Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a grief-training program for counselors and grief workers utilizing short clips from popular movies. In order to do this, a 6-week grief-training program was held. Participants (79) included Licensed Professional Counselors, counseling students, marriage and family therapists, social workers, and paraprofessionals. All participants completed the Counseling Situations Questionnaire (Kirchberg & Neimeyer, 1991), the Revised Death Anxiety Scale (Thorson & Powell, 1992, 1994), and the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (Larson, Suzuki, et al., 1992). The results of the statistical analysis indicated that significance was not found in the use of movies in this grief-training program regarding participants’ grief counseling comfort, death anxiety, or grief counseling self-efficacy. Although this study did not reach statistical significance, the implication is that the training in this study was not adequate to meet the needs of the participants. Suggestions for future research utilizing movies in grief counselor training include integrating grief and loss training into various areas of counselor education classes including ethics, multicultural issues, human development, techniques, and case conceptualization. Future research should also investigate extending the length of the training (e.g., 14 weeks or longer) and the exploration of the use of various movies to illustrate progressively more difficult grief issues. Limitations of this study include the number and geographic location of participants, the lack of homogeneity of participants, the selection of participants, and participants that may have had extensive previous training and experience with grief counseling. Other limitations include the self-report process of the instruments and the brevity of the treatment.
Author: Kaylene Brown
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2230307938