Elizabeth Wieling
Biographic Data
| ID | 84239 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elizabeth Wieling |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elizabeth |
| FAMILY NAME | Wieling |
| SIGNATURE | WIELING E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Minnesota |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1490-6471 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 80 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Resettlement and Relational Adjustment
Objective The goal of this study was to explore key informant and community members' perspectives on relational adjustment in one of the largest Liberian communities in the U.S., including ways that cultural and gender norm changes influenced couples post‐resettlement. Background Displacement, resettlement, and acculturation challenge traditional cultural norms and family processes. Gendered notions, or common family‐ and community‐level beliefs,…
The Role of Discrimination, Childhood Maltreatment, and Social Determinants of Health in Adult Bipoc Pain Disparities
Objectives Chronic pain disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous people and other people of color (BIPOC). Disparities may be related to increased chronic stress due to discrimination, trauma exposure, and social determinants of health (SDoH). Methods Using data from families ( n = 1307) in the family matters study (collected 2017–2019), a secondary data analysis explored SDoH of baseline pain severity and change in pain at 18 months, and …
There Is No Bad Bush To Throw a ‘Bad’ Child”
Forced migration inherently raises caregiving stress and strains in parent-child relationships. The current phenomenological needs assessment was conducted to understand this unique adjustment experience within a long-term resettled Liberian community in the U.S. Semi-structured interviews with 20 key informants (e.g., community leaders, professional individuals and entities) and three focus groups with 20 Liberian community members sought to und…
Not just growth, but worldmaking
Despite experiencing disproportionately high rates of trauma exposure and traumatic stress, sexual and gender minority populations are underrepresented in research on posttraumatic growth (PTG). Data from two waves of semistructured life review phenomenological interviews with 14 sexual minority women and nonbinary individuals were analyzed to explore sexual minority women and nonbinary individuals' lived experiences of growth and healing from ex…
Intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress and relational disruptions among Cambodian refugee families in the United States
Cambodian refugees resettled in the United States were severely affected by genocidal trauma and have been trapped in decades of intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress and relational disruptions without much public attention. This manuscript reports on data collected as part of a Cambodian needs assessment that employed methodological principles of critical ethnography and was grounded by a human ecological theoretical model. Eighteen…
Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Links Trauma Exposure and Suicidal Behaviors Among Sexual Minority Populations
Exposure to potentially traumatic events and posttraumatic stress are known risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). Research suggests that sexual minorities are disproportionately exposed to traumatic events and experience greater STB than their heterosexual peers, although few studies have explored connections between these parallel disparities. Further, existing literature may implicate complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPT…
Expanding the Traumatic Stress Framework to Incorporate a Socioecological Family Systems Perspective
Over the past few decades, there has been a growing interest among systemic researchers and clinicians to address issues related to psychological traumatic stress. Yet, research in this area has largely focused on intrapersonal and physiological processes in conceptualizing traumatic stress and its various outcomes. Despite the usefulness of intrapersonally focused models of traumatic stress, this approach has its limitations. Emerging evidence i…
The impact of alcohol misuse on fathering in Northern Uganda
The Acholi people of northern Uganda experienced decades of conflict. Alcohol misuse is high among northern Ugandan men. This is common in displaced or post-war communities. Because parents are often the most significant and proximal influence in a child's development, it is important to understand the relationships between parental behavioral health and parenting. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to understand the impact of alcohol mis…
A phenomenological study of clinicians’ perspectives on barriers to rural mental health care
Family Violence, PTSD, and Parent–Child Interactions
Exploring intergenerational communication and stress in refugee families
More than half of the refugees who have resettled to the United States in recent years have been youth. Refugee youth have often witnessed or experienced violence and family separation prior to resettlement and face barriers to successful resettlement such as language and educational challenges. These factors elevate risk for mental and emotional distress, and protective factors like strong familial relationships are important to promoting mental…
Parenting Practices in the Karen Refugee Community
A Needs and Readiness Assessment of the United States Refugee Resettlement Program
People fleeing from violence and persecution around the world view the United States ( US ) as a safe haven. But recent socio political instability and growing anti‐refugee sentiment, in light of an unprecedented global humanitarian crisis, challenge this longstanding view. To better understand the current socio political climate, this study evaluated the US Refugee Resettlement Program ( USRP ) by focusing on Syrian asylum‐seekers and refugees. …
