Debra Nelson-Gardell
Biographic Data
| ID | 5942835 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Debra Nelson-Gardell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Debra |
| FAMILY NAME | Nelson-Gardell |
| SIGNATURE | NELSON-GARDELL D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Alabama |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9725-0919 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Live or die? A Qualitative Inquiry of Suicidal Ambivalence Among Young Adult Suicide Attempt Survivors
Suicidal ambivalence, the co-occurring desire to live and die is widely discussed in clinical practice yet remains understudied in empirical research. This qualitative study explored how young adult suicide attempt survivors understand and experience suicidal ambivalence. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 young adult suicide attempt survivors between the ages of 18 and 29. Data were anal…
Parent Reports of the Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Children and Teens in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — potentially traumatizing events that occur in childhood — have been linked to serious health problems later in life. Despite the documented negative effects of ACEs, and the high prevalence of ACEs in lower-middle-income countries, research about ACE prevalence is sparse for locales in Sub-Saharan Africa. This descriptive study examined the prevalence of ACEs among 800 children and teens in the Cape Coast Me…
Following a thread
From Lived Experience
Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects all communities, but immigrant communities can be distinctively more vulnerable. This study explores the coping strategies of 10 immigrant Middle Eastern Immigrant Survivors of IPV in the United States. A phenomenological design was utilized to explore Middle Eastern immigrant IPV survivors coping strategies. The study participants had similar and different experiences with formal resources and informal hel…
Preparing Mental Health Professionals to Work With Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of individuals across all demographics and ethnicities. Research has revealed a direct link between experiencing IPV and having adverse physical, mental, and financial outcomes which can create difficulties for survivors. Survivors experiencing these adverse outcomes are likely to seek out support to address these issues, increasing the likelihood that they will encounter mental health professional…
A grounded theory study of collaboration in multidisciplinary teams
The multidisciplinary team response to child abuse emerged during the 1980s as increasing numbers of reports brought recognition that one agency alone lacked the expertise and resources to effectively deal with this complex issue. Using constructivist grounded theory, we interviewed a diverse sample of frontline team members about how they perceived collaboration and working with representatives from different agencies responsible for child abuse…
The role of strains in negative emotions and bullying behaviors of school-aged children
Clinician Responses to Client Traumas
This paper presents a chronologically-organized review of various concepts and constructs in the literature describing professional burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress reactions, as well as other related terms and constructs that have been used to describe these experiences among clinical practitioners and other social service professionals. A timeline will provide a graphic illustration of the historical relationships between…
Perceptions of the Value of Extended Assessments to Resolve Allegations of Sexual Abuse
Recently, child welfare researchers and professionals have turned their attention to strategies for resolving challenging allegations of sexual abuse. An extended assessment, usually 4–6 child interviews by a single interviewer, is one such strategy. Using data from an online survey of 932 child maltreatment professionals about the utility of extended assessments, a mixed methods study examined differences in views of professionals who had actual…
A Competency-Based Approach to Teaching Professional Self-Care
Incorporating material on professional self-care into social work course content is valuable to the education of neophyte social work practitioners. This article presents a review of the literature on professional burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue, including the risk factors associated with the experience of these conditions. The literature suggests that students are particularly vulnerable to these conditions as they en…
Mentoring up-cycled
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to detail a project that created a community-based mentoring intervention for sexually abused children and adolescents. The project features the use of family and community strengths, trauma sensitivity, current research and ecological theory to develop a curriculum for training mentors. Design/methodology/approach – This study used Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods to create a community-…
Spiritual Support and African American Breast Cancer Survivors
This qualitative study used data from interviews with 18 African American breast cancer survivors in the southeast regarding the women’s live experiences of spiritual support during the process of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Through a thematic content analysis, four primary sources of spiritual support were identified: God, members of religious communities, family members and friends, and health care professionals. Some participants re…
Treatment of Sexual Dysfunctions
This article examines the role of social work professionals in the assessment, treatment, and research of sexual dysfunction, specifically dysfunctions of desire and arousal. Diagnostic categories of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) are reviewed briefly. Relationship and intimacy issues are descnbed as amenable to psychosocial interven tion, and research pertinent to assessment and treatment is examined. The spec…
Consciousness-Raising through Teaching about the Global Oppression of Women
Female students who came of age during the 1980s tend to resist the notion that they or American women in general are oppressed, and male students also see oppression as a thing of the past. The authors contend that ethnocen trism has contributed to such thinking. This article describes a teaching approach that incorporated content on women's status throughout the world. This material helped the students understand the dynamics of oppression, whi…
The role of strains in negative emotions and bullying behaviors of school-aged children
Spiritual Support and African American Breast Cancer Survivors
This qualitative study used data from interviews with 18 African American breast cancer survivors in the southeast regarding the women’s live experiences of spiritual support during the process of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Through a thematic content analysis, four primary sources of spiritual support were identified: God, members of religious communities, family members and friends, and health care professionals. Some participants re…
Consciousness-Raising through Teaching about the Global Oppression of Women
Female students who came of age during the 1980s tend to resist the notion that they or American women in general are oppressed, and male students also see oppression as a thing of the past. The authors contend that ethnocen trism has contributed to such thinking. This article describes a teaching approach that incorporated content on women's status throughout the world. This material helped the students understand the dynamics of oppression, whi…
Treatment of Sexual Dysfunctions
This article examines the role of social work professionals in the assessment, treatment, and research of sexual dysfunction, specifically dysfunctions of desire and arousal. Diagnostic categories of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) are reviewed briefly. Relationship and intimacy issues are descnbed as amenable to psychosocial interven tion, and research pertinent to assessment and treatment is examined. The spec…
Spiritual Support and African American Breast Cancer Survivors
This qualitative study used data from interviews with 18 African American breast cancer survivors in the southeast regarding the women’s live experiences of spiritual support during the process of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Through a thematic content analysis, four primary sources of spiritual support were identified: God, members of religious communities, family members and friends, and health care professionals. Some participants re…
A Competency-Based Approach to Teaching Professional Self-Care
Incorporating material on professional self-care into social work course content is valuable to the education of neophyte social work practitioners. This article presents a review of the literature on professional burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue, including the risk factors associated with the experience of these conditions. The literature suggests that students are particularly vulnerable to these conditions as they en…
Mentoring up-cycled
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to detail a project that created a community-based mentoring intervention for sexually abused children and adolescents. The project features the use of family and community strengths, trauma sensitivity, current research and ecological theory to develop a curriculum for training mentors. Design/methodology/approach – This study used Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods to create a community-…
Clinician Responses to Client Traumas
This paper presents a chronologically-organized review of various concepts and constructs in the literature describing professional burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress reactions, as well as other related terms and constructs that have been used to describe these experiences among clinical practitioners and other social service professionals. A timeline will provide a graphic illustration of the historical relationships between…
Perceptions of the Value of Extended Assessments to Resolve Allegations of Sexual Abuse
Recently, child welfare researchers and professionals have turned their attention to strategies for resolving challenging allegations of sexual abuse. An extended assessment, usually 4–6 child interviews by a single interviewer, is one such strategy. Using data from an online survey of 932 child maltreatment professionals about the utility of extended assessments, a mixed methods study examined differences in views of professionals who had actual…
A grounded theory study of collaboration in multidisciplinary teams
The multidisciplinary team response to child abuse emerged during the 1980s as increasing numbers of reports brought recognition that one agency alone lacked the expertise and resources to effectively deal with this complex issue. Using constructivist grounded theory, we interviewed a diverse sample of frontline team members about how they perceived collaboration and working with representatives from different agencies responsible for child abuse…
The role of strains in negative emotions and bullying behaviors of school-aged children
Preparing Mental Health Professionals to Work With Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of individuals across all demographics and ethnicities. Research has revealed a direct link between experiencing IPV and having adverse physical, mental, and financial outcomes which can create difficulties for survivors. Survivors experiencing these adverse outcomes are likely to seek out support to address these issues, increasing the likelihood that they will encounter mental health professional…
From Lived Experience
Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects all communities, but immigrant communities can be distinctively more vulnerable. This study explores the coping strategies of 10 immigrant Middle Eastern Immigrant Survivors of IPV in the United States. A phenomenological design was utilized to explore Middle Eastern immigrant IPV survivors coping strategies. The study participants had similar and different experiences with formal resources and informal hel…
Parent Reports of the Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Children and Teens in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — potentially traumatizing events that occur in childhood — have been linked to serious health problems later in life. Despite the documented negative effects of ACEs, and the high prevalence of ACEs in lower-middle-income countries, research about ACE prevalence is sparse for locales in Sub-Saharan Africa. This descriptive study examined the prevalence of ACEs among 800 children and teens in the Cape Coast Me…
Following a thread
Live or die? A Qualitative Inquiry of Suicidal Ambivalence Among Young Adult Suicide Attempt Survivors
Suicidal ambivalence, the co-occurring desire to live and die is widely discussed in clinical practice yet remains understudied in empirical research. This qualitative study explored how young adult suicide attempt survivors understand and experience suicidal ambivalence. Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 young adult suicide attempt survivors between the ages of 18 and 29. Data were anal…
Psychology (13 works) · Medicine (10 works) · Clinical Psychology (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (4 works) · Clinical Psychology (4 works) · Medical education (4 works) · Poison control (4 works) · Political science (4 works) · Suicide prevention (4 works)