CityU Scholarly Work (Open Access)
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Contains open access scholarly work from City University of Seattle students, faculty, and staff.
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Item Un Petit Sac à Dos Avec Quelques Viatiques: Object Relations, the Expressive Arts, and the (Re-)Animation of Resourceful, Pleasurable, and Adaptive Object-Life in the Rehabilitation of Torture Survivors(2025-10) Felczak, LukeThe torture experience represents a profound affront to both intrapsychological and interpersonal life. The rehabilitation of torture survivors, who often present with complex post-traumatic impairment, has become a sub-specialization of psychotherapeutic practice. Torture survivors often present with significant alterations to what are otherwise believed to be stable personality traits and psychodynamic structures. As such, a psychodynamic approach to the rehabilitation of torture survivors, which targets the psychodynamic structures that subtend the personality, may be reasonably indicated. The purpose of this project is to provide an overview of the core concepts and practices of object relations informed psychotherapeutic modalities and expressive arts therapy. In light of the clinical, psychodynamic, and intergenerational consequences of the torture experience for both survivors and their families, this research project will also integrate core concepts and practices from object relations informed psychotherapeutic modalities and expressive arts therapy in the formulation of a novel psychotherapeutic approach: object relations informed expressive arts therapy (OR-EXAT). The purpose of this innovative psychotherapeutic approach is to advance both theoretical and practical considerations in the rehabilitation of torture survivors.Item Chinese immigrants acculturating to Canada(2025-10) Leung, TrevorThis capstone will focus on Chinese immigrants acculturating into Canada. It highlights the various ways individuals acculturate into a dominant culture as well as the formation of new identities. Throughout this, there will be a discussion on the nuances of the Chinese immigrant identity through exploring the rise of biculturalism among Chinese individuals as well as second generation immigrants. Furthermore, various issues that this cultural group experiences will be covered including isolation from the heritage and dominant groups, intergenerational conflict, and weak identity formation. The capstone will then summarize these concepts into a seven-week workshop to support bicultural Chinese individuals living in Canada.Item Exploring Horticultural Therapy for Neurodivergent Populations Across the Lifespan(2025-10) Dhillon, HennaIn this capstone I explored the therapeutic possibilities of horticultural therapy (HT) for neurodivergent populations, specifically autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A systematic literature review was conducted of three topics as themes: Benefits of Horticultural Therapy; Understanding Neurodivergent Needs; and Horticultural Therapy Across the Lifespan. The primary research question of this project was: How can HT be adapted to effectively promote social, emotional, and cognitive development for neurodivergent individuals, with attention to autism and ADHD? I hypothesized that HT interventions designed with sensory regulation, executive functioning, and group format accessibility in mind would yield benefits related to emotional wellbeing, social learning, and attention. The methods included a systematic review and thematic synthesis across roughly forty peer-reviewed articles, meta-analyses, feasibility studies, and applied program reports. There was no collection of original human-subject data. The literature reviewed indicated that HT reduces anxiety, depression, and stress across populations, improves executive function and attentional capacity related to ADHD, and promotes social connection and cooperative learning among autistic participants. The research reviewed also indicated that both indoor and telehealth models produced enhanced accessibility to programming, and participation was influenced by both cultural and ecological contexts. This indicates that HT is an adaptable and inclusive intervention that can and does accommodate neurodivergent needs. This study contributes to counselling practice by offering evidenced-based recommendations on how to design accessible, neurodiversity-affirming HT programs. As an application of this research, a 4-session workshop was developed to demonstrate a way of translating these findings into practice.Item Exploring Disparities Experienced by Black, Indigenous, People of Colour When Accessing Health-Related Services(2025-10) Archer, CheyenneBlack, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) experience disproportionate disparities when they access colonial Canadian health and mental healthcare services. The colonial Canadian healthcare system contains systemic barriers throughout various institutional levels that perpetuate harm to BIPOC populations that are trying to access supports. Due to systemic inequities, many of these disparities and the extent of harm are under researched. To bridge this research gap, this capstone will through a literature review, explore inequities experienced by BIPOC populations when accessing colonial Canadian health-related services and expand on where some of these disparities originate from. It provides an in-depth review of the implications that cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has when utilized by psychotherapists without cultural sensitivity practices and awareness of inequities experienced by BIPOC populations. Furthermore, this capstone will explore potential ways to reduce and address these institutional disparities. Through systemic change at various levels from education of health-related professionals at the university level to the available cultural sensitivity training for healthcare professionals and holding larger institutions accountable for ensuring culturally safe practices there could be a reduction in disparities for BIPOC populations when accessing colonial healthcare services.Item What are the Mental Health Implications of Enculturation Among Immigrant Children in Western Society(2025-09-30) Naguib, MelanieThis paper is an in-depth analysis of the literature regarding the mental health implications of immigrant children due to enculturation. This project seeks to address the concern of immigrant children's under-resourced mental health services due to many identifying factors. Two questions guide the work: 1) What are the mental health implications of enculturation among immigrant children in Canada? 2)What are the barriers to immigrant children accessing mental health care in Canada? Data collection involved the critiquing of scholarly works from various databases from 2020-2025, while highlighting gaps in the research. Specific search parameters of “immigrant children” paired with several other terms that fit specific subthemes, and the use of thematic analysis was used. Results found that enculturation stress was linked to increased anxiety and depressive symptoms, while systemic discrimination reduced help-seeking (Elkchirid & Motia, 2021). This underutilization of mental health care is also impacted by cultural, linguistic, and religious variables, as well as stigma (Elkchirid & Motia, 2021). The implications for counselling involve raising awareness of the barriers immigrant children face in accessing mental health treatment and exploring how these barriers can be addressed and reframed to reduce negative mental health outcomes.