Students present research on therapeutic alliances, neurodivergent voices, and immigrant parental support groups

George Mason University student researchers were among those that gathered on the Fairfax Campus last week for the Access to Research and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) National Conference. In addition to speakers and breakout sessions on various topics, the two-day conference opened with a poster session with 49 groups presenting their research. These were three of the poster sessions presented.

“Addressing Power Imbalance in the Therapeutic Alliance” centers youth client, caregiver, and clinician voices to understand what contributes to a culturally responsive therapeutic alliance and tackles the implications for an imbalance of power in achieving desired outcomes. Clinicians, youth clients, and caregivers were recruited from a specialty anxiety community youth clinic. Researchers are in the process of identifying additional themes represented in participant transcripts and writing up their findings into a manuscript for publication. 

Researchers include Sasha Flowers, doctoral student in clinical psychology; Amanda Sanchez, assistant professor of clinical psychology and primary investigator, ACCESS Lab; and MacKenzie Feeken, program coordinator, Center for Evidence-Based Behavioral Health, all from Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Michal Weiss, clinical research coordinator, and Emily M. Becker-Haimes, clinical director, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

“Including Neurodivergent Voices through Probing Interviews: A Methodological Approach to Enhance Hiring Practices” focuses on the unique skills and perspectives of neurodivergent individuals, who face disproportionately high unemployment rates. Traditional hiring practices often exacerbate this issue, overlooking the diverse information-gathering and processing needs of neurodivergent individuals. In this study, researchers used the probing interview as an innovative methodological approach to actively engage participants through structured, hands-on activities. The researchers plan to test the validity and effectiveness of probing interviews and recommend further studies applying these methods.

Researchers include Niloofar Kalantari, doctoral student in information technology, School of Computing, College of Engineering and Computing; JeongJin Kim, doctoral student in industrial-organizational psychology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Sarah Marie Wittman, assistant professor of management, Costello College of Business; Vivian Genaro Motti, associate professor, information sciences and technology, School of Computing, College of Engineering and Computing.

“Building a Support Group for Immigrant Parents with Immigrant Parents: A Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) Project” focuses on parent support groups, which often fail to be culturally responsive, strengths-focused, and socio-politically relevant because educators and social service providers do not address the real parenting challenges and contexts of the target population. This project involved 15 meetings with the partner organization, Amigas de la Comunidad, in Alexandria, Virginia, to collaboratively develop a support group through identifying needs/topics for parenting support, culturally relevant strengths and considerations, resources for immigrant families, and supports for parents’ and children’s mental health. The research team will pilot the parent support group this fall, collect data to explore the effectiveness of the intervention, and develop a proposal for future funding.

Researchers include Maribel Tohara Nakamatsu, doctoral student in education, and Rachael Goodman, associate professor, College of Education and Human Development.

The conference, held on Mason’s Fairfax Campus, included scholars, researchers, and practitioners from higher education, K-12, community organizations, nonprofits, government, foundations, and businesses.

One of the keynotes, educator and priest associate Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu, the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, shared her ideas about seeking common ground in times of conflict and the value of engaging everyone, including those with different perspectives and different cultural and economic backgrounds.

Other speakers included Nolan L. Cabrera, professor of educational policy studies and practice at the University of Arizona, and a panel discussion with industry leaders with experience at organizations including LMI, ManTech, Peraton, Everyone Matters, Inc., and more.

Mason President Gregory Washington emphasized the limited diversity in positions of leadership in the United States, including key roles in business, government, education, media, and entertainment. Washington said, Mason’s inclusive approach to education and learning as the largest public university in the commonwealth can address gaps in access to opportunity and prepare graduates to lead successful careers.

Mason was recently awarded the Institutional Excellence Award from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE).