Monthly Archives: March 2021

When I tell people that I teach for an English department, they don’t seem very surprised. When I tell them that I teach for an English department and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, I often get a rather puzzled look. I usually just follow with “I teach writing for the behavioral sciences” and that seems to make enough sense to them. It’s the easy answer, but it’s not the whole answer. Because teaching writing is never just teaching writing. When I teach in the behavioral sciences, I don’t just teach sentence structure, spelling or whatever else people might think teaching writing usually involves. It’s always more than that.

On occasion, someone makes the mistake of looking overly interested and I continue. I explain that my classes delve into the nuances of the scientific conversation, understanding assumptions, evaluating methodologies, examining evidence, and looking for insight into human behavior through empirical research. This typically elicits either a glazed-over look or a curious “But English teachers like words, not numbers. Stories, not science.” On behalf of literature teachers everywhere, I sigh. That may be true sometimes, but both the composition and research professor in me can tell you that’s a logical fallacy based on the overgeneralization of small samples and anecdotal evidence.

Because more than just muddling through quantitative research methods as a necessary drudgery, I really like numbers. I do love novels, but I’m not above spending a few hours poring over data visualizations (and then texting a literary colleague to confess such promiscuous activity). I find figuring standard deviations and constructing scatterplots oddly satisfying. And I admit, sometimes, when I should be grading, I get distracted by a research article I was saving for later. While it often surprises people that a literature professor is interested in quantitative research, quantitative approaches to literary analysis are not new. If you’re interested, you might check this lovely collection of histograms and scatterplots and statistical analyses of the distribution of words across narrative time from Stanford Literary Lab—be forewarned you’ll find terms like “null hypothesis,” “chi squared,” and “multinomial distribution” mixed into the discussion of word choice and Moby Dick.

So, quantitative analysis has found its way into the realm of literary research, but the connection doesn’t end there. In fact, qualitative research, with its focus on narrative and thematic investigation, is an even more natural intersection between my two loves. Content analysis, in particular, seems to me to be well aligned with literary analysis. Both interrogate cultural artifacts, looking for patterns and trends, what is said and unsaid, the exact words used for characterization, the underlying motivation and processes behind the construction of narratives, and the effect all that has on the reader.

Since I know you want to know more, stay tuned. In the next post, we’ll look at content analyses of literature and how researchers use these methods to gain insight into the stories we tell ourselves.

To continue on this journey, click here to read part two of this three part series!

Treating pregnant women with opioid use and other mental health disorders can be complicated. The research is detailed; unfortunately, the stigma towards pregnant women remains high. According to a study out of Vanderbilt University, pregnant women are 20% more likely to be denied medication-assisted therapy than non-pregnant women (Patrick, S., 2020). Effective treatment requires a coordinated response across multiple systems at both practice and policy levels. On October 17, 2020, I presented at the National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter (NASW-CA) annual conference along with Dr. Kendra Flores-Carter D.S.W. on applying research-based practices for the care of pregnant women. In the session, we discussed prevalence rates of pregnant women struggling with substance use and mental health disorders and federal legislation (Comprehensive Addiction Reform Act, 2016) requiring a coordinated response. The session concluded with strategies for reducing the stigma that creates barriers to accessible and effective treatment, cultural humility, and research-based treatment interventions.

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare recommends a five-point prevention and intervention framework to identify and treat pregnant women with substance use disorders. Communities seeking to implement the five-point framework hope to improve the baby and mother’s health outcomes, reduce stigma related to substance use and mental health disorders, and improve treatment access and engagement. Effectively implementing the five-point framework requires multiple agencies from different academic disciplines to work together for effective outcomes. The literature has lots to say about collaborative teams and the importance of strategically developing, managing, and leading effective teams (Hickman, 2016). The research mainly focuses on collaborative teams within a single organization/agency where the team members work towards the same goal. Treating pregnant women with substance use and mental health disorders require obstetricians, substance use counselors, mental health professionals, and child welfare social workers to come together to form a common goal. The challenge is that each of these professionals come from a unique/distinct organization with its own purposes. They each view the client differently. They each speak a unique language, further complicated because each of their funding streams comes from different sources.

