Digital Commons Network^™

Using Community-Engagement To Teach Mental Health Stigma Reduction, Tamba-Kuii M. Bailey, Christine J. Yeh, Lou Collette S. Felipe

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This article proposes a conceptual model of community-engaged learning as a teaching strategy and recommendations designed to teach mental health stigma reduction for master’s level students in counselor education programs. The community-engaged learning teaching content and training methodology description in this article highlight the purpose, use, and intended impact of this teaching method on counselor training of mental health stigma reduction. The mental health stigma reduction training components, goals, benefits, and resource materials are discussed.

A Qualitative Exploration Of Counseling Interns’ Experiences And Perceptions Of Moonlight, Joshua Elliott

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

The purpose of this article is to present the findings produced from a basic qualitative study designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of mental health counseling interns exposed to the popular film, Moonlight. Data collection included a focus group interview, completed written reflections, and member checking activities. Implications for counselor education, suggestions for integrating Moonlight into curriculum, limitations, and directions for future research are examined.

A Systematic Approach To Multiple Case Study Design In Professional Counseling And Counselor Education, Charmayne R. Adams, Casey A. Barrio Minton, Jennifer Hightower, Ashley J. Blount

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Case study research is a qualitative methodology that allows researchers to explore complex phenomena in a structured way, that is rigorous and provides an enormous amount of depth. Three scholars are credited with major contributions to the case study literature: Merriam (1998), Stake (1995/2006), and Yin (1994). The purpose of this paper is to explore case study design for use in the counseling profession. The authors provide instruction on the case study scholars, data collection, analysis, and reporting for both single and multiple case study research designs. Finally, implications for student counselors, counselor educators, and counseling professionals are provided.

Professional Counselors’ Understanding Of Public Policy Advocacy Efforts, Janelle M. Cox, Shannon Kakkar

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Limited literature exists that outlines professional counselors experience integrating the public policy arena into their clinical practice. This study examined the lived experience of professional counselors related to public policy advocacy. Through a qualitative, phenomenological analysis five themes emerged: barriers to advocacy, strategies to advocating, issues to advocate for, and influence on clinical practice. Findings suggest that although many counselors are already engaging in advocacy, training is needed to continue the practice. Recommendations are outlined for professional counselors and graduate training programs.

Grief Content Inclusion In Cacrep-Accredited Counselor Education Programs, Laura S. Wheat, Jennifer J. Matthews, Peggy P. Whiting

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This study investigated how counselor educators (n = 61) integrated grief content in accredited counselor education programs, characteristics of the course in which grief is taught, and professional background of faculty members. Most participants endorsed general content items (e.g., reactions to loss), grief theories (e.g., stages/phases of grief), and practice considerations (e.g., self-care). Additionally, results indicated grief-focused courses were mostly elective (n = 23; 85.19%), facilitated face-to-face (n = 18; 66.67%) and taught by counselor educators influenced by significant personal loss (n = 18, 78.26%). Results demonstrated a lack of professional affiliation with grief-related organizations, professional …

The Experiences Of Collegiality By Early-Career Counselor Educators, Jessica M. Tyler, Malti Tuttle, Marina Naviaux, Sara Ellison

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

It is essential to develop a work culture that supports faculty needs, be it professional for promotion and tenure, or personal. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of collegiality by early-career counselor educator faculty members (CES) working in a CACREP institution. Relational support, expectations, administration, and doctoral experiences emerged as themes from these narratives. Implications for the field are discussed to address these experiences and provide recommendations to counselor education faculty and departments.

Creative Supervision Intervention Impact On School Counselors-In-Training Self-Efficacy: A Single-Case Research Design, Timothy Schoonover

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

School counselors are tasked with multiple roles and responsibilities in their schools to address the needs of all students (American School Counseling Association, 2019). Due to the variety of work that school counselors are responsible for, it is vital for them to have a high belief in their ability to successfully complete their job. This belief in their ability to successfully complete their work is called counselor self-efficacy (Oh et al., 2019). The development of a school counselors self-efficacy begins in their counselor education program, which involves classroom learning and counseling supervision. Although there are multiple models of counseling supervision …

Exploring How Counselor Education Programs Support Site Supervisors, W. Bradley Mckibben, A. Larissa George, Obdulio Gonzalez, Patrick W. Powell Dr.

