The scholarly literature surrounding counselor supervision suggests that relational bonds built on liking, trusting, and caring between supervisors and counselors positively impact counselor willingness to disclose practice errors and ethical issues in supervision. This Delphi study explored the opinions of expert public rehabilitation supervisors regarding issues that affect the development and maintenance of relational bonds, as well as what factors affect counselor willingness to disclose in supervision, particularly minor ethical issues that may become more serious if not openly addressed. Forty-three supervisors who met the study criteria for experts were nominated for participation by TACE directors and public VR administrators. Expert criteria included five or more years of counselor supervision experience, possession of a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling or related fields, and previous supervision training. This Delphi study was designed to solicit the insights of expert supervisors and add to the base of research knowledge concerning counselor supervision. The study is significant because it is the first of its kind to be pursued exclusively among public rehabilitation supervisors exploring how relational bonds, counselor disclosure, and ethics are integrated into rehabilitation counseling practice. Experts submitted their input using online questionnaires and were anonymous to other group members. In Round One, experts answered four open-ended questions regarding bonds and disclosure. In Rounds Two and Three, they ranked the importance of 39 Likert-scaled questions developed from Round One responses. Means and standard deviations were calculated for each round, and significance was tested using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The major findings of this Delphi study were that trust has the most impact on the development of relational bonds, and that anticipated supervisor reactions are the biggest factor in counselor disclosure. Experts rated availability and fairness as the most important factors for bond development, and cultivation of trust as the highest-ranked strategy for facilitating disclosure. Experts ranked counselor fear of recrimination of lower importance than the literature indicates. The extent of expert understanding regarding the differences between egregious and non-egregious ethical behaviors was unclear. Suggestions for further investigation include (a) a Delphi study of expert rehabilitation counselors regarding bonds and disclosure, (b) examining supervisor needs for support from administration, (c) continuing education for supervisors and counselors regarding non-egregious ethical errors, and (d) reviewing ethics training opportunities for non-CRC supervisors and counselors in public rehabilitation agencies.

The possibility that there are clients who are battered presenting themselves for vocational services without the battering relationship being identified or addressed was explored. Implications were drawn as to the influence early identification will have upon the formulation and successful completion of the Individualized Written Rehabilitation Plan.

Research reveals that rehabilitation counselors who are satisfied with their work environment tend to be more effective and have increased productivity. Rehabilitation counselors work with persons with disabilities to assist them in maximizing their ability to live independently in their communities.

A dilemma in some local educational institutions is the lack of a supportive teacher community which could lead to decreased teacher job satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to describe to what extent teacher collaboration in a professional learning community (PLC) impacts teacher job satisfaction. Theoretical foundations by DuFour, Eaker and DuFour supported the relationships between PLC and teacher collaboration. Herzberg's theory of motivation and Maslow's hierarchy also served as frameworks in this study. An interpretive, qualitative research design was used to explore potential connections between collaboration and job satisfaction. Research questions addressed how scheduled school day collaborative time impacts teacher job satisfaction, job satisfaction changes due to a PLC environment, and the impact of teacher isolate on job satisfaction. Data included observations of collegial interactions, face-to-face interviews, recorded field notes and audio tapings captured during these data collecting events. Cross-referencing was applied between collection tools. Data were coded, categorized and analyzed following the process designed by Hatch. Ideal collaborative time and job satisfaction characteristics emerged as core themes. Specifically, scheduled collaboration provided a structure for developing strategies for meeting students' needs, and principal support for collaboration was shown to enhance teachers' perceptions of job satisfaction. Teachers also cited improved practices and enhanced collegial relationships as additional sources of increased job satisfaction. Implications for positive social change include improving teacher job satisfaction, which could assist in creating a positive, productive environment for teachers. This can result in more well planned learning environments and greater academic achievement for students.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 S24 / Master of Arts / Communication Studies

