Psychology
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Item The Experiences of Religious/Spiritual Jewish Therapists Working with Religious/Spiritual Jewish Clients(2020) Gerstenblith, Judith Ann; Hill, Clara E; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)We used Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill, 2012) to investigate the experiences of eleven religious/spiritual (R/S) Jewish therapists working with R/S Jewish clients in psychotherapy. R/S concerns involved struggles with Jewish identity, relationships, and the Jewish community. Therapists used R/S and non-R/S interventions to help with R/S concerns, although therapists explicitly discussed Jewish laws, beliefs, and practices more in successful than in unsuccessful cases. Therapists in both cases experienced R/S countertransference, but therapists in unsuccessful cases more often expressed uncertainty and regret regarding their clinical decisions. Therapists perceived that effective therapeutic interventions led to client improvement. Factors associated with success included therapists’ effective use of a shared R/S identity, ability to overcome tensions raised by R/S differences, and countertransference management; and clients’ openness, stability, and motivation. Implications include therapists developing an approach that is sensitive to R/S identity and researchers investigating therapeutic dyads with cultural and value-based similarities and differences.Item A SURVEY OF UNIVERSITY COUNSELING CENTER THERAPISTS: WORKING WITH CLIENTS WHO HAVE RELIGIOUS/SPIRITUAL ISSUES(2005-08-04) Kellems, Ian Stuart; Hill, Clara E.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)University counseling center therapists (n = 220) completed an internet survey about one of their recent therapy cases in which the clients' issues involved religion/spirituality (RS). Responses were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Common RS issues for clients involved questioning one's childhood religion, exploring RS beliefs, and using client's RS as a source of strength. The similarity of therapist and client RS values is not related to the strength of the therapeutic relationship. A therapist's religious commitment is related to both the goals that therapist considers important when working with RS issues and to how frequently the therapist uses religiously/spiritually-oriented interventions. Regarding training, therapist self-efficacy in working with RS issues is positively related to the amount of training the therapist has engaged in about how to work with RS issues. Implications for practice, research, and training are discussed.Item Internal and Environmental Buffers of Terrorism-Related Anxiety(2005-03-31) Spiegel, Eric Baron; Gelso, Charles J.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study focuses on the adjustment of Washingtonians to living under the threat of terrorism. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships of six predictor variables - resilience, spirituality, perceived social support, perceived controllability, denial, and previous trauma - with terrorism-related anxiety. The author hypothesized that resilience, spirituality, and perceived social support would all be negatively associated with terrorism-related anxiety. Furthermore, it was posited that spirituality would moderate the relationship between previous trauma and terrorism-related anxiety, and that perceived controllability would moderate the relationship between denial and terrorism-related anxiety. A cross-sectional design utilizing correlation and regression analyses was selected to assess the relationships between the predictor and dependent variables, as well as a series of demographic variables. A total of 154 individuals completed a questionnaire packet containing reliable and valid self-report items, which was posted on a secure web site accessible only to study participants. Of the three main effect hypotheses, only the hypothesis involving resilience and terrorism-related anxiety was partially supported. Resilience was significantly and negatively correlated with one of two measures terrorism-related anxiety; it also had significant negative relationships with both measures of terrorism-related anxiety in separate regression analyses. In addition, the interaction effect involving spirituality and previous trauma was partially supported. For one of two measures of terrorism-related anxiety, the spirituality-previous trauma interaction term had a negative relationship with the criterion. Based on the results of this regression, we see that for those who reported high levels of spirituality, higher amounts of trauma were associated with less terrorism anxiety. For people low in spirituality, the level of anxiety stays roughly the same, regardless of the amount of trauma. The significant and non-significant findings for the present study provide tentative directions for future research into terrorism-related anxiety.