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Social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, imposed significant barriers for individuals seeking mental health supports and coping resources which negatively impacted wellbeing. Over the past couple of decades, spending time in nature has become an increasingly popular coping resource for enhancing wellbeing. To bridge affordability, safety, and accessibility, Dreamcatcher Nature Assisted Therapy developed a Time on the Land therapeutic recreation program to provide a unique opportunity for individuals and families to escape the unique stressors imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and connect with nature by interacting with animals and exploring rural farm environment located in Ardrossan, Alberta. With a focus on investigating emotional wellbeing, this mixed-methods pre-post research study explored the effect of Time on the Land on perceptions of perceived stress, affect, and potential mechanisms underlying such changes in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic (July to November 2021). Data was gathered from 48 participants and datasets were compared at two points in time; baseline, and post-session after participants attended a one-hour session of Time on the Land. Significant differences in perceived stress, negative affect, and positive affect were observed. Participants reported subjective experiences of Time on the Land derived five common qualitative themes which were considered as perceived mechanisms that facilitated changes in stress and affect: (1) being immersed in the moment, (2) a psychological sanctuary, (3) a greater sense of purpose, (4) gained broader perspective, and (5) human-nature relationship. Further, mixed methods analysis provided opportunity to identify and explore implications of harnessing nature-based experiences within therapeutic, and daily settings. Findings extend previous theoretical perspectives, highlight potential new pathways of benefits, and explore how an interactive relationship between humans and nature enhances adults’

In order to know whether a horse’s welfare has been compromised, the professional needs to be able to assess the animal’s behaviour and meaningfully interpret it. Misinterpretation of a horse’s mental state may lead to further misunderstandings of the animal’s behaviour, breakdowns in horse-human communication, and jeopardized wellbeing (Gronqvist et al., 2016; see also Horseman et al., 2016; Mcbride & Long, 2001; Merkies et al., 2018). This study investigated the abilities of (EAMHPs) to assess the affective states of horses. First, an instrument for measuring accuracy was developed by showing a panel of 12 equine behaviour experts 20 videos of horses and asking them to describe the emotional states of the animals. Using the QBA and FCP method, the 10 videos with the highest inter-observer consensus and their associated terms (used to create answer keys) were retained. In the prediction testing phase, those 10 videos were shown to EAMHPs (n = 55), laypeople (n = 94), and non-equine assisted mental health professionals (NEAMHPs; n = 51), who were also asked to generate affectively descriptive terms. These three groups were then graded using the answer keys and awarded total assessment accuracy scores representing how similar their answers were to those of the experts. The participants of the three groups also self-rated their perceived level of horse experience and filled out a related questionnaire. The results found that EAMHPs and laypeople scored significantly higher than the NEAMHPs. However, when horse experience scores were controlled for, the EAMHPs no longer scored significantly higher than the NEAMHPs. Profession and horse experience scores significantly accounted for variation in the total assessment accuracy scores, and the horse experience scores were positively correlated with self-rated levels of horse experience. Those participants who believed they had a high level of horse experience scored significantly higher than those who said they had no horse

Smartphones continue to become integrated into every aspect of an individual’s life. There are currently applications (apps) for an extensive selection of sectors, including mental health. These mental health apps have the potential to play a major role in the future development of mental healthcare. Although mental health apps seem to be in abundance, it is unknown how mental healthcare professionals are employing these applications with their clients, and what they think about them. For this study, a cross-sectional survey design was used to collect information to describe 69 mental health professionals’ current perceptions regarding mental health apps. Results show that these mental health professionals primarily employ mental health apps for between-session support with clients dealing with depression, anxiety, and trauma, and they tend to utilise mindfulness and mediation-type apps. Participants generally favoured the possible accessibility that apps can provide, specifically surrounding portability and affordability. On the other hand, professionals’ lack of understanding of and training with apps, as well as privacy and confidentiality concerns, presented as perceived limitations. 47% of these mental health professionals believe that apps should be more incorporated into mental health care, with under 34% were unsure, and only 13.4% were against the idea. Finally, recommendations are provided for possible future research.