Identifying the roles of fathers in post-war northern Uganda
Parents are the most proximal influence in children's lives and parenting practices can moderate the relationship between risk-laden contexts and child outcomes. The present study is part of a broader project supporting Acholi parents in northern Uganda and adds to growing literature on the impact of fathers in children's lives and fatherhood. Critical ethnography guided individual interviews with 19 fathers, three focus groups, informal conversa…
Mother–Child Relationships Following a Disaster
Forced Displacement and Alcohol Use in Two Karen Refugee Communities
Harmful alcohol use is a growing problem in refugee camps and in refugee resettlement communities in the USA. Exposure to conflict-related trauma, isolation and hopelessness in protracted refugee camp settings, and resettlement stress all contribute to potentially elevated levels of alcohol use. To date, there has been little academic research into the ways in which conflict-related displacement impacts harmful alcohol use and there exist almost …
Immigrant and Refugee Families
6.1 Defining IPV 6.2 IPV Among Immigrants and Refugees 6.3 Risk and Protective Factors 6.4 Responses to IPV 6.5 Barriers to Help Seeking 6.6 Future Directions 6.7 Case Study 6.8 Conclusion 6.9 References
Assessing the Feasibility of Providing a Parenting Intervention for War-Affected Families in Northern Uganda
This article reports the results of a feasibility study of an intervention, Enhancing Family Connection (EFC), conducted in Northern Uganda in 2012. Enhancing Family Connection's sessions were an adaption of the Parent Management Training, Oregon model. Three interrelated areas of feasibility were assessed: (a) acceptability, (b) usability, and (c) limited efficacy. This study utilized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews completed by mo…
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Pregnant and parenting adolescents experience high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its sequelae posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Narrative exposure therapy (NET) is an innovative intervention that has demonstrated strong preliminary evidence in improving mental health. The specific aims of this article are 3-fold: (1) provide a brief background about IPV-related PTSD and depression among pregnant and parenting ado…
Exploring Mental Health Screening Feasibility and Training of Refugee Health Coordinators
Forty-four refugee health coordinators responded to a subset of questions from a 28-item, national survey exploring the mental health training of refugee health coordinators and the feasibility of refugee mental health screening. Most participants reported that it would be possible to administer a brief mental health screen; however, only half had received any mental health training. A minority of participants identified symptoms of posttraumatic…
Exploring the Mental Health Effects of Political Trauma With Newly Arrived Refugees
We explored the mental health effects of war trauma and torture as described by 111 refugees newly arrived in the United States. We used ethnocultural methodologies to inform 13 culture-specific focus groups with refugees from Bhutan (34), Burma (23), Ethiopia (27), and Somalia (27). Contrary to the belief that stigma prevents refugees from discussing mental health distress, participants readily described complex conceptualizations of degrees of …
Intergenerational Patterns of Substance Abuse Among Urban American Indian Families
Substance abuse continues to be a family problem in American Indian (AI) families. This article highlights findings from a two generation study on substance abuse among nine AI families. Five common themes shared by the parent and adult child groups included early onset of substance abuse, minimization of substance abuse (and a subtheme of efforts to control use), taking accountability for substance abuse (and a subtheme about perpetuated stereot…
The intersections of culture and power in clinician and interpreter relationships
Ongoing racial/ethnic health disparities place increasing emphasis on the importance of interpreters in mental health treatment. Yet there is a limited body of research examining how interpreters and clinicians work together in delivering care. This article used an ethno-culturally informed qualitative procedure to ask interpreters and clinicians about their experiences in cross-language mental health treatment. Seventeen semistructured interview…
Screening for War Trauma, Torture, and Mental Health Symptoms Among Newly Arrived Refugees
A total of 44 state refugee health coordinators returned a survey assessing mental health screening practices and barriers to screening. Results show that less than half the states ask refugees about a history of war trauma or torture. Of the 25 states that provide mental health screening, 17 (70.8%) utilize informal conversation rather than standardized measures. Screening practices are highly associated with the number of refugees and community…
A Sense of Sisterhood
This study incorporated ethnographic and phenomenological components to understand the individual and group experience of women who participated in a long-term, flexibly structured group for divorced women. Data included focus groups with both the participants (n = 3) and therapists (n = 4); individual interviews with the woman (n = 6) and therapists (n = 7); and transcripts from 22 different sessions that spanned the life of the group (12 that s…
Screening for War Trauma, Torture, and Mental Health Symptoms Among Newly Arrived Refugees
A total of 44 state refugee health coordinators returned a survey assessing mental health screening practices and barriers to screening. Results show that less than half the states ask refugees about a history of war trauma or torture. Of the 25 states that provide mental health screening, 17 (70.8%) utilize informal conversation rather than standardized measures. Screening practices are highly associated with the number of refugees and community…