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

CACREP standards require counselor education programs to provide site supervisors with orientation, consultation, and professional development opportunities (PD). Using a nonexperimental descriptive design, we collected data from a national sample of CACREP-accredited programs (N=46, 13.3% response rate) via an online descriptive survey to explore how programs provide such opportunities to site supervisors. The survey contained open-ended and multiple-choice items addressing orientation, consultation, PD, and participants’ opinions on how their program addressed the three domains. We analyzed numerical data using descriptive statistics and open-ended responses using content analysis. We found that most programs offered orientation, consultation, and PD, though …

Trauma-Informed Child Client Advocacy (Ticca) Plan: Conceptualization And Case Study, Aubrey D. Daniels

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

The Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts et al., 2016) and the American Counseling Association (ACA) Advocacy Competencies (Lewis et al., 2003; Ratts et al., 2010; Toporek & Daniels, 2018) formalized the advocacy process for counselors. Nevertheless, the literature focused on the advocacy competencies does not provide child client advocacy examples or a concise plan for advocacy efforts for clinical mental health counselors to follow with children. To bridge this gap, this article is in place to describe a new advocacy plan, Trauma-Informed Child Client Advocacy (TICCA), followed by a case study providing context for how this plan …

Group Counseling Courses In Cacrep-Accredited Programs: A National Survey, Yiying Xiong, Huan-Tang Lu

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

We surveyed 113 counselor educators to understand the structure of group counseling courses in CACREP-accredited programs and their self-reflections of teaching group counseling courses. Our focus included instructor characteristics, course content (didactic versus experiential), evaluation (content knowledge versus hands-on skills), supervision, and teaching strategies. The responses were a heterogeneous composition of instructor background, program structure, curriculum, and the setup of the experiential component. The comparison with the literature indicates a slight change, mainly in the use of technology and the experiential component, over the past decade. Based on the results, we identified the needs for future studies and made suggestions …

Tenure Standards, Scholarly Productivity, And Workloads Of Counselor Educators At Doctoral And Master's-Only Counseling Programs, Gregory Hatchett

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This article describes the results of a survey that inquired about the tenure standards, scholarly productivity, and workloads of counselor educators (N = 119) at doctoral-level counselor education programs. These survey results were then compared to the results attained in an earlier study of counselor educators (N = 168) at master’s-only programs at comprehensive universities (Hatchett, 2020). These two groups of counselor educators differed on the following variables: proportion of counselor educators with Ph.D.’s, binary gender, perceptions of tenure criteria, scholarly productivity on an annual basis and at the time of tenure applications, teaching schedules, distribution of work …

Helping Beginning Supervisors Reduce Barriers To Licensure: Ethical Roadblocks In Supervision, Sarah M. Blalock, Kathy Ybanez-Llorente, Molly K. Morman

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Ethical and competent supervision are critical to successful entry into the profession for counselors in training and newly licensed counselors. New supervisors should be mindful of the mistakes even well-intentioned supervisors can make that jeopardize the licensure process, or worse, the well-being of clients. Lack of attention to substantial supervision paperwork requirements can cost supervisees long delays in licensure, and call into question a supervisor’s reputation as a competent and ethical professional. The purpose of this article is to help inform beginning supervisors on how to use ethical guidelines to avoid some of the most common supervision pitfalls, including multiple …

Program Experiences Associated With Research Competencies Development Of Doctoral-Level Scholar-Practitioners In Counselor Education And Supervision Programs, Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, John J. S. Harrichand

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This study examined how the program experiences of Counselor Education and Supervision doctoral students were associated with their research competency development as scholar-practitioners. Three hundred and thirty doctoral students completed a survey and data were analyzed with a regression analysis. The results demonstrated that program experiences including faculty-mentored research experiences, field-based experience with research application, opportunities to disseminate research, reflecting on identity development, and being in the dissertation phase were significantly associated students’ development as scholars. These findings provide implications for program curriculum and intervention development.

Seventh Edition Of Apa Style: A Foundation For Advocacy In Counseling, K. Elizabeth Mcdonald, Amber Cook

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Counselors-in-training are asked to write in a professional voice using APA style but rarely make the connection between the writing style and therapeutic or advocacy work. While the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Publication Manual presents didactic rules on form and style, it is not intended to provide professional context for the purpose of the adoption of the style. This manuscript draws parallels between the seventh edition of APA’s writing style and the four domains outlined in the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (Ratts et al., 2015) and concludes with a concise writing resource.

