The Occupational Stress Inventory Revised Edition (OSI-R) and an Individual Data Form (IDF) were used to examine the current levels of occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources for a random sample of 360 licensed professional counselors (LPCs) in Virginia. Using the OSI-R (Osipow, 1998), a comparison of the results of this study to the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), (Osipow & Spokane, 1987) Ryan (1996) used was made. Replicating Ryan's study was needed to determine if significant differences at the level of occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources exist over time which would emphasize the importance of occupational stress research for this population. The OSI-R is a concise measure of three dimensions of occupational adjustment: occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources. Demographic variables, such as age, gender, ethnicity, marital and parental status, primary work-setting, years of experience, stress related treatment, and years licensed were examined within the three dimensions of stress, strain, and coping. Data were collected via first mailing of 360 surveys with a final response rate of 63.52%. Th e number of responses used for analysis was 183. The majority of the participants were white (93.4%), female (65%), parents (69.9%) of two children (33.9%), and adults averaging 49 years old. There were 120 females (65.6%) and 63 males (34.4%). Private practice either individual (21.9%) or group affiliation (18.6%) was identified as the primary work setting. The majority (86.3%) of the LPCs worked with clients and averaged 19.79 hours per four day week, counseling clients. The average number of daily client sessions was 4.76 and the maximum number of daily client sessions was 6.52. Most (49.2%) of the clients' source of referral were legally mandated. Overall, the T-scores on the OSI-R fell in the average range for stress, strain, and coping. Variables that had no significant differences in level of stress, strain, or coping were marital and parental status, number of children, years experience, average daily client sessions, and stress related treatment. Demographic variables that contributed to differences in levels of stress only included ethnicity and weekly work hours. Demographic variables that contributed to differences in scores of strain only included age and years licensed. Demographic variables that contributed to differences in scores of coping were weekly work hours, number of days per week clients seen. Variables that had significant differences on the levels of stress, strain, and coping were gender, primary work setting, number of work settings, maximum daily client sessions, and referral source of clients. Thus, future research in the counseling profession for occupational stress, psychological strain, and coping resources are warranted. Implications for the profession and recommendations for future research were made. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between wellness, spirituality, and personal dispositions of practicing professional counselors. A sequential, mixed-methods case study design was utilized to achieve this purpose. Thirty professional counselors completed three assessment instruments measuring wellness, spirituality, and personal dispositions. Five of these counselors also participated in the qualitative portion of the study. This included the review of photographs of their offices and copies of their résumés and professional disclosure statements as well as participation in a telephone interview. Following the use of Pearson Product Correlations to analyze relationships in the data from the assessment instruments, two positive relationships were found. Spirituality was positively correlated with the disposition of rule-consciousness. A positive relationship was found between wellness and emotional stability. In addition, three negative relationships were found. The dispositions of apprehension, perfectionism, and tension were all negatively correlated with wellness. No significant relationship was found between wellness and spirituality. These data were used to develop the interview protocol for the qualitative portion of the study. The constant comparative method was used to analyze the qualitative data. Five themes were developed within the second iteration of analysis: commitment to the philosophies of the profession, a foundation of ethics, coordination, social networks, and personal fulfillment. These resulted in the development of the third iteration of the professional counselor as an integrated whole. These enhanced the findings of the quantitative portion of the study by providing a description of how the relationships found in the quantitative data impact and present in the work of professional counselors. This was the first known study to utilize a mixed-methods design to explore wellness, spirituality, and personal dispositions in professional counselors. Future studies should continue to explore the relationships among these factors and how they impact professional practice. These should include the use of a larger sample size as well as the identification of specific behaviors utilized by professional counselors to promote the development of wellness and positive personal dispositions.

