Counseling and psychology have experienced a conflicted relationship with the issue of spirituality over the last century. Spirituality is a construct that has been receiving more attention in counseling over the last fifteen to twenty years. More counselors and educators are affirming its place and value in the counseling relationship. Yet, there is a disparity between this and what counselors-in-training are being taught regarding spirituality, its value to clients and counselors, and its role in the counseling relationship. Very little research has been done examining spirituality and its relationship to counseling students level of confidence and competence in their work--their self-efficacy. This study investigated the relationship of perceived spirituality to counseling self-efficacy for graduate counseling students in faith-based and secular institutions. Additionally, the researcher studied the relationship of spirituality and counseling self-efficacy to the following demographic variables: age, gender, graduate course hours completed, and practicum versus internship status. The results from a sample of 135 students demonstrated a relationship between spirituality and counseling self-efficacy for students in faith-based and secular universities. The four demographic variables studied-- age, gender, graduate course hours completed, and practicum versus internship status--showed a relationship with counseling self-efficacy but not spirituality. Implications for counseling pedagogy and clinical work are offered. Areas of future research are discussed.

Counselor education programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) require their students to participate in a group experience as a member for 10 clock hours over the course of an academic term (CACREP, 2009). In addition, the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW) recommends that students participate in a group experience as a member or a leader for at least 10 hours and states that 20 hours of participation is preferable (ASGW, 2000). Counselor education programs satisfy the requirement in a variety of ways (Anderson & Price, 2001; Armstrong, 2002; Merta et al., 1993); however, the two most common types of groups are unstructured (e.g., personal growth) (48%), and structured (e.g., psychoeducational) (38%), both requiring some level of self-disclosure by students (Armstrong, 2002). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two group approaches on counseling students' empathy development, group leader self-efficacy development, and their experience of the therapeutic factors. More specifically, this study compared personal growth groups and psychoeducational groups on the constructs of: (a) cognitive and affective empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index ; Davis, 1980), (b) group leader self-efficacy (Group Leader Self-Efficacy Instrument ; Page, Pietrzak, & Lewis, 2001), and cohesion, catharsis, and insight (Curative Climate Instrument ; Fuhriman, Drescher, Hanson, & Henrie, 1986). In addition, the study explored pre to post intervention change for each group on the constructs of cognitive and affective empathy and group leader self-efficacy. The statistical analyses in this study included (a) MANCOVA, (b) disrciminant analysis, and (c) repeated-measures ANOVAs. The participants in personal growth groups valued catharsis and insight at greater levels than participants in the psychoeducational groups. Additionally, there was not a difference between the groups at posttest on cognitive empathy, affective empathy, or group leader self-efficacy. Further, neither group experienced a change in cognitive or affective empathy from pre to post. However, both groups did experience an increase in group leader self-efficacy from pre to post.

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