Department of Counselor Education

This study aimed to understand the relationship between School Counseling Site Supervisors’ (SCSS) characteristics, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) training, cultural humility, advocacy competency, and SDOH competency (n = 69). SDOH refers to the factors that inform an individual’s physical and mental health. Cultural humility refers to an innate openness and curiosity about individual experiences, perspectives, and culture. Advocacy competency refers to the ability to implement advocacy efforts within an individual’s community. Having competency with addressing SDOH in schools, practicing cultural humility, and advocacy competency can help SCSS improve supervision practice within school communities.
This study followed a non-experimental, correlational survey research design. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to measure the strength of the relationships between the variables. The data supported statistically significant relationships between SDOH-based supervision training (F(12,51) = 2.59, p < .05, R2 = .38), cultural humility (F(1,67) = 6.17, p < .015, R2 = .08), and advocacy competency (F(1,67) = 9.7, p < .003, R2 = .13) as predictors of SDOH competency.

In recent years, school counselors and education have faced an increase in mental health challenges, which has had adverse effects on school counseling (Marraccini et al., 2023). Seventy-six percent of state counseling coordinators report insufficient school counselors available to fill positions (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2023b). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2023) estimates that 26,600 jobs per year will become available for school counselors, career counselors, and advisors over the next 10 years due to attrition and retirement from the profession.
This nonexperimental, correlational design explored the relationships between the volunteer school counselors’ (N= 56) developmental stage and perceived leadership behaviors, wellness, burnout, and turnover intention. The linear regression results revealed that school counselors’ years of experience predicted their leadership related to systemic collaboration and turnover intention. When exploring leadership behaviors, linear regressions found that counselors’ interpersonal skills predicted their perceptions of wellness and burnout, and systemic collaboration and resourceful problem-solving skills predicted a counselor’s level of burnout regarding their feelings of incompetence. Also, the participants’ professional efficacy predicted wellness and incompetence. Finally, social justice had a statistically significant relationship with incompetence and devaluing clients. The results of this study show moderate to strong relationships amongst select variables. The results, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.

The present study investigates therapist factors (such as conversation analysis, affectual interactions, and therapist facilitative skills) on client premature termination and the therapeutic relationship. The interactions of clients and therapists in a total sample of 76 psychotherapy sessions were analyzed using Hills Skills System (2017), Gottman, Woodin, and Coan’s (1998) Specific Affect Coding System, and scales of the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and Real Relationship Inventory (RRI). Coded data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests which found significant differences between clients who dropout and the types of questions being asked in session (HSS). There were also significant differences between clients who dropout and the therapist and client SPAFF scores, SPAFF and HSS scores on the WAI and RRI, as well as the quality of questions being asked (HSS) over time (from initial session to fourth session). Coded data for differences between clients who dropout and the therapist and client assessment of the quality of the working alliance and real relationship were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests and found no significant differences. Analysis of the results support the presence of therapist factors on the therapeutic relationship and client premature termination. These findings can also be added to the literature regarding the outcomes of the therapeutic relationship on client premature termination. The implications for psychotherapy practice, education, and research are discussed.

A sense of belonging is instrumental to an individual’s mental health. The American School Counselor Association outlined that school counselors are responsible for helping students manage emotions and apply interpersonal skills. The school setting plays an integral part in the development of student’s social and emotional competencies. Approaches to school counseling, such as Advocating Student-within-Environment (ASE), are pivotal in efforts to help students expand their social/emotional skills. This study examined the phenomenological experience of sixth grade students who participated in an ASE-influenced counseling program. One objective for this study was to advance the current literature regarding school counseling’s efficacy in promoting greater connectedness among students and their school environment. The study was conducted using the Student Success Skills (SSS) small group intervention, led by a school counselor already trained in the program. The research questions under investigation were: What is the phenomenological experience of middle school students’ participation in an ASE-aligned evidence-based guidance curriculum? Does the phenomenological experience of middle school students’ participation in an ASE-aligned evidence-based guidance curriculum translate to connectedness among the students in the intervention? Does the phenomenological experience of middle school students’ participation in an ASE-aligned evidence-based guidance curriculum lead to coregulatory relationships among students and school faculty?

