The Power of Pets and Poetry: Combining Complementary Therapy Methods for a More
Individualized and Productive Therapy Experience

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Description

Psychological therapy is the process of understanding, treating, and maintaining a healthy psyche. Psychological therapy comes in many shapes and sizes. Different methods of therapy include but are not limited to cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalytic therapy, group therapy,

Psychological therapy is the process of understanding, treating, and maintaining a healthy psyche. Psychological therapy comes in many shapes and sizes. Different methods of therapy include but are not limited to cognitive behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalytic therapy, group therapy, and humanistic therapy. Most of these major therapeutic options fall under the umbrella of “talk therapy”. Although talk therapy is effective, practicing talk therapy exclusively limits not only the capabilities of therapy, but also potential clientele who would benefit from alternatives to talk therapy. Because each psyche is as unique and individual as fingerprints, each person seeking therapy should be able to create a personalized therapy program. Generating unique combinations of various therapy methods that are catered specifically to the client is a way to achieve this lofty goal. This research intends to better understand whether this proposal of combining various therapeutic techniques and methods in order to achieve individualized therapy programs will increase the effectiveness of the therapy being administered. In this meta analysis, the focus will be on animal therapy and poetry therapy used in conjunction theoretically as an example of potential applications for various combinations in conjunctive therapy. Conjunctive therapy is the main idea being piloted in this thesis and is a new form of therapy that involved the usage of two therapeutic techniques together while maintaining and equal prevalence and importance between them.

Date Created
2022-05
Agent

The Romanticization of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse in Young Adult Media

Description

The following creative project defends that, whether intentionally or not, mental illness and substance abuse are inevitably romanticized in young adult media and discusses the dangers of this romanticization. This project is divided into three parts. The first part consists

The following creative project defends that, whether intentionally or not, mental illness and substance abuse are inevitably romanticized in young adult media and discusses the dangers of this romanticization. This project is divided into three parts. The first part consists of psychological evaluations of the main characters of two popular, contemporary forms of young adult media, Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger and Euphoria by Sam Levinson. These evaluations use textual evidence and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to determine what symptoms of psychopathology the characters appear to display. The second part consists of a self-written short story that is meant to accurately depict the life of a young adult struggling with mental illness and substance abuse. This story contains various aesthetic techniques borrowed from the two young adult media forms. The final part consists of an aesthetic statement which discusses in depth the aesthetic techniques employed within the short story, Quicksand by Anisha Mehra.

Date Created
2021-05
Agent

Être Pédé et Pauvre: En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule’s Exploration of Poverty and Gay Performativity

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Description

When discussing gay literature in the French, contemporary sphere, one of the most up
and coming and prominent authors is Édouard Louis. His works’ focus on the realism and
violence of the working class offers a critical and necessary perspective of the

When discussing gay literature in the French, contemporary sphere, one of the most up
and coming and prominent authors is Édouard Louis. His works’ focus on the realism and
violence of the working class offers a critical and necessary perspective of the gay experience in
modern-day France. While recent in their creation, Louis’ works follow a connecting thread that
is inseparable from other autofiction novels that have a narrator with same sex attractions such as
Annie Ernaux’s Ce qu’ils disent or rien and Didier Eribon’s Retour à Reims. Often commonly
discussed as French LGBT literature, these autofictional works that extend from Gide to Eribon
to now Louis demonstrate how the proposed societal dualities, limitations, and hierarchies
described by philosophers like Michel Foucault and Judith Butler affect homosexual
performativity. Louis’ first novel En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule, published on January 2, 2014,
offers another illustration of this analysis. It specifically describes the metaphysical
(metaphysical being the relationship between the outer stimuli and internal perspective) effects
and constraints of current poverty on homosexual performativity. By analyzing En finir avec
Eddy Bellegueule through this theoretical framework of power and poverty, this thesis adds a
theoretical and intersectional nuance to the narrative voice that current literature focusing on the
novel’s landscape mentions but does not reflect on. I argue that it is important to attach an
autofictional timeline that is necessary to promote and apply future ontological doctrines to this
genre.

