Research Statement
High quality scientific theory and research is crucial to an effective and enduring psychological helping field. I believe that psychologists have a responsibility through research to work to promote growth and to mitigate the causes of human suffering. There are many roads to knowledge and I believe that both quantitative and qualitative approaches benefit our understanding of phenomena. For the welfare and protection of the individuals and groups with whom psychologists work, it is critical that research be conducted according to APA Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct with special attention to safeguard vulnerable groups as research participants.
My research program is grounded in three projects: Sweat therapy; Indian Boarding Schools; and, Well-Being Check-Ups. This work contributes to seven main areas including; Group Work, Multiculturalism, Complementary and Alternative Therapies, Coping with Traumatic Experiences, Native American Issues, Child & Adolescent Treatment, and Prevention. I am skilled in both quantitative and qualitative methods and have been successful working independently and as a research team leader working with both faculty and students of multiple areas of expertise. In the future, I plan to continue to work on these three main projects as well as broaden my research through working with others on complementary projects.
Main Research Areas
● Group Work
● Native American Issues
● Multiculturalism
● Child & Adolescent Treatment
● Complementary and Alternative Therapies
● Prevention
● Coping with Traumatic Experiences
Sweat therapy
My research on sweat therapy began with investigating the Navajo sweat lodge ceremony as a form of group therapy with Navajo youth (Colmant & Merta, 1999). This descriptive case study was published in the Journal for Specialists in Group Work. Recognizing the worldwide presence of different forms of group sweating, I completed an investigation of a secular means of group sweating using a sauna with youth with disruptive behavior disorders (Colmant & Merta, 2000). This study was published in the Journal for Experiential Education. Soon after entering a doctoral program, I initiated a research project to conduct a randomized controlled study (N=24) investigating the effects of sweat therapy on group dynamics and affect. The results indicated that group sweating appeared to accelerate and intensify group counseling processes (Colmant, Eason, Winterowd, Jacobs, & Cashel, in press). This study is currently in press with the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and will appear in their December 2005 issue. My dissertation replicates this study with a larger sample (N = 85), better control and a more effective measurement strategy. My research team and I plan to publish these results along with additional data collected on the effects of sweat therapy on well-being. These data have not yet been analyzed.
I plan to further investigate sweat therapy as a psychotherapeutic technique with specific populations and issues such as those with disruptive behavior disorders and anxiety disorders. I am currently serving as a consultant to Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, Ph.D. and research team at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine on their research using sweat interventions in a proposal submitted to the NIH for a feasibility study on the effect of augmenting medication treatment for treatment-resistant depression with psychological or spiritual treatment on adherence to treatment and treatment response. Investigating group sweating has inspired my interest in identifying other forms of indigenous healing methods that appear to promote mental health and well-being. My colleague, Allen Eason, and I are exploring the use of three types of “cultural validity” for evaluating and categorizing Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine practices. The three types are a trilogy called TOP Validity: Transcendental, Omnicultural, and Perennial validity (Colmant & Eason, 2004). The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is encouraging psychologists to study complementary and alternative therapies and is good potential funding resource.
Indian Boarding Schools
There are currently 72 Indian boarding schools in the United States funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs which house more than 10,000 American Indian children. Thirty-seven of these schools take children as young as six-years-old. These numbers do not include the private and parochial Indian boarding schools. While in the U.S. the Indian boarding school situation is a controversial issue, the last of the Canadian federally operated residential schools closed in 1984. In 1998, Canadian government officials apologized to their Indian residential school survivors for the widespread physical and sexual abuse that occurred and allocated $350 million for counseling as a gesture of reconciliation to indigenous people. There has also been a series of widely publicized lawsuits and settlement conferences against the Canadian federal government and various churches. Numerous healing projects devoted to Indian residential school survivors were initiated throughout Canada.
