grief and grief counseling knowledge and self-efficacy in working with bereaved individuals than those randomized to the partial intervention and control groups. Overall, the results indicated that the full intervention is a feasible and efficacious way to teach psychology doctoral students about grief and grief counseling and to increase their confidence in working with bereaved client population. We end by discussing clinical implications and future research considerations.Item Differential Codevelopment of Working Alliance and Session Evaluation in Counseling Dyads(2022) Lin, Shihong; Kivlighan, Dennis; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)We examined session quality measured by the session evaluation scale (SES) and the working alliance measured by WAI-SR using the DSEM model, and reported similarities and differences in the codevelopment of the working alliance and session evaluation. In addition, we examined how the dynamic patterns of codevelopment for working alliance and session evaluation are associated with counseling outcomes. Major findings include: 1) there are significant actor effects for both working alliance and session evaluation; 2) In our study, there is no difference between therapist partner effects and client partner effects, for both working alliance and session evaluation; 3) The paths for session-to-session carryover effects (actor and partner effects) were stronger for working alliance than they are for session evaluation; 4) the therapist partner effects for session quality was statistically significantly associated with therapy outcome measure by the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2. Clinical implications of those findings were discussed.Item PHYSICAL HEALTH IN PSYCHOTHERAPY: AN EXAMINATION OF DISCUSSION AND RESPONSE FROM THERAPIST AND CLIENT PERSPECTIVES(2017) Fuhrmann, Amy Carr; Hoffman, Mary Ann; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated if and how physical health is discussed in open-ended psychotherapy in a naturalistic setting, including identifying frequency and content of reported physical health issues, in-session responses to these reports, decisions not to report a physical health issue, and relationships with other session variables. Participants were 54 clients and 11 doctoral therapists-in-training engaged in open-ended treatment at a low-fee, community psychotherapy clinic. Data about physical health was collected for each client at intake, and data on report of a physical health issue, characteristics of the report, therapists’ response during the session, decision not to report, working alliance, real relationship, and session evaluation were collected after each session. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean comparison, and linear regression. Results indicate that while talking about a physical health issue was relatively infrequent, clients had physical health issues that they found distressing. The most common physical health issues discussed were sleep, weight, and pain. Clients were more likely to share issues in session that they rate as more distressing and related to their mental health than those they chose not to share. Clients were three times more likely than therapists to initiate discussion about physical health in session, and issues that were discussed usually came up in the early phase of long-term, open-ended treatment, and were discussed in more than one session. In sessions when a physical health issue was discussed, depth of the discussion varied greatly, but when clients’ understanding of their physical health issue was evolving or unclear, they more consistently talked about the issue in depth. When talking about physical health, therapists reported helping clients draw connections with their mental health through insight, while clients felt therapists focused more on exploration of the issue. Qualities of the discussion about physical health in session related to client-rated working alliance, real relationship, and session evaluation. Implications for training, research and practice are discussed.Item Predictors of feelings of depression among Asian American college students(2016) Koo, Katie; Park, Julie J.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between various collegiate experiences including substance use, religiosity, campus climate, academic life, social life, self-concept, satisfaction with college, and perceived feelings of depression among Asian American college students compared to other racial groups. Employing Astin’s (1993) I-E-O model, the study utilized the 2008 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) the Freshman Survey (TFS) and the follow up College Senior Survey (CSS) in 2012 with the final sample of 10,710 students including 951 Asian American students. Descriptive analysis, cross-tabulations, blocked hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the equality of the unstandardized beta coefficients from the regression analyses, and a one-way ANOVA were conducted for the data analysis. Asian American students who are female, from low SES backgrounds, academically less achieved, frequent substance users, less religiously involved, and less satisfied with overall college experiences showed higher levels of feeling depressed. For the rate of feeling depressed across racial groups, Asian American college students showed the highest rate of feeling depressed while White students reported the lowest rate of feeling depressed. For Asian American college students, feeling depressed in high school, hours spent per week on studying and homework, and self-confidence in intellectual ability were the most significant predictors of feelings of depression while drinking beer, drinking liquor, spirituality, failing to complete homework on time, hours spent per week on socializing, self rated self-confidence in social ability, and satisfaction with overall college experiences were significant predictors of feelings of depression. Asian American college students spent the longest hours on studying and homework, reported the highest GPA, but showed the lowest self-confidence on intellectual ability. For all four racial groups, feeling depressed in high school and self-confidence in intellectual ability were significant predictors of feelings of depression in common. Implications for practice and directions for future research emphasize the need for better understanding the unique cultural background and impact of academic life associated with feelings of depression among Asian American college students and developing customized psycho-educational and outreach programs to meet unique needs for psychological well-being for each racial group on campus.Item The Lived Experience Of Latina/o Peer Mentees: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Approach(2012) Gomez Riquelme, Luis Angelo; Hultgren, Francine; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This research is about the peer mentee experience of Latina/o students. For this purpose, a group of