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Living with a Label: An Exploration About Why We Categorize and the Need to Understand the Experience of Children with a Psychological Label
No full textHuman beings have arrived in our modern world through a rich evolutionary history spanning millions of years. Using an evolutionary psychological lens, humans categorize our world and fellow humans due to our need to survive in cooperative groups. Since the Industrial Revolution, the human world has changed dramatically. Instead of living in smaller groups, we now exist together in an integrated global economy built on the need for constant economic growth and technological progression. This manuscript builds on these two concepts and explores the nature of mental illness from the perspective that "normal" and "abnormal" behaviour are not proven truths but are defined by the values and goals of the societies in which they occur. In addition, our scientific ways of understanding human behaviour are inescapably enmeshed in these values. This means that it is impossible to analyze and categorize human behaviour objectively. The labels we assign to other humans are not scientific truths, but interpretations of humanity based on the social constructs of the modern world. Knowing this, we must seek to understand how psychological labels affect people’s sense of who they are and consider not only if we can apply a label to another person, but whether we should
Exploring Patient Outcomes in Combined Opiate Addiction and Psychotherapy Treatments: A Focus on Mental Health and Recovery Engagement
No full textThis capstone explores how incorporating psychotherapy into medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opiate use disorder (OUD) can improve mental health outcomes and participant engagement in recovery. A structured literature review was conducted, identifying 36 relevant studies from the past 15 years. Findings emphasized the effectiveness of combining psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and
commitment therapy (ACT), as well as mindfulness-based approaches, with MAT in improving treatment retention, relapse prevention, and overall psychological well-being. However, systemic barriers such as stigma, inequity, and limited access to culturally appropriate care persist as significant challenges. This project proposes a trauma-informed, patient-centered model that includes therapeutic interventions, as well as structural and policy-level changes to support long-term recovery
Rethinking Attachment Theory: A Call to Decolonize and Culturally Adapt
No full textAttachment theory is an integral part of the psychotherapy field and is often used to understand a person's interpersonal patterns. There are four attachment styles, with the secure attachment style being viewed as the only healthy and preferred one. This capstone questions the notion of one healthy attachment style and sheds light on the Eurocentric bias underlying attachment theory. The literature review section provides various evidence that the basic assumptions of attachment theory may be inappropriate for clients from certain cultural backgrounds. It highlights the need for counsellors and mental health professionals to become aware of the limitations of our understanding of attachment and the risk of potential harm when these are overlooked. It offers an overview of how attachment theory and attachment styles can be beneficial while emphasizing areas to be cautious about and offering some insight into further needs for improvement. This paper highlights the need for multicultural competence, underscoring its significance and its specific relationship to attachment theory
At the Threshold: Supporting Individuals Considering and Pursuing Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)
Get PDFThe recent scholarship on MAiD in Canada highlights the need for MAiD-specific psychosocial support for recipients and their supporters, yet there is limited guidance for counsellors wishing to fill that need. This capstone project addresses the question of how counselling professionals can best support individuals who are considering and choosing to pursue MAiD in Canada. Based on a narrative integrative approach to reviewing the academic literature, this capstone sought to understand the nature and phenomenology of the suffering that leads people to consider MAiD, to characterize the experiential elements of choosing MAiD and to identify possible approaches for the treatment of existential suffering that could be drawn upon or modified in devising psychotherapeutic interventions for this population. This work uniquely highlights the ways that MAiD experiences are qualitatively different than other end of life trajectories and proposes a four-phase model of client needs based on where they are in the MAiD process as well as recommendations for counselling responses. Practical and theoretical considerations for relieving existential distress highlight important features of possible treatment approaches and ways that existing evidence-based manualized treatments might be modified to explicitly incorporate MAiD content into their programs. Ethical considerations related to maintenance of dignity and autonomy, the need to emphasize limits to confidentiality, special risks to consider in obtaining informed consent and issues of maleficence related to counsellor competence and training are identified. The work concludes with recommendations to guide practice and for future research
Self-Esteem and Academic Engagement of Adolescents with Learning Disabilities
No full textAdolescents with learning disabilities (LDs) face significant challenges that affect their self-esteem, academic engagement, and social and emotional well-being. These challenges stem largely from systemic barriers, such as poor pedagogical design that fail to accommodate diverse learning needs, lack of educator knowledge and training, and difficulties in social support. This capstone investigates the intricate relationship between self-esteem and academic engagement in adolescents with LDs. It explores how self-esteem impact academic engagement of adolescents with LDs, as well as their psychosocial and emotional development. A school-based group counseling program is proposed to address the academic, social, and emotional needs of adolescents with LDs, aiming to increase both their self-esteem and academic engagement
