A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF EMOTIONALLY-FOCUSED MENTORING

Abstract

This honors thesis stems from a larger dissertation study (Manvelian et al., 2021) that pilot-tested a novel psychotherapeutic intervention called, Emotionally-Focused Mentoring (EFM). EFM is a 5-week program designed to promote emotion regulation skills for insecurely attached first-year college students. Using narrative interview data collected during exit interviews with 55 participants who completed the EFM program, this thesis used grounded theory qualitative methods to systematically identify the major themes participants discussed after completing the program. Three independent researchers collaborated to create codes to classify participant responses in cycle one coding, and then grouped the codes into larger themes in cycle two. The coding revealed that by completing the EFM program, participants felt they had a stronger sense of self-awareness, better interpersonal skills, and better emotion regulation capacity then when they started. Overall, this work contributes a deeper understanding of how participants understood their involvement in the EFM and points to areas for future growth for the intervention.