Susan Furr

Suicide and depression among college students: A decade later.

Are suicidal thoughts and depression increasing or decreasing among college students? What life circumstances are the most critical to explore with depressed or suicidal college students? This article focuses on the rate of self-assessed depression and suicide among college students and examines con

Structuring the group experience: A format for designing psychoeducational groups

Abstract The design of an effective psychoeducational group begins with a strong theoretical foundation and evolves into a highly interactive experience that fosters growth and development in participants. This article presents a six-step model that enables the designer to move from a general statement of purpose to a session-by-session design that includes didactic content, experiential activities, and processing. By following this model, the group facilitator is able to develop a psychoeducational group that provides a logical sequence of learning activities that foster cognitive, affective, and behavioral change.

Psychology Doctoral Students Perceptions of Peers’ Problems of Professional Competency.

Doctoral students in American Psychological Association (APA) accredited programs (clinical psychology PhD, counseling psychology PhD, and clinical psychology PsyD; n = 939) were asked to evaluate their knowledge of peers who displayed problems of professional competency (PPC) and the impact of these behaviors on their own experiences as doctoral students. The vast majority of students reported identifying at least 1 peer displaying PPC (77.8%) with the majority (58.3%) indicating that they experienced an impact from this behavior. The behaviors identified as affecting them included peers who (a) were not able to regulate emotions (58.5%), (b) engaged in unprofessional behavior (47.8%), (c) had inadequate clinical skills (32.8%), (d) engaged in unethical behavior (32.1%), and (e) displayed psychological concerns (31.7%). The resulting impact of these behaviors included (a) feeling resentful of the peer (65.1%), (b) encountering a disrupted learning environment (59.4%), and (c) feeling stress because of the peer’s PPC (57.8%). Doctoral students were frustrated with their programs for allowing peers displaying PPC to graduate and expressed concern about the quality of their profession. A large number of the participants (79.9%) reported a desire for information regarding how to respond to a peer’s PPC. These results are examined in the context of the APA Profession-Wide Competencies as related to professional values, attitudes, and behaviors.