Counseling Commons^™

Improving Academic Success: Creating A College Planning Resource For Students, Hannah Grunden

Honors Projects

Academic performance of students is a major concern for colleges, especially with the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Research has shown that active involvement, the development of self-regulation skills, and improved mental health all have a considerable impact on college students’ academic success. Colleges like Bowling Green State University need to consider how they can use these factors and leverage resources to improve student performance. In this project, a solution is proposed in the form of a college/personal planner which is directly based off research on early academic success. While further, more specific research is needed to fully understand the issue and …

A Practical Application Of Self Psychology In Counseling, A. Jordan Wright

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Self psychology has undergone a significant evolution since it was initially developed and proposed by Heinz Kohut, including broadening conceptions of what purposes selfobjects can serve for individuals. Its application to counseling has been as an organizing framework and overarching theory of human development and psychopathology. The concept of selfobjects, however, has the potential to provide specific guidance and technique in micro-interactions within counseling. Individual moments within counseling present opportunities for a counselor to intervene, and self psychology can provide a deliberate decision-making tool for how to respond. Being deliberate in interventions throughout counseling has the potential to improve outcomes. …

Supervision Strategies To Facilitate Vicarious Post Traumatic Growth Among Trauma Counselors, Jennifer D. Deaton, Brooke Wymer, Ryan G. Carlson

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Counselors working with clients who have experienced trauma may encounter a range of indirect trauma responses (i.e., vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and/or secondary traumatic stress). Alternatively, counselors may experience positive affects such as living life more fully, treating others differently, or becoming more emotionally expressive in their relationships due to indirect trauma exposure. The latter experience is called vicarious post traumatic growth and has implications for more positive counselor functioning and better client outcomes. In this article, we review four enabling factors of vicarious post traumatic growth to provide supervision strategies to address indirect trauma; meaning making, social interests, social …

Integrating Vicarious Resilience Into Counselor Education Programs, Olivia T. Ngadjui

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

To support the retention of counselors in the field, suggestions influenced by a deficit lens caution and affirm the importance of preventative wellness to counselors while highlighting the impact related to the lack of attentiveness towards counselors’ well-being such as impairment, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout. The construct of vicarious resilience is a transformative lens of care (Hernandez-Wolfe, 2018). For counselors, this lens includes substantial benefits towards the counselor’s wellbeing when collaborating with empathy and care to reframe initial thinking surrounding the therapeutic relationship. This article consists of a conceptual framework for integrating vicarious resilience into counselor education as …

A Social Justice Recruitment And Retention Model For Diversifying School Counselor Education, Caroline Lopez-Perry, Malti Tuttle, Jung H. Hyun, Shanel Robinson

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

A social justice recruitment and retention model for BIPOC school counselors into counselor education doctoral programs is described. This article represents a call to action for counselor educators to examine their practices and policies for recruiting and retaining BIPOC school counselors in doctoral programs and the field of counselor education.

Counselor Educators Experiences And Techniques Teaching About Social-Health Inequities, Kaprea Johnson, Lauren B. Robins

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are social-health inequities which cause wellness disparities amongst the population. This phenomenological investigation explored counselor educators’ (N=12) methods for teaching about SDOH. Two structural themes (pedagogic strategies and instructor context) and seven textural themes were identified, displaying the comprehensive coverage of SDOH in counseling courses. Implications for refinement of SDOH coverage are included.

Will To Meaning: A Pilot Study On Teaching Existential Theory Through Creative Techniques, Laura L. Wood, Lori Mcandrew, Jason S. Frydman

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Early career clinicians have reported limited experience utilizing existential concepts in their clinical practice. This deficit may be attributed to a gap in training. Further, utilizing creative techniques to elucidate conceptual understanding has a demonstrated history of effectiveness in the classroom. This study explored whether the use of creative instructional techniques supports student learning of existential counseling theory, and, if so, which specific tools do students prefer. Through pairing existential concepts with creative instructional techniques, the researchers hypothesized that understanding would increase. Students reported a significant increase in their knowledge of existential concepts following the use of creative instructional techniques …