During my experience working on the Navajo Nation, I learned of the Indian boarding school problem and published a discussion paper in Native Americas Journal that reviewed the psychosocial literature on Indian boarding schools and compared the situation in the U.S. to that of Canada (Colmant, 2000). My most recent study on Indian boarding schools explores the American Indian boarding school experience from both a historical and current perspective to help understand the range of experiences reported. In a mixed-model design and using grounded theory methodology, this study includes two samples: (1) 30 American Indian adults of various tribal background who were alumni of one or more Indian boarding school, and (2) 16 American Indian youth and 8 staff currently residing or working at an Indian boarding school dormitory. This study is the first study to investigate “how” meaning to Indian boarding school experiences is constructed and provides guidance to helpers working with survivors of boarding school related trauma. It is also the first research of its kind to use a multi-member research team and to include interviews with current students housed in Indian boarding school dormitories. The results produced a five-factor model to understand how meaning to Indian boarding school experiences is constructed (Colmant, Schultz, Robins, Ciali, Dorton, & Rivera-Colmant, 2004). A manuscript using some of these data was recently published in The Journal for American Indian Education.
My research team and I plan to write more extensively using these data and will further investigate the results of data collected regarding post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. In addition, I am interested in investigating the potential to extrapolate findings from this study to other populations. From clinical experience, it appears that this five-factor model has potential to be useful as a metatheoretical framework to improve coping in working with people who have experienced a wide range of traumatic experiences.
Well-Being Check-Ups
Although the primary care healthcare system is noted to be the de facto mental health system in the U.S., patients typically do not receive the care they need. Periodic well-being check-ups have the potential to become a primary care strategy in the prevention of psychological problems and the promotion of health and well-being. Collaborating with physicians offers a promising strategy to providing the most comprehensive evaluation with the most efficiency.
I am developing and researching the use of routine well-being check-ups completed by a psychologist to be combined with physician’s physical check-ups. My procedure takes place within an hour session and follows a standard intake interview with a focus on screening for mental health problems using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and promoting well-being. My well-being assessment uses Myers, Sweeney, and Witmer’s (2000) Wheel of Wellness and includes the following dimensions: (a) sense of worth, (b) sense of control, (c) realistic beliefs, (d) emotional awareness and coping, (e) problem solving and creativity, (f) sense of humor, (g) nutrition, (h) exercise, (i) self-care, (j) stress management, (k) gender identity, and (l) cultural identity. Referral for psychoeducation and remedial treatment, when indicated, is integral. To maximize efficiency this procedure will make use of computer and web-based technology. With 100 experimental subjects and 100 control, this study will examine the relationship between psychopathology and Wellness in the context of a physician’s office.
Main contributions offered by this research project include: 1) The development of a practical prevention intervention; 2) The promotion of integrating psychology and medical fields; and, 3) Better understanding of the relationship between mental illness and well-being dimensions with each other and with physical health. It is my hope that this research will lead to broader applicability of the use of well-being check-ups into such settings as elementary and high schools, employment, and other medical settings. I am currently researching potential funding sources for this project.
References
Colmant, S.A. , and Merta, R.J. (1999). Using the Sweat Lodge Ceremony as Group Therapy for Navajo Youth . Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 24 (1), 55-73.
Colmant, S.A., and Merta, R.J. (2000). Sweat therapy. Journal of Experiential Education, 23 (1), 31-38.
Colmant, S.A. (2000). U.S. and Canadian Boarding Schools: A Review, Past and Present. Native Americas Journal,17 (4), 24-30.
Colmant, S.A., Eason, E.A., Winterowd, C.L., Jacobs, S.C., and Cashel, C. (In Press). Investigating the Effects of Sweat therapy on Group Dynamics and Affect. Journal for Specialists in Group Work.
Colmant, S. A. and Eason, E. A. (2004). The Cultural Validity of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practices. In Think Tank [On-Line]. Available: www.PsychSymposium.com
Colmant, S.A., Schultz, L., Robins, R., Ciali, P., Dorton, J., and Rivera-Colmant, Y.R. (2004). Constructing meaning to the Indian boarding school experience. Journal of American Indian Education, 43 (3) 22 - 40.
Colmant, S. A. and Eason, E. A. (2004). The Cultural Validity of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practices. In Think Tank [On-Line]. Available:
www.PsychSymposium.com
Myers, J.E., Sweeney, T.J., and Witmer, M.J. (2000). The Wheel of Wellness counseling for wellness: A holistic model for treatment planning. Journal of Counseling and
Development, 78 (3) 251-266.