Collective leadership allows teams to move beyond one agency/system’s individual goals and shift to the collective outcomes celebrating the accomplishment of the collective. Hickman (2016) describes collective leadership outcomes as having a clear direction, alignment, and commitment (D.A.C.) within the collaborative group. Leading a multi-agency team with diverse training, specializations, talents, and attributes, such as the team needed to effectively treat pregnant women, requires expanding leadership development. The collective must come together and agree on the direction it’s seeking to achieve. There must be alignment in the activities and services provided, and there must be a commitment to the collective’s success. Thus, the collective leader must emphasize the values, principles, and practices of the collaborative to produce D.A.C., engage in boundary-spanning and manage the social networks that connect the individuals within the collective (Hickman, 2016).

The first step in the process for creating D.A.C. isn’t to bring the teams together to define the direction or to understand collective beliefs. The collaborative leadership process’s first step is to work with individual teams (organizations, agencies, or systems) separately to clarify and define the differences. Each group describes and articulates their specific strengths in treating pregnant women. They describe their weaknesses or gaps and communicate the outcomes they hope to accomplish through the collective work. Only once each group has been able to define themselves the groups/teams are brought together to share their strengths, weaknesses, and vision. This process of self-reflection reduces insecurities. The individual groups’ members begin to see how their strengths offset the other teams’ disadvantages and vice versa. In practice, there is often a tendency to want to jump right into developing a shared vision/mission, but this can lead to divineness and tension amongst agencies. However, suppose agencies are allowed the time and opportunity to define themselves first and understand where there is alignment between agencies. In that case, they can then move to the second step of finding common ground. With common ground established, the collective can develop a shared vision that will provide a clear direction. With clear direction and alignment, the collective can develop personal commitments to create unity through collaboration, identify shared outcomes/measurements of success, and then develop plans to manage challenges or barriers that may impede the collective’s success.

The practice of collective leadership can be challenging and requires skillful facilitation. Treating pregnant women with substance use and mental health disorders is complex and requires professionals from multiple agencies to work together effectively. Using a collective leadership developmental approach to form these highly diversified teams could lead to better outcomes for women and, ultimately, their infants. It is hoped that this article will encourage discussion amongst practitioners to find new ways of working together for better results for all.

About the Author:

Philip Breitenbucher has over 20 years of progressively responsible experience in managing public child welfare and community-based prevention services. Professor Breitenbucher currently serves as an assistant professor of social work in the Department of Social Work, College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at California Baptist University. Also, Professor Breitenbucher serves as a research associate for the Center for the Study of Human Behavior. Mr. Breitenbucher is currently pursuing an educational doctorate in Organizational Leadership.

References:

Hickman, G.R. (2016). Leading organizations: Perspective for a new era (3rded.). Sage

Patrick SW, Barfield WD, Poindexter BB, AAP Committee on fetus and newborn, Committee on substance use and prevention (2020). Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome. Pediatrics. 146(5):e2020029074

I have been thinking a lot about stillness over these past few months. The louder culture yells, it seems, the more desperately I desire a deep quietude of the soul.

In one version of this blog, I examined this desire for quiet considering Biblical proclamations to be still before the Lord (e.g., Psalm 37:7). I spent time thinking through how Biblical stillness does not mean we do nothing as stillness before God is not the same as “unplugging” in the modern call for self-care. No, I believe that stillness before the Lord is more like Jesus’ explanation of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27), giving space to prepare us to act consistent with the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). Because I am not a theologian, I was planning to connect this to mindfulness; mindfulness is a connection to the present, a means to give us eyes to see and a willingness to act toward justice.

And yet, that is not what this blog is about. I still think there is something to those ideas but the more I wrote the more I realized those ideas were not the primary thoughts about stillness swirling around in my head. My current desire for stillness is less about mindfulness and more about humility. Humility as the calm amid cultural storms.

As a psychologist, I am interested in thinking about humility from a scientific perspective. This means we need to start with measurement. Measuring humility is a notoriously difficult task. How do you measure whether someone is humble? If you ask participants “How much do you agree with this statement? I am a humble person,” how should you interpret the results? Someone who is legitimately humble should agree, right? But in agreeing, are they somehow less humble? What about the truly arrogant person who is the “most humble of everyone” in their own eyes? It’s a thorny issue, one that has garnered quite a bit of research lately.