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The purpose of this study was to examine counselor's self- perceived multicultural counseling competency (MCC) between counselors working in rural, suburban and urban communities across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The study compared professional counselors' perceptions of their own multicultural counseling competence based on the counselor's geographic area of origin, current geographic practice setting, and counselors' intersections of identities to better understand counselor MCC as it relates to cultural diversity. Sample data was collected through professional counseling organizations in Virginia. Participants completed a demographic survey as well as the Multicultural Awareness Knowledge Skills Survey-Counselor Edition-Revised (MAKSS-CE-R) to measure self-perceived MCC. Results indicate that there was no difference in self-perceived MCC among professional counselors in Virginia based on their practice location or area of origin (i.e. hometown). However, counselor's identified race/ethnicity were predictor's of self-perceived MCC. Findings suggest that training programs may be providing adequate opportunities for counselors to develop MCC. Allowing innovative approaches through technology, consultation, and adherence to the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) could be sufficient in counselor MCC regardless of geographic practice location. / Doctor of Philosophy / The purpose of this study was to understand how counselors in Virginia perceived their cultural competence. The researcher examined how counselors rated their own cultural competence in relation to the geographic location in which they grew up, currently work, as well as general demographic characteristics, to better understand counselors’ competence when working with diverse peoples. Participants completed a demographic survey as well as the Multicultural Awareness Knowledge Skills Survey-Counselor Edition-Revised (MAKSS-CE-R), which measures counselor cultural competence. Results indicate that there was no difference in perceived cultural competence among professional counselors in Virginia based on the geographic area where they worked or grew up. However, counselors who identified as a racial/ethnic minority also perceived themselves as having greater cultural competency. Findings suggest that training programs may be providing adequate opportunities for counselors to develop cultural competence. Allowing creative approaches through technology, consultation, and implementation of counselor’s professional codes of ethics could be enough for counselors to feel competent when working with diverse peoples, regardless geographic practice location.

Professional counselors experience increasing levels of ethical complaints when they provide opinions in child custody cases; the complaints question their competency levels and potentially affect job satisfaction. The purpose of the study was to determine any relationship between competencies and job satisfaction for 277 counselors and 66 psychologists. The competence theory served as the foundation of the study. The quantitative study was a nonexperimental, correlational design using a closed-ended survey. A new, validated Professional Competence Standards Instrument (PCSI) measured both competency as the independent variable and job satisfaction as the dependent variable to assess if competency affected job satisfaction. E-mail lists were utilized to invite a convenience sample to participate. Data analysis included a t test and found that psychologists had higher levels of competency than did counselors; a correlation test found a positive relationship between competence and job satisfaction; a Mann-Whitney U test found that psychologists had higher levels of complaints than did counselors; factorial ANOVAs showed a main effect between experience and ethical complaints, and between competency and job satisfaction for all professionals. Last, a stepwise regression found 4 predictors of job satisfaction: bias awareness, ability, experience, and licensure. Recommendations for future research include studying factors influencing levels of competency among counselors when providing testimony. These findings may assist the counseling profession with a greater understanding of competency in custody matters and improving job satisfaction, resulting in counselors better serving children and families embroiled in conflicted divorce and custody disagreements, and minimizing the negative impact on the mental health of all involved.

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Computer technology is developing so rapidly that the extent to which it is being utilized by counselors and counselor educators in their work is virtually unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess how much and in what ways counselor experts believe computer-related technology (CRT) is being utilized by professional counselors today. An additional purpose of this study was to determine projected use of CRT by the year 2008.Data were collected by means of a modified futures Delphi method in which a panel of 21 counselor experts comprised of one group of counselor educators, three groups of counselor practitioners, and one group of computer technologists completed three rounds of questions. The study, which was conducted entirely on the World Wide Web, requested Likert-type ratings of 53 generic work-related tasks in eight task categories for frequency of CRT use to accomplish the tasks and reasons for the selections. In addition, panelists rated ten specific CRT tools for frequency of use, and supplied written examples of current and future CRT use by counseling professionals.The findings of the study indicate counselors and counselor educators are using a large variety of CRT tools, including word processors, spread sheets, a variety of software programs, e-mail, chatrooms, listservs, databases, and other web-related tools to assist them in over half of job-related tasks today. Experts forecast CRT use by counselors will significantly increase by the year 2008, when professional counselors are expected to utilize CRT for at least 90% of their work-related tasks.It is suggested that findings of this study may provide an important foundation for much needed research investigating potential differences between therapeutic work accomplished with the help of CRT and traditional therapy, i.e., face-to-face therapy, in which computer technology is not utilized. Finally, results establish the need to implement and promote computer skills training and competency assessments in counselor education programs. / Ph. D.