The focus of this study was perceptions of professional school counselors' (PSC) graduate preparation in their roles as school counselors. The relationships examined were PSCs' roles and the number of hours completed in the school counselors' graduate programs, PSCs' roles and the level of their professional identity, and PSCs' roles and the number of school counseling specialty courses completed in their school counseling graduate programs. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2005) and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, 2001) have established standards for school counselors to master in their programs. These standards were used to develop the 30 roles identified in this study. Graduate programs referred to the number of hours PSCs completed in their graduate school counseling programs. Professional identity was defined as the certifications and licensures, the memberships in professional organizations, and the number of professional conferences and workshops PSCs attend. Specialty courses included school counseling courses taken by PSCs in their school counseling graduate programs. PSCs perceived themselves to be somewhat prepared in their overall preparation in their roles as school counselors. Results of the correlations between PSCs' perceptions of their preparation in their roles and the number of hours completed in the school counseling graduate programs, the professional identity of PSCs, and the number of specialty coursed completed were statistically significant but not practically significant. PSCs perceived themselves to need additional preparation in serving students with learning differences, seeking funding sources, and using technology. The factor analysis supported the construct validity of the survey instrument. It validated the roles of PSCs as outlined by ASCA standards (2005) and CACREP standards (2001). The factors included (a) Factor 1, Tasks/Advocacy/Professional Identity, (b) Factor II, Personal/Social/Career, (c) Factor III, Academics, and (d) Factor IV, Cultural/Legal/Ethical Issues. In conclusion, PSCs need additional training in student learning differences, seeking funding sources for school counseling programs, and on-going training in technology. PSCs want the term "educator" to be included in their description of their professional identity. PSCs also want additional specialty courses added to their curricula. They believe that the focus should be on the specialty of school counseling rather than a mental health focus.

The school counseling field has evolved over the years and increasingly clarified school counselors' job roles and activities (Burnham & Jackson, 2000; Cervoni & DeLucia-Waack, 2011; Shillingford & Lambie, 2010; Trolley, 2011); however, school counselors\' job roles and activities remain inconsistently understood and practiced (Burnham & Jackson; Cervoni & DeLucia-Waack; Gysbers & Henderson, 2012; Hatch & Chen-Hayes, 2008; Herr & Erford, 2011; Lambie & Williamson, 2004; Perera-Diltz & Mason, 2008; Rayle & Adams, 2008; Scarborough & Culbreth, 2008; Shillingford & Lambie; Studer, Diambra, Breckner & Heidel, 2011; Trolley).  School counselors are highly trained in academic preparation programs to perform school counseling job activities in schools (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2008).  At the same time, the job expectations taught in academic preparation programs can differ from the actual school counseling job (Allen et al., 2002; Bodenhorn, 2006; Brott & Myers, 1999; Chambers, Zyromski, Asner-Self, and Kimemia, 2010; Culbreth, Scarborough, Banks-Johnson, & Solomon, 2005; Holcomb-McCoy, 2001; Kolodinsky, Draves, Schroder, Lindsey, & Zlatev, 2009; Milsom, 2002; Mustaine, Pappalardo & Wyrick, 1996; National Office for School Counselor Advocacy [NOSCA], 2011, 2012a; Pérusse & Goodnough, 2005; Sisson & Bullis, 1992; Steen, Bauman, & Smith, 2008; Trolley). As a result, several researchers recommended collecting data on school counselors' perceptions of the effectiveness of academic preparation to perform work related practices (Kolodinsky et al.; Pérusse & Goodnough; Pérusse, Goodnough, & Noël, 2001; Sisson & Bullis; Trolley).   In this dissertation study the author gathered information on and examined discrepancies between school counselors\' reported academic preparation and actual job activities.  The author will describe an overview of the problem in Chapter One, an in-depth literature review will be conducted in Chapter Two, the methodology will be described in Chapter Three, the results of the study will be outlined in Chapter Four, and lastly, Chapter Five will include a discussion of the results of the study, including implications and recommendations. / Ph. D.

