Childhood sexual abuse is a prevalent but taboo topic in society. Conservatively 80,000 new cases are reported each year with many more either unreported or unsubstantiated within the legal system. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse often times seek counseling assistance to manage the variety of short- and long-term emotional issues that may arise as a result of their abuse. Professional counselors listen to the stories of the survivors and attempt to assist survivors in making sense of this horrific act of personal violence. This study examines the meaning-making experience of master's level professional mental health counselors who work with childhood sexual abuse survivors. A phenomenological qualitative research design was utilized to better understand the process that these counselors use to make sense of their work. Fifty participants were selected from a national data-base of professional mental health counselors who work with survivors. Telephone interviews were conducted with 10 participants. The study revealed that the stories of abuse had a profound impact on the counselors and that there was a significant evolution in how they felt about their work and the survivors they helped. The participants shared that a strong belief system and their theoretical orientation as counselors were essential in their meaning-making process. Other issues such as supervision and mentoring and the development of increased empathy proved to be important to the counselor's meaning-making process.

Trauma has been studied sporadically in the past. The Council on Accreditation for Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP, 2016) created several standards that address crises, disasters, and other trauma-causing events. These standards address the importance of the studying of trauma for those in the counseling profession. The broadly written standards do not have competencies that would address more specifically how best to implement the standards. This study used the Delphi Method to seek the experts help with creating competencies for the standards created by CACREP that address crises, disasters, and other trauma-causing events. The results will be the development of trauma competencies that can be used by counselor educators to train future counselors about trauma.

Wellness is defined as an individual's lifestyle, choices, and habits as a way to achieve optimal health and well-being. Professional organizations and literature in the counseling field underscored the importance of enhancing personal wellness of professional counselors and counselors-in-training. The assumption underlying this movement was that counselors' personal wellness would be directly translated into their effectiveness with clients in counseling practice. However, this assumption has received little empirical attention. In addition, the review of counselor wellness literature illustrated the need for addressing potential moderators in the relationship of counselor wellness to counseling effectiveness as an attempt to provide an elaborated knowledge base for wellness interventions in counselor training. Thus, this study investigated the relationship of Korean counselors' personal wellness to their clients' perceptions of counseling effectiveness and the moderating effects of counselor empathy on this relationship. Participants in this study were 133 counselor-client dyads who had engaged in face-to-face individual counseling at university counseling centers or youth counseling institutes located in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Survey measures for counselors were used for the assessment of personal wellness, empathy, and social desirability. Client survey measures were used to assess counseling effectiveness variables: (a) satisfaction with counselors' in-session behavior, (b) evaluation about the session impact, and (c) perception of the working alliance. The results from correlation and multiple regression analyses indicated that Korean counselors' personal wellness scores were not significantly related to their clients' ratings of counseling effectiveness. However, a series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that Korean counselors' cognitive empathy moderated the relationships of their personal wellness to client-perceived counseling effectiveness. Specifically, the findings suggested that, for Korean counselors with lower levels of cognitive empathy, wellness in Essential Self had a positive influence on client-perceived session smoothness, but wellness in Coping Self had a negative effect on client-rated working alliance. Also, wellness in Creative Self was found to have a negative influence on client-perceived session smoothness only among Korean counselors with higher levels of cognitive empathy. These findings call into question the supposition that well counselors are more likely to be effective with their clients, suggesting that a more complicated interplay between counselor wellness and other potential moderators should be considered as a determinant of counseling effectiveness. Future research is warranted to see if this study's findings are replicated with American counselor samples. Limitations are presented with a focus on range restrictions on the counseling effectiveness variables and small effect sizes associated with the interactions. In light of these limitations, future research directions are also discussed.