One of the more recent psychological definitions of humility comes from Worthington et al. (2017). A humble person is defined as one who is other-oriented, modest (not self-promoting), and someone who accurately represents themselves. So, if I have three gold medals earned in underwater basket-weaving world championships, it would not make me arrogant to accurately portray my expertise in this time-honored tradition. However, the other elements of humility would require that I do so in a way that is not self-aggrandizing and in a way that keeps others as my focal point. (i.e., “Friend, I see that you keep losing your car keys. I have developed some skill in underwater basket weaving. Would it serve you well if I made you a basket to store your keys?”)

In this article, several empirically-supported practices for developing humility are described along with some key reasons why we might want to develop more humility. Humility, it turns out, is a boon to mental well-being. For example, humble people tend to better navigate life’s stresses and challenges. They also tend to exhibit other traits and practices that also have a host of positive benefits—gratitude, generosity, prosocial behavior, among others. If you stop to think about it, some of this might make sense. These kinds of practices are built into the definition of humility. If we are not so focused on ourselves, but wondering how we can serve others, these practices naturally follow. Moreover, humility shows its benefits even in places where we might wonder if a bit of self-promotion might be beneficial. Consider CEOs. As the leaders of their company, we might think that a little bit of “look at me, I’m leading and I’m awesome” might not be so bad. And yet, research shows that humble CEOs are better leaders and more innovative than less humble CEOs.

I think a great deal of the chaos in our culture might be attenuated with a bit more humility. But even this statement needs some additional explanation as Worthington et al. (as well as other researchers) distinguish between general humility (as described above) and more specific instantiations of humility. One of my favorite types of humility is intellectual humility. (Note: favorite doesn’t mean it’s easy or that I’m somehow the most awesome of this kind of humility…)

Individuals who are intellectually humble are willing to admit that they might be wrong and that there are things they don’t know. (Hi, my name is Erin and there is a whole lot of things that I don’t know.) Intellectually humble individuals will change their beliefs when presented with evidence that their beliefs are wrong. (This one is harder for me.) According to this study, intellectually humble people tend to be curious, open to new ideas, and reflective. They are willing (and able) to sit in the “gray zones,” where things are not known with certainty (which, if we were honest, describes most of the things we “know”).

One might look at this list and think, “so, intellectually humble people must not have opinions; they must just appease and agree with whatever group they are in, right?” No. Intellectually humble people hold beliefs with the same kinds of convictions as other people, they just do so with more nuance, recognizing (or at least being open to someone else’s recognition) the limits of what they know. This means that, when there is high quality and robust evidence supporting their beliefs, an intellectually humble person will hold to their belief; their beliefs do not change with the wind. But they will do so in a way that serves others (i.e., listening, engaging, and calling others to the whole scope of the evidence on an issue) and is authentically open to evaluating new evidence that might not be consistent with their beliefs.

One of the great tensions Jesus modeled can be seen in intellectual humility. As Christians, we are to be thoughtful, to have reasons for our beliefs (e.g., 1 Peter 3:15), but these reasons are not to be wielded as weapons to interfere with the greatest commandment, to love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-40). On the flip side, loving others does not mean that “all opinions are equal” or that “everyone can believe what they want,” developing their own truths (or so-called ‘alternative facts’). The intellectually humble hold their beliefs with reason and conviction, with a willingness to re-evaluate with evidence, and with the goal of being a better neighbor (not beating their neighbor with their facts). We are called to something more than this. We are called to speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Let me now try to circle back to the peace—the stillness—that my heart craves. As I reflect on the quality and tone of conversations in our culture in this present moment, I am deeply aware of the lack of humility (generally) and intellectual humility (specifically). Nuance does not make good click bait and we are often too hurried for the depth of thinking that marks intellectual humility. I cannot change culture on my own, but I can—with God’s help—search my heart (Psalm 139:23-24). I can commit to a process of holding beliefs with a sense of curiosity and openness, to admitting that I might be wrong. I can confess my arrogance and turn my eyes toward others (Philippians 2:4), accurately, and modestly, portraying and leveraging my strengths for the benefit of my neighbor, always learning, always loving. This is difficult, but this is part of my calling. If you feel this is part of your calling as well, a good starting place is an open and honest acknowledgement that what we believe now is most likely a combination of things that are true and things that are false and that we can—and should—allow our minds to be changed with new evidence (empirical, revelation, tradition, community, experience, etc.).