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students are at-risk for high rates of bullying and harassment in the school setting. School counselors are uniquely positioned to provide support to LGBTQ youth and work alongside building principals to create safe and welcoming school environments. To build on existing literature, this researcher set out to examine how demographic factors and the school counselor-principal relationship influenced school counselor advocacy for LGBTQ youth. By examining these factors, school counselors are better informed about the roadblocks or barriers that might influence their advocacy efforts. In addition, this information helps counselor educators to better prepare school counselors as advocates and change agents. An anonymous survey with questions about demographics, attitudes, knowledge, and advocacy activity was completed by 169 practicing school counselors in the United States. Results revealed that sexual orientation of the counselor, the state in which the counselor works, the community setting, state and local policies influence a school counselor’s advocacy activity. Additionally, the number of years school counselors and building principals work together and the perceived collaborative working relationship are predictors of school counselor advocacy activity. Using a systems perspective can help school counselors identify how to advocate for LGBTQ students at the individual level, at the school, district, and community level, to the public arena.

Older women constitute a growing segment of Puerto Ricans and the U.S. population. A limited number of studies have examined the activity level in response to alcohol use in late life. Generally, older women present risks and benefits from alcohol use. Alcohol misuse may decrease health and in some cases, psychiatric symptoms may develop. However, some benefits are found in moderate alcohol consumption including improved physical function compared with nondrinkers (Blow & Barry, 2002). Since activity level may depend on factors such as health, functioning, emotional well-being, and perception of alcohol effects, these factors were then assessed in response to alcohol use in order to identify the degree of greater or lesser activity among elderly Puerto Rican females. This study examined the activity level in response to alcohol use in a sample of elderly Puerto Rican females (N = 419) and investigated factors that influence the practice of alcohol consumption. The independent variable was daily and weekly consumption of alcohol. Five dependent variables were examined, which included self-rating of physical health and emotional well-being, self-perception of activity level, function, and perception of alcohol effects. After conducting MANOVA analyses, no significant association between activity level and alcohol use was found. In addition, regarding the negative and positive effects of alcohol, the researcher found that elderly females who drank heavily reported having alcohol-related problems compared to those who drank moderately who described their drinking behavior as positive. The MANOVA and ANOVA analyses determined a significant relationship between higher self-perception of functionality and moderate alcohol use, but the relationship between moderate alcohol use and physical health and emotional well-being was not significant. Considering the increase of alcohol use in the older adult population, principally in the baby boomer generation, these findings are important not only to rehabilitation counseling professionals, but to many individuals in the helping professions, including educators and researchers. Rehabilitation counseling professionals should focus on initiatives to decrease and prevent alcohol misuse in the older adult population. Information revealed from this study will also contribute to knowledge of the cultural characteristics and psychosocial aspects of older Puerto Rican females regarding their alcohol use to promote better outcomes, as well as support literature in the area.

Research suggests the collaborative role school counselors can have with administrators to bolster school reform and facilitate a safe and positive learning environment for all K-12 students (College Board, 2009a, 2009b) is vital. Unfortunately, research that explores the roles and efforts of school counselors and administrators in their collaborative work for and with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students is scare. Yet, according to Goodrich, Harper, Luke, and Singh (2013), LGBT students “have long struggled in schools with little support” (p. 319). To address this gap, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of school counselors and administrators in their work to support a safe and supportive school climate for LGBT students. The following research questions informed and guided this study: a) What are the lived experiences of school counselors and administrators who make concerted efforts to improve the educational environment for LGBT students? b) How do school counselors and administrators make meaning with their relationships in their work with LGBT students? The methods used to recruit participants for this study were modeled after College Board’s (2009b) study with seven exemplary school counselor-principal teams. In College Board’s (2009b) study, researchers identified school counselors and principals who received recognition for demonstrating exemplary contribution in their respective professional organizations. These exemplary professionals were than paired with their school counselor/administrator counterpart for joint interviews (College Board, 2009b). By paralleling the best practice protocol established by the College Board (2009b), this study consisted of three rounds of interviews with four school counselor-administrator teams. Participants were selected from national and/or state level LGBT educational organizations, where a school counselor and/or administrator were awarded/recognized for creating a safe and inclusive school environment for LGBT youth. Additional participants included school counselors and administrators identified as the school counselor or administrator counterpart to the awarded. The researcher completed an inductive approach to data analysis, utilizing both open coding and horizontalization to reduce the data. Thematic categories emerged from the data and are presented and discussed as they relate to the overarching research questions. The between-case themes include: Learning firsthand, leading by example, intentional partnering, moving beyond turf wars, and pushing the system. Recommendations for school counselors, administrators, and school counselor-administrator teams are provided. Directions for future research are also discussed. Keywords: School counselors, administrators, interdisciplinary collaboration, LGBT youth

