Date
4-29-2026
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
James Kasten
Keywords
beliefs, intrinsic beliefs, belief systems, attitudes, values, extrinsic influencers, self-care, well-being, mental health therapists, clinicians, community mental health organizations
Disciplines
Counseling | Psychiatry and Psychology
Recommended Citation
Leyva, Elizabeth Lynn, "An Exploration of the Prioritization and Application of Self-Care for Mental Health Therapists Working Within Mississippi Gulf Coast Community Mental Health Organizations: A Phenomenological Study" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8244.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8244
Abstract
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the prioritization and application of self-care for mental health therapists working within Mississippi Gulf Coast community mental health organizations. The theory guiding this study was Milton Rokeach’s belief system theory, which examined the significant impact of beliefs, attitudes, and values on decision-making regarding clinician self-care in personal and professional realms. The central research question for this study asked how mental health therapists in community mental health organizations described their experiences of prioritizing and applying self-care during and outside of therapy practice. There were three subquestions to support the central research question. A transcendental phenomenological approach and methodology were used in this study to explore, discover, and analyze information on belief systems, attitudes, values, and extrinsic influences related to clinicians’ adherence to or resistance to self-care in the mental healthcare field. Mental health therapists within community mental health organizations along the Mississippi Gulf Coast were recruited to participate in the study. Comprehensive interviews were conducted virtually or in a secure location, as deemed appropriate by the researcher and participants, to collect data for analysis in this study. The results of this study present and discuss three primary themes and nine subthemes. The primary themes included influential belief systems surrounding self-care, influential attitudes surrounding self-care, and influential values surrounding self-care.
