Mental Health Professionals and Diverse Cultures

* 1. Informed Consent

     My name is Jason Lawrence, and I am a doctoral student of the Psychology and Philosophy Department at Sam Houston State University. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in a research study of professional practices in mental health with clients of differing cultures and limited English proficiency. We are conducting this research under the direction of Dr. Jorge Varela. We hope that data from this research will provide a guide to better understand where the field currently stands and inform research efforts that might improve standards of practice. You have been asked to participate in the research because you are a member of a mental health-related professional organization.

     The research is relatively straightforward, and we do not expect the research to pose any risk to any of the volunteer participants. If you consent to participate in this research, you will be asked to complete an online survey of your professional experiences. Any data obtained from you will only be used for the purpose of gaining a better understanding of mental health professionals’ experiences with clients of different cultures and limited English proficiency. Under no circumstances will you or any other participants who participated in this research be identified. In addition, your data will remain confidential. Your survey responses will be kept confidential to the extent of the technology being used. SurveyMonkey collects IP addresses for respondents to surveys they host; however, the ability to connect your survey responses to your IP address has been disabled for this survey. That means that I will not be able to identify your responses. You should, however, keep in mind that answers to specific questions may make you more easily identifiable. The security and privacy policy for SurveyMonkey can be viewed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/policy/privacy-policy/.

     This research will require about 5 to 10 minutes of your time. Participants will not be paid or otherwise compensated for their participation in this project.

     Participation is voluntary. If you decide to not participate in this research, your decision will not affect your future relations with Sam Houston State University. Also, if at any point during the research you decide to withdraw, or do not wish to, participate in the remainder of the research you are free to withdraw your consent and to discontinue participation at any time without affecting that relationship. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me using the contact information below. If you are interested, the results of this study will be available at the conclusion of the project.

     If you have any questions about this research, please feel free to contact me, Jason Lawrence or Jorge Varela. If you have questions or concerns about your rights as research participants, please contact Sharla Miles, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, using her contact information below:

Jason Lawrence
Department of Psychology and Philosophy
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341
E-mail: jml057@shsu.edu

Jorge Varela
Department of Psychology and Philosophy
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341
Phone: (936) 294-4164
E-mail: jgv002@shsu.edu

Sharla Miles
Research and Sponsored Programs
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341
Phone: (936) 294-4875
Email: irb@shsu.edu