The Creative Arts Personal Growth Group (CAPG): Transforming Fear and Shame

Literature highlights the long-term effects of bullying and interpersonal cruelty, including symptoms of trauma and shame. Although scholars have encouraged the development of trauma-informed group interventions for adults with a history of bullying, they have yet to be developed. This article introduces The Creative Arts Personal Growth Group: Transforming Fear and Shame with Compassion, Courage, and Community (CAPG) and presents findings from a phenomenlogocial pilot study exploring participants’ experiences. Themes of containment, creativity, and community promoted regulation of symptoms and selfidentity within the context of a safe, inclusive, and affirming group experience. Implications and recommendations are provided

A Structured Group Coaching Program for Mastering Anxiety in Higher Education: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this presentation is to present a program used to help facilitate reduction of anxiety in students that is inversely correlated with academic success. Students pursuing higher education across a variety of declared majors are often times required to take mathematics prerequisites before being able to take higher level discipline specific courses. However, recent studies have identified that more than 50% of entry level college students were unprepared for introductory college math courses (Stevenson, Clerkin, & Stephens, 2012). Contemporary changes in educational practices have incorporated technology into learning and new technologies, testing, and subject matter that is perceived as difficult- are all constructs that are commonly associated with anxiety. Respectively or in combination these constructs may create barriers to success in higher education. Subject related anxiety (especially math anxiety) has been associated with lower levels of learning mastery, lower levels of motivation, and higher levels of avoidance of completing required coursework thus sabotaging academic success. The resultant anxiety is associated with deficits in working memory; this means anxiety competes for working memory resources needed to fuel higher order thinking and problem solving skills (Ashcraft & Krause, 2007). The authors have implemented an open coaching/counseling group based intervention to assist college students with confronting these challenges to learning and mastering anxiety. Pre-tests were conducted to evaluate math anxiety and efficacy. The structured coaching/counseling system containing principles from cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, and some components of other theoretical approaches and was implemented using a curriculum from the School Counselor Resource series (Knight & West, 2010) with other value added strategies. These will be described and explained. Data from this exploratory/descriptive study will be discussed and strategies and techniques from the program will be provided with sample activities and implications for educators, counselors, and student services staff

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Counselor Burnout

Research on the relationship between mental health counselors’ burnout and emotional intelligence has been limited. This article highlights the role of burnout for counselors-in-training and the impact of emotional intelligence, bringing needed attention to the ways in which mental health professionals can utilize emotional intelligence practices as a potential buffer against burnout