Clinical Supervision and Trainees\u27 Perceptions of Their Ability to Force Therapeutic Alliance

Countertransference is a construct that originated in psychoanalysis that has been acknowledged in most forms of therapy. The management of countertransference is important for preventing it from adversely affecting treatment, especially for clinicians in training. While all therapists experience countertransference, training therapists may be more vulnerable to it impeding the development of a strong working alliance with clients. Outcome research has found a moderate relationship between the working alliance and treatment outcome. Only a small amount of writing has focused on the relationship between content and process of supervision and the trainee’s ability to form strong working alliances with clients. This study explored the magnitude of the relationship between the topics most explored in supervision and the trainee’s perception of her ability to form the working alliance. Participants were recruited through contacting directors of training of graduate schools around the country and were asked to complete a web-based survey. Quantitative methods were employed to test the following hypotheses: (a) Time spent processing thoughts and feelings, personal issues, and developing self-awareness in supervision is associated with a strong working alliance as reported by the trainee; (b) Trainees who identify with relational theoretical approaches to psychotherapy, such as psychodynamic or humanistic, will perceive themselves as more capable of forming working alliances and may spend more time in supervision processing their personal reactions and responses to their clients. Since the primary hypotheses were not confirmed in the present study, exploratory analyses were also performed. Also included is a discussion of the findings and the implications for clinical training and education

Put your best face forward: adolescent use of Facebook and the establishment of a hypermeality

Department Head: Sue Pendell.2010 Summer.Includes bibliographical references (pages 92-99).This thesis seeks to understand how adolescents, aged 13-15, use the online social network (OSN) of Facebook to perform identity. Over the course of three chapters, the researcher uses the frameworks of social semiotics, narrative studies, and performance studies to analyze the site's design, features, and users, respectively. This analysis is meant to clarify whether Facebook as a medium rearranges and changes the activities of a generalized adolescent population in U.S. America, or if the medium simply reinforces pre-existing social practices. To answer this question, the study focuses heavily on the use of a new term, "hypermeality," in order to explain the communal narrativization of the social self online. The study concludes by stating that Facebook creates a hyperreal environment for both negative and positive outcomes of networking. These negatives include cyberbullying, self-centrism and problematic Internet use, while the positives include online community building and cosmopolitanism that might extend to offline behaviors and awareness. It is the goal of this thesis to add to the conversation on new media technologies, contributing to a better understanding of how the previously mentioned theoretical frameworks can be applied to the study of OSNs—their role and function in the lives of adolescent computer users. This knowledge should foster the development of safe OSNs, intergenerational computer-mediated communication, and the de-stigmatization of new media cultures

Embracing Young Adult Literature to Support Struggling and Reluctant Readers from Disadvantaged Backgrounds

Despite the billions of dollars spent each year in attempts to close the achievement gap between high- and low-income students, many young people living in poverty continue to struggle to read due to structural barriers within society. These structural barriers cause many low-income students to develop low self-esteem and lose confidence in their abilities and therefore decrease their motivation to read complex texts. In order to reach these struggling or reluctant readers from low-income households, it is crucial to address the obstacles they face in the lessons we teach. The best way to do this while benefitting all students is to incorporate Young Adult Literature (YAL). These diverse texts often contain themes of social injustice and other issues directly related to the structural barriers low-income students face daily and allow these students to make meaningful connections to the text. This not only boosts their confidence in their own knowledge and motivation to read by validating their personal experiences but also helps all students involved develop empathy for marginalized and oppressed people. By using YAL in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms, English teachers have a unique opportunity to put low-income struggling or reluctant readers on a path to success and empower them to fight injustice

Human Chronic Necrotizing Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis: A Novel Case Report

Necrotizing and granulomatous meningoencephalitis are common central nervous system diseases known to affect canines. To date, necrotizing granulomatous meningoencephalitis has yet to be described in humans. Current studies of presumed pathogenesis and possible treatment options have only been described in canines. This is a case report of a 55-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with necrotizing granulomatous meningoencephalitis in the setting of new-onset neurological symptoms without any infectious or malignant source

Determination of Fluoxetine and Norfluoxetine Concentrations in Cadaveric Allograft Skin

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90146/1/j.1875-9114.1998.tb03908.x.pd

