The Middle Ages in Europe found some women developing and navigating different forms of agency within the church, in particular female mystics who received visions from Christ and were models of devout faith and behavior. The case of Margery Kempe, a fifteenth-century Englishwoman, is especially interesting because she was forced to navigate a difficult religious and political environment that included many accusations of heresy. Although she was illiterate, she dictated her visions and experiences in her Book. Her intense and exemplary modes of devotion and faith ultimately brought her harsh forms of social rejection, mostly because of her fits of sobbing and writhing that often disrupted mass. Margery explained her behavior as an emotional reaction to Christ’s passion. However, there is a social component connected to Margery’s spirituality. The more severely that she is accused of heresy, the more members of the clergy and her society are impacted by her behavior, and the stronger her relationship with Christ becomes. This research aims to analyze how her feminine stereotypical behaviors created her social identity and how these behaviors were a form of non-verbal communication that, while disruptive, could not ultimately be judged as heretical by inquisitors.

The purpose of this study is to understand the attitudes toward the topic of suicide in the counselor education and supervision (CES) community. This research expands upon prior research by exploring the perceived attitudes toward suicide among counseling faculty, supervisors, leaders, and students. The research question is: What are the perceived attitudes in CES toward the topic of suicide? The study involved 45-90 minute phone interviews with 15 participants, including counseling faculty, supervisors, and/or administrators. The majority of participants identified as White and female. Applying interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology guides the researchers in two phases: 1) developing a descriptive account of phenomena through the perspective of the participant and 2) interpreting underlying meaning about perceived attitudes toward suicide. The steps of IPA include reading and rereading, developing emergent themes, searching for connections across emergent themes, moving to the next case, looking for patterns, and making interpretations to deeper levels. The present study utilizes the talents of a McNair scholar, their McNair Mentor, Dr. Jenny Cureton, and a research team of counseling doctoral students and faculty members. Findings will inform counselor training on suicide, training program functions, and leadership and policy impacting counselors and counselor preparation.

The aim of this article is to explore the ways in which creative writing can help to aid those suffering from trauma as well as understanding the importance of trauma writing. More importantly, this article is meant to explore what makes for good trauma writing and what things a writer should and shouldn’t do when writing trauma. As a result of this research, I have concluded: a) Creative writing as well as other forms of self-expression can be used to heal trauma b) The best trauma writing is that which not only tells about the event, but also provides insight into how the individual was affected by said event. c) Good trauma writing is honest and tells the full story (even if recalling it may be painful). Moreover, I have examined that ways in which writers can approach trauma writing in a healthy way. I concluded that a)Trauma writing helps people to reshape their memories and change their story. b) Those writing about their trauma should not be phased by feelings of shame and guilt that society often imposes upon victims of trauma. c) Those writing trauma should understand that their work is important because there are many people who may be suffering from traumatic events similar or identical to that of the writer and this helps those reading trauma to understand that they are not fighting alone.