Date Created
2021-05

The Commonalities of Mentor Figures in Medieval and Modern Fantasy

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Description
In examining the popular culture of the United States today, one would find themselves hard-pressed to avoid mentions of texts and films that fall within the fantasy genre. In fact, many works within this genre find themselves amongst the ranks

In examining the popular culture of the United States today, one would find themselves hard-pressed to avoid mentions of texts and films that fall within the fantasy genre. In fact, many works within this genre find themselves amongst the ranks of the best-selling books and movies of all time (Moor; Harding and Thompson). Outside of their economic success, these stories have become an integral part of American culture. Extending from the domination of the entertainment industry, the characters and stories of the fantasy genre have influenced the collective ideals and perspectives of the United States population. Websites such as DeviantArt and Archive of Our Own serve as testament to how these stories inspire their fans, boasting thousands of pieces of artwork and writing that have been inspired by various fantasy texts and films. Beyond this, characters featured in these stories find themselves being applied elsewhere, ranging from their prevalence in online meme culture to their use during times of political strife. A notable example of this is a photograph of a protestor holding up a large sign boasting the claim that “Dumbledore wouldn’t let this happen,” which later became viral and was posted across several media platforms (whiskey-tango). The importance and impact of the fantasy genre can clearly be seen to take on many forms, and can be observed as playing a larger role than simple entertainment in the lives of the American public. While all of these examples highlight the deeply embedded nature of these tales in popular culture, it begs the question as to how and why these stories got to this status.
Date Created
2020-05
Agent

Avalon

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Description
Feminism has been the focus of many writers throughout the decades but has recently gained momentum in the eyes of the general public thanks to works like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Feminist figure Hélène Cixous encourages women to empower

Feminism has been the focus of many writers throughout the decades but has recently gained momentum in the eyes of the general public thanks to works like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Feminist figure Hélène Cixous encourages women to empower themselves by applying feminist ideas to their writing, rather than remaining complacent in an oppressive society. Avalon strives to portray some of these ideas through the lens of Arthurian Legend. A feminist story set in an epic fantasy world, Avalon shows the struggle of marginalized groups in a patriarchal, discriminatory, and dystopian society.

The main character, Princess Alexandria, must navigate a world where the all magic is controlled by a power-hungry ruler, King Mordred. After he decides to pursue the Ruins of Kronos in order to gain control over time itself, the princess decides to intervene. Alexandria escapes the palace with her childhood best friend James, to stop him, nearly dying in the process, and finds a group of fairies who have lost their wings. The fairies help her discover the true origins and capabilities of magic, making her realize that she must restore it to the realm in order to stop King Mordred. Alexandria disguises herself as a man and joins the King’s Knights, befriending a rebel in disguise named Keith along the way, as she discovers her brother Noah may be on the King’s side. Together, they work to liberate lands oppressed by King Mordred’s rule, and by the Black Plague that Morgana has set upon them, all while uncovering the corruption present in their society.
Date Created
2019-05
Agent

The Gender Differences in Heart Disease and the Cardiovascular Benefits of Estrogen

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Description
Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the world. The incidence of cardiovascular disease is known to be much higher in men than women until around the ages of 60-75 years, when the occurrence of

Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the world. The incidence of cardiovascular disease is known to be much higher in men than women until around the ages of 60-75 years, when the occurrence of the disease becomes approximately equal in both sexes. Additionally, the occurrence of heart disease is significantly lower in premenopausal women than postmenopausal women. Since men have a higher risk for heart disease than women until 10-15 years after the average age of menopause and postmenopausal women have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than premenopausal women, it is hypothesized that endogenous estrogen exposure throughout the fertile period of a woman's life postpones the onset of cardiovascular disease. Research shows estrogen has beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system by regulating multiple metabolic processes including lipid metabolism, vasodilation, nitric oxide synthesis, cytochrome c apoptosis, and mitochondrial antioxidant production. Though estrogen has been found to have cardiovascular benefits on individual metabolic processes, the treatment of synthetic estrogen on postmenopausal women and men to reduce the overall risk of heart disease is very controversial. The controversy of synthetic estrogen is partially due to the fact that most studies done using estrogen replacement therapy on postmenopausal women and men resulted in either no effects or harmful effects on the cardiovascular system. Hormone replacement therapy has also been associated with a higher risk of multiple medical conditions, especially venous thromboembolism and breast cancer. This review will explore these topics and consider the costs and benefits of estrogen replacement therapy.
Date Created
2019-05
Agent