Department of Counselor Education

The present study evaluated affective, relational, and emotional behaviors associated with symptom reduction and clinical outcomes in psychotherapy. It relied on 36 therapist-client dyads and assessed client symptoms using the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS-34) as the progress monitoring and outcome assessment tool used by university counseling centers before every psychotherapy session. The research examined the first administration scores and the last administration scores of the CCCAPS to determine the level of clinical improvement. The researcher used the revised Specific Affect Coding System (SPAFF) to code the therapist and client interactions throughout the entire first psychotherapy session. The results revealed significant effects between the affective exchanges in the therapeutic relationship of both the therapist and the client on clinical outcomes. The researcher employed multivariate statistics with appropriate univariate follow-up procedures to determine group differences between SPAFF codes on the symptom outcome groups and CCAPS subscales. The researcher also used path analysis following Actor Partner Independence Model assumptions (Kenny et al., 2020) to examine the interdependent emotional dynamics between therapist and client on client symptom outcomes, and these revealed significant effects between SPAFF scores observed in the first session on client outcomes at the termination of therapy. The results add to the current research literature, highlighting patterns of significant affective behaviors in the first psychotherapy session on client outcomes. The study reveals that the first session cannot be minimized, as it has a greater impact on client outcomes than previously believed. The conclusion also outlines the study’s implications for clinical practice, graduate training, and research.

The purpose of the current study was to examine differences in multidimensional perfectionism, help-seeking, negative affectivity, and social-emotional well-being between grade 9 to 12 early college high school students who received the modified version of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Perfectionism (CBT-P) small group counseling intervention (Egan et al., 2014a) and grade 9 to 12 early college high school students in the comparison group who did not receive the intervention. Masters-level counselors in training (CIT) implemented CBT-P with early college high school students after being trained in the use of the program and other study-related procedures. The study followed a quasi-experimental, non-equivalent pre-post design and employed various self-report measures (DASS-21, SEHS-S, CAPS, and GHSQ). A series of ANCOVA analyses were conducted to determine statistically significant differences between the treatment and comparison groups. The researcher reported partial eta squared ŋp2 effect size for each independent variable. Results of the study revealed a statistically significant difference in negative affectivity and self-oriented perfectionism between the treatment and the comparison group. However, no statistically significant difference, by treatment condition, was found regarding participants’ socially prescribed perfectionism, help-seeking intentions, or social-emotional well-being. The modified CBT-P treatment has found large effects (ŋp2 = .219) in reducing negative affectivity as measured by the DASS-21 and medium to large effects (ŋp2 = .115) in reducing self-oriented perfectionism. This study provided clinical support for using the modified CBT-P small group intervention (Shafran et al., 2002) in early college high schools to decrease negative affectivity and perfectionism in students. Furthermore, the study further supports the importance of building social-emotional wellness to improve students’ mental health. Finally, it highlights the need for future research to determine the impact of perfectionism and small group interventions on early college high school students’ mental health, wellbeing, and help-seeking behaviors.

The present study applies a Gottman Method Couples Therapy (GMCT) intervention, the Trust Revival Method (TRM), to couples' relationships following an affair, using a randomized control waitlist design. Couples (n= 84) were recruited nationally and internationally and subsequently randomized to either an immediate treatment group or a 3-week waitlist group. A 6-month post-trial follow-up was conducted for couples that completed treatment. The revised Specific Affect Coding System (Coan & Gottman, 2007) was used to code couples' interactions during a 10–15-minute conflict discussion. Significant effects were found when comparing couples' codes against treatment retention and later relationship functioning. Couples also completed various assessments three times during the study, including the 480-question Gottman Connect (GC) assessment tool. Couples on the 3-week waitlist completed one additional pre-treatment assessment before their 3-week wait commenced. Multivariate statistics with appropriate univariate follow-up procedures were employed to determine group differences between the control and experimental groups. Follow-up procedures were also conducted to investigate any differential rates of symptom reduction or treatment success. The researcher used path analysis procedures following Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM- Kenny et al., 2020) assumptions to examine the effects of the intervention on overall relationship satisfaction and subsequent affair recovery, revealing significant effects between assessment scores and coded behaviors. Clinical significance testing also showed significant effects in specific relationship domains. The results add to the current research literature, validating GMCT as an effective broad-based couple therapy approach to repair relationships following infidelity. Implications for clinical practice, graduate training, and research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to develop and explore the factor structure of the Student Engagement in Social–Emotional Learning Skills (SE-SELS) survey, a newly designed assessment that assesses students’ knowledge and use of five social–emotional learning skills (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making) aligned with the framework of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. The SE-SELS survey includes 20 items and takes approximately 5 min to complete. Participants were 359 students in Grades 6–8 at one university-affiliated laboratory school serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The instrument was explored through exploratory factor analysis, which determined that the strengths of relationships among variables was satisfactory and that the model overall had strong internal reliability (α = .90). All items were retained for the final SE-SELS survey (.41 ≤ α ≤ .75). Items linked to the relationship skills component and the self-management component were merged to create a four-factor model, which ABSTRACT was a better fit for the data overall and retained all five components addressed by the SESELS survey. There is at present a lack of reliable and valid instruments that measure the effectiveness of interventions and student outcomes related to social–emotional learning. The SE-SELS survey can thus help school counselors and other educators to determine the impact of social–emotional learning interventions and provide baseline and growth data for students. Follow-up studies are needed to support the reliability and validity of the SE-SELS survey.

The aim of the study was to validate the researcher's new therapeutic intervention, Sign your Feelings, through a four-week randomized control trial (RCT). This intervention involves hearing therapists working with hearing clients. It incorporates (a) discussions about the therapeutic alliance, (b) therapists teaching their clients 36 signs in American Sign Language (ASL) and (c) frequent emotional disclosure as clients learn and practice the signs. This RCT measured the therapeutic alliance and client outcomes, using the Sessions Rating Scale (SRS) and CORE-10 instrument. Eighty adults from 10 U.S. States participated in the study. Sixteen therapists underwent training before administering the intervention, and sessions took place virtually and in-person.
Results did not render statistically significant differences for SRS total scores between the two groups (p =.194). CORE-10 total scores between the two groups were not statistically significant either (p = 0.736). However, results did show a statistically significant negative correlation of r = -.229 (p = .041) between SRS and CORE-10 post-test scores.

Teachers are essential to the academic and social-emotional progress of children in the US (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). American teachers work tirelessly to provide quality instruction in a safe learning environment that nurtures the educational and emotional needs of their students (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). Many teachers report that the emotional toll of teaching has impacted their professional and personal lives in a negative way (Werner Juarez et al., 2020) As a result, teachers are vulnerable to the development of occupational hazards such as stress, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress (STS) which may diminish their professional quality of life (Richards, 2012). The literature indicates that the deterioration of professional quality of life is strongly correlated to more systemic problems in education, such as elevated attrition rates and the retention of highly qualified teachers (Schutz & Zembylas, 2009). The research suggests that indicators for these professional deficits may begin to present during the preparation phase of teaching (Miller & Flint-Stipp, 2019). However, most universities provide inadequate training for the protection and improvement of teacher well-being across the span of their careers (Schonert-Reichl, 2017). In addition, there has been little research invested in the development of compassion satisfaction, a protective factor in cultivating teacher resilience (Pérez-Chacón et al., 2021). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between social and emotional competence (SEC) and professional quality of life factors in pre-service teachers. A nonexperimental, correlational design was used to examined whether emotion regulation and relationship management skills is predictive of an educators’ perceived levels of burnout, STS, and compassion satisfaction (N = 51).