Category: UNIT 3

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Unit 3, Responses

This is a response to Achsahs-Springs’ post https://create.twu.ca/achsahs-springs/2018/05/18/rank-talk-write/

I would like to respond to the questions mentioned by Achsahs-Springs. Actually, I am in the same situation with Achsahs that my practice in professional work has been unchallenged these years. Since I have been working for nearly ten years, and the routine tasks remain basically the same. I would like to interpret this phenomenon as I have been institutionalized and my creative thoughts and critical-thinking habit are taken away unconsciously during these years. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I was raised by mother who had an extremely high standard of my performance. Therefore, keep learning and reading have been inscribed in my body as muscle memory. Although I had lost the critical thinking in professional work, I kept updating other habits and reading the books I was interested in. For example, I played the piano since six years old. My interest towards music made me pursue playing another kind of string instrument Gu Qin, the most ancient musical instrument in human history. I learnt to play Gu Qin 4 years ago and have gained not only knowledge but also gratification during this learning process.Also I could gain the feeling of gratification from reading books related to Psychology. I am sure that it is the gratification I continually gained from the learning process motives me to keep renewing myself and expanding the knowledge reservoir, like this Master journey we are involved in right now. I think critical thinking cannot emerge naturally, the most useful way to regain critical thinking is to keep learning and reading. The more you have learnt, the more you would understand that there is still a far way to go. It is the learning process where critical thinking can take root and sprout.

At last, I would like to recommend the article of Cahalan and Foley (2017 ): Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom. I am sure the content on page 17 would increase Achsahs’ confidence that faith and reason can co-exist.

Reference

Cahalan, K.,Foley, E. and G. S. Mikoski eds. (2017). Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom in Minding the Gaps: Integrating Work in Theological Education. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

This is a response to Wafa Siyam’s post https://create.twu.ca/twuwafasiyam/ldrs-500-unit-3-la-2-rank-talk-write/

I am impressed by the quotation made by Wafa about the traits of critical thinker. Please allow me to restate them here: “a) self-awareness of one’s own and others unsupported able prejudice, b) Willingness to discard or modify cherished assumptions or ideologies on the basis of evidence,  c) Non-conformity- the acceptance that an evidence-based or logical belief must be championed despite the fact that annoys others and may threaten relationships or status, d) Judgment and decision-making free of unrecognized self-interest” (Riddell, 2007, p.34). These traits can serve as the standard of cultivating critical thinking for myself. I think the most difficult one is the willingness to discard or modify cherished assumptions or ideologies on the basis of evidence. Our ideologies are formed in our mind unconsciously. It is already hard to realize our genuine ideologies since they invisibly “manipulate” our thoughts and conducts, it would be harder to discard or modify them. However, there are still ways to achieve this goal. Firstly, we have to be self-aware all the time. It would be constructive to find out our true feelings and explore the ideologies. Secondly, argue with yourself. It is the most useful way to gain as many perspectives as possible during the process of problem-solving, and the hardest way to challenge yourself to gain critical thinking. I summarized three steps in the process of arguing with yourself. Step one, you need to find out your preference toward a choice or an idea and other preferences, especially the one you are extremely reluctant to agree with. Step two, you have to actively figure out several logical pieces of evidence that support the other preferences. I think this step is the most important because the analyzation can help you review different thoughts critically and understand the motivations behind other preferences and perspectives. As long as the ability of understanding is gained, it would be much easier for you to being logical, critical, and authentic in any situation. Step three, rethink your original preference and make some adjustments to optimize the results. As far as I am concerned, this three-step method echoes the last paragraph of Wafa’s post that the traits of critical thinking provides the confidence and knowledge and understanding, and probing different points of view and evidence helps in conveying and answering the inquiry.

Reference

Riddell, T. (2007). Critical assumptions: Thinking critically about critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Education, 46(3).DOI:1040187978-1-4666-8411-9.ch002.

 

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Unit 3, Learning Activity 2: Rank-Talk-Write

I picked the article Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom (Cahalan & Foley, 2017) for being extremely interested in the eight ways of cultivating wise practice. I have read it for several times and found the article containing many profound thoughts and ideas that can be constructive and applicable to both our life and professional work.