Enhancing Clinical Competencies In Counselor Education: The Deliberate Practice Coaching Framework, Taylor Irvine, Chelsea Fullilove, Arielle Osman, Lilia Farmanara, Kelly Emelianchik-Key

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

In the counselor education (CE) literature, there remains a paucity of available research on systematic methods to enhance counselors-in-training (CIT) clinical competencies. Currently, CIT report feeling not only ill-equipped in essential counseling competencies upon graduating, but they also indicate diminished self-efficacy before engaging in clinical work. Therefore, we propose the Deliberate Practice Coaching Framework (DPCF) to address these issues. This systematic framework integrates deliberate practice components and coaching, with a peer mentoring relationship, to help enhance CIT clinical competencies and skill development, as well as promote overall self-efficacy. We provide a case illustrating the application of the DPCF. We also …

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 …

In-Home Counseling Clinical Supervision: A Multiple-Case Study Analysis, Janelle M. Cox, Connie T. Jones, Stephanie F. Dailey

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

An understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary for clinical supervision of in-home counselors is scarce in counseling. To address this gap, the authors conducted a multiple-case study with three clinical supervisors from two in-home counseling agencies in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Data was collected through multiple sources: individual interviews, clinical supervisors contracts, and philosophies. Within-case and cross-case analysis resulted in four themes: clinical supervision practices, training and evaluation, ethical dilemmas, and boundary setting. Implications of these findings suggest clinical supervisors at in-home agencies are not receiving formal training and rely heavily on previous experience to guide their clinical supervision practice, …

Creativity In Supervision Using The Integrated Developmental Model Of Supervision, Kyle Bellinger, Stacia Carone

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Clinical supervision is a primary task of the professional counseling supervisor. The American Counseling Association (2014) Code of Ethics includes requirements for supervisors to be competent in the delivery of supervision. The Integrated Developmental Model (IDM) (McNeill & Stoltenberg, 2015; Stoltenberg & Delworth, 1987) is a widely accepted supervision model (Salvador, 2016) that can be utilized to conceptualize supervisees’ levels of expertise and corresponding skills. The use of creativity in supervision has been reported to improve counselor insight and resulting conceptualizations of and relationships with clients (Lahad, 2000). The IDM of supervision, in conjunction with creative interventions can be implemented …

Perceptions Of Poverty: Exploring Counseling Students’ Reactions To Presenting Concerns, Sarah K. Tucker, Michael K. Schmit, Amanda L. Giordano Dr.

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Understanding counseling students’ preferences, competence, and perceived training related to presenting concerns is important information for counselor training programs. Given the association between poverty and mental health concerns, we compared counseling students’ reactions to presenting concerns often linked to poverty (e.g., financial concerns/assistance) to their reactions toward other clinical issues (e.g., gender identity development). Students’ provided ratings of clinical preference for working with various presenting concerns, and concerns that may be prevalent among clients living in poverty ranked last. Additionally, we utilized a repeated measure design to examine differences in students’ perceived competence and perceived training across four case vignettes …

Assessing Bayesian Racism Scale: Measuring Endorsement Of Racial Stereotypes, Stacey Diane Arañez Litam, Richard S. Balkin

Faculty and Student Publications

Bayesian racism is the belief that it is rational to discriminate against people based on existing racial stereotypes. The presence of Bayesian racism is strongly associated with negative feelings about minoritized groups and the desire to maintain racially inequitable social hierarchies. A confirmatory factor analysis on the Bayesian Racism Scale (BRS) yielded a unidimensional measure for assessing prejudicial attitudes that endorse stereotypes based on racial and ethnic groups. Findings from the study have important implications for multicultural and social justice research.

The Relationship Between Witnessing Bullying, Defending Targets, And Internalizing Symptoms: An Analysis Of Gender Differences Among Sixth-Grade Students, Aida Midgett, Diana M. Doumas, Matt Peck, Amanda Winburn

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examined the moderating effect of gender on witnessing bullying, defending, and internalizing symptoms among sixth-grade students at one middle school in the northwestern United States. Results indicated that for females, witnessing bullying was positively associated with depressive symptoms and social anxiety, whereas for males, defending was positively associated with depressive symptoms. Findings suggest the importance of equipping female students with strategies to cope with witnessing bullying and providing male students with appropriate intervention skills for defending targets.

