Search

In this pilot study, deliberate practice and competence-based assessment were incorporated into a first-year graduate course on professional issues and ethics. Students responded to challenging simulations of basic ethical situations in therapy before and after the course. Aspects of deliberate practice were incorporated into the course. Student self-report ratings and independent performance ratings blind to timing found improvements in students' ability to manage basic ethical situations in practice. Pilot evidence suggests competence-based assessment and training have potential use for training students preparing to engage in their first therapy practicum experiences. Additional controlled studies are needed to examine the benefits of competence-based assessment and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imposter Phenomenon (IP) was coined in 1978 by Clance and Imes and has been an important construct in explaining individuals' experiences of believing that achievements are a result of luck or misperceptions of others rather than personal competence. The Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS), developed in 1985, is a prominent operationalization of this construct. Although this scale has been widely used since its inception, its factor structure has been inconsistent across studies and no tests of measurement invariance are documented in the literature. Using a large university sample (n = 830), the current study was designed to: (a) examine the factor structure of the CIPS using cross validation, (b) examine measurement invariance across gender, and (c) examine differences in the CIPS factor by demographics. We found that a single factor structure for the CIPS was the best fitting model. We also found that the measure achieved invariance across gender after removing item 18 (and in the absence of items 1, 2, and 19, removed for poor fit). Finally, we found that being single, a woman, and having experienced lower socioeconomic status (SES) were all associated with higher IP. We discuss these findings in the context of a university setting and suggest avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show self-concept highly correlates with mental well-being. Few show self-concept change over time, including the effect of therapeutic interventions and gender differences. Studying how therapy connects with self-concept improvement can lead to improved mental well-being. Over six weeks, 452 college students' self-concept, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being was measured every two weeks for a total of four times. Self-concept scores were significantly lower for those in therapy than those not. Compared with females, males had a higher self-concept overall but a lower self-concept when in therapy. Those in and out of therapy had an improving self-concept score. Latent class growth modeling identified six trajectory groups for self-concept, where the lower the starting point, the more likely participants were to be in therapy. Future research may investigate the ceiling effect on improvement and extend the study with less frequent testing to better understand long-term self-concept changes in and out of therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family history events have been shown to be reliable predictors of eating and body image concerns; however, little is known regarding how family history events compare in a clinical sample, or if these events differ by gender. The current study addresses this paucity, focusing on 3,129 university students seeking clinical services. Having a family member with an eating problem was the most consistent family history predictor across all severity levels. Men and women demonstrated different family history predictors, indicating possible separate pathways to eating or body image concerns based on gender.

Individuals from Asian American (AA) and international Asian (IA) backgrounds are often lumped together in mental health research, which may obscure important differences in mental health presentation and need. While previous research has examined differences amongst AA and IA students seeking therapy at a single university counseling center, our study sought to better generalize these findings by utilizing a national data set to examine differences in treatment utilization, presenting concerns, overall distress, and improvement in treatment. Our results showed that IA students utilize therapy at lower rates than AA students. However, both groups attended appointments at roughly the same rate. Distress at intake was significantly higher for IA students across most domains measured. Finally, both groups improved in treatment at similar rates, with some differences observed between IA undergraduate and graduate students. We discuss implications for college counseling professionals and urge further research in this domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of compassion has a centuries-long history as a pillar of philosophical and religious discourse as a response to human suffering. More recently, Paul Gilbert, the founder of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) has explained compassion evolutionarily as a willingness to enter human suffering and a commitment to alleviating it. In the face of increased (and increasing) suffering in the world, compassion shows promise as both a societal and an individual intervention. In the following article, we discuss the background and theory of CFT, the empirical evidence for CFT delivered in a group therapy format, and present a standardized protocol. We then present an illustrative clinical vignette and discuss the current clinical and research limitations. We call for continued research to expand our understanding of CFT as well as its potential reach, and conclude by recommending CFT as an evidence-based group treatment that is particularly appropriate for the current global climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the press for services at university counseling centers increases, so does the need to provide optimal therapeutic services. Ethnic glossing in previous research has combined rather disaggregated the mental health treatment experiences of American Latinx (AL) students and International Latinx (IL) students. The purpose of this paper was to examine potential differences in (1) the number of attended sessions, (2) symptom severity, and (3) treatment improvement rates. We used a nationwide dataset including 13,156 AL students and 911 IL students. Results indicated that (1) there was no significant difference in attendance rates, (2) AL students had significantly worse initial symptom severity (d = 0.24), and (3) there were no significant differences in improvement rates. We discuss the importance of understanding the different clinical presentations of AL and IL students, as well as the importance of addressing ethnic glossing in future research and clinical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University students frequently face significant distress. With increasing rates of students accessing University Counseling Center (UCC) services, it is critical for UCCs to provide targeted prevention and intervention efforts. However, researchers have conducted minimal research regarding the relationship of students' declared majors and mental health. Using archival data, this study investigated differences between students in different majors concerning 1) rates of treatment utilization, 2) distress levels at the onset of treatment, and 3) rates of recovery while in treatment. A total of 21,514 participants were included. Results suggest significant differences by major in UCC utilization rates, distress levels at treatment onset, and recovery rates during treatment. While some previous studies have grouped "hard science" majors and "soft science" majors, we suggest that a more nuanced approach may help to better understand students' mental health needs. Implications for future research and recommendations for UCC intervention and prevention efforts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]