Date of Graduation

12-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

Kristin Higgins

Committee Member

Self, Sheila

Second Committee Member

Blisard, Paul

Third Committee Member

Christian, David

Keywords

eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing, EMDR, test anxiety, college students, TAI (Test Anxiety Inventory)

Abstract

Test Anxiety (TA) has become a major concern for college students. Experiencing mental concern about test-taking perpetuated by physiological hyperarousal directly affects students’ ability to be successful in college. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a multi-faceted therapeutic approach that aims to process dysfunctional negative cognitions which originate with negative past experiences to an adaptive state. Developed by Francine Shapiro in 1989, the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model undergirds the 30-second, therapist-initiated, bi-lateral eye-movements. These movements identify and reprocess emotionally disturbing experiences, linked to an individual’s emotional expression, by deliberatively triggering a connected trauma network. This dissertation examined the impact of eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing on self-reported test anxiety in the college student population. A single case research design (SCRD) was used to examine whether eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing impacts college students’ self-reported scores on the Test Anxiety Inventory (TAI-T) and its subscales of worry (TAI-W) and emotionality (TAI-E) (Spielberger, 1980). Keywords: eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing, EMDR, test anxiety, college, students, TAI

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