Keywords

Counselor education, photothereapy, groups, empathy, self awareness, self disclosure, expressive arts

Abstract

The researcher set out to investigate the effectiveness of a specific phototherapy intervention on counselor-in-training’s empathy, self-awareness, and self-disclosure development through participation in a personal growth group using Davis’ (1980) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) Govern and Marsch’s (2001) Situational Self-Awareness Scale, and behavioral observations. The study also explored the relationship between the three factors. The study looked to see if there was a difference in the change over time between the group receiving the phototherapy intervention and those participants who did not receive the intervention. The data was collected and measured through a (a) repeated measures MANOVA, (b) independent samples t-test, and (c) Pearson product correlation. The study used 41 participants who were currently enrolled in a group counseling course at a CACREP-accredited master’s program in the Southeast. The students were either on a marriage and family, mental health, or school track. Both the treatment and the comparison group consisted of four groups and met weekly for a total of 10 meetings. Each group used a manualized treatment developed by the researcher with the treatment group incorporating the use of images. The findings showed that the phototherapy intervention did not have a significant impact on affective empathy or selfawareness when compared to the comparison group. Cognitive empathy showed a significant difference between the two groups over the course of the study. There was no difference between the observations of self-disclosure for the treatment and comparison groups, and the factors of empathy, self-awareness, and self-disclosure were not correlated. The results did show a significant change for both groups when looking at self-awareness. As a whole the study iv attempted to fill a gap in the literature surrounding how the factors of empathy, self-awareness, and self-disclosure are taught in counselor training programs and proposed next steps for future studies.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2012

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Hagedorn, W. Bryce

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Education and Human Performance

Degree Program

Education; Counselor Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004461

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004461

Language

English

Release Date

August 2012

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education, Education -- Dissertations, Academic

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