1. Practical wisdom, the least understood, the hardest to learn, and often the most devalued kind of knowledge, is integrative knowledge that encompasses the full dimensions of human being, knowing, and acting (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

2. Eight ways of knowing essential to wise practice:

  • Situated awareness is noticing and describing contextual factors
  • Embodied realizing is developing skilled competence in bodily action
  • Critical thinking is analyzing and evaluating concepts and actions
  • Emotional attunement is identifying and using awareness of feelings and affective states
  • Creative insight is developing imaginative and creative responses
  • Spiritual discernment perceiving what is of God and not of God
  • Practical reasoning is problem-solving, forming judgments, gaining a sense of salience, and acting wisely

3. Step 1: Understanding the general thoughts and conducts of a novice can help release the pressure of being a novice and build confidence through practice.

“Novices generally rely on theoretical models, preferring to follow a set of rules or steps; mimic the practice of exemplars; are physically and emotionally self-conscious; and have limited ability to read the dynamics of the context beyond their own actions” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 10).

Novices need to practice a skill repeatedly, reflective practice over time, pattern themselves after the actions of exemplars, reflect on the performance rather than judging the performance, get used to vacillating between feelings of failure and moments of exhilaration (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

4. Step 2: Practice plays a significant role in helping students achieve advancement.

(1) “Students grow in their ability to assess situations and make nascent decisions about how to proceed” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 14).

(2) Students need to practice alongside a mentor who can both observe and be observed by them in practice (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

(3) Achieving “acknowledgement”. In acknowledgement, which means individuals’ skills and knowledge are acknowledged by others in a professional setting, intuitive awareness becomes self-declaration about one’s future (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

(4) Docility, the capacity to learn from others; humor, the ability to not take oneself too seriously; humility, knowing that one’s life and practice is entirely dependent upon God; and deep background knowledge, the heart of practical reason and decision making, are all important for the students to get advanced in practice (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

5. Step 3: Being competent in practice involves practical thinking, integration of self and calling that leads to an identity as a called profession, making predictions and coping with the stress in the process of decision-making, practical reasoning, and precisely sensing the needs and responses of people (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

“Becoming competent in professional practice is a way of being faithful to one’s vocation, gifts, and capacities” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 17). Further, becoming competent in practice can help develop spiritual growth and development which occurs “when a person’s sense of self is strong enough that they can surrender their own desires in service to another” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 17).

6. Step 4: “Unknowing is kenotic knowledge; it is the experience of living by way of the imitation of Christ” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 18).

Being an expert, an individual must possess several insights: First, Expertise not only requires hours of practice to hone one’s skill but also requires taking the time to focus on discrete aspects of one’s practice and become more accomplished in these; second, experts still need theory; third, experts learn from people who are better than they are and accept coaching (Cahalan & Foley, 2017).

“Unknowing relates to perceptions we have of the self, the world, and God. We can never know all there is to know, never completely know ourselves, nor ever completely comprehend God” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 18). Kenotic is interpreted as “self-emptying” of one’s own will and becoming entirely receptive to God’s divine will (Stevenson, 2010). All experts will eventually realize that they cannot be the experts of all domains and there is still a lot to learn and explore. The more you learn, the deeper you reflect that you are still a long way from knowing. Therefore, Cahalan and Foley (2017) state that long engagement in spiritual practice leads to unknowing.

Among all the eight ways of knowing, situated awareness, critical thinking, and practical reasoning are the top-three important aspects to me. Actually, I believe these eight ways encompass each other and are interrelated. For example, critical thinking is greatly functioning in problem-solving, forming judgments, and acting wisely, which represent practical reasoning. At the same time, embodied realizing, conceptual understanding, and situated awareness serve as the basis of cultivating critical thinking. I deem this is natural because it is impossible to clearly separate the abilities and capacities into independent ones. These abilities and capacities formed in our body are connected like complicated nets. The bigger and more complex the nets are, the wiser and more mature we would be.

Additionally, I would like to mention the idea brought explicitly by Cahalan that “To learn a practice means to experience the practice, practice it, tell about it, ask questions about it, read about it, write about it, practice it, do it, empower others to do it” (Cahalan & Foley, 2017, p. 12). These are exactly what we are doing right now in this course. We are assigned to read, write, reflect on our thoughts, ask questions to invite further discussion, and response to others’ blogs. That is why I love getting involved in education because I could help myself and other people become a wiser person.