Feedback-Informed Treatment (Fit) Data Demonstrates The Importance Of The First Session With A Client, Huma Bashir, Josephine F. Wilson, Greta H. Meyer

Human Services Faculty Publications

Feedback Informed Treatment (FIT) is a client-driven, outcome-based approach to enhance treatment outcomes. FIT data from 2,283 clients served by 80 counselors working at nine participating agencies were collected and analyzed to measure client response. These data included Outcome Rating Scale (ORS) scores obtained at the beginning of each session and Session Rating Scale (SRS) scores obtained at the end of each session. TotalORS and Total SRS scores at the first session for the individuals who failed to improve from first to last sessions were significantly lower than the Total ORS and Total SRS scores at the first session for …

All God's Children: An Exploratory Study Of Factors To Promote Inclusion Of Autistic Children Within Local Church Congregations, David John Scott Quel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the gap that exists within the literature concerning the parent’s perspective for incorporating Autistic individuals into the life of the church. The theory guiding this study is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In Maslow’s hierarchy, there are five level of needs. These areas are physical needs, security needs, love and belonging, esteem needs and self-actualization. These are the most basic needs whether someone is disabled, has special needs, or has no problems at all. The problem remains, far too often, those individuals who are on the Autistic spectrum are looked at as …

Vicarious Trauma In Spouses/Intimate Partners Of Law Enforcement Officers And The Relationship Between Trauma And Relationship Functioning, Dortheen Richardson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The phenomenological study is to understand better the impact of vicarious trauma (VT) on the spouses/intimate partners of law enforcement officers (LEO)s in Alabama and allow researchers to attain a meaningful understanding of real-life events and the complexity of the social phenomenon. The goal is to highlight the inequity in the treatment of spouses/intimate partners of LEOs and develop protocols for mandatory reporting trauma. The theories guiding this study are constructivist self-development theory (CSDT), secondary trauma theory (STT), and family stress theory (FST). The participants were former/current spouses/intimate partners of LEOs who experienced trauma while in the line of duty. …

Exploring How Counselor Educators Define, Assess, And Manage Student Disposition Throughout The Gatekeeping Process, Ryan Cowell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Professional disposition plays an important role in counselor-in-training (CIT) development. Disposition is defined as the attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviors that contribute to a becoming a professional (Spurgeon et al., 2012). In addition, disposition is an attribute that must be evaluated and remediated as a part of accreditation through the council for accreditation of counseling and related educational programs (CACREP). Despite, the importance of disposition in CIT development and the requirement from CACREP, there are several difficulties related disposition. First, there is not a universally accepted definition for disposition in counselor education. In addition, there are few psychometrically tested dispositions …

Nicu Experiences Of Adoptive Parents & Desired Preparation, Catherine J. Howe

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Parents who have newborns admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have multiple experiences and emotions. Additional social and emotional layers are experienced by adoptive couples when the infant they wish to adopt needs specialized care. This research study was completed to find out what adoptive parents experience in the NICU and what preparation would have been helpful. The method included semi-structured, open-ended interviews with seven couples who adopted a newborn at a Midwestern adoption agency within the past three years and had a NICU experience. The results described adoptive couples’ experiences on the unit, bonding and attachment, fears …

The Relationship Between The Practice Of Martial Arts, Anxiety, Wellness, And Self-Efficacy, William K. Knight Jr

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Although anxiety is a frequently researched topic, the growing numbers of diagnosed cases and the state of the present outcomes warrant the study of alternative approaches to address the causes and conditions of its prevalence, as well as possible adaptive strategies and tactics to improve outcomes for clients with anxiety. Counseling distinguishes itself in part due to its focus on well-being rather than mere alleviation of diagnosed symptoms. As such, it may be useful to measure the likelihood of some strategies and tactics associated with improved well-being in attempting to reduce symptoms of anxiety.

This study measured the practice of …