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Sustaining School Leadership Through Principal Retention: A Longitudinal Descriptive Study of Maryland’s Promising Principals’ Academy
No full textPrincipal turnover and the lack of sustained school leadership remain national concerns, with nearly one in five principals leaving their schools each year. Sustained leadership is critical to student achievement, teacher development and retention, and school improvement; however, limited research has explored participation in a job-embedded professional learning and administrators’ longevity. Grounded in Lave and Wenger’s communities of practice theory, this longitudinal descriptive study examined retention among administrators who completed a cohort-based professional learning academy. A near-census sample of 249 academy completers across five cohorts (2014–2022) was analyzed using archival statewide staffing data. Retention in Maryland school-based administrative roles was documented at 3-, 5-, 8-, and 10-year intervals. At the 10-year interval, Cohort 1 retained approximately 39% of participants in Maryland schools—substantially higher than national mover-plus-stayer benchmarks of about ~22%, representing a 77% higher retention rate and indicating participants were 1.8 times more likely to continue serving in school-based leadership roles. Framed as a departure risk, principals nationally face an estimated 78% likelihood of leaving school-based leadership roles within 10 years, whereas the MDPPA Cohort 1 departure rate was 61%, reflecting a meaningful reduction in long-term attrition risk. Together, these findings suggest that structured professional learning models that build collegial networks may contribute to stronger long-term leadership continuity. Findings support continued investment in structured, mentoring-based professional development as a strategy to stabilize the school leadership pipeline. Implications include the need for policy and practice enhancements that strengthen leadership development systems, expand access to mentoring and coaching for principals, and sustaining leaders through collegial networks of practice. Recommendations for future research include longitudinal analyses examining the impact of professional learning on principal effectiveness and school outcomes
Experience of Intimate Partner Violence Among 2SLGBTQI+ Victim-Survivors
No full textThe purpose of this counselling psychology research project was to understand the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) among 2SLGBTQI+ victim-survivors. A thematic analysis approach was used to synthesize relevant qualitative research and produce recommendations for practitioners and researchers to more effectively work with this vulnerable population. Qualitative studies over the last five years were identified using the City University of Seattle library and Google Scholar and a thematic analysis of the literature was then conducted to generate significant themes, while the methodology and ethical competencies of the studies were also critiqued. The thematic findings of the literature review identified the types of abuse 2SLGBTQI+ victim-survivors experience, particularly identity abuse, the consequences of this abuse on their physical and mental well-being, and the strategies this population uses to cope with their pain, particularly distraction. The themes also highlighted the sources of external support this group accesses and their experiences of stigma, discrimination, minority stress, and isolation while attempting to navigate these support systems. Recommendations for practitioners and researchers were made, including increased education on 2SLGBTQI+ experiences and better implementation of affirming care when working with these individuals
Quantifying Productivity Outcomes in Hybrid Work Arrangements: A Technology Acceptance Model Analysis of SASE Implementation
No full textThe organizational landscape has undergone a significant transformation as enterprises navigate hybrid work and evolving cybersecurity requirements. The shift to distributed workforces has altered security, necessitating the maintenance of data protection and operations in complex environments (Bhagat, 2023; Lakshmikanthan & Sreekandan, 2022). As businesses embrace digital transformation, they must enable workforce flexibility while safeguarding assets against cyber threats that exploit the expanded attack surfaces in distributed models. Cloud adoption, mobile workforce enablement, and remote collaboration have created security challenges that traditional perimeter defenses cannot address. Enterprise security architecture now faces the challenge of employees accessing resources from various locations and devices beyond the organizational firewall. This shift has exposed vulnerabilities in legacy frameworks while driving demand for adaptive security solutions that protect distributed assets without impeding productivity (Golovko et al., 2025; Parashuram, 2025)
The Ethical Weight of Emotion: Therapist Identity and Practice with Sexual Offenders