Harmony in Healing: The Impact of Music on Trauma-Informed Social-Emotional Learning
No full textAbstract This mixed-methods action research study examined the impact of music-based Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions on emotional regulation and executive functioning in a kindergarten classroom at a Title I elementary school in Cache Valley, Utah. The participating students, many of whom faced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), economic hardship, and neurodevelopmental challenges, engaged in music-integrated routines designed to support self-regulation, task initiation, and impulse control. Data was collected through behavioral tracking, educator surveys, and post-intervention interviews with teachers and aides. Findings indicated significant reductions in disruptive behaviors and marked improvements in students’ use of emotion-regulation strategies, attention, and classroom engagement. Educators observed students independently applying calming tools such as humming, listening to music, or singing a class-created song during moments of distress. These results suggest that developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive music-based interventions can enhance SEL outcomes, particularly for young learners navigating trauma or neurodiversity, by strengthening core executive functioning skills
Masculine Ideals and Mental Health: Exploring Barriers to Help-Seeking Among Adolescent Boys
No full textThis capstone examines the impact of traditional and hegemonic masculine gender norms on the mental health and help-seeking behaviours of adolescent boys in North America. Despite the increasing availability of mental health resources, young men remain significantly less likely than their peers to seek psychological support—a disparity largely attributed to entrenched societal expectations of masculinity, including stoicism, self-reliance, and hypersexuality. Through the lenses of social constructivism and the Gender Role Strain Paradigm, the review explores how these norms are learned, internalized, and enforced through family, peer groups, educational institutions, and digital media. Findings highlight that adherence to restrictive masculine ideals elevates boys' risk for mental health concerns, exacerbates social isolation, and contributes to alarming rates of distress and suicide. The review synthesizes research on the mechanisms of gender socialization, emphasizing the roles of peers and the so-called "Man Box" in perpetuating harmful standards. It also addresses the evolving cultural landscape, recognizing gradual shifts toward a more inclusive understanding of masculinity, yet notes the persistent stigma surrounding vulnerability and help-seeking. Practical recommendations include expanding the role of school counsellors, providing diversified and accessible support options, and fostering environments where emotional openness is normalized for boys. The study ultimately calls for a redefinition of masculinity to promote psychological well-being, arguing that systemic interventions are crucial to dismantling barriers and empowering boys to pursue mental health support without fear of social reprisal
Critical Qualitative Research: Underlying Philosophy, Foundational Principles, And Practical Application to Dissertation Research
No full textThe Integration of Rituals into Therapy for Ambiguous Loss
No full textAmbiguous loss describes losses where there is ambiguity between absence and presence as a person is either psychologically present but physiologically missing or vice versa (Boss, 2006). Ambiguous losses are common and can lead to serious, ongoing mental health complications. They are unique in that they are ongoing, lack closure, and do not conform to traditional grief rules or rituals associated with them (Boss, 2006). In the ambiguous loss model created by Boss (2006), rituals are suggested as a strategy for supporting those who have experienced ambiguous loss. However, the model does not provide guidance on how to create such rituals. This Capstone project examines the existing literature on the integration of ritual into therapy and places it in relationship to the goals of the ambiguous loss model. It takes into account the unique aspects of Ambiguous Loss and provides recommendations for practice. The search terms ritual or ceremony and therapy or counsel* as well as ambiguous loss and adjacent words were used in the databases Psyc Info + Psyc Articles, Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection and Mental Health & Social Care Collection. The book Loss, Trauma and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss (Boss, 2006) is the seminal work on the ambiguous loss model and lays the foundation for the section on Ambiguous Loss. The review concludes that the therapeutic goals of the ambiguous loss model are supported in the literature, and nine recommendations for the integration of therapy into ambiguous loss treatment are mad
The Impact of Nature and Green Spaces on the Symptoms of Depression in South Asian Women Living in Canada and Other Western Countries
No full textOver recent decades, Canadian society is living a more sedentary lifestyle indoors, with increasing time spent looking at television and computer screens (Park et al., 2020). Alongside this, depression rates have also been steadily increasing (Barrable et al., 2024; Park et al., 2020). This paper investigated the impact of the outdoors, nature, and green spaces on the symptoms of depression in adults, with a particular focus on South Asian women. The literature review has considered studies conducted across multiple continents, including both Western and Eastern cultures. Evidence indicates that time spent outdoors in nature does positively reduce depression and boost mood (Blanchfield, 2024; Brinsley & Rosenbaum, 2024; Solan, 2024; Swinson et al., 2019). These findings support Wilson’s biophilia theory, developed in the 1980s (McDonnell &Strayer, 2024). The review found only two studies that focused on depression in women only (Lahart et al., 2019; Song et al., 2019). No studies were found that focused on South Asian women. The lack of studies for South Asian women may reflect the lack of importance given to their mental health needs. The evidence suggests a culture and gender gap in research on this topic