References

Cahalan, K., & Foley, E. (2017). Integrative Knowing and Practical Wisdom in Minding the Gaps: Integrating Work in Theological Education. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

Stevenson, A. (Ed.). (2010). Oxford dictionary of English. New York: Oxford University Press.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs500/unit-3/unit-3-learning-activities/

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Unit 3, Learning activity 3.2

Title

School-Based Intervention for Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder

Authors

Carrie Masia-Warner, Rachel G. Klein, Paige H. Fisher, Jose Alvir, and Anne M. Albano

New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York

Heather C. Dent

Psychology Department, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

Mary Guardino

Freedom from Fear, Staten Island, New York.

Author note

           Carrie Masia-Warner, Rachel G. Klein, Paige H. Fisher, Jose Alvir, and Anne M. Albano, New York University Child Study Centre, NYU School of Medicine; Heather C. Dent, Psychology Department, University of Denver; Mary Guardino, Freedom from Fear, Staten Island.

             This research was supported by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America and the Lowenstein Foundation. The authors thank Dr. Deborah Beidel for her consultation on this study, and Ben Adams, Joseph Capobianco, Nisha Patel, Eric Storch, and Jonathan Tobkes for their assistance in conducting the study.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Carrie Masia-Warner, NYU Child Study Centre, 215 Lexington Avenue, 13th floor, New York, 10016. E-mail: carrie.masia@med.nyu.edu.

The social anxiety disorder, which mostly happened in adolescences, was often neglected by teachers and parents for the symptoms mainly being quiet and compliant (Masia, Klein, Storch, & Corda, 2001; Pandey et al., 2003). The authors wanted to raise the awareness of identifying the social anxiety disorders of the adolescences, and conducted a research to see if the school-based intervention would effectively facilitate the treatment for socially anxious teenagers. In addition, previous research suggested that the treatment offered by the community centres or public health centres was resistant by the majority of adolescences (Weist, 1999; Weisz, Donenberg, Han, & Weiss, 1995), the authors wanted to find out if the school-based treatment worked better.

Methods

Participants

The participants were adolescences and their parents. The adolescences’ mean age was 14.8 years. The majority of them were female (74.3%), and their ethnicity was 82.9% Caucasian, 8.6% African American, 2.9% Asian American, 2.9% Latin American, and 2.9% other.

Sampling Procedures

At the beginning, 1521 participants were recruited. The participants were adolescences in grades 9 through 11 from two parochial high schools in New York City, and their parents who indicated social anxiety associated with impairment in functioning. Then, 475 students, who scored in the top 15% through self-rated instruments or were nominated by teachers, were selected for further screening. At last, 80 students and their parents agreed to participate.

Measures and Intervention

First of all, the participants were interviewed separately by the same evaluator using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Parent and Child Versions (Silverman & Albano, 1996). In the meanwhile, students were diagnosed in various ways to find out if they were unqualified or not. Among those interviewed, 42 students met study criteria and rated the subject’s social anxiety at a subclinical level.

This study was conducted as a between-subjects design because the 42 adolescences were randomly assigned to different conditions including the SASS intervention and wait-list control condition. The SASS (Skills for Academic and Social Success) intervention was developed with the goal of adapting clinic-based procedures to be practical for delivery in high schools (Masia et al., 1999). This intervention included school group sessions, individual meetings, social events, peer assistants, parent meetings, teacher meetings, and booster sessions (Masia et al., 2005).

The participants were evaluated at pre-intervention and post-intervention. In addition, the wait-list control group was provided with treatment following post-assessment evaluations, while the SASS group participated in 9-month follow-up assessments. The pre-assessments, the dichotomous outcomes, and post-intervention comorbidity rates were compared between the two groups.

Results          

              In terms of pre-assessment comparisons, there was no obvious difference on any demographic variable between the two groups. On the other hand, the outcome measures of the two groups at pre-intervention and post-intervention appeared distinctively. Although the data of pre-intervention of the two groups did not have much difference, the data of post-intervention of the SASS group were lower than that of the control group. The results of the comorbidity comparison showed that there was no intervention group participant were diagnosed a new comorbidity, whereas 22.2% wait-listed participants did.

Conclusions

            This study has shown that the school-based intervention could effectively get access to the treatment of adolescents with social anxiety disorder. The treated students clearly got better during the treatment and still kept a healthy status 9 months later. Not only has this study extended opportunities available for clinicians, but also the school-based intervention could be adopted as a long-term approach to diagnosing the social anxiety disorder and facilitating the treatment.