Sexual minorities (SM) are at a greater risk for experiencing a serious mental illness (SMI) compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Furthermore, SM with a SMI continue to experience stigma and discrimination that leads to more negative outcomes and a greater need for counseling services. Current researchers have not adequately addressed the specific needs of SM with a SMI and how to prepare counselors to work with this population. Furthermore, most SM with a SMI find that counseling services are inadequate and do not meet their unique needs. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study, grounded in a Husserlian philosophical and Minority Stress Model conceptual framework, was to explore the experiences and perceptions of counselors who provide counseling services to SM with a SMI. Data was collected from six participants using a semistructured interview and followed a thematic data analysis process, ensuring thematic saturation. The results of this study highlighted many themes regarding the unique needs of SM with a SMI, such as their multiple minority stressors, negative counseling experiences, and the impact of family, as well as counselor's perception regarding the lack of preparation in graduate school to work with SM with a SMI. Study findings may improve counselors' understanding of the needs of SM with a SMI so they may provide more effective counseling services. Also, this study highlights the importance of training counselors to work with this population and may bolster the efforts of counselor educators.

Over the past 20 years, counseling professionals have become more committed to addressing multicultural competence and issues of diversity in order to respect and acknowledge the spectrum of worldviews clients represent. Race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and spirituality/religion are well-researched areas commonly included in counselor education courses. These courses allow counselors-in-training to examine their biases, beliefs, values, and worldviews about diverse populations, and develop applicable skills. However, far too often, social class and socioeconomic status are excluded from counselors' multicultural training, and similarly, often overlooked as an integral aspect of clients' culture (Liu, 2011; Smith, 2008). The current literature reveals that scholars have taken more interest in social class in the past decade, but none has explored counselors' social class awareness and understanding, two foundational aspects of multicultural competence. The purpose of this study was to describe counselors' social class understanding and awareness through qualitative methodology. Via semi-structured interviews, licensed counselors in the Commonwealth of Virginia described how they understood social class and socioeconomic status, their awareness about social class and socioeconomic status, and issues related to classism. Four themes emerged related to social class understanding and awareness: income/money, social class designations, social status, and the places people live. Three themes surfaced linked to socioeconomic status understanding and awareness: Income, education and financial stability. Two categories emerged with regard to classism: participants' classism experiences and participant demonstrations of classism during the interview process. Three themes arose related to participant demonstrations of classism during the interview process: class microaggressions, class misconceptions, and class privilege. Implications for counseling, counselor education, and supervision are discussed, study limitations are provided, and avenues for future research are considered. / Ph. D.