Research indicates that opioid use disorder (OUD) is the most fatal and rapidly growing substance use disorder (SUD) in the United States, affecting over three million Americans with nearly a million overdose deaths since 1999 (Azadfard et al., 2021; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2023). Despite the pervasiveness of this diagnosis, research fails to evaluate counselors’ efficacy beliefs regarding the clinical treatment of the OUD client population. Similarly, despite the support that exists for affiliation with 12-step recovery groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous improving recovery outcomes for those diagnosed with OUD (Costello et al., 2019; Humphreys et al., 2020; Kelly et al., 2020), studies assessing counselors’ knowledge of 12-step recovery are scarce in the counseling literature. The present study targeted these two under-represented constructs by examining the relationship between counselors’ knowledge of 12-step recovery and their opioid use disorder counseling self-efficacy (OUDCSE). Counselors’ addiction beliefs and personal substance use experience (PSUE) were chosen as variables in this study, as both have a clinically significant influence on the counseling process and efficacy beliefs (Bawden, 2020; Cronin et al., 2014; Nielson, 2016). The researcher obtained approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board and used convenience and snowball sampling to recruit 161 licensed mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, and certified clinical rehabilitation counselors for participation.

LGBTQ+ individuals currently represent 7.1% of the population yet seek mental health services at rates two to four times higher than average, and present with significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse, and suicidality. LGBTQ+ youth have the highest rates of suicidality of any minority group, with a recent poll reporting 22-32% attempted suicide compared to 5% of non-LGBTQ+ youth. These statistics are influenced by discrimination, stigma, and living in a heterosexist society and can lead to psychological distress, identity concealment, internalized homophobia, and stigma-based rejection explained through Minority Stress Theory. LGBTQ+ polls recently revealed an average of 80% identify as religious and/or spiritual. The purpose of this study is to better understand the risks or rewards of the intersecting identities of religiosity, spirituality and being LGBTQ+. In this quantitative non-experimental design study using Pearson’s R correlation, multiple relationships were found among the variables of spirituality, religiosity, age, being non-white, minority stress, and symptoms. of depression, anxiety, and stress. Multiple regression analysis found that spirituality, religiosity, and minority stress predicted 52% of the variance in depression, anxiety, and stress. Finally, a mediation analysis revealed that religiosity was not statistically significant as a mediator between minority stress and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, but spirituality was statistically significant as a partial mediator of these effects and, therefore, strong emphasis is placed on the benefits spirituality can have among LGBTQ+ individuals.

Sexual violence (SV) is a significant problem that impacts women on college campuses at an alarming rate (Fischer et al., 2018). The body of research published regarding women’s experiences with SV on college campuses disproportionately focuses on Caucasian women (Oney, 2018). Few studies address the specific concerns of minority women and their experiences with SV and even fewer studies serve to identify contributing factors to their recovery. In addition to the prevalence of SV on college campuses, the rates of rape myth acceptance (RMA) that have been studied among this age group focus primarily on White cisgender men and women, and again, are understudied in women who identify as racial/ethnic minorities (Oney, 2018).
Research correlates high levels of RMA with a decreased willingness to accept recovery-promoting assistance post-SV, which reduces a survivor’s willingness to access to services such as counseling (Oney, 2018). The objective of this study was to determine if rape myth acceptance predicts recovery self-efficacy and if experiences of SV serve as a mediating variable between recovery-self efficacy and RMA in ethnic and racial minority college-age women.
The results of this study indicate that RMA does not predict or mediate the variables of recovery self-efficacy and SV. A linear regression analysis was used to establish if RMA predicts recovery self-efficacy, the factors within the scales were not correlated and additional tests yielded non-statistically significant results; (b = -0.02, t = -0.29, p = .77). The study also was unable to provide evidence of experiences of SV being a mediating variable between RMA and recovery self-efficacy through a mediation analysis (b =.00, SE = .002, 95% CI = [-.004, .004], p =.89).