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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Item The Influence of Cultic or High-Control Group Involvement on Adult Attachment and Identity(2025-11-10) Boyd, StephenThis project examines how cultic and high-control religious environments impact the attachment systems of their members using attachment theory, constructivist, and trauma-informed frameworks. The literature identifies the themes of attachment disruption, identity fragmentation, relational dysregulation, sexual exploitation, and spiritual injury, highlighting survivors' experiences with shame, intimacy difficulties, mistrust, and struggles with meaning-making from their experience in coercive environments. Empathy, validation, autonomy, and empowerment within therapeutic relationships, along with community-based support and education, are important aspects of survivors' repair and healing processes. Future research on cults should prioritize definitional clarity, the development of standardized methodologies, the exploration of the impact of cults on individuals across diverse contexts, and the identification of evidence-based therapeutic interventions.Item Exploring the Role of Nature in Nature Therapy(2025-10-25) Hofs, BenjaminOver the past century, psychotherapy has diversified into a broad range of modalities, each drawing from numerous theories, paradigms, and methods. One emerging perspective emphasizes the therapeutic potential of nature: Nature therapy. This approach, in its various forms, positions the outdoors not only as a setting but at times as an active partner in the therapeutic process. This capstone project examines the distinct roles that nature plays in various interventions, comparing approaches where nature serves as a backdrop with those where it acts as the primary change agent. Drawing on literature that explores the theoretical underpinnings of nature therapy and its various expressions, such as adventure therapy, forest bathing, and eco-somatics, this paper highlights both the psychological and physiological benefits of engaging with nature. An included proposed study also highlights the need for further research in the arena of nature therapy and how it might be conducted in the field. Clinical implications are explored about how understanding the roles nature can play in therapy shapes the counselling process for both clinician and client. Ultimately, this project underscores the importance of understanding how the role of nature shapes therapeutic practice and outcomes.Item Perfectionism Through a Cultural Perspective: Exploring the Relationships Between Culture, Perfectionism, and Psychological Well-Being(2025-10) Huang, AngelThe increase in perfectionism presentations in the population and the continuous growth in cross-cultural interactions through globalization, calls for an inquiry into the role of culture in the development of perfectionism and psychological outcomes. Current discourse in perfectionistic research shows a gap in understanding around the impact of culture in shaping experiences of perfectionism. This capstone project looks at existing links between cultural orientation and perfectionism presentation, and examines the role of acculturation in shaping perfectionism. Strengths and weaknesses of therapeutic modalities commonly used to treat maladaptive perfectionism are explored in terms of cultural responsivity, and cultural considerations are highlighted for counsellors working with clients of collectivist backgrounds. This capstone will also suggest a framework to working with perfectionism based on the incorporation of collectivist values and relational cultural theory as a mean of offering an alternative culturally responsive care.Item Roll for Resistance and Joy: Reauthoring Identity for Trans and Non-binary People of Colour with TTRPGs(2025-10-31) Bandla, RaeTransgender and non-binary people of colour (TNB-BIPOC) face considerable minority stressors, socioeconomic disparities, and discrimination based on the intersection of race and gender. Combining concepts of constructivism, intersectionality, and disenfranchised grief, this capstone tackles how TNB-BIPOC can reauthor harmful narratives around their multiply disenfranchised identities into those of resistance, particularly by using TTRPGs. TNB-BIPOC can use roleplaying games as a creative possibility for reauthoring disenfranchisement narratives using character creation as a symbolic and narrative form of resistance. This capstone offers a call to action for therapists to educate themselves and complement the worldmaking processes and counternarratives that TNB-BIPOC already use to increase identity cohesion and resilience.Item A Couple's Transition to Parenthood and Its Effect on the Well-Being of the Family System(2025-10) Cassels, ChristinaThis capstone explores how to effectively support and empower couples during the transition to parenthood, a period filled with individual and relationship changes that have significant implications for relational, parental, and family well-being. More specifically, the paper highlights how supporting and educating couples at this developmental stage fosters healthier partner relationships, strengthens coparenting dynamics, and enhances overall family functioning, including the developmental outcomes of children. The paper underscores the role of counsellors and health practitioners in preparing couples for the psychological, relational, and structural changes associated with the transition to parenthood. Key theoretical concepts are reviewed, including attachment theory, parenting style, and family-of-origin influences, which shape individual parental identity and inter-partner perceptions. In addition, the reciprocal relationship between relationship quality and coparenting is explored, with attention to dyadic coping and conflict style affecting relationship satisfaction. Drawing on existing empirical research, the paper explores evidence-based therapies and preventive programs designed to promote family well-being. Finally, a framework for a psychoeducational couple’s workshop is presented, offering practical modules that can be integrated into existing prenatal education programming to better support expectant parents at a time when they are already seeking support and information.