Training Needs Of Counseling Trainees In Corrections: A Survey Of Clinical Directors, Frank Dicataldo, Brett Dejesus, Don Whitworth

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

As the mental health treatment needs of adults and adolescents within the criminal justice system has garnered increasing attention, the training of mental health professionals has increasingly focused on serving individuals in forensic and correctional settings. We surveyed 55 clinical directors of mental health programs in forensic and correctional settings in a New England state. Respondents reported that Clinical Mental Health Counselors (CMHCs) broadly participated in assessment, treatment and supervision within these programs. Counseling experience emerged as the most important knowledge/experience domain for prospective job applicants and CMHCs were rated as providing a large share of the treatment within these …

Social Presence In Online Counselor Education, Courtney M. Holmes, Christine Reid, Carolyn Hawley, Christopher Wagner

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Outcome research in online counselor education is lacking as is the focus on online teaching andragogy. To address this gap, the Community of Inquiry framework and social presence are discussed within the context of online learning in a counselor education program. Data were collected in a counselor education program in the mid-Atlantic comparing online and on-campus learning outcomes and perceptions of social presence in the classroom. On-campus learners had significantly higher perceptions of social presence when compared with online learners, although perceived level of social presence was not correlated with learning outcomes. Implications for counselor education are discussed.

Perceived Tenure Standards, Scholarly Productivity, And Workloads Of Counselor Educators At Comprehensive Universities, Gregory T. Hatchett

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This article describes the results of a survey that inquired about the tenure standards, scholarly productivity, and workloads of counselor educators (N = 168) employed at comprehensive colleges and universities. The results from this study describe the respondents’ perceptions of the tenure process and their preparation for faculty positions at comprehensive universities, along with additional data on their general workloads, teaching schedules, scholarly productivity, participation in outside professional activities, and financial remuneration. Implications for counselor education and the tenure and promotion process are discussed.

Counselor Preparation In Crisis, Trauma, Grief, And Neurocounseling, Karlesia T. Montague, Katie Christensen, Susan Furr

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Crisis, trauma, and grief are common themes in counseling while neurocounseling is a relatively new term that has increased presence in counseling. However, little is known about the current status of CACREP programs offering courses directly preparing counselors to address these concerns. This descriptive study analyzed CACREP programs (N = 392) to determine how many counselor education programs offered courses in each special topic. Results indicated that programs offered crisis courses at the highest rate (62.2%) compared to trauma (41%), grief (21.2%), and neurocounseling (5.1%). These results examined program offerings immediately following the CACREP 2016 Standards revisions and may …

In The Gap: Peer Support Group Experiences For Post-Graduate, Pre-Licensed Counseling Candidates, Elizabeth A. Keller-Dupree, Christine N. Scott, Janet Leane Shannon, Robert L. Durham, Ashley Woltjer

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Counselor development evolves throughout one’s professional tenure. One unique phase is the developmental gap post-graduation and pre-licensure in which counseling candidates develop an autonomous sense of self beyond the institution in which they were trained. This study sought to explore those “in the gap” experiences for eight CACREP graduates who participated in a five-session peer support group. A content-driven thematic analysis revealed (a) a feeling of disconnection and (b) a sense of disillusionment brought participants to the group, and (c) a need for homecoming, (d) a call for continued growth, and (e) a practice of empowerment were received by participants …

Examining The 2016 Cacrep Standards: A National Survey, Huan-Tang Lu, Yegan Pillay

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

The U.S Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) both recognize national, regional, and programmatic accreditors across the country. However, there is a lingering question about whether accreditation is linked to the quality of education. In an effort to address this question, we conducted a study to examine the accreditation standards of the Council for Accreditation and Related Educational Program (CACREP). Based on the paucity of existing empirical studies specific to the CACREP accreditation standards, we developed a national survey to gather faculty members’ perceptions of the relevance and clarity of the accreditation standards for counselor …

Integration Of Trauma Based Education In Counselor Education, Stevie Vanausdale, Jacqueline M. Swank

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

In recent years, there has been growing awareness of the widespread prevalence of trauma experiences. Knowledge of the prevalence and effect of trauma has led to a greater need for counselors to be competent and confident in working with clients’ trauma; therefore, a needs exist for counselor educators to prepare students for trauma work. Improving competency and self-efficacy among counselors-in training may lead to better client outcomes and prevent vicarious trauma. The authors provide a brief overview of the prevalence of trauma and the importance of trauma training. Then, they discuss ways counselor educators can infuse trauma education within five …

Managed Care Organizations In Counseling Practice, Research, And Education, Carol Seehusen, Roseina Britton, David Duys

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This article examines the role managed care organizations (MCOs) have in the counseling profession. Ethical dilemmas present in working with MCOs are discussed as they apply to clinical practice and clinical decision making. Implications and potential solutions are explored, as well as a discussion on the limitations of current research and prospective future research suggestions on the effect MCOs have on the counseling profession. Counselor education considerations are also discussed. Specific American Counseling Association (ACA) standards are included throughout the article where applicable.

The Relationship Between Trauma Symptoms, Developmental Work Personality, And Vocational Identity, Melissa Zeligman, Diandra J. Prescod, Latoya Haynes-Thoby

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Developmental work personality and vocational identity can be greatly affected by traumatic events in an individual’s life. Although studies exist examining the relationship between trauma and career development, more research is needed to understand the relationship between the two. This study examined the relationship between trauma symptoms, developmental work personality, and vocational identity. Results indicate that participants who experienced high levels trauma had lower scores on developmental work personality and vocational identity.