I desire stillness. More specifically, I desire stillness to produce clarity. May the weight of glory bring humility and foster a stillness in my soul to distill culture’s competing shouts about truth as I steadfastly search the cloudy mirror for Jesus.

UPDATE: After this blog posted, I came across this quote from Andrew Murray in his book, Humility. I thought it worth sharing here, relative to the connection between quietude and humility:

Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.

By Dr. Robert Pate

I wish I had a nickel for every time one of the ladies on ABC’s The Bachelor has said, “I literally died.” No, you didn’t. Despite their often ridiculous behavior, I feel bad for the contestants. In addition to editing content to show mostly conflict/angst, contestants are put in a nearly impossible social situation, given few helpful resources, cut off from their support networks, and we only get to share in their experience through technology. So of course they break down and cry, experience increased social conflict, and have a hard time coping! Feel familiar to anyone? If this doesn’t sound like your 2020 experience, maybe you and I were “social distancing” differently!

Either way, I often take away similar thoughts from the hyperbolic social interactions curated for our enjoyment. What I consistently notice is that we were made to be with people and connect in safe, secure relationships. We are meant to have our own space to reflect, rest, and pray. We thrive when we can express our thoughts and feelings with others who genuinely care about us, and who are open to letting go of their own feelings for a few minutes to stay present with us. We all experience joy, sorrow, hurt, betrayal, and the desire to be loved. We are made to have fun. We are made to look each other directly in the eye, to hug, to eat and drink together, and a host of other things we’ve been limited in doing the past 12 months. These activities help us to be in a healthy personal state of mind to be available for others’ needs, and to connect with healthy others in our lives. This connection is related to the concept of attachment, which includes the idea that when we have at least one safe person we can lean on, a secure base from which to explore the world, we can take greater risks and generally regulate our emotions better. This, of course, is related to all kinds of positive life and relationship outcomes.

If you’ve struggled with the loss of any of these things, I hope you have been coping well. I hope you have found creative and safe ways to stay connected with your friends and loved ones. But we can only handle so much screen time before we need to change things up (screen life hack: look out a window or at least across the room every 15-30 minutes to help your eyes avoid strain). Many small distractions can temporarily help us deal with the social/relational losses of the past 12 months, as well as the modifications to our learning environments. I won’t focus on them here, but a few might include standing up from your desk/bed/couch to walk around your dorm, bedroom, or office space. Try stretching for 30 seconds between meetings. I often do 20 pushups between therapy clients and find it helpful in waking my body up after several hours straight in a chair.

But as helpful as these short-term distractions can be, they may not help with the long term mental health needs that many of us have experienced during the pandemic. While the strategies below may be helpful during this national crisis, remember they are also helpful when things get back to the old normal. I hope you are able to employ one or more of them during the remainder of this semester as we look ahead to summer and the eventual return to an in-person everyday experience.

1. Plan a mini-vacation: Having something to look forward to, however small, can help ward off the depression that comes from the monotony of staring at screens all day, the loneliness that often accompanies isolation, and the boredom of being in the same environment all the time. A vacation could simply be taking a day trip to the local mountains with a friend or family member to hike around Lake Gregory in the Crestline area. It’s beautiful up there, the air is fresh(er), and it’s good to get out and exercise. You don’t have to fly to Hawaii to be on vacation! Maybe just take a road trip along the coast for a few hours, grabbing breakfast in Newport Beach heading down to San Diego for a late lunch, and then enjoying the drive back up the coast toward Riverside in the evening. The point is to plan something fun that you can look forward to. It’s better to have three or four small vacations each year to look forward to than one major trip.

2. Have a weekly activity that you do with someone you can build intimacy with over time. It’s important to have trust, safety, and a record of consistent vulnerable communication with at least one person in your life. You can do the same activity each week or mix it up. The key here is to get out and do something you don’t normally do, so the activity is special. Something you can look forward to. Maybe it’s a one mile walk around the campus and surrounding neighborhood. Maybe you get off campus and head to a park to throw a football or frisbee around. Whatever you do, make sure it’s something that allows you to talk without too much distraction.

