This study examines data from a modified version of the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey to establish the frequency use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and stimulants, which were the four variables used to denote substance use. This study also investigates the consequences experienced as a result of substance use among female graduate students (n = 266) in mental health majors, including Counseling Education (n=164) and Other Mental Health majors (n=102). Eight universities located in the southeastern region of the United States participated in the study. In addition to measuring substance use, the survey also provided a general description of the participants. The participants, who averaged 24.85 years in age, were 48.9% (n=130) Caucasian and 51.1% (n=136) African American. In terms of marital status, were 38.7% (n=103) the respondents single, 18.8% (n=50) in a committed relationship but not married, 28.2% (n=75) married, and 13.5% (n=36) married, but with an absentee spouse. A majority of the respondents (n=178) were employed in a full time capacity. An ensuing analysis of the data revealed generalized substance use among female graduate students in mental health majors, with alcohol being the most prevalently used substance among the four. Demographic variables found to be significant in these findings were ethnicity, age, major, marital status and living arrangements. When examining consequences experienced as a result of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and stimulants use during the past year, the majority of participants did not experience any consequences; frequencies indicated small percentages of consequences experienced by graduate students and are reported herein. Implications for the profession and recommendations for future research are suggested. / Ph. D.

This study focused on the use of technology within CACREP approved counselor education programs throughout the United States. The procedure for this project was handled totally online. An initial e-mail was sent to 146 possible participants to request corrected addresses or names, if necessary, and to alert them to the coming introduction and invitation to participate in this survey. There were 44 respondents who agreed to take part in this project. They were given a password to the survey instrument and directed to the researcher's web page. From there, they clicked on a button visible on the first page that took them to the password page of the survey instrument. They then completed the survey consisting of fill in the blank; yes, no; open-ended questions; and multiple choice questions and hit the "submit" button to indicate that they were finished. Literature pertaining to the use of technology in general as well as in counselor education programs was extensively reviewed. This demonstrated the current movement in education toward alternative delivery methods for course instruction. The results indicated that counselor educators are aware of the increase in the use of technology in programs, but were not as convinced of the effectiveness of this method of course delivery. Though most were comfortable with PowerPoint presentations by faculty and students, participants were not widely accepting of classes online, or broadcast via satellite. / Ph. D.

Personal interaction and proximity have been the cornerstones for relationship development in counselor education for decades. However, these concepts are opposed by the physical distance and lack of proximity inherent in a distance classroom environment. As the use of distance education increases in higher education, counselor educators must ensure that quality teaching and learning is maintained in the distance classroom. The purpose of this study was to explore student perceptions of counselor education courses taught at a distance using video teleconferencing (VTC); specifically, student satisfaction with course delivery and relationship development in the VTC environment was the focus of the study. Research questions included the following: 1.To what extent are counselor education students satisfied with graduate counseling classes delivered via videoconferencing? Specifically, student satisfaction with: a. the instructor characteristics, b. the technological characteristics, and c. the course management characteristics of the class? 2. What are counselor education students' perceptions of teacher/student relationship development in the VTC classroom environment? 3. What is the relationship between student satisfaction and relationship development when counselor education courses are taught via VTC? Responses from 43 Virginia Tech master's and doctoral level students who participated in VTC Counselor Education courses between 1998 and 2006 were used to explore student satisfaction and instructor/student relationship development in the VTC class environment. The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory © (BLRI; Barrett-Lennard, 1962) and the Telecourse Evaluation Questionnaire (TEQ; Biner, 1993) were the instruments used to create an on-line questionnaire. Participants reported highly positive feelings about the instructor/student relationship (M = 4.1) and perceived that relationship to be honest, direct, sincere, and open. Student satisfaction and relationship development in the VTC class environment were found to be related to one another (r = .48) However, the technology used to deliver VTC courses was not found to be related to students' feelings about their instructor or to their ability to build a relationship with the instructor. Reliability scores in this study were comparable to published scores for these instruments. / Ph. D.