The purpose of this dissertation study was to increase understanding of licensed mental health professionals' experiences as they have encountered and navigated through compassion fatigue (CF). CF is a complex construct with an attendant constellation of secondary stress responses. In order to examine the complex and varying factors associated with experiencing CF, the research was conducted using a grounded theory, qualitative approach and methodology. Nine licensed mental health professionals across the disciplines of marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, professional counseling, psychology, and social work were individually interviewed three times, for a total of at least 180 minutes. All interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed. As a result of the analyses, four main categories emerged, experiencing internal dissonance, recognizing and processing the effects, becoming intentional, and creating ongoing changes. Becoming intentional is the central category because of its central and pivotal relationship to the whole process of participants' experience of encountering and navigating through CF. This fulcrum punctuates participants' experiences leading up to becoming intentional and those which came after as delineated in the other three categories of the theory. Prior to becoming intentional, participants experienced internal dissonance, which escalated to distress or crisis. When this distress or crisis reached a point where it became untenable, participants recognized and processed the effects. One of the effects which participants came to recognize was a loss of internal locus of control. Becoming intentional served as a catalyst for participants to take action and recapture their locus of control. The process of becoming intentional is reflected in three practices, transforming perceptions, developing support, and making professional changes. These findings are applicable to a variety of models of counseling, supervision, counselor education, and clinical practice in either a single or interdisciplinary setting. / Graduation date: 2013

The growing literature on the impact of doctoral programs on marriages has identified four major areas of concern: financial difficulties, change of lifestyle, lack of time, and communication issues (Bergen & Bergen, 1978; Cao, 2001; Giles, 1983; Middleton, 2001; Norton, Thomas, Morgan, Tilley, & Dickins, 1998; Williams, 1977). In addition, Looney, Harding, Blotcky and Branhart (1980) found that psychotherapists were more likely to have marital discord and failure in their marriages than in the general population. Moreover, studies have shown that female doctoral students reported more stress compared to male students (Mallinckrodt, Leong, & Kralj, 1989). With the recognition that marital conflicts are a significant indicator for lower persistent rates for married graduate students, it is critical to examine how married counseling doctoral students cope with their marital conflicts during the program. Following a constructionist philosophical stance, this exploratory study examined how married female counseling doctoral students cope with marital conflicts during their program using a phenomenological method approach. Fourteen married female counseling doctoral students in the development of competence stage of their program of study (Bowen & Rudenstine, 1992; Lovitts, 2001) were interviewed, and 13 interviews were analyzed in a recursive manner. The findings indicated that female counseling doctoral students utilized both couple-focused coping strategies and individual-focused coping strategies to balance two distinct lives, school and marriage. In addition, the participants identified a solid marriage, their husband’s support, cohort’s support, and other married couples’ support as coping strategies for maintaining balance between school and marriage. Factors that might influence coping strategies of married female counseling doctoral students are discussed. Implications for counselors and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Wellness has been identified as one of the primary goals in the counseling profession (Myers, 1992; Myers & Sweeney, 2005; Roscoe, 2009). Although wellness is one of the main goals of counseling, and there has been a plethora of research on wellness, there is a scarcity of wellness research focused on counselors, and counselors in training (Myers & Sweeney, 2008). Research on racial discrimination and microaggressions in students, as well as faculty in higher education suggests that many colleges and universities are hostile settings for people of color (Bradley & Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Salazar, 2009; Salazar et al., 2004). Day to day experience with racial microaggressions can be detrimental to the well-being of people of color (Sue, Lin, Torino, Capodilupo, & Rivera, 2009; Troxel et al., 2003). This study utilized qualitative methods to examine the perceived relationship between racial microaggressions and wellness in female graduate students of color. A phenomenological approach (Creswell, 2007; Moustakas, 1994) guided this methodology. Participants included seven African American and one Latina American females who were enrolled in CACREP accredited counselor education doctoral programs in one region of the United States. Participants were interviewed face to face and/or by phone in two rounds of interviews. Interview questions addressed participants’ experiences, their definitions of wellness, and their perceptions of the relationship between wellness and racial microaggressions. Participants discussed seven themes including: program experience, day to day experiences of microaggressions, types of microaggressions, wellness, the impact of microaggressions on wellness, wellness strategies in coping with microaggressions, and program expectations. The primary types of microaggressions experienced were microinsults (n=8) and microinequities (n=7). Microaggressions were found to have an impact on emotional, academic/career, overall, interpersonal/social, physical, psychological, personal, and spiritual components of wellness. Wellness strategies helped to decrease participants (n=4) vulnerability to racial microaggressions. This study provides information which informs counseling programs of the unique experiences and needs of Latina and African American female graduate students, with implications for increasing retention rates and improving the overall quality and wellness of these students.

