Supervision of counselors-in-training (CITs) is complex and multifaceted. While supervision is critical to the professional development of CITs, they are also being evaluated for a grade that will advance them academically. Therefore, CITs may feel pressured to intentionally withhold information in supervision that could reflect badly on them or their supervisor and/or hinder their progress. Indeed, one study indicated that 97.2% of CITs intentionally withheld relevant information in supervision (Ladany, Hill, Colbert, and Nutt, 1996). Fortunately, there are ways to reduce supervisee non-disclosure. For example, when CITs perceive a strong supervisory relationship, nondisclosures occur less frequently (Mehr, Ladany, and Caskie, 2010). There is some evidence that the supervisory relationship is impacted by the supervisory working alliance and supervisee attachment styles. More general social perceptions may also impact the supervisory relationship, but that has not been assessed in the context of CIT supervision. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine these factors, supervisory working alliance, supervisee attachment styles, and social perceptions, and their impact on intentional nondisclosure by CITs. This quantitative study included a sample of 112 master's-level counselor-in-training students enrolled in internship at a CACREP-accredited (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs) counselor education program. Results indicate that CITs report more discomfort in disclosing supervision-related issues compared to client-related issues. An exploratory factor analysis of the three constructs of interest resulted in a four-factor model. These factors were: (1) Perception of a Supervisor, (2) Anxious Attachment in Supervision (3) the Supervisory Working Alliance, and (4) Avoidant Attachment in Supervision. A multiple regression analysis indicated that a model including social perceptions of supervisors, the supervisory working alliance, and supervisee attachment styles explained 64% of the variance in intentional nondisclosure. Avoidant attachment styles and rapport of the supervisory working alliance were significant predictors of intentional nondisclosure. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are included. Limitations and recommendations for future studies will be discussed based on the unique findings from this study. / Ph. D.

Students pursuing a master’s degree in CACREP-accredited school counseling programs are required to complete supervised field experiences as a part of their course requirements. During their practicum and internships experiences, they receive university supervision by a faculty member or doctoral student supervisor, as well as site supervision at the placement site, typically from a school counselor. University supervisors may lack experience in school counseling and knowledge of the unique roles and supervision needs of school counselors. In addition, site supervisors may lack training or knowledge of clinical supervision. Furthermore, the multiple systems in which SCITs function may have differing goals and expectations for supervisees. The various factors influencing supervision may result in confusion and frustration for SCITs. The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to understand the supervision experiences of SCITs enrolled in CACREP-accredited counselor education programs in Southern Louisiana universities who recently completed internship. Specifically, I sought to understand SCITs experiences with regard to university individual and group supervision, site supervision, and what influence, if any, the ASCA National Model had on their supervision experiences. After receiving IRB approval, participants were invited to participate via an email solicitation. The eight participants chosen were master’s students from CACREP-accredited counselor education programs who recently completed internship. Data were collected through individual, face-to-face, audio-recorded interviews utilizing a semi-structured interview protocol. After the interviews were transcribed, the data were analyzed using IPA data analysis procedures. The final analysis resulted in four super-ordinate themes. The findings describe the meaning of the lived experiences of SCITs with supervision. According to the results, supervision experiences, whether being reported as positive or negative, could be attributed to: impact of counselor education program, aspects related to supervisors, significance of feedback, and influence of self. The results could help inform the design of counselor education programs to more adequately prepare SCITs for school counseling as it is today. Furthermore, the results could help improve site supervision practices.

No description available.

As school counseling interns graduate and transition to a professional school counseling work world, there are issues which may affect their personal and professional development, such as ongoing skill acquisition, keeping current in the field, and reflective awareness of professional counselor growth. Counselor educators continually seek approaches and methods of training school counseling interns with potential for transference to the world of practicing school counselors. However, translating ongoing supervision of school counselors to the real world setting can prove problematic. First, there is a lack of clinical supervision after graduation, and then any supervision received tends to be provided by school administrators. This exploratory study sought to explore the potential of one model of group supervision, which could potentially translate into the real work world of practicing school counselors. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of school counseling interns' with a reflecting team model of group supervision, Structured Reflecting Team Supervision (SRTS), during the final, internship semester. A qualitative method was used for this exploratory study due to the scant research in the areas of clinical group supervision and the SRTS model with the school counseling intern population. This study was designed to answer the following research question: What are the experiences of school counseling interns exposed to the reflecting team model of group supervision throughout their internship semester? Data consisting of structured open-ended interview guides (SOIG) were gathered three times throughout the semester. Data was also gathered one time through a separate SOIG at the end of the semester from the academic supervisors to ensure consistency of the use of the model. Study participants found hearing multiple perspectives on the same case to be the most important aspect of their time together. Several participants suggested an earlier start to the SRTS model might provide an opportunity to follow the cycle of new idea implementation and reporting back progress from those ideas. A number of participants looked forward to trying the model in the field through peer consultations to meet the needs for further clinical supervision.

abstract: It is crucial for counselors to be aware of their own attitudes and beliefs and to prevent them from influencing the counseling process. The prevalence of obesity is growing and biases against obese people are becoming more apparent. Counselors must become aware of the potential weight bias and what factors influence it. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether counselors- in-training hold negative attitudes toward obese clients and whether the career status of the client affects these perceptions. Seventy-six students in graduate level counseling programs at Arizona State University were randomly assigned one of four vignettes describing either an obese bookkeeper, a normal weight bookkeeper, an obese executive, or a normal weight executive. Negative attitudes were measured using two scales; one evaluating perceived personal characteristics of the client and one evaluating the perceived work efficacy. Results indicated that counselors-in-training perceived the client with more negative characteristics when the client was described as obese rather than normal weight, and also when she was described as having a low status job compared to a high status job. The perceived work efficacy of the presented client was not affected by the client’s weight or job status. It is important for students in counseling programs to receive training regarding weight biases and job status biases. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.C. Counseling 2011

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).

No description available.

No description available.

Counselor educators foster the multicultural counseling competence of counselors-in-training; however, counselor educators face challenges that include emotionally charged exchanges that may might impact counselor educators' relationship with students. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to investigate counselor educators' experiences with emotionally charged exchanges related to teaching multicultural counseling. The ecological systems theory was used as a conceptual framework. A purposeful sample of 4 counselor educators from Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs-accredited counselor education programs in the United States shared their knowledge of these emotionally charged exchanges through semistructured phone interviews in their natural settings. The data gathered underwent analysis following the descriptive phenomenological method, and revealed the essence of counselor educators' lived experiences: ever-present conflicting emotions and tension, with peaks of feeling exposed, inadequate, and satisfied after intentionally evoking students' emotions. Counselor educators can use the results of this study to alter their pedagogy and empower their students to develop their multicultural counseling competence more fully. Improved multicultural counseling competence might improve the treatment provided to a diverse range of clients and reduce treatment disparities.

The relationships between sociometric status and selected performance variables for counselors in training were investigated. Gender differences in sociometric status were also investigated. Research participants were master's level counseling students. The point-biserial correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between sociometric status and grades. The SPSS 13.0 crosstabulation procedure was used to examine gender differences in sociometric status. The results indicated a moderate relationship between sociometric status and grades earned in a group counseling course. A small to negligible relationship between sociometric status and pre-practicum and practicum grades was found. No gender difference in sociometric status was found. The study provides some support for the use of sociometric measurements in predicting group counseling performance, but more research is needed.