Human Chronic Necrotizing Granulomatous Meningoencephalitis: A Novel Case Report

Necrotizing and granulomatous meningoencephalitis are common central nervous system diseases known to affect canines. To date, necrotizing granulomatous meningoencephalitis has yet to be described in humans. Current studies of presumed pathogenesis and possible treatment options have only been described in canines. This is a case report of a 55-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with necrotizing granulomatous meningoencephalitis in the setting of new-onset neurological symptoms without any infectious or malignant source

Exploring Ancestry-Related Differences in Dengue Virus Infection in Human Skin

Dengue is the most prevalent arboviral infection in the world, and the number of clinical cases and global spread are rising. Recent data have demonstrated a link between genetic ancestry and susceptibility to dengue virus (DENV) infection; individuals with European ancestry (EA) have a higher rate of infection and inflammatory response to dengue than those of African ancestry (AA). Immunofluorescence staining of skin – the site of dengue virus transmission – has illustrated differences in cytokine expression in EA and AA donors following infection ex vivo. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of various innate immune genes, including RXRA, have been associated with susceptibility to DENV infections and genetic ancestry. Retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRα) is known to promote proinflammatory responses by limiting interferon production and inducing inflammatory and chemokine gene expression. This inhibits host antiviral defenses, which makes the immune system more susceptible to viral infection. The possible role of RXRα in DENV infections is unknown, but it could influence the ancestry-related differences observed in immune responses to DENV infections. This study aims to examine RXRα expression in the epidermis, as well as identify the cells responsible for production of proinflammatory and antiviral cytokines during DENV infections. To investigate this, human skin explants donated by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) were infected with DENV. Chemiluminescent western blotting and flow cytometry techniques were used to identify and quantify RXRα expression within infected cells. Full-thickness cell lysates (epidermal and dermal cells) suggested a difference in RXRα expression between ancestry donors 24-hours post infection, while epidermal cell lysates showed no protein difference. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interferon alpha (IFNα) concentrations were measured by ELISA to evaluate cytokine production in response to infection. Secreted cytokines were not detectable by ELISA 24-hours post infection, while preliminary data for intercellular cytokine levels showed no difference in concentration. This project was unable to identify the epidermal cells responsible for cytokine production in response to DENV infections. By understanding ancestry-related differences in DENV infections and the forces which drive the immune responses, therapeutics can be developed to modulate these responses that increase risk of disease in susceptible populations

A Comparison of Physical Fitness of Public School Students from Economically Deprived Areas with National Norms.

This study compared the physical fitness of public school students from economically deprived areas with national norms. It also compared the physical fitness of public school students from high-poverty areas with those from low-poverty areas. Economic deprivation was defined as Title I-eligible school attendance areas. The national norms were developed from the 1975 National Survey of Youth Fitness. The measure of physical fitness was the AAHPER Youth Fitness Test. The sample design, a multi-staged, clustered, probability sample involved four stages of selection--central city school districts of the 12 largest St and ard Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States, 90 Title I-eligible schools, 180 classrooms, and 1,080 students. Participating in the study were the 12 school districts from which schools, classrooms, and students were selected (100% of those sampled), 75 schools (83%), 146 classrooms (81%), and 779 students (72%). Statistical analysis involved: (1) comparison of mean scores of the economically deprived sample with the 1975 national norms for each test item, by age; (2) comparison of mean scores of the sample and national norms for each test item, st and ardized for age distribution; (3) a within-sample comparison of means scores of students from high-poverty (>(' )50%) and low-poverty (< 50%) areas; and (4) a within-sample one-way analysis of covariance to determine the effect of poverty-ratio on test item performance, by grade. Analysis of the data revealed that: (1) the great majority of differences between students from economically deprived areas and the 1975 national norms and between students from high-poverty and low-poverty areas were not statistically significant; (2) the differences which were statistically significant indicated no consistent pattern by test item or by age; (3) the comparisons which statistically favored one group over the other, tended to negate each other; and (4) poverty-level was not related to physical fitness. Within the limits of this study, the following conclusions appear to be justified: (1) there was no difference in the physical fitness of boys or girls from the economically deprived sample and boys and girls represented by the 1975 national norms, and (2) within the sample, there was no difference in physical fitness of boys or girls from high-poverty areas and boys and girls from low-poverty areas.Ph.D.Physical educationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/159094/1/8225055.pd