The advantages of having a strong professional identity include ethical performances, promoted wellness, and increased awareness of roles and functions among individual counselors (Brott & Myers, 1999; Grimmit & Paisley, 2008; Ponton & Duba, 2009). Scholars in the counseling field have underscored the importance of unified professional identity of counseling, but have yet to create or comprehensively measure the construct. The purpose of this study was to construct a reliable and valid instrument the Professional Identity Scale in Counseling (PISC). The PISC is a 62-item instrument designed to measure professional identity in counseling professionals across all counseling sub-specialties and sub-populations. The PISC's development was based on a comprehensive definition of professional identity derived from the counseling literature. To investigate the factor structure of the PISC, an exploratory factor analysis with the Principle Component Analysis extraction and the varimax rotation method was conducted. The factor analysis produced a meaningful six-factor solution with a total of 54 items. These six factors were Engagement Behaviors, Knowledge of the Profession, Professional Roles and Expertise, Attitude, Philosophy of the Profession, and Professional Values. They approximately accounted for 43.54% of the total variance in a sample of 371 participants. Reliability was supported by internal consistency values as reflected in high Cronbach's coefficient alpha for four factors and acceptable Cronbach's alpha for one factor. Regarding validity, support for convergent validity of the PISC was illustrated as all six subscales significantly correlated with one subscale of the PIVS, Professional Orientation and Values, and five subscales significantly correlated with the other subscale of the PIVS, Professional Development. Social desirability that was measured using the M-C (20) did not appear to impact participants' responses to the instrument items, providing evidence of discriminant validity of the PISC. Additional analysis was conducted to investigate differences among participant groups on the PISC total scores. Results showed significant group differences between master's-level and doctoral-level counseling professionals. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are also discussed related to the findings.

Counselor Educators are interested in assessing and promoting the professional and personal development of those in the counseling profession, including their ego and ethical development. While there has been much research concerning such development, there is insufficient research concerning the level of personal development of Counselor Educators themselves, and how such development progresses over the course of their tenure as professors. Thus, this dissertation assessed the ethical decision-making and ego development of Counselor Educators who earned their doctorates from institutions accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and who are currently working as Counselor Educators at a CACREP-accredited program. In particular, the following questions had sought to be answered: (a) What is the level of ego development of Counselor Educators and how do they develop over their tenure as professors? (b) What is the ethical decision-making level of Counselor Educators and how do they develop over their tenure as professors? (c) What is the relationship between ego development and ethical decision-making as Counselor Educators develop both of these over their tenure? and (d) How do the varying environments, qualities, and responsibilities of Counselor Educators relate to ego development and level of ethical decision-making? Essentially, the Researcher categorized Counselor Educators into two groups, according to their level of tenure: untenured (assistant professors) and tenured (associate professors and full professors). The Researcher then measured ego development, using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT; Hy & Loevinger, 1996), and ethical decision-making, using the Ethical Decision-Making Scale—Revised (EDMS-R; Dufrene, 2000). The Researcher then compared WUSCT stages and EDMS-R P indexes for each of the two group-mean scores through a one-way analysis of variance ANOVA), in order to ascertain if there were developmental differences between the two groups. It was anticipated that tenured professors, on the whole, would be more developed than untenured professors. The results from the present study tentatively indicate that Counselor Educators are well-developed, in terms of ego development and ethical decision-making. Of the four research questions, there was one finding of significance: participants who stated that they were not very challenged by their department had higher EDMS-R P indexes than those who were challenged.