Using a qualitative design, a clinical mental health counselor explored the use of trauma-informed self-regulation strategies with clinical mental health counselors in training (CITs) to capture their experience of vicarious trauma. Participants included three CITs in an urban setting and two CITs in a rural setting enrolled in a CACREP-accredited…

The current study examined the relationship between trait hope, state hope, connectedness, trauma symptoms, and positive religious coping with psychological distress among undergraduate students while also assessing the moderating effect of trauma symptoms. Grounded in theoretical frameworks by Snyder et al. (1991), Hobfoll et al. (2007), and…

Trauma-informed practices have become a buzzword within the field of education. This extended literature review and doctoral work project aim to bridge the gap between general knowledge of trauma-informed practices and an in-depth understanding of the impact of adverse childhood experiences on elementary-aged children through the lens of…

The United States is facing a crisis of college and university closures as we approach the demographic cliff. As a result, the expected number of four-year college closures is predicted to be substantial. This doctoral project offers a theoretical model (HERC Model) that provides tangible suggestions or recommendations for how to confront the…

The current study aimed to examine the effect of adverse childhood experiences on mental and physical health, forgiveness and spirituality. A total of 579 adults between the ages of 18 and 32 years completed an online survey. Participants were asked to report demographics and completed various measures. A total of 579 adults between the ages of 18…

This phenomenological qualitative study examined how collective healing manifests through the work of leaders in higher education at a U.S. university located on the West Coast through semi-structured interviews. Using the construct of collective healing as a conceptual lens, this study explored how the work of leaders in higher education creates…

This qualitative research was conducted with the goals of investigating the experiences of African American male college students who have encountered instances of racial injustice and bigotry on college campuses, as well as investigating the consequences that such incidents have had on the participants' academic performance during their academic…

Trauma studies in education (Dutro & Bien, 2015) emphasize that while teachers and students may experience acute traumatic events, they are also subjected to the ongoing trauma of institutional spaces that attempt to bracket the emotional from the cognitive. This study engages novice teachers in critical writing pedagogy to examine what…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced mental health professionals (MHPs) to immediately transition to a remote therapeutic model. This transition brought challenges, but particularly so for those working in therapeutic schools with high-risk adolescents. This study sought to explore the experiences of these MHPs working in therapeutic schools in New York…

Organizational sociologists have long argued that informal and formal rules around emotional displays within the workplace seek to maximize employee effectiveness and productivity; however, these rules have also been observed to have negative consequences in the context of employee emotions. These feeling rules establish the workplace emotional…

Hearing the painful stories of clients (indirect trauma) has been described as an occupational hazard for professionals working with trauma survivors and is becoming more common among mental health professionals. This might include counselors struggling with intrusive thoughts and having flashbacks of victimization, counselors viewing the world as…

The purpose of this research was to describe how specific students, impacted by the closure of Mount Ida College, made sense of the closure. Participants included 12 former students who were enrolled at Mount Ida when administrators announced its closure in April of 2018. Data collected consisted of individual interviews as well as written…

The concept of trauma has garnered interest since the Vietnam War and continues to be a visible topic (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment [CSAT], 2014) in the literature. Research has determined that the prevalence of trauma is widespread and its effects are potentially far-reaching, often outlasting the event for many years (Substance Abuse and…

The purpose of the study was to investigate how grade retention affects Black males' perspectives about education and social-emotional skills during and after their K-12 educational journey. As a result of the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been increased discourse about our nation's current reality regarding the status of Black…

There has been a sharp increase in mental health support for children in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a growing demand for school-based mental health services due to gaps in the US youth mental health infrastructure. This dissertation presents an action research study conducted in a Title I middle school in Arizona, exploring a school…