Millennial-aged young adults, often referred to as “digital natives,” comprise the typical college-age population, and there has been a growing number college students at risk for mental health problems (Mowbray, Mandiberg, Stein, Kopels, Curlin, Megivern, Strauss, Collins & Lett, 2006; Eisenberg, Gollust, Golberstein & Hefner, 2007). Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students (Suicide Statistics, 2014); however, their rate of utilizing mental heath counseling is decreasing. Providing the types of mental health services college students are likely to use can mitigate factors thought to impede their use (e.g., stigma, anonymity, confidentiality), as well as help improve students’ learning and success and reduce college attrition rates. Minimal research has been conducted on undergraduate college students’ attitudes about Internet-based mental health interventions, and the findings from those studies are conflicting. This study attempts to fill in the missing data to address undergraduate students’ attitudes about several types Internet-based of mental health counseling, and to determine the extent of their familiarity with its terminology. Forty-two undergraduate college students participated in a survey where they were asked about their familiarity with Internet-based mental health interventions, experience with and preferences for mental health counseling, and the availability of campus-based Internet mental health interventions. Quantitative data was collected, and descriptive statistics and chi square test of independence were calculated. The students’ familiarity with Internet-based mental health interventions did not influence their use of counseling services, but they were interested in knowing more about mental health-related cell phone apps. Other findings are discussed, conclusions are drawn, and recommendations for future study and implications for the field are included.

Introduction: This is a study that explores how U.K.-based counselling psychology trainees perceive that they acquire the skills and abilities required for competent practice and their understanding of what it means to be competent practitioners. It outlines some of the factors that have influenced how therapeutic competence is defined in the current climate of NHS healthcare. It indicates that the training curriculum and the professional culture of their clinical placements influenced trainees' perceptions and definitions of therapeutic competence. Literature Review: The literature review for the thesis covers two major areas. Firstly the sources for discovering how therapeutic competence is defined in counselling and psychotherapy are presented before considering the standards for competent practice in counselling psychology. Secondly the literature on trainees' experiences in training and the qualitative studies related to trainees' experiences of developing competence in training. Key themes from this review indicate that the field of counselling psychology has a commitment to its philosophical roots in humanism, personal development, and evidence-based practice. Methodology: A philosophy of qualitative analysis which introduces the grounded theory method is outlined. The assumptions, values and epistemology of the researcher are stated. The phases of the study which include: 1, Recruitment, 2. Pilot Interviews, 3. Data Collection, 4. Data Analysis, and 5. Developing the Theoretical Framework are described. A qualitative research approach based on constructionist assumptions was utilised in this study. Eleven trainee counselling psychologists were interviewed. The interviews were analysed using grounded theory analysis. Findings: This section includes a summary of two analytical phases which produced focused codes and a coding hierarchy. The results were two core categories: Perceptions of Competence and Defining Competence. Seven subcategories were also developed. Three of these subcategories, Coursework, Observer Feedback and Self-Reflections on Competence, were associated with the core category, Perceptions of Competence. Four subcategories - Clinical Experience, Reflexive Thinking/Self-Awareness, Theories and Models, and Supervision - were linked with the core category, Defining Competence. Discussion: Methods were discussed by which trainees perceive, acquire, and define therapeutic competence. The themes of self-perception of competence and self-confidence were identified as being relevant to therapeutic competence. Some of the vehicles for developing competence were highlighted including the idea that participants reflect on their experiences in training and clinical practice to develop competence. Some surprising results included a lack of evidence to suggest that trainees were thinking about the influence of pharmacology on treatment and some key professional issues (like multicultural competence and the social justice agenda) did not garner very much attention in the interviews. My contribution to knowledge is to inform training and therapist development by illuminating these processes in the context of U.K. based training programmes and representing the trainees' voice in the literature on developing competence in counselling psychology.