Personal comments

            This study is closely related to my research question “How to effectively help the students in the elementary school (or post-secondary school) manage their anxiety disorders and academic performance at the same time”. I am very impressed by the sustainability of the school-based intervention, which is successfully proved in the study. Although the authors mainly analyze how to treat social anxiety disorders, they have successfully demonstrated that the school-based intervention is a more effective approach to help the students in the school manage their anxiety disorders. And I could resort to this intervention to find out if the other anxiety disorders can be treated equally well. In addition, this article has not mentioned any correlation between anxiety disorders and academic performance. Therefore, it still needs me to explore more and to discover other useful evidence or approach that can strongly support my research question.

References

Masia, C., Beidel, D. C., Albano, A. M., Rapee, R. M., Turner, S. M., Morris, T. L., et           al.(1999).   Skills for Academic and Social Success. Available from Carrie               Masia-Warner, PhD, New York University School of Medicine, Child Study             Centre, 215 Lexington Avenue, 13th floor, New York 10016.

Masia-Warner, C., Klein, R. G., Dent, H. C., Fisher, P. H., Alvir, J., Albano, A. M., &              Guardino,(2005). School-based intervention for adolescents with social                anxiety disorder: Results of a controlled study. Journal of abnormal child              psychology, 33(6), 707-722.

Masia, C. L., Klein, R. G., Storch, E., & Corda, B. (2001). School-based behavioral          treatment for social anxiety disorder in adolescents: Results of a pilot                    study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent                             Psychiatry,  40, 780–786.

Pandey, P., Han, S., Fisher, P. H., Ferrante, D., Selinger, A., Cho, L.YJ., et al. (2003).            Barriers to referral of socially anxious students: Teacher perspectives of              why they go unnoticed. Poster presented at the 37th Annual Convention               of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Boston,                   MA.

Silverman, W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule           for DSM-IV-Child and Parent Versions. San Antonio, TX: Graywind, A                      Division of the Psychological Corporation.

Weist, M. D. (1999). Challenges and opportunities in expanded school mental             health. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 131–135.

Weisz, J. R., Donenberg, G. R., Han, S. S., & Weiss, B. (1995). Bridging the gap                 between laboratory and clinic in child and adolescent psychotherapy.                     Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 688–701.

Unit 3 Learning Activities

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Unit 3, Learning activity 3.1

Title:

School-Based Intervention for Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder

https://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:3734/article/10.1007/s10802-005-7649-z

Authors:

Carrie Masia-Warner, Rachel G. Klein, Paige H. Fisher, Jose Alvir, and Anne M. Albano

New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York

Heather C. Dent

Psychology Department, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

Mary Guardino

Freedom from Fear, Staten Island, New York.

Authors note:

Carrie Masia-Warner, Rachel G. Klein, Paige H. Fisher, Jose Alvir, and Anne M. Albano, New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine; Heather C. Dent, Psychology Department, University of Denver; Mary Guardino, Freedom from Fear, Staten Island.

This research was supported by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America and the Lowenstein Foundation. The authors thank Dr. Deborah Beidel for her consultation on this study, and Ben Adams, Joseph Capobianco, Nisha Patel, Eric Storch, and Jonathan Tobkes for their assistance in conducting the study.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to CarrieMasia-Warner, NYU Child Study Center, 215 Lexington Avenue, 13th floor, New York, 10016. E-mail: carrie.masia@med.nyu.edu.

Introduction

The social anxiety disorder, which mostly happens in adolescences, is always neglected by teachers and parents for the symptoms being quiet and compliant. Not only do the authors want to raise the awareness of identifying the anxiety disorders of the adolescence, but also they have conducted a research to see if the school-based intervention will effectively facilitate the treatment for socially anxious teenagers. Also, previous research has suggested that the treatment offered by the community centres or public health centres is resistant by the majority of adolescences (Weist, 1999; Weisz, Donenberg, Han, & Weiss, 1995), the authors want to find out if the school-based treatment works better.
Methods

Participants

The participants were adolescences and their parents. The adolescences’ mean age was 14.8 years. The majority of them were female (74.3%), and their ethnicity was: 82.9% Caucasian, 8.6% African American, 2.9% Asian American, 2.9% Latin American, and 2.9% other. About half of the participants had other disorders, the most common being generalized anxiety disorder (40%) and dysthymia (14.3%).