nine participants were selected, who were part of a peer mentoring program in a Mid-Atlantic public university. The experiences they shared were interpreted through the methodological lens of hermeneutic phenomenology. The purpose of this study is to begin filling in one of the voids in the mentoring practice, which is the experience of peer mentees, and what this study reveals is that the peer mentee experience is the result of loneliness and prejudice that Latina/o students are able to overcome when they have a good peer mentoring experience. This interpretation is done following Clark Moustakas' philosophy of being. Peer mentees receive guidance and help alleviating their solitude, which in this study is interpreted as being-with. Consequently, peer mentees find purpose and are reminded of the reason why they stay in college, which herein is interpreted through the existential concept of being-for. Finally, this study also reveals that being a peer mentee can help finding or making sense of being in college and recovering a sense of belonging, which is interpreted through the phenomenological concept of being-with. The recommendations of this study to improve this practice involve fostering community, creating a sense of belonging, and advocating for a pedagogical experience that is liberated of prejudices and assumptions about Latinas/os, in addition to continuing the support of peer mentoring.Item SUPERVISORY STYLES, SUPERVISION OUTCOME AND COUNSELOR SELF-EFFICACY OF ADDICTION TREATMENT PROFESSIONALS(2012) Berger, Gisela P.; Holcomb-McCoy, Cheryl; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Due to the paucity of research in the addictions treatment field regarding supervision, this research study sought to examine the style, type and outcome of supervision of addictions treatment professionals and how it relates to supervisee self-efficacy. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to quantify the addictions treatment professional's supervision outcome in relation to other variables including supervisory style, supervisory type, and demographic variables. The research questions of the present study are as follows: 1. What do addictions treatment counselors perceive as the overall supervisory style of their clinical supervisors? 2. Does the supervisory style of clinical supervisors of addictions treatment counselors predict the outcome of supervision? 3. What type of delivery style of supervision do addictions treatment counselors receive? 4. Is there a significant relationship between supervision outcome and specific demographic characteristics of addictions treatment professionals (e.g., age, years of experience, recovery status, gender, formal education)? 5. What is the relationship between perceived addictions treatment counselor self-efficacy and perceptions of supervision outcome? 6. Can supervision outcome be predicted from addiction treatment counselor perceived supervisory style and perceived self-efficacy? This study discussed the definition of supervision, types and techniques of supervision, models, and mechanisms. The supervisory relationship, supervision outcome, and supervision effectiveness were discussed in relation to other areas of mental health counseling. When discussing these areas in terms of the addictions treatment field, the lack of empirically valid research was noted. The many different types of supervision (e.g., individual, group, peer, etc.) and different styles were also discussed. Though styles have been variously defined, this research study used the supervisory styles as defined by Friedlander & Ward (1984) which include the Attractive, Interpersonally Sensitive, and Task Oriented subscales. The methodology included a pilot study to refine the instruments that were ultimately used for this study. Several changes were made to the original instruments and these changes focused mainly on defining terms used in rating supervisors. The three instruments that were used include the Supervisory Styles Inventory (SSI; Friedlander & Ward, 1984), The Supervision Outcome Questionnaire (SOQ; Worthington and Roehlke (1979) and the Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale (COSES; Melchert, et. al., 1996). A demographic questionnaire was included to gather information regarding demographic variables and supervisory style. The results indicate that supervisees have a fairly positive overall perception of the supervisory style of their supervisors. Supervisory style was found to be predictive of supervision outcome with a positive linear relationship. The delivery style of supervision for this sample was noted. There were no demographic variables that predicted type of supervision. Counselor self-efficacy was found to be not statistically significant relative to supervision outcome. A linear relationship was found between supervision style, counselor self-efficacy, and supervision outcome such that when overall supervision style increases and self-efficacy decreases slightly, then supervision outcome can be predicted. Finally, the implications for training of supervisors in the addictions treatment field was discussed as well as the implications for future research. The study's limitations were also discussedItem PROBLEMS, INSIGHTS, AND COPING STRATEGIES OF SECOND-GENERATION FEMALE AMERICANS VS. FIRST GENERATION FEMALE ASIANS AS MANIFESTED IN SESSIONS WORKING WITH DREAMS(2008) Sim, Wonjin; Hill, Clara E.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)First and second generation Asian Americans are probably different in patterns of behavior and values and may have faced different issues and concerns resulting from significantly different living contexts (Sue & Zane, 1985). The present study investigated differences in problems, insights, and coping strategies between the two different groups of female Asians- first vs. second generation Asian Americans as manifested in sessions working with dreams using a qualitative research method. Seven second generation female Asian Americans and seven first generation female Asians were randomly chosen among 88 participants in the original study (Hill et al., 2007). Trained judges listened to the chosen sessions, created core ideas, developed categories and assigned each core idea into one or more categories. Results suggest that interpersonal issues and academic/post-graduation/career issues were typical for both groups. First generation Asians were more likely to present issues with immigration/cultural/adjustment and distress related to physical health issues than second generation Asian Americans. For all cases, insights about self, relationship, and present were typical for both groups. First generation Asians were more likely to develop insights about past and emotional insights than second generation participants. Both groups typically presented interpersonal behavioral changes as their coping strategies. Only first generation Asians typically presented changes in mental and/or emotional state of the client as their coping strategies.