Counseling Psychology Faculty Research Teams
- Attachment in romantic relationships and in the professional counseling relationship
- College Student Bereavement
- Diversity within the U.S. and Around the Globe
Attachment in romantic relationships and in the professional counseling relationship
Carole Pistole focuses on theory scholarship incorporating two complementary bonding systems: attachment and caregiving. Attachment refers to the tendency to maintain proximity to specific emotionally important others from whom we derive protection and a sense of security. Caregiving refers to providing protection; anchoring and guiding exploratory behavior, as needed; and providing soothing and comforting, when needed. My scholarship contributes to understanding (a) how people can better conduct their central emotional relationships; and (b) how professionals can use attachment theory for effective counseling and supervision to enhance persons' development, well-being, and ability to derive meaning from their living.
For additional information about this project, visit the project website or contact Dr. Pistole at pistole@purdue.edu
Grief and Loss Research Team
Heather L. Servaty-Seib, training director of the counseling psychology program. The overarching aim of the grief and loss research team is to conduct research that will assist society (e.g., service professionals, friends, family) in gaining a better understanding of the idiosyncratic experiences of grieving individuals. It is important to note that the team defines loss in a broad way (Harvey, 2001; Murray, 2001). Loss is a construct that traditionally applies to death losses, but can also be applied to many other challenging life experiences (e.g., college graduation, educational transition, divorce and romantic breakups). Grief, therefore, entails the multidimensional responses individuals experience following death and non-death losses (Corr & Corr , 2007).
Within this focus on grief, the team’s current empirical work is targeted toward addressing the interpersonal challenges faced by grieving individuals; including the interpersonal and communication distance/gap that often exists between grieving individuals and society.
Diversity within the U.S. and Around the Globe
Ayşe Çiftçi focuses on the influence of multiculturalism (national of origin, disability, gender, race/ethnicity) on the psycho-social development (e.g., psychological well-being, career) of individuals in their environments. In today's world, we see more individuals moving across cultures and interacting more frequently, both domestically and internationally. With increased mobility and accessibility to technology and other opportunities, the identities and defined categories are becoming more complex and mixed. More recently, Dr. Çiftçi has been involved and supervised projects on international students, Muslim immigrants and their psychological well being. Dr. Çiftçi is also interested in the training aspect of multicultural competencies and is currently teaching Advanced Multicultural Counseling Theory and Practice in her program.
STEM Career Development
Eric Deemer conducts research on the vocational development of underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Dr. Deemer and his team seek to understand how goal pursuits are influenced by factors within the achievement context to predict career-related motivation. These and related questions are considered from perspectives ranging from contemporary theories of career development to theories of motivated self-regulation, including self-determination theory and achievement goal theory. They are currently involved in an NSF-funded research project which aims to explore the nested structure of women’s scientific motives within the context of the college science laboratory. To learn more about this project, click here.