Teaching is a foundational professional role addressed within the curriculum of counselor education doctoral programs, yet little is known about the teaching preparation experiences of counselor education doctoral students. This interpretative phenomenological analysis explored the teaching preparation experiences of a purposeful sample of eight current or recently graduated counselor education doctoral students enrolled in Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) through semi-structured interviews. Four superordinate themes, Experiential Integration, Contextual Development, Interactive Reflection, and Emergent Teaching Values, were identified to illustrate how counselor education doctoral students make sense of their teaching preparation experiences. These themes provide in-depth, nuanced, and narrative accounts of the multifaceted, experiential, relational, and contextual developmental teaching preparation experiences of counselor education doctoral students. The findings of this study revealed several important implications for counselor education doctoral students, counselor educations, counselor education doctoral programs, and CACREP to enhance the teaching preparation experiences of counselor education doctoral students. This study overall extends our knowledge of counselor education doctoral students' teaching preparation experiences, adding to a growing body of literature on doctoral teaching preparation in counselor education. / Doctor of Philosophy / Teaching is a foundational professional role addressed within the curriculum of counselor education doctoral programs, yet little is known about the teaching preparation experiences of counselor education doctoral students. This qualitative study explored the teaching preparation experiences of eight current or recently graduated counselor education doctoral students enrolled in accredited counselor education Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) programs. This study used in-depth interviews with counselor education doctoral students to understand how they make sense of their teaching preparation experiences. The analysis of the transcripts of the in-depth interviews revealed four themes that describe experiences, contexts, reflections, and values related to counselor education doctoral students' teaching preparation experiences. These themes provide detailed accounts of the many facets of counselor education doctoral students' teaching preparation experiences. These findings revealed implications for students, educators, degree programs, and accreditation organizations within counselor education that can enhance the teaching preparation experiences of counselor education doctoral students. This study overall extends our knowledge of counselor education doctoral students' teaching preparation experiences. Advancing our understanding of the teaching preparation experiences of counselor education doctoral students can improve the quality of the teaching, learning, and development facilitated through counselor training programs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate student preferences for content, timing, and method of informed consent within counselor education programs. Participants included 115 students enrolled in counseling internship courses at six counseling programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Participants completed the Informed Consent Preferences Questionnaire (ICPQ), an instrument designed specifically for this study through systematic instrumentation development. Descriptive statistics highlighted participants' moderate to high ratings of perceived importance for an array of suggested content pieces for student informed consent. Participants varied among themselves and between items in relation to preferred timing of informed consent, and they consistently reported a desire for student informed consent to be facilitated through a combination of both oral and written methods. Results of exploratory factor analysis revealed a simple eight-factor structure within the ICPQ and suggested strong internal reliability. Correlations for participant scale scores for the eight factors revealed a variety of small to medium correlations. Results from t-test and one-way analysis of variances (ANOVA) indicated that participant preferences did not vary according to demographic variables. Finally, participants' qualitative responses revealed high levels of support for student informed consent. Findings of this study may aid counselor educators in evaluating current program informed consent practices. As a result of evaluation, counselor educators can affirm existing, and/or design new informed consent practices that accurately reflect the needs and desires of counseling students. Future researchers may also utilize the results to guide additional studies related to the practice of student informed consent.

This qualitative study explored the experiences of a sample of secondary school counselors who facilitate groups. Specifically, 18 diverse secondary school counselors were interviewed regarding how they conceptualize, perceive, and experience group work. Three research questions guided this study: (a) What are the experiences of secondary school counselors who conduct groups?; (b) What are secondary school counselors’ attitudes and perceptions towards group work?; and (c) What do secondary school counselors perceive as barriers and /or challenges to engaging in group work? Data were collected in three phases: Phase One, an initial focus group informed Phase Two of the study, individual interviews. Phase Three, member-checking, was used to validate themes generated from data analysis. Moustakas’s (1994) transcendental phenomenology guided the data analysis process. Findings revealed four themes associated with participants’ group work experiences: meaningful relationships, staff response, challenges, and encouraging feedback. Practical and research implications for secondary school counselors and counselor educators are discussed.

This investigation compared the essential tasks of career counselors and vocational evaluators by surveying experts and practitioners in each specialization. Although both services advise persons about their work and training options, career counseling often takes place in university career centers and vocational evaluation is made available in not-for-profit settings. The null hypothesis is that there are no differences in task importance or frequency between these two jobs. Previous literature and current job descriptions from Florida workplaces are used to identify tasks, which are then presented to experts for input regarding frequency and relative importance to job performance. Tasks endorsed by Delphi method were also rated by persons working at these occupations for both frequency and importance to job performance. Current practitioners included persons working as career counselors in Florida state universities and as vocational evaluation vendors under the state of Florida Department of Education. Examination of means, mean differences, and standard deviations indicate differences in the task ratings between experts and practitioners and between practitioners of these populations. Correlations between practitioners did not reveal any strong positive relationships between tasks, but there was a negative relationship between these two professions when rating the relative importance of teaching counselees self-directed techniques. Even though the results did not pass the tests of assumption for multiple analyses of variance (MANOVA), significant differences are suggested. These differences include a proclivity for career counselors to teach self-direction, and a proclivity for vocational evaluators to provide and present assessments, make recommendations, and perform transferable skills analysis. Implications for education and professional certification point to a need for additional instruction for vocational evaluators in the areas of report writing, concluding services, and fulfilling the role they play in interdisciplinary activities. Both groups of counselors endorsed the use of basic counseling skills to understand and overcome personal problems, which typically requires licensure.

