Psychology and Mental Health Counseling Research Guide
- Find Background Info
- Find Books and Films
- Find Articles
- Find Data and Statistics
- Citing Sources
Find Background Info
Background sources, such as specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, are an essential piece of the research process. They can help you:
- Gather information about your topic and understand the scope of the research.
- Locate reliable sources and clarify keywords.
- Pinpoint important authors, texts, ideas, and keywords about the research area. Knowing what the primary phrases and concepts are will help you as you are search through library databases and online sources.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference is a multi-publisher collection of high-quality reference titles covering everything from the arts to astronomy, law to literature, and science to Shakespeare. The collection currently contains over 162 titles taken from 36 different reference publishers and more titles are being added. Available titles also include a range of multimedia options including thousands of high quality diagrams, photographs, maps, and audio files. Credo includes several books on topics in psychology and counseling.
Credo Reference offers the following titles that may be especially useful:
- Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology
- Big Ideas Simply Explained: The Psychology Book
- Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine
Psychology (Gale)
This database provides access to journal and magazine articles on topics in psychology. It is a good starting place to get ideas for research since it includes a topic finder feature and information from both scholarly and popular sources.
Find Books and Films
Print and e-books are valuable sources for academic research. They will help you gain an overview of your topic and often contain in-depth information about the scholarship or history of research on a subject. Some books are written by single authors, while others include essays or chapters by multiple scholars within a discipline. Don’t let the length of books intimidate you because you don’t need to read them from cover to cover. Look at the table of contents and index to find the sections that are relevant to your work.
Find Books Using GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other materials available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases. To get started, search by keyword or type in the title of a book here:
Academic Videos Online (AVON)
Academic Videos Online (AVON) provides unlimited access to a comprehensive selection of videos curated for the educational experience.
WorldCat
WorldCat lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other material that are available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and are considering requesting resources through Interlibrary Loan, WorldCat can help you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan is a service where patrons of one library can borrow books and other materials, and access journal articles that are owned by another library.
Explore Interlibrary Loan Materials
Utah Academic Library Consortium
Giovale Library participates in the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and Westminster University students have reciprocal circulation privileges at UALC partner libraries. Each UALC library has different circulation policies, but all require a current, valid, legal photo identification and proof of current enrollment at Westminster. Some libraries may also require other verification methods, so it is recommended that you contact the library you are interested in for details.
Popular Titles and Featured Texts
Mind Over Monsters: Supporting Youth Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge
The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous
Decolonizing Trauma Work: Indigenous Stories and Strategies
Biased : Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do
Browse Our Print Collection
The Giovale Library uses the Library of Congress Classification system, which divides collections into 21 basic classes using single letters of the alphabet. These classes also hold subclasses which allows the library to implement more specific classes to make it easier for patrons to find materials. Psychology materials can be found using the subclassifications BF, Z7201-Z7204, and some Z8000s. These books can be found on the top floor of the library. Find details about these subclassifications on page 3 of the Library of Congress Collections Policy Statements document.
Find Articles
The Giovale Library provides access to a number of subject databases that you can use to find journal articles on topics within a specific discipline or field of study. The databases listed on this page are those that are most useful for finding research published in the field of psychology and mental health counseling.
APA PsycINFO (EBSCO)
APA PsycINFO contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, dissertations, and technical reports, all in the field of psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law. With over 60,000 references added annually through weekly updates, this is the best database to use as you search for peer-reviewed literature in psychology.
Video: What is the PsycINFO Thesaurus?
Video: Sample APA PsycINFO Search Using the Thesaurus
APA PsycARTICLES (EBSCO)
The APA PsycARTICLES database contains the full text of articles from APA journals and selected EPF (Educational Publishing Foundation) journals, most from 1988 to the present.
Search APA PsycARTICLES (EBSCO)
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (EBSCO)
The Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection provides nearly 550 full text publications, including more than 500 peer-reviewed journals. The database covers topics such as emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry and psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational and experimental methods.
Search Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection (EBSCO)
ERIC (EBSCO)
Research in psychology often intersects with research in education. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to educational-related literature. ERIC Document coverage includes peer-reviewed articles, conferences, government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media, bibliographies, directories, books and monographs.
GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles, films, and other material available in the library. In addition to searching the Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles from several of our databases.
Find Data and Statistics
In the field of psychology, you may collect your own data through empirical research, or you may use archival data that has been collected by others and made available for public use. You may want to use:
- Data: Raw numbers that haven’t yet been analyzed using statistical methods. Data is usually presented in datasets or as a machine-readable data file.
- Statistics: The numerical information that results from data analysis. Statistics are usually presented in the form of tables, charts, and graphs or reported numbers and percentages in articles or reports.
The following websites are good starting places to search for data and statistics. Keep in mind that this list represents only a small subset of data collected by government agencies, academic institutions, and organizations. As always, if you can’t find what you are looking for, contact the library.
American Psychological Association Links to Datasets and Repositories
The American Psychological Association (APA) has compiled a comprehensive list of data sources useful for psychological science research.
ICPSR
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides training around data analysis and access for the social sciences. The majority of data are freely available for public use.
Data.gov
This catalog of government data allows access to datasets from Federal agencies on topics such as education, health, and consumer behavior. It is easy to browse by topic or perform a keyword search to find just the data you need.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA) is an initiative of the U.S. Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On this site, you will find data about substance and alcohol abuse as well as the National Mental Health Services Survey.
Search the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive
National Institute of Mental Health - Statistics
Statistics collected by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) about the prevalence, treatment, and cost of mental health disorders in the U.S.
Data.CDC.gov
The open data catalog for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC collects some data related to mental health, such as statistics about drug and alcohol abuse.
Pew Research Center
A nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Research Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.
Utah Data
Provides easy access to Census Bureau services, including: decennial census, community facts, economic census, population estimates and more.
Citing Sources
Citation Resources
Properly citing your sources shows that you’ve done research to become knowledgeable about your topic and helps you avoid plagiarism. Explore citation resources to learn how to correctly cite sources based on style.
Need help with your research?
Get in touch with:
Lizz Larson
801.832.2253
elarson@westminsteru.edu
Librarians are happy to answer questions via email, phone, or in-person.
Contact Lizz with a question or to schedule a research help appointment.
Faculty: Contact Lizz to suggest edits to this research guide.
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Use the chat box below to ask the library staff a question. If chat is unavailable or we don’t respond quickly, please use the email form on our Get Research Help page and a library staff member will contact you as soon as we are available.