The American Counseling Association recently adopted standards of competency for counselors working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients (Logan & Barret, 2005). Concurrently, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) revised standards to require social and cultural diversity competencies, including LGB counseling competency, to be interwoven throughout counselor education curriculum (CACREP, 2009). Yet the ways that counselor educators are including these initiatives are unknown. Additionally, the factors that improve counselor competency with LGB clients are also unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine counselors' self-perceived competency when counseling lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients and identify variables that are related to and predictive of LGB counseling competence. The quantitative study included 479 members of a southeastern state's professional counseling association including school counselors, community-based counselors, counselor educators, and counseling students. The assessment included an Information Questionnaire to collect data regarding personal and professional background, a Religiosity Index (Lippman et al., 2005; Statistics Canada, 2006), Spiritual Transcendence Index – Modified (adapted from Seidlitz et al., 2002), the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale - Short Form C (Reynolds, 1982), and the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (Bidell, 2005). Among results, counselors felt least competent in their skills with LGB clients, compared to knowledge and attitudes subscales. An ANOVA revealed that counselor educators perceived themselves as significantly more LGB-competent than counselors in other practice settings did. School counselors also reported significantly lower levels of LGB counseling competence than community counselors. Multiple regression analysis revealed that religiosity inversely predicted LGB competence whereas spirituality had a positive predictive relationship with LGB competence. Finally, there was a marked deficit in training experiences involving LGB issues for counselors in the sample. Implications of the findings suggest a need to increase experiential components of counselor training to strengthen counselors' skills with LGB clients, as well as improve the self-efficacy of school counselors in their work with LGB students. A unique finding to the study involved counselor spirituality as a positive predictor of LGB competence, perhaps indicating higher levels of compassion and connectedness to others despite differences; future studies should investigate this relationship further. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect the degree of planfulness of a career transition has on the subsequent job satisfaction in persons seeking or working in temporary employment. The population for this study was 117 individuals seeking or working as a temporary worker in the internal pool of temporary employees at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. One hundred of the individuals in the population completed a survey which provided demographic information such as reasons for seeking temporary work and employment plans. Planfulness of the career transition was measured by the McDaniels Career Transition Considerations (1991). Degree of job satisfaction was measured by the Job Descriptive Index - Revised (Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1985). Twenty-nine individuals received personal interviews. These workers were questioned about characteristics of their transition, self, environment, and job satisfaction. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine planfulness, jobs satisfaction, and to examine the effect of planfulness of the career transition on job Satisfaction. Financial situation was determined to be the primary consideration of those seeking temporary work followed by work options and family issues. Three factors, quality of supervision, co-workers, and the job in general, were most clearly associated with job satisfaction of the population. Present temporary work and pay were found to provide low levels of satisfaction and promotion opportunity was found not to be a source of satisfaction. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was computed for each scale of job satisfaction and three groups of planfulness. Results suggest that the more planful respondents experienced more satisfaction with three factors of job satisfaction: present work in temporary assignment, coworkers, and the job of temporary work in general. The findings suggest that individuals sought temporary work as a result of a transition as defined by Schlossberg (1984); specifically, in regards to adjusting to role change salience as postulated by Super (1990). Temporary workers were planful in the transition which resulted in experiencing job satisfaction in many facets as described by Hoppock (1935) and Smith, Kendall, and Hulin (1969). These findings have implications for career counselors and individuals seeking temporary work as an adjustment to a career transition. Individuals concerned with their financial situation, work options, and family issues while in a career transition may find satisfaction in temporary work. / Ph. D.

Wellness has become an increasingly important paradigm for counseling and clinical supervision. A heightened focus on counselor wellness in supervision has emerged as an intervention to improve quality of care to clients and prevent counselor impairment. Although researchers have examined the benefits of wellness interventions in supervision, we have little understanding of the supervisor's ability to model wellness to their supervisees. Nor have researchers shown how a supervisor's wellness influences supervisee wellness—and if and how the strength of the supervision relationship changes this influence. Thus, the purpose of this quantitative investigation was to (a) analyze the role of modeled wellness as a way for supervisors to influence the multifaceted aspects of supervisee wellness, and (b) identify if the factoring in the supervisory relationship changes this influence. This quantitative study included a sample of 105 counselor education students enrolled in practicum or internship courses who were receiving supervision from a site-based supervisor. Results indicated that supervisee personal wellness was influenced by the supervisee's perception of supervisor wellness. Certain second-order factors of perceived supervisor wellness (Creative and Coping Selves) were more predictive of the corresponding factor of supervisee personal wellness. When the strength of the supervisory relationship was considered, the model became more predictive despite the lack of correlation between the strength of the supervisory relationship and supervisee personal wellness. Results from this investigation suggest that the supervisory relationship can act as a suppressor variable, controlling for error in the equation and making the perception of supervisor wellness a more valid predictor. A subsequent correlational analysis suggests that the error in prediction was primarily in supervisory relationships of moderate strength. The combination of the supervisee's perception of their supervisor's wellness and the strength of the supervisory relationship predicted 9% of the variance in supervisee wellness. Implications for counselors, supervisors, educators, and policy are discussed. Limitations and recommendations for future inquiry are highlighted based on the findings from this investigation. / Ph. D.