Hernandez (2013) claimed that the economic landscape in the United States of American (U.S.) has changed over the last decade, increasing the number of children of low social class standing. Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ; 2011) noted that an achievement gap exists between children of low social class standing and their middle and upper social class standing peers. School counselors and school counselor-in-training (SCITs) serve as advocates to address systemic barriers impeding academic, career, and personal/social success of all students (American School Counselor Association; ASCA, 2012; CSJ, 2011; Erford, 2011). Therefore, the need to understand school counselors’ and SCITs’ multicultural self-efficacy is imperative (Holcomb-McCoy, Harris, Hines, & Johnston, 2008). ASCA and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, 2016; 2009) provide standards and guidelines for training school counselors to address issues of social class and classism. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between SCITs multicultural competency training and their self-efficacy in social class and classism training regardless of race/ethnicity and gender. This quantitative study consisted of 169 SCITs from CACREP and non-CACREP school counselor programs across the five Association of Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) regions. The survey used in this study contained modified versions of the Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey-Revised (School Counselor Version) (MCCTS-R; Holcomb-McCoy & Day-Vines, 2004); the School Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale (SCSE; Bodenhorn & Skaggs, 2005); the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1984); and a social class and classism training questionnaire and demographic questionnaire developed for the purposes of this study. Results from this study indicated program accreditation status (i.e., CACREP and non-CACREP) does not appear to influence multicultural competence or self-efficacy, but non-CACREP status did seem to increase perceived social class and classism training competence. In addition, results suggested low social class standing appeared to negatively influence perceived multicultural competency, self-efficacy, and social class and classism training more so than middle or upper social class groups. The number of multicultural competency courses and training level were consistent significant predictors in perceived multicultural competency, self-efficacy, and social class and classism training. However, region did not appear to influence perceived multicultural competency, self-efficacy, or social class and classism training. Finally, this study found a moderate, positive relationship between perceived multicultural competency and self-efficacy regarding social class and classism training. Implications from this study supported previous research (i.e., Constantine, 2001b; Constantine & Yeh, 2001; Holcomb-McCoy, 2005, 2001; Holcomb-McCoy, Gonzalez, & Johnston, 2009; Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999; Larson, Suzuki, Gillespie, Potenza, Bechtel, & Toulouse, 1992) that the number of multicultural competency training courses, training level, and counseling experiences increased perceived multicultural competence and self-efficacy in social class and classism training. Therefore, SCITs should experience social class issues early and often in training through role-plays and modeling to improve the multicultural self-efficacy in social class and classism training (Cartwright, Daniels, & Zhang, 2008; Owen, Bodenhorn, & Bryant, 2010).

abstract: ABSTRACT Psychological assessments contain important diagnostic information and are central to therapeutic service delivery. Therapists' personal biases, invalid cognitive schemas, and emotional reactions can be expressed in the language of the assessments they compose, causing clients to be cast in an unfavorable light. Logically, the opinions of subsequent therapists may then be influenced by reading these assessments, resulting in negative attitudes toward clients, inaccurate diagnoses, adverse experiences for clients, and poor therapeutic outcomes. However, little current research exists that addresses this issue. This study analyzed the degree to which strength-based, deficit-based, and neutral language used in psychological assessments influenced the opinions of counselor trainees (N= 116). It was hypothesized that participants assigned to each type of assessment would describe the client using adjectives that closely conformed to the language used in the assessment they received. The hypothesis was confirmed (p = .000), indicating significant mean differences between all three groups. Limitations and implications of the study were identified and suggestions for further research were discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling 2015