Voices of Marriage and Family Therapists of Color
A survey was sent to members of the AALANA (African American, Latino/a, Asian and Native American) group, and other Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) of color. The survey contained questions regarding the participant's experiences around multicultural training in their graduate programs, the impact of their own ethnic identity on their work, their experiences within AAMFT (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy), and areas relat…
Cross-Cultural Supervision in Marriage and Family Therapy
Exploring the Mental Health Effects of Political Trauma With Newly Arrived Refugees
We explored the mental health effects of war trauma and torture as described by 111 refugees newly arrived in the United States. We used ethnocultural methodologies to inform 13 culture-specific focus groups with refugees from Bhutan (34), Burma (23), Ethiopia (27), and Somalia (27). Contrary to the belief that stigma prevents refugees from discussing mental health distress, participants readily described complex conceptualizations of degrees of …
Exploring intergenerational communication and stress in refugee families
More than half of the refugees who have resettled to the United States in recent years have been youth. Refugee youth have often witnessed or experienced violence and family separation prior to resettlement and face barriers to successful resettlement such as language and educational challenges. These factors elevate risk for mental and emotional distress, and protective factors like strong familial relationships are important to promoting mental…
The intersections of culture and power in clinician and interpreter relationships
Ongoing racial/ethnic health disparities place increasing emphasis on the importance of interpreters in mental health treatment. Yet there is a limited body of research examining how interpreters and clinicians work together in delivering care. This article used an ethno-culturally informed qualitative procedure to ask interpreters and clinicians about their experiences in cross-language mental health treatment. Seventeen semistructured interview…
Identifying the roles of fathers in post-war northern Uganda
Parents are the most proximal influence in children's lives and parenting practices can moderate the relationship between risk-laden contexts and child outcomes. The present study is part of a broader project supporting Acholi parents in northern Uganda and adds to growing literature on the impact of fathers in children's lives and fatherhood. Critical ethnography guided individual interviews with 19 fathers, three focus groups, informal conversa…
The Use of Communication Technology in Private Practice
Narrative Processes of Identity Construction
Research strategies are needed that enable investigators to examine linkages between real-time, micro identity processes and longer term, ontogenetic processes. We address this topic in analyses of semistructured interviews with 10 entering university students, continued over a 2-year period. Our ontogenetic narrative analysis was based on Freeman and Robinson's (1990) Freeman, M. and Robinson, R. 1990. The development within: An alternative appr…
Intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress and relational disruptions among Cambodian refugee families in the United States
Cambodian refugees resettled in the United States were severely affected by genocidal trauma and have been trapped in decades of intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress and relational disruptions without much public attention. This manuscript reports on data collected as part of a Cambodian needs assessment that employed methodological principles of critical ethnography and was grounded by a human ecological theoretical model. Eighteen…
Mother–Child Relationships Following a Disaster
Exploring Mental Health Screening Feasibility and Training of Refugee Health Coordinators
Forty-four refugee health coordinators responded to a subset of questions from a 28-item, national survey exploring the mental health training of refugee health coordinators and the feasibility of refugee mental health screening. Most participants reported that it would be possible to administer a brief mental health screen; however, only half had received any mental health training. A minority of participants identified symptoms of posttraumatic…
Expanding the Horizons of Marriage and Family Therapists
The purpose of this paper is to share with academicians and practitioners our experiences as international, feminist women of color in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT). We highlight areas of concern regarding what we perceive as a lack of integration of broader political, socioeconomic, gender, and environmental contexts in the training, research, and practice of many MFTs. This paper is intended to propel further discussion regardi…
The impact of alcohol misuse on fathering in Northern Uganda
The Acholi people of northern Uganda experienced decades of conflict. Alcohol misuse is high among northern Ugandan men. This is common in displaced or post-war communities. Because parents are often the most significant and proximal influence in a child's development, it is important to understand the relationships between parental behavioral health and parenting. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to understand the impact of alcohol mis…
A Needs and Readiness Assessment of the United States Refugee Resettlement Program
People fleeing from violence and persecution around the world view the United States ( US ) as a safe haven. But recent socio political instability and growing anti‐refugee sentiment, in light of an unprecedented global humanitarian crisis, challenge this longstanding view. To better understand the current socio political climate, this study evaluated the US Refugee Resettlement Program ( USRP ) by focusing on Syrian asylum‐seekers and refugees. …