The counseling process and relationship are inherently interconnected, and each person involved, or observing, has a unique perspective on what is significant. Thus, it is important for researchers to examine this process holistically for a more complete understanding of the counseling process and relationship. The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of counselors-in-training (CITs) and clients in the counseling process with respect to what was meaningful, and the strength of the therapeutic relationship using a mixed methods approach. The following four research questions were a guide for this study: (a) What do CITs and clients experience as most meaningful in counseling? (b) What are the similarities and differences of what CITs and clients experience as meaningful in counseling? (c) How does the strength of the therapeutic relationship correspond to the depth of what CITs and clients experience as meaningful in counseling? (d) What are the similarities and differences of an observer's perspective and the experiences of the CIT and client of what is meaningful in counseling? These questions were explored through qualitative phenomenological interviews to capture the experiences of CITs and clients in a given counseling session, a quantitative instrument to measure the therapeutic relationship, and participant observation to gain an observer's perspective of the counseling session. Data analysis of the interviews revealed several themes of meaningful experiences for clients, CITs, and observer, with many similarities and some differences. Themes for clients were as follows: Counseling Relationship, Goals, Insight, Immediacy, Emotion, and Reflections on Counseling. Themes for CITs were: Counseling Relationship, Goals, Insight, Immediacy, Emotion, Nonverbals, Transference and Counter Transference, and CIT Negotiating the Counseling Process and their Role. Finally, observer themes were: Depth of Congruence, Goals, Insight, Immediacy, Nonverbals and Intuition, and Rescuing. There seems to be a slight connection between the strength of the therapeutic relationship and depth of meaningful experiences. More often than not, the stronger the therapeutic relationship, the greater depth of meaningful experiences of participants, however, these results are inconclusive. Findings from this research have implications for CITs, counselors, and counselor educators and supervisors. / Ph. D.

The United States is in the process of changing demographically. As a result, there is an increasing demand for culturally appropriate counseling services for minority groups. However, little research about counselors' ability to deal with issues stemming from bilingualism is available. As language is used to establish the relationship in counseling, the importance of counselors' understanding regarding how a second language may influence the counseling process is vital. Although numerous studies have thus far emphasized the significance of cultural knowledge and the need for bilingual counseling services, culturally diverse populations continue to be underserved due to language barriers (Gushue, Constantine, and Sciarra, 2008). The American Counseling Association's (ACA) Code of Ethics (2005; 2014) provides best-practice guidelines for appropriate bilingual support during the counseling session. However, few studies have explored the role played by a second or additional language during the counseling session (Marcos and Urcuyo, 1979; Oquendo, 1996; Ramos-Sanchez, 2009; Santiago-Rivera, Altarriba, Poll, Gonzalez-Miller, and Cragun, 2009; Tehrani and Vaughan, 2009). This study adds to the existing body of knowledge about bilingual counselors' experiences providing counseling services in a language in which they have not had professional training. Chapter One provides an overview of the problem, Chapter Two delivers an in-depth literature review, Chapter Three describes the methodology, Chapter Four provides findings of the study, and Chapter Five discusses the results and offers implications for bilingual counselors and counselor educators and supervisors as well as makes suggestions for further research. / Ph. D.

While there is extensive research on attachment and the role attachment relationships play in human development, little to no research has applied the concept of alternative attachment figures to the role counselors play in a residential setting with adolescents. Furthermore, little research has explored the impact a counselor's own attachment style may have on his or her ability to foster secure attachment behaviors in clients. In order to explore each of these topics, the current study examined the relationship between female residents of a treatment facility and their counselors. Eight residents and three counselors were selected to participate in the study based on how long the residents had been in treatment. Each completed measure of attachment security as well as in depth qualitative interviews. Profiles were created for each of the counselor/resident dyads and relationship dynamics were compared to previous research in order to explore the therapeutic relationship in light of attachment. Therapeutic implications and areas of future research are also discussed. / Master of Science

Throughout the past century, many changes in the conceptualization of the school counselor have occurred. Although most states endorse a national model developed through the American School Counseling Association (ASCA), not all school and district personnel have changed their views of the school counselor role to the most current conceptualization. The focus of this study was to gather current information on principal perceptions of appropriate and inappropriate school counselor activities based on the ASCA model. Differences were examined in principal perceptions at the elementary and secondary levels, and between appropriate and inappropriate activities to see if principals ranked appropriate activities more highly. Differences were also examined in schools with Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation and schools without RAMP designation. Results showed differences in perception between elementary and secondary principals, with secondary principals rating all counseling activities significantly higher than elementary school principals, although there were similarities in ratings between groups. Appropriate activities were rated significantly higher than inappropriate activities by principals overall as well as the elementary principal group and secondary principal group. There were no significant differences overall in RAMP versus non-RAMP school principal perceptions. Discussion includes reviewing specific activities where perceptions differed; how these results fit with previous research; and implications for policy and practice, future research, and higher education. / Doctor of Philosophy / Throughout the past century, many changes in the conceptualization of the role of the school counselor have occurred. Although most states endorse a national model developed through the American School Counseling Association (ASCA), not all school and district personnel have changed their views of the school counselor role to the most current conceptualization. The focus of this study was to gather current information on principal perceptions of appropriate and inappropriate school counselor activities based on the ASCA model. Differences were examined in principal perceptions at the elementary and secondary levels, and between appropriate and inappropriate activities to see if principals ranked appropriate activities more highly. Differences were also examined in schools with Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation and schools without RAMP designation. Results showed differences in perception between elementary and secondary principals, with secondary principals rating all counseling activities significantly higher than elementary school principals, although there were similarities in ratings between groups. Appropriate activities were rated significantly higher than inappropriate activities by principals overall as well as the elementary principal group and secondary principal group. There were no significant differences overall in RAMP versus non-RAMP school principal perceptions. Discussion includes reviewing specific activities where perceptions differed; how these results fit with previous research; and implications for policy and practice, future research, and higher education.