The Research Self-Efficacy, Interest In Research, And Research Mentoring Experiences Of Doctoral Students In Counselor Education, John T. Petko, Stephen A. Sivo, Glenn W. Lambie

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Doctoral programs in counselor education are believed to be developing effective researchers, yet there are few studies that examine the research constructs within counselor educator programs. The purpose of this study is to investigate a national sample of doctoral counselor education students’ research quality by measuring three constructs: 1) research self-efficacy, 2) interest in research and 3) research mentoring. A cross-sectional, correlational research design was used to test if doctoral students programs could predict these constructs. Also, the study investigated whether students’ research practices, (e.g., publishing refereed journal articles, et al.) correlated with their response levels.

Keywords: counselor education and …

Counselor Educators’ Internal Experiences Of Gatekeeping, Victor Chang, Deborah Rubel

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Counselor educators practice gatekeeping to graduate only students who are ethical and competent, yet students with problems of professional competence (PPC) continue to graduate. Gatekeeping challenges include personal, pedagogical, administrative, ethical, and legal concerns, and gatekeeping has been characterized as a taxing emotional and social process. Specific knowledge about counselor educators’ internal experiences during gatekeeping is limited. Researchers asked how do counselor educators experience their internal reactions during gatekeeping processes for PPC? Researchers interviewed counselor educators about their gatekeeping experiences and analyzed data using grounded theory methods. The authors propose a grounded theory of striving to be an effective gatekeeper …

Gatekeeping In Master’S Level Rehabilitation Counseling Programs: An Exploratory Study, Allison Levine, Connie Sung, Alicia Strain

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

The current study explores attitudes and procedures of gatekeeping in rehabilitation counseling programs. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current study explores underlying causes for a lack of gatekeeping discussion and action in rehabilitation counseling. Rehabilitation educators and program directors from both CORE and CACREP-accredited rehabilitation counseling programs participated in the online Gatekeeping Attitudes and Procedures Survey (GAPS). Results indicate that, while attitudes towards gatekeeping were positive, programs lack formalized procedures. TPB aids in understanding that attitudes towards gatekeeping may not influence educator behavior on the matter. Implications include further research into this area to better understand the …

Providing Counseling In A Rural Setting: A New Multicultural Perspective, Danessa Ann Carter

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Counseling research shows a lack of information regarding training counselors to work in rural communities. However, more than 80% of the United States land is considered rural. This appears to be an extremely desperate combination of lack of information and training for a large portion of the country’s population. An additional complication to this dynamic is that neither CACREP standards nor the ACA Code of Ethics mandate any specific trainings or address any specific needs of rural communities.

To improve the understanding of rural community dynamics, this qualitative study explored the phenomenological experiences of counselors working in rural communities. This …

Shaping Supervisory Working Alliance From A Distance, Tawny Chamberlain, Carol Smith

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

As technology advances, more counselor education programs are implementing options for students to complete clinical experiences at a distance from campus which requires distant supervision. Although distance supervision has the benefit of flexibility, it also has challenges such as building rapport and establishing effective communication. Supervisors would benefit from understanding the influence of delivery method on supervisory working alliance in order to monitor supervisee growth and development.This article explores the influence of supervision delivery method on supervisory working alliance. Recommendations for future research and counselor education supervisory practice are provided.

Exploring The Career Satisfaction Of Counselor Educators, Regina R. Moro, Rebecca Scherer

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

In this article, the authors report counselor educators’ career satisfaction through a descriptive analysis. Seventy-five counselor educators from all across the United States completed an online demographic questionnaire and four self-report instruments related to career satisfaction in general, work environment, and mentorship experiences. The results indicate that counselor educators report satisfaction with most aspects of the job, but report dissatisfaction with pay/promotion and mentorship. This is important for consideration for current and future counselor educators, due to the amount of time and cost associated with obtaining a doctoral degree. The researchers discuss and suggest future research recommendations.

Cognitive Complexity In Counseling And Counselor Education: A Systematic And Critical Review, Jaime H. Castillo

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Cognitive complexity has found a small yet established niche in the counseling and counselor education literature over the last 40 years. This body of research has highlighted how individuals with high cognitive complexity have greater consistency in empathy, show more varied responses to clients, demonstrate greater toleration of ambiguity, and show higher frequencies of unbiased clinical judgements towards clients. This article provides a systematic and critical review of the cognitive complexity literature and discusses future implications of cultivating cognitive complexity in emerging and professional counselors and supervisors.