Social support is a psychosocial factor that has been found to buffer the effects of postnatal depressive symptoms. Welcome to Parenthood (W2P) is an informal naturalistic mentorship intervention aimed at reducing postnatal depression. The goal of the current study is to utilize intervention data to uncover the subcategories and patterns of social support used by mentors, identify the impact of received social support on postnatal depressive symptoms among first time mothers, and whether mother’s experiences of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) impact social support in this Canadian sample. The results indicate that received social support may not significantly involved in the reduction of postnatal depressive symptoms, and social participation may be even less effective among women with high ACE scores. Exemplars of social support within the mentorship relationship are presented and the application of clinical considerations for future mentorship interventions for this population are discussed.

Within adolescent populations, correlations between cyber victimization and posttraumatic stress have been found; however, it is unknown if these experiences also occur within the general adult population. Cyber victimization’s pervasiveness has led treatment planning towards developing resilience, rather than ending the perpetration of the individual. Thus, individuals from the adult population were surveyed to evaluate the occurrence of cyber victimization and then explore the relationships it may share with posttraumatic stress and resilience. Cyber victimization, posttraumatic stress, and resilience were measured via the CyberBullying Victimization Scale (CBV), the PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (PCL- 5), and the Connors-Davidson Resilience Scale 25-item scale (CD-RISC-25), respectively. The data gathered yielded three significant findings in the adult population: 1) cyber victimization does occur; 2) perceived experiences of cyber victimization are positively correlated with posttraumatic stress; and 3) resilience does not share a relationship with cyber victimization.

This project posits that adult learning theory be applied to foster parent training programs. Understanding foster parents as adult learners is essential to designing and implementing meaningful training experiences and resources for foster parents facing unique challenges associated with the foster care system and children in care. This project begins with a summary of the challenges faced by foster parents, highlighting the need for meaningful foster parent training. Current training approaches in Alberta and Canada are presented, followed by a literature review on the effectiveness of foster parent training programs. This is followed by an emerging theory of adult learning founded on historical and contemporary conceptualizations. Based on this theory, a framework for foster parent training programs is proposed. This project concludes with a description of how this framework in action will lead to training with relevant content, meaningful delivery, and increased accessibility.

Following the deaths of students, teachers have expectations to be grieving role models and perform similar roles to helping professionals when they care and support grieving children (Rowling, 1995). Yet teachers’ bereavement is sparsely documented in academic literature. This research focuses on discovering more about the bereavement experiences of teachers who have their student(s) die suddenly and violently. After five individual, semi-structured interviews, five thematic categories emerged: (1) So Much More Than Teaching; (2) Student Death Lifts the Curriculum Veil; (3) Place of Work, Place of Grief, Place of Being; (4) Teachers May Not Wave for Help on the Healing Journey; and (5) No Two Sudden Deaths Are the Same. Death and difficulty go together in unique ways with teachers who lose a student to death, but there are narratives of others, research, and practical supports by administration, counselling, teacher educators, and colleagues that can mediate grief in healthier ways.

Humans and animals have been living and working together for centuries. The mutual relationship that developed lead professionals to begin incorporating animals into human services and education to enhance human wellness, a practice presently referred to as Animal-assisted Intervention (AAI). In current research and practice there exists a gap in the literature that together defines AAI and helps individuals, unfamiliar with AAI, understand the risks and rewards of facilitating an AAI program in human services and education. The following project reviews the AAI literature–including the types of AAI, its proposed benefits, and the risks of working with animals in this context. It provides further information to help individuals make an informed decision about the appropriateness of an AAI program based on their unique needs. The project is broken down into two parts, a paper and presentation. The paper includes the literature review and detailed information about facilitating an AAI program, while the presentation provides an engaging summary of the paper that can be presented to individuals and organizations interested in developing an AAI program. The presentation was given to two organizations that provide AAI services in Edmonton Alberta in order to receive feedback on the appropriateness of its content.