3. Take a cell-phone holiday regularly. This could be a certain time of day that you set aside your phone and just engage 100% in whatever you are doing. Maybe it’s during dinner, or right when your classes or work are completed for the day. I recently celebrated Valentine’s Day with my wife, and forgot my phone at home. We had a great time, and, being the distractible person that I am, I was able to focus better on her. There’s just something about not even having your phone around that can feel very freeing. Try it sometime.

4. Come up with your own strategy! Do something out of the ordinary on a regular basis. If you regularly pray and/or meditate every day, have one day each week where you do that in a new location and for a longer period of time. Maybe you want to start employing one of the spiritual disciplines and journaling about it. Whatever you choose, find something that works for you, that you enjoy, and that will help you cope with whatever has come up for you this past year. This isn’t homework. It’s supposed to be fun, and it’s supposed to be for you.

Don’t let yourself get to the point in your coping strategies and relationships that you end up being the catty contestant with diminished emotion regulation and communication skills saying ridiculous things like, “I literally died.” Nope. You’re still here. But you do need to get more serious about and creative with your self care!

Feel free to comment below with a strategy that has worked for you so others can try it out!

Dr. Raquel Ellis

I have had some amazing mentors in my life. However, there are two that stand out as leaving an impressionable mark on my development as a researcher. The first was one of my MSW program instructors, Dr. Jean Granger. She was also the associate director of the MSW program at the time. I developed a good student-faculty relationship with her during my practice class, and she subsequently invited me to serve as her graduate assistant. I was hesitant to accept the offer because I was very intimidated by her. She held high expectations of her students and was a tough grader of assignments. Her story was also intimidating. She completed high school early and enrolled at Fisk University, a historically Black university, at the young age of 15. By the age of 19, she had completed her MSW degree. In hindsight, I am glad I accepted the position as I was able to learn so much from her while supporting administrative and research projects that she led.

Once I started to identify faculty members to serve on my MSW thesis committee, it was a natural fit for me to select Dr. Granger as my committee chair. I conducted an exploratory study on the help-seeking behaviors of African Americans who lost a parent during adolescence. Using a snowball sampling approach, I surveyed individuals who met my sampling criteria. Upon completion of my thesis, Dr. Granger encouraged me to write a journal article based on my study findings. I never imagined that I could publish in an academic journal. I did not think this was attainable as a graduate student and I was quite intimidated by the idea. However, my mentor assured me that it was and that she would guide me through the process. We worked in collaboration and co-authored an article that was ultimately published in the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. This published article, along with a strong letter of recommendation from Dr. Granger, facilitated my acceptance to several PhD programs.

The program that I ultimately decided to enroll in was the PhD in Social Work program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was here that I met another research mentor who made a big impression on me. He was a social work professor in my doctoral program, Dr. Jim Gleeson. I interviewed for a research assistant position with him just before starting my doctoral studies. He had a handful of research assistants supporting a large federal research grant that examined individual and social protective factors for children in informal kinship care. Nearly all of them were students of color, which made me feel at home and gave me a sense of belonging. Dr. Gleeson created a warm, family-oriented environment. I gain ample research training and experience under Dr. Gleeson’s supervision, which continued as he served as my dissertation committee chair. Dr. Gleeson encouraged me to publish my dissertation findings in a journal article and thanks to Dr. Granger, I felt much more equipped to independently draft a journal article. My efforts were successful as the article was ultimately published in the Journal on Public Child Welfare. These experiences prepared me well for securing employment at a research firm post-graduation.

When I think about the traits of both mentors, a few commonalities come to mind. They both took time to learn about me as a person, were very giving of their time to invest in my learning and professional development, and were always very encouraging in their interactions with me and other students they mentored. They were also passionate about using research to gain a greater understanding about issues that face vulnerable populations and using this information to improve lives.

Over the course of my career, I have striven to be like those who have mentored me. It is my hope that I can help all my students see the value of social science research and nurture those who desire to make research a part of their future careers.