Forced Displacement and Alcohol Use in Two Karen Refugee Communities
Harmful alcohol use is a growing problem in refugee camps and in refugee resettlement communities in the USA. Exposure to conflict-related trauma, isolation and hopelessness in protracted refugee camp settings, and resettlement stress all contribute to potentially elevated levels of alcohol use. To date, there has been little academic research into the ways in which conflict-related displacement impacts harmful alcohol use and there exist almost …
The Influence of Therapists' Ethnicity on the Practice of Feminist Family Therapy
This study investigated how feminists perceived the relationship between their practice of feminist family therapy and their ethnic background. Data were collected through a focus group interview and an open-ended web-based survey and analyzed using content analysis and the developmental research sequence. The majority of participants reported a significant relationship between their ethnicity and how they practiced feminist family therapy. Both …
Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Links Trauma Exposure and Suicidal Behaviors Among Sexual Minority Populations
Exposure to potentially traumatic events and posttraumatic stress are known risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). Research suggests that sexual minorities are disproportionately exposed to traumatic events and experience greater STB than their heterosexual peers, although few studies have explored connections between these parallel disparities. Further, existing literature may implicate complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPT…
Parenting Practices in the Karen Refugee Community
Points of Connection and Disconnection
Throughout the family therapy field, feminism and postmodernism have intersected both theoretically and therapeutically. Both perspectives confront patriarchy and other oppressive attitudes in families and society. At the same time, feminism and postmodernism have points of disconnection. While a feminist stance actively targets inequalities related to gender and other minority groups, a postmodern paradigm emphasizes the relativity of personal t…
Cross-Cultural Supervision in Marriage and Family Therapy
The Use of Communication Technology in Private Practice
Expanding the Horizons of Marriage and Family Therapists
The purpose of this paper is to share with academicians and practitioners our experiences as international, feminist women of color in the field of Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT). We highlight areas of concern regarding what we perceive as a lack of integration of broader political, socioeconomic, gender, and environmental contexts in the training, research, and practice of many MFTs. This paper is intended to propel further discussion regardi…
Points of Connection and Disconnection
Throughout the family therapy field, feminism and postmodernism have intersected both theoretically and therapeutically. Both perspectives confront patriarchy and other oppressive attitudes in families and society. At the same time, feminism and postmodernism have points of disconnection. While a feminist stance actively targets inequalities related to gender and other minority groups, a postmodern paradigm emphasizes the relativity of personal t…
Voices of Marriage and Family Therapists of Color
A survey was sent to members of the AALANA (African American, Latino/a, Asian and Native American) group, and other Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) of color. The survey contained questions regarding the participant's experiences around multicultural training in their graduate programs, the impact of their own ethnic identity on their work, their experiences within AAMFT (American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy), and areas relat…
The Influence of Therapists' Ethnicity on the Practice of Feminist Family Therapy
This study investigated how feminists perceived the relationship between their practice of feminist family therapy and their ethnic background. Data were collected through a focus group interview and an open-ended web-based survey and analyzed using content analysis and the developmental research sequence. The majority of participants reported a significant relationship between their ethnicity and how they practiced feminist family therapy. Both …
Voices of Color
Narrative Processes of Identity Construction
Research strategies are needed that enable investigators to examine linkages between real-time, micro identity processes and longer term, ontogenetic processes. We address this topic in analyses of semistructured interviews with 10 entering university students, continued over a 2-year period. Our ontogenetic narrative analysis was based on Freeman and Robinson's (1990) Freeman, M. and Robinson, R. 1990. The development within: An alternative appr…
A Sense of Sisterhood
This study incorporated ethnographic and phenomenological components to understand the individual and group experience of women who participated in a long-term, flexibly structured group for divorced women. Data included focus groups with both the participants (n = 3) and therapists (n = 4); individual interviews with the woman (n = 6) and therapists (n = 7); and transcripts from 22 different sessions that spanned the life of the group (12 that s…
Screening for War Trauma, Torture, and Mental Health Symptoms Among Newly Arrived Refugees
A total of 44 state refugee health coordinators returned a survey assessing mental health screening practices and barriers to screening. Results show that less than half the states ask refugees about a history of war trauma or torture. Of the 25 states that provide mental health screening, 17 (70.8%) utilize informal conversation rather than standardized measures. Screening practices are highly associated with the number of refugees and community…