This exploratory research study investigated perceptions of practicum counselor trainees to help understand how prepared they believed they were for supervision. Based upon common elements of various developmental models of supervision, this study examined counselor trainees’ perceptions of their preparedness for practicum supervision based upon: (a) expectations of supervision; (b) understanding of the structure and formats used in supervision; (c) receptivity to and use of feedback in supervision; and (d) the evaluative component of supervision. This study also investigated possible explanations as to what factors may lead counselor trainees to feel more or less prepared for practicum supervision. The participants in this study were 156 counseling students enrolled in practicum courses at 27 CACREPaccredited counseling programs across the United States during the spring semester of 2005. The instrument used in this study was the Counselor Trainee Preparedness Perceptions Survey - Practicum Supervision (CTPPS-PS) survey, developed by the researcher. The CTPPS-PS was administered anonymously online through an Internet link distributed to students by practicum instructors or in paper format. To minimize the effects of varying practicum supervision experiences incurred by the sample participants, data collection was restricted to a 30-day period during the first half of the academic semester. Findings from this research revealed significant positive relationships between counselor trainees' overall perceptions of preparedness for practicum supervision and perceived preparation for various aspects of supervision. For the various aspects of supervision, the strongest relationships were found between overall perceptions of preparedness and preparation for what is required in supervision and to accept guidance and support through supervision. The weakest relationship was between overall perceptions and preparation for supervisory evaluation. These research findings also revealed significant positive relationships between counselor trainees' overall perceptions of preparedness for practicum supervision and perceptions of practicum supervision experience to date as well as with comfort experienced with receiving feedback in supervision. Another significant finding was consistently higher overall perceptions of preparedness for trainees being supervised by part-time faculty and for trainees attending universities with doctoral counseling programs. The findings of this study may encourage counselor educators to augment their programs and courses with supervision preparation strategies so that students may begin practicum feeling better prepared than the participants in this study. For supervisors, findings from this study can form the basis for a dialogue at the onset of supervision to determine the needs of counselor trainees, and thus help mitigate potential obstacles to practicum experiences resulting from areas lacking in preparation for supervision.

As the diversity of U.S. society continues to expand and interrelate, so do the training needs of counselors in training and early counseling professionals who encounter these very diverse populations and needs. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the perceptions of advanced masters'-level mental health counseling students and recent graduates regarding multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills to provide effective counseling services and interventions to African American women who have co-occurring histories of childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse. During a 2-month period, in-depth interviews were conducted with counselors in training and early counseling professionals who were working with African American women at the time of the study or who were likely to work with them in the future. This study arose partially from the personal experiences of the researcher who is an African American woman and masters'-level counselor who previously encountered women with these co-occurring histories. The study was also derived from a review of current research that indicated this ever-growing population lacks the level of engagement and effective therapeutic services that focus specifically on their needs. The participants engaged in individual interviews consisting of a demographic survey, vignettes, and a structured open-ended interview guided process. Three methods of inquiry were utilized to promote triangulation of the data, thereby ensuring trustworthiness of the study. The results of this study promote awareness of participant perceptions of their multicultural competence as identified in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics and Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development's Multicultural Counseling Competencies. The findings also contribute to future training and supervision experiences provided by counselor educators and supervisors who are gatekeepers for the profession and who assist in the multicultural development of counselors in training and early counseling professionals. Findings from this study revealed that current practice in multicultural counseling training promoted some level of awareness, knowledge, and/or skills in the ability of counselors in training and early counseling professionals to counsel African American women with dual diagnoses of childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse. Emerging themes from the participants' responses included awareness of personal strengths and limitations in multicultural competencies, significance of the relationship with population-specific clients, desire for increased exposure to population-specific content and interactions during the training process, desire for increased experiential opportunities to promote interactions with lesser known populations, and supportive and diverse supervision experiences. Recommendations for specific multicultural competencies related to counseling African American women with the dual diagnoses of childhood sexual abuse and substance abuse and for future research are included.