No full textTherapists who work with individuals who have committed sexual offenses often navigate a complex intersection of emotional labor, ethical responsibility, and institutional constraint. Although counselling psychology promotes ideals of neutrality, empathy, and professionalism, the literature suggests these expectations frequently collide with the emotional and moral intensity of forensic work, yet research seldom explores how therapists make sense of these tensions. Guided by a post-structural theoretical orientation, this capstone project synthesizes existing literature to propose a qualitative study examining how experienced practitioners might interpret, navigate, and integrate their emotional and ethical responses in this context. The proposed design outlines semi-structured interviews aimed at illuminating how power, discourse, and professional norms shape therapists' meaning making and identity negotiations. This project highlights the limits in current scholarship and argues for the importance of emotional reflexivity within counselling psychology to strengthen training, supervision, and ethical practice in sexual offender treatment
Cultural Humility in Indigenous Mental Health: Implementation, Limitations, Ethical Considerations, and Future Opportunities
No full textThis capstone examines how Cultural Humility (CH) is implemented across policy, training, and clinical practice within Indigenous mental health, identifying conditions that enable or constrain it. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Elder Albert Marshall’s Two-Eyed Seeing, the project synthesizes peer-reviewed and Indigenous-led grey literature with a Canadian focus. The grey literature represents Indigenous-authored reports, community-based evaluations, and government documents that inform real-world CH but are often excluded from academic forums. Three barrier themes recur: (1) epistemic and colonial dominance that marginalizes Indigenous knowledge; (2) structural gatekeeping that constrains Indigenous-defined healing; and (3) practitioner limitations that reduce CH to tokenistic reflection without Indigenous mentorship or organizational support. An ethical analysis shows how shallow implementation becomes an ethical failure, especially in contexts marked by ongoing harm (e.g., persistent health inequalities). The literature also demonstrates examples of CH in decolonizing training programs, Indigenous community initiatives, and collaborations integrating Indigenous mentorship. These examples show humility through relational accountability and shared decision-making. Four research gaps persist: limited practical guidance, underrepresentation of Indigenous leadership and knowledge, conceptual ambiguity, and methodological limitations that overlook Indigenous-defined criteria. Chapter Four translates these insights into action, outlining applications at the practitioner and systemic levels. The capstone concludes with recommendations for practice, research, and policy that move CH from aspiration to accountable, relational action
What’s Love Got to Do with it? A Qualitative Study Addressing the Unmet Needs of Older LGBTQ+ Individuals Caring for a Spouse or Partner with a Chronic Medical Condition
No full textCaregiving for an older spouse or partner with a chronic medical condition has become a prominent role in Western society as individuals are living longer and requiring more care. Most in-home care is provided through informal means by family members and friends. Spouses provide care longer than other informal caregivers and may suffer stress, burnout, and other physical and psychological challenges if they have unmet needs, such as lack of support and resources. Due to the events, encounters, and history experienced by older LGBTQ+ caregivers, they face a unique set of challenges and needs when caring for a spouse or partner with a chronic medical condition. The purpose of this qualitative study with an interpretive phenomenological design was to explore the perceptions and lived experiences of the unmet needs of older LGBTQ+ individuals caring for a spouse or partner with a chronic condition. Six spousal/partner caregivers participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences and whether they led to any unmet needs. Findings of the data analysis with an idiosyncratic approach suggested that the participants did not currently experience significant discrimination from medical professionals, but this had not always been the case. There were several challenges that were unique to LGBTQ+ older adults, as well as remarkable ways they have developed resilience and created methods to minimize challenges. Some of the challenges included an increase in chronic conditions experienced by caregivers, lack of advance directives, stress, and unique family relations. To minimize these challenges, the participants formed chosen families and developed strategies for choosing medical professionals. Practical recommendations include cultural competency training for medical practitioners to improve wellbeing and outcomes for both the caregiver and care recipient. Further research can expand upon the background and demographics of the participants, specifically, the impact of race, location, and socio-economic status of individual participants
Integrating Music Making Interventions into Psychedelic Assisted Therapy for Substance Use Disorders
