CityU Scholarly Work (Restricted)
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Contains access-restricted scholarly work from City University of Seattle students, faculty, and staff.
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You may request access to items in this collection. Access is granted or not at the discretion of the author(s).
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Item Embrace to Enhance a Deeper Connection: Integrating Emotionally Focused Therapy and Sex Therapy to Improve Adult Couples Intimacy Through Cuddling(2024-06-30) Gregerson, ReneeIn recent years, declining intimacy among adult couples has become a significant concern due to work stress, technology use, and societal pressures. This capstone explores combining emotionally focused therapy (EFT) and sex therapy, with a focus on cuddling, to address these issues. The aim is to create and evaluate a therapeutic intervention that enhances emotional engagement, communication, and secure attachment through cuddling. The literature review covers EFT's role in addressing attachment needs and restructuring negative patterns, and sex therapy's emphasis on communication and cognitive-behavioural strategies. Integrating these therapies is proposed to improve both emotional and sexual intimacy. The capstone also highlights cuddling's benefits as a non-verbal communication tool that strengthens emotional bonds and fosters security. Practical strategies for therapists include comprehensive assessments, safe therapeutic environments, attachment dynamics exploration, sex therapy techniques, mindfulness, sensate focus exercises, and communication skills training. Therapists are encouraged to assign cuddling and other intimate behaviours as homework. This capstone offers innovative insights and practical guidance for therapists, potentially contributing to a deeper understanding of intimacy enhancement in adult couples.Item Exploring the Internal Barriers of Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Adults from a Trauma-Informed Lens(2024-06-15) Lee, Shih-ShinMental health is directly connected to people's quality of life. Through a literature review, this paper explores existing knowledge on the internal barriers of people who do not seek mental health support and the utility of counselling services. The research findings suggest that social learning-based, trauma-informed, and culturally sensitive directory services offer promising facilitators to encourage people to seek professional mental health support and improve psychological well-being. Additionally, this paper discusses challenges and limitations associated with trauma responses and suggests future research directions, including the related areas to bridge services for people who seek mental health support.Item Narrative Therapy and Passionate Interests to Support Therapeutic Alliance with Autistic Children and Families(2024-06-18) Zhang, KrystalThis capstone was written to support counsellors working with autistic children and their families by increasing awareness of the importance of PI in building therapeutic rapport and the use of NT as an appropriate neurodiversity-affirming modality. It aims to explain the various theoretical understandings of autism when approached from an NT lens and consider the unique challenges counsellors might encounter related to rapport, communication, and co-regulation for autistic children. It supports the view that multiple realities exist, and each autistic child has unique interests and needs that may require alternative approaches in counselling. Therefore, the following research question will be explored: How can the integration of narrative therapy with autistic PI support counsellors in ongoing therapeutic rapport and communication with autistic children?Item Bibliotherapy and Deep Reading: Towards a Collaborative and Client-Centred Approach to Using Reading as a Therapeutic Intervention(2024-05-11) Armstrong, StaceyBibliotherapy is generally understood as the introduction of supplemental texts in mental health contexts to address specific concerns or to improve overall well-being. This capstone explores the concept of bibliotherapy as a therapeutic intervention, focusing on its historical and theoretical foundations, its use in counselling contexts, and some of the common and ethical considerations for integrating reading into therapeutic contexts. The literature review provides an overview of various theoretical frameworks that employ bibliotherapy and how they are practiced with a discussion of text selection and the difference between supported and unsupported bibliotherapy. While the efficacy research shows therapeutic gains, it is also riddled with blurry and varied operational definitions, wildly different modes of assessment, and small participant numbers. The deep reading framework proposed by neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf is offered as a way of expanding the understanding of the benefits of reading. The author concludes with a proposal for a collaborative and client-centred approach to bibliotherapy that includes a discussion ethical considerations and assessment.Item Mobile Motherhood: Assessing the Implications of Social Media Use and Intensive Mothering from a Response-Based Approach(2024-05) Kierans, KatherineThe capstone explores the oppressive confines of intensive mothering in the age of social media. The literature review examines three themes: the social construction of motherhood, mental health in matrescence; and motherhood and social media. The project explored these themes through a response-based contextual analysis, noting the importance of understanding mothers' context, social settings, responses/acts of resistance to oppression, social responses of networks and mothers' responses to social responses. The capstone ends with recommendations for applied practice in the counselling field and suggestions for further research