Intergenerational Patterns of Substance Abuse Among Urban American Indian Families
Substance abuse continues to be a family problem in American Indian (AI) families. This article highlights findings from a two generation study on substance abuse among nine AI families. Five common themes shared by the parent and adult child groups included early onset of substance abuse, minimization of substance abuse (and a subtheme of efforts to control use), taking accountability for substance abuse (and a subtheme about perpetuated stereot…
The intersections of culture and power in clinician and interpreter relationships
Ongoing racial/ethnic health disparities place increasing emphasis on the importance of interpreters in mental health treatment. Yet there is a limited body of research examining how interpreters and clinicians work together in delivering care. This article used an ethno-culturally informed qualitative procedure to ask interpreters and clinicians about their experiences in cross-language mental health treatment. Seventeen semistructured interview…
Assessing the Feasibility of Providing a Parenting Intervention for War-Affected Families in Northern Uganda
This article reports the results of a feasibility study of an intervention, Enhancing Family Connection (EFC), conducted in Northern Uganda in 2012. Enhancing Family Connection's sessions were an adaption of the Parent Management Training, Oregon model. Three interrelated areas of feasibility were assessed: (a) acceptability, (b) usability, and (c) limited efficacy. This study utilized questionnaires and semi-structured interviews completed by mo…
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Pregnant and parenting adolescents experience high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and its sequelae posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Narrative exposure therapy (NET) is an innovative intervention that has demonstrated strong preliminary evidence in improving mental health. The specific aims of this article are 3-fold: (1) provide a brief background about IPV-related PTSD and depression among pregnant and parenting ado…
Exploring Mental Health Screening Feasibility and Training of Refugee Health Coordinators
Forty-four refugee health coordinators responded to a subset of questions from a 28-item, national survey exploring the mental health training of refugee health coordinators and the feasibility of refugee mental health screening. Most participants reported that it would be possible to administer a brief mental health screen; however, only half had received any mental health training. A minority of participants identified symptoms of posttraumatic…
Exploring the Mental Health Effects of Political Trauma With Newly Arrived Refugees
We explored the mental health effects of war trauma and torture as described by 111 refugees newly arrived in the United States. We used ethnocultural methodologies to inform 13 culture-specific focus groups with refugees from Bhutan (34), Burma (23), Ethiopia (27), and Somalia (27). Contrary to the belief that stigma prevents refugees from discussing mental health distress, participants readily described complex conceptualizations of degrees of …
Immigrant and Refugee Families
6.1 Defining IPV 6.2 IPV Among Immigrants and Refugees 6.3 Risk and Protective Factors 6.4 Responses to IPV 6.5 Barriers to Help Seeking 6.6 Future Directions 6.7 Case Study 6.8 Conclusion 6.9 References
Mother–Child Relationships Following a Disaster
Forced Displacement and Alcohol Use in Two Karen Refugee Communities
Harmful alcohol use is a growing problem in refugee camps and in refugee resettlement communities in the USA. Exposure to conflict-related trauma, isolation and hopelessness in protracted refugee camp settings, and resettlement stress all contribute to potentially elevated levels of alcohol use. To date, there has been little academic research into the ways in which conflict-related displacement impacts harmful alcohol use and there exist almost …
A Needs and Readiness Assessment of the United States Refugee Resettlement Program
People fleeing from violence and persecution around the world view the United States ( US ) as a safe haven. But recent socio political instability and growing anti‐refugee sentiment, in light of an unprecedented global humanitarian crisis, challenge this longstanding view. To better understand the current socio political climate, this study evaluated the US Refugee Resettlement Program ( USRP ) by focusing on Syrian asylum‐seekers and refugees. …
Identifying the roles of fathers in post-war northern Uganda
Parents are the most proximal influence in children's lives and parenting practices can moderate the relationship between risk-laden contexts and child outcomes. The present study is part of a broader project supporting Acholi parents in northern Uganda and adds to growing literature on the impact of fathers in children's lives and fatherhood. Critical ethnography guided individual interviews with 19 fathers, three focus groups, informal conversa…
Exploring intergenerational communication and stress in refugee families
More than half of the refugees who have resettled to the United States in recent years have been youth. Refugee youth have often witnessed or experienced violence and family separation prior to resettlement and face barriers to successful resettlement such as language and educational challenges. These factors elevate risk for mental and emotional distress, and protective factors like strong familial relationships are important to promoting mental…
Parenting Practices in the Karen Refugee Community
A phenomenological study of clinicians’ perspectives on barriers to rural mental health care
Family Violence, PTSD, and Parent–Child Interactions
Psychology (30 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (17 works) · Political science (15 works) · Medicine (14 works) · Psychotherapist (12 works) · Psychiatry (11 works) · Refugee (11 works) · Clinical Psychology (10 works) · Developmental psychology (10 works)