Sampling Procedures

At the beginning, 1521 participants were recruited, and they were adolescences in grades 9 through 11 from two parochial high schools in New York City and their parents who indicated social anxiety associated with impairment in functioning. The adolescences (74.3% females) rated through instruments and teacher nominations were identified highly possible to have the social anxiety disorder. Then, 475 students (31.2% of the adolescence) who scored in the top 15% through self-rated instruments or were nominated by teachers were selected for further screening. At last, 80 students and their parents agreed to participate (Masia et al., 2005).

Measures and Intervention

First of all, the authors used the interview session to describe the research and obtain informed consent from all participants. The parents and adolescences were interviewed separately by the same evaluator using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Parent and Child Versions ( Silverman & Albano, 1996). Students were diagnosed in various ways to find out if they were unqualified or not. Among those interviewed, 42 students met study criteria and rated the subject’s social anxiety at a subclinical level.

This study was conducted as a between-subjects design because the 42 adolescences were randomly assigned to different conditions including the SASS intervention, Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS; Masia et al., 1999), and wait-list control condition. The SASS intervention was developed with the goal of adapting clinic-based procedures to be practical for delivery in high schools (SASS; Masia et al., 1999). It includes school group sessions, individual meetings, social events, peer assistants, parent meetings, teacher meetings, and booster sessions (Masia et al., 2005).

The participants were evaluated at pre-intervention and post-intervention. The wait-list control group was provided with treatment following post-assessment evaluations, while the SASS group participated in 9-month follow-up assessments. The pre-assessments including three sets of analyses, the dichotomous outcomes (the SPDSCF-Change and ADIS diagnosis), and post-intervention comorbidity rates were compared between the two groups (Masia et al., 2005).

Results

In terms of pretreatment comparisons, there is no obvious difference on any demographic variable between the two groups. The outcome measures of the two groups at pre-intervention and post-intervention appeared distinctively. Although the data of pre-intervention of the two groups did not have much difference, the data of post-intervention of the SASS group were significantly lower than that of the control group. The results of the comorbidity comparison showed that there was no intervention group participant were diagnosed a new comorbidity, whereas 22.2% wait-listed participants did (Masia et al., 2005).

Conclusions

This study has evidently shown that the school-based intervention plays a meaningful way of treating adolescents with social anxiety disorder. The treated students clearly got better during the treatment and still kept a healthy status 9 months later. Not only has this study extended opportunities available for clinicians, but also the school-based intervention could be adopted as a long-term approach to diagnosing the social anxiety disorder and facilitating the effective treatment (Masia et al., 2005). The sustainability of the school-based intervention, which is mainly demonstrated and successfully proved in the study, is the most significant part to me.

Personal comments

This study is closely related to my research question “How to effectively help the students in the elementary school (or post-secondary school) manage their anxiety disorders and academic performance at the same time”. Although this study mainly talks about the social anxiety disorders, it does prove that one kind of anxiety disorders can be effectively treated by school-based intervention. In another word, it has provided a useful way to help the students in the school manage their social anxiety disorders. And I could resort to this intervention to find out if the other anxiety disorders can be treated equally well. In addition, this article has not mentioned any correlation between anxiety disorders and academic performance. Therefore, it still needs me to explore more and to discover other useful evidence or approach that can strongly support my research question.

References

Masia, C., Beidel, D. C., Albano, A. M., Rapee, R. M., Turner, S. M., Morris, T. L., et al. (1999). Skills for Academic and Social Success. Available from Carrie Masia-Warner, PhD, New York University School of Medicine, Child Study Center, 215 Lexington Avenue, 13th floor, New York 10016.

Masia-Warner, C., Klein, R. G., Dent, H. C., Fisher, P. H., Alvir, J., Albano, A. M., & Guardino, M. (2005). School-based intervention for adolescents with social anxiety disorder: Results of a controlled study. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 33(6), 707-722.

Silverman,W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV-Child and Parent Versions. San Antonio, TX:Graywind, A Division of the Psychological Corporation.

Weist, M. D. (1999). Challenges and opportunities in expanded school mental health. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 131–135.

Weisz, J. R., Donenberg, G. R., Han, S. S., & Weiss, B. (1995). Bridging the gap between laboratory and clinic in child and adolescent psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 688–701.

https://create.twu.ca/ldrs591-sp18/unit-3-learning-activities/