No full textInterest in the use of psychedelic assisted therapy in the treatment of substance use disorders has existed since the 1950s, and results of contemporary studies with more rigorous methodologies suggest preliminary support for the efficacy of the treatment. The use of music has become part of the standardized protocol for psychedelic assisted therapy, though the role of music appears to be limited to music listening rather than music making in these contexts. However, in traditional Indigenous settings where psychedelics have been used in healing ceremonies, reports of music making are common. This capstone collects research on the above-mentioned topics, research on the effect of music making on various aspects of wellbeing, and research on the efficacy of music therapy in the treatment of substance use disorders. In doing so, suggestions for integrating music making into the preparation, dosing, and integration phases of psychedelic assisted therapy are presented. Examples of such suggestions include singing and drumming to address dysregulation in the preparation and dosing phases. In the integration phase, suggestions for music making activities include group music making to address feelings of isolation, and songwriting to assist in meaning making processes. These findings provide preliminary support for the integration of music making interventions into psychedelic assisted therapy and could inspire further research on how to do so safely and ethically, whilst respecting and collaborating with Indigenous peoples who hold ancestral knowledge of these practice
Recontextaulizing Cannabis Research
No full textCannabis is widely consumed among Canadian emerging adults, yet research examining its risks has been fundamentally decontextualized. While studies link specific use patterns to cognitive deficits, psychosis, and cannabis use disorder, they cannot explain why these patterns emerge, for whom they are most harmful, or how life circumstances influence use trajectories. This decontextualization reflects a deliberate historical trajectory spanning colonial epistemologies, racist drug policies, and restricted research paradigms. This literature review traces cannabis history from Ayurvedic medicine through British colonization, which displaced traditional knowledge with Western empirical science, to 20th-century American prohibition and the War on Drugs, which weaponized cannabis policy against minority populations while constraining research to focus exclusively on harms. Contemporary quantitative research successfully identifies risk factors but isolates variables from lived realities. Qualitative research reveals that cannabis use is embedded in personal motivations (self-medication, stress relief), social roles (student, parent), and environmental factors (legalization, COVID-19), yet examines static contexts rather than how these evolve over time. This review argues that understanding how emerging adults' cannabis attitudes and behaviours develop requires a narrative approach capturing use as a dynamic, contextualized process. The proposed study will conduct semi-structured interviews with 20 emerging adults in Calgary, exploring how use patterns emerge and change through shifting contexts. This approach has significant clinical implications, enabling counsellors to situate client cannabis use within lived contexts and develop effective, context-sensitive harm reduction interventions
Compassion Fatigue Across Professional Development: A Systematic Literature Review of Psychologists and Counsellors-in-Training
No full textCompassion fatigue (CF) is a well-documented occupational hazard within psychotherapy and counselling, yet significant gaps remain regarding how CF develops and is experienced at different stages of professional growth. This systematic literature review examines how compassion fatigue manifests among psychologists and counsellors-in-training (CITs), integrating Burnout Theory as the primary conceptual framework alongside secondary perspectives from Vicarious Trauma Theory and Self-Compassion Theory. A structured search of PsycINFO, PubMed, Google Scholar, and the City University Library identified peer-reviewed literature published between 2010 and 2025, resulting in approximately 50 studies that met inclusion criteria. Thematic analysis revealed five major patterns: (1) conceptual overlaps among CF, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma; (2) heightened developmental vulnerabilities in trainees related to emotional regulation, empathic over-identification, fragile professional identity, and supervision inconsistencies; (3) protective factors such as self-compassion, mindfulness, reflective supervision, and compassion satisfaction; (4) comparative differences between trainees and experienced psychologists in boundary setting, resilience, and coping strategies; and (5) persisting methodological and conceptual gaps in the existing literature. Findings indicate that CF is a dynamic, developmentally shaped process influenced by individual, relational, and systemic factors. Implications emphasize the ethical importance of early intervention within training programs, as well as the need for trauma-informed supervision, wellness-based curricula, and institutional policies that support sustainable clinical practice
Narrative Therapy for Ethnic Identity Development in Adolescents and Adults
No full textThis capstone project proposes using narrative therapy (NT) as a psychotherapeutic modality to support ethnic identity development and well-being among ethnic minority adolescents and adults in Canada. Framed within an anti-oppressive and multicultural context, the paper highlights the positive relationship between ethnic identity and well-being, particularly in youth populations, before outlining Phinney's stage theory of ethnic identity development. The work summarizes NT as a counselling approach before proposing a workshop that bridges theory and practice, offering practical, culturally resonant NT interventions tailored to diverse client needs. The project also addresses ethical considerations, potential limitations, and the importance of therapist-client collaboration in fostering empowerment, healing, and social change