Hearing the painful stories of clients (indirect trauma) has been described as an occupational hazard for professionals working with trauma survivors and is becoming more common among mental health professionals. This might include counselors struggling with intrusive thoughts and having flashbacks of victimization, counselors viewing the world as…

An alarming number of early adolescents in the United States (i.e., youth ages 10 to 14 in middle school) are experiencing forms of victimization. Adolescents are increasingly using smartphones and various social media platforms, which has made many adolescents more vulnerable to victimization in cyberspaces. This "cyber-victimization"…

This research examined the increased tendency towards suicidality in cisgender LGB college students as compared to their cisgender heterosexual counterparts. The responses of 1,503 LGB college students to a survey distributed by the National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education (RC) in 2011 were analyzed. Given the…

Sexually aggressive behavior is well-documented among college students. However, little is known about the role technology may play in facilitating this behavior. Given that social norms have been established as a useful framework for understanding problematic and risky behavior in college students, the current authors sought to determine whether…

Bullying and cyberbullying nowadays have become an issue that a substantial number of college students have to deal with. However, most people do not think they occur as frequently in universities as in high schools or middle schools, and few of them are willing to intervene in a bullying situation when they see one. The goal of this dissertation…

There is a significant body of literature highlighting the impact of unwanted sexual experiences (USEs) on undergraduate health, disproportionately affecting female students compared to their male counterparts. Although we know much about the negative consequences of this concerning social and public health issue, we know little about survivor's…

Background: Undergraduate women are at high risk of experiencing a sexual assault during their college years. Research has established a strong link between sexual victimization and psychologic distress. While the relationship between sexual victimization and distress is known, little is known about how the use of university-affiliated sexual…

Sexual assault is a major issue on college campuses throughout the United States. Approximately 28% of women report being assaulted at some point during their college careers, while 2-4% of men report being victims. In order to address this ongoing problem, the government issued the Campus SaVe Act, which states that colleges are required to…

Many studies in the sexual assault literature have found a significant relationship between sexual assault severity and psychological distress, specifically PTSD and suicidality. However, in the current literature, there is an inconsistent and incomplete definition of the construct of assault severity. The present study aims to create a…

Understanding academic bullying begins with gaining a better understanding of bullying behaviors in general. Academic bullying causes harm and extends over a period of time (Fogg, 2008). The tenure system and hierarchical nature of higher education contribute to the occurrence of bullying in colleges and universities (Fogg, 2003, p. A12). While…

Bully victimization takes place within a social context of youths' parents, peers, teachers, school administrators, and community. Victims often rely on parents, educators, or peers for support. However, there is a gap in the literature in understanding parents' experiences of what occurs before, during, and after reporting bullying to school…

Bullying is well recognized as an experience with negative and potentially adverse consequences. Specifically, research has consistently shown that involvement in bullying has been linked to a wide range of psychosocial difficulties. There are three forms of bullying that have been identified in the literature: Overt bullying, relational bullying,…

This is a descriptive study that examined parental abductions from the perspective of the abductee. The results will help counseling professionals better to understand the psychological consequences of parental abduction, coping mechanisms that were used by the abducted children and counseling techniques and strategies that helped the children…

Cyberbullying, a growing phenomenon, has been defined as "willful and repeated harm" through electronic mediums (Patchin & Hinduja, 2006, p.152). Technology has spawned a new arena for children to be bullied. Research has demonstrated the psychological impact of traditional bullying (Baldry, 2004; Kumpulainen et al., 2008; Paul & Cillessen, 2003),…

Alternative education has become an integral program, in one form or another throughout most school districts in the United States. Alternative education is a very complex and controversial issue that is best understood through the stories of former alternative education students looking back on their lived experiences. Children in the alternative…