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A PHENOMENOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF COUNSELING STUDENTS' AND PRACTICUM SUPERVISORS' EXPERIENCES WITH THE COUNSELOR COMPETENCIES SCALE.
Title
A PHENOMENOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF COUNSELING STUDENTS' AND PRACTICUM SUPERVISORS' EXPERIENCES WITH THE COUNSELOR COMPETENCIES SCALE.
Creator
Ascher, David, Lambie, Glenn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Counselor educators are charged with facilitating the development of counseling students towards becoming ethical and competent counselors (American Counseling Association , 2005; Council for Accreditation for Counseling and Related Educational Programs , 2009). In addition, counselor educators serve as gatekeepers for the profession and deny entry to counseling students who demonstrate deficiency of necessary competencies (ACA, 2005; Association for Counselor Education and Supervision , 1993...
Show moreCounselor educators are charged with facilitating the development of counseling students towards becoming ethical and competent counselors (American Counseling Association , 2005; Council for Accreditation for Counseling and Related Educational Programs , 2009). In addition, counselor educators serve as gatekeepers for the profession and deny entry to counseling students who demonstrate deficiency of necessary competencies (ACA, 2005; Association for Counselor Education and Supervision , 1993; CACREP, 2009). Numerous assessment tools utilized for the evaluation of counseling competencies have been developed, yet none has gained universal acceptance in the field of counselor education. The Counseling Competencies Scale© (CCS, UCF Counselor Education Faculty, 2009) is a 32 item counseling-student assessment tool developed to measure counselors-in-training counselor competencies (counseling skills, professional dispositions, and behaviors). The psychometric properties of the CCS have been investigated (Swank, 2010); however, questions related to perceptions, purposes, and uses of the CCS remained. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive, exploratory phenomenology was to understand counseling students' and practicum supervisors' lived experiences with the CCS. The sample included counseling practicum students (N = 23 [individual student interviews only, n = 11; student focus group interviews only, n = 4, individual student interviews and student focus group participants, n = 8]) and practicum supervisors (N = 6) from a CACREP accredited counselor education program in the Southeastern United States. The data was collected through individual interviews and focus groups with practicum students and individual interviews with practicum supervisors. All data was recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes (Creswell, 2007; Moustakas, 1994). The data analyses utilized a research key comprised of 34 meaning units (Devenish, 2002; Moustakas, 1994) and identified five themes within the data: (a) Cognitive understanding, (b) Emotional Understanding, (c) Feedback, (d) Trustworthiness, and (e) Gatekeeping. A visual metaphor was developed to illustrate the interaction of the five themes. Trustworthiness measures employed throughout the research included the use of (a) descriptions of researcher positionality, (b) a self-reflective field journal, (c) triangulation (student and supervisor individual interviews, student focus group interviews, and examination of the CCS document), (d) member checking, (e) peer debriefers, (f) an external auditor, (g) an extensive description of previous literature, and (h) an openness to disconfirming evidence (Creswell, 2007; Marshall and Rossman, 2006; Moustakas, 1994). The results supported that counseling students and their clinical supervisors identified the CCS as an appropriate and comprehensive supervisory tool; however, they acknowledged CCS-related limitations including inconsistent application, problematic scoring system, pass/fail structure, and delivery by instructors and practicum supervisors who demonstrated minimal investment of time and effort. Implications for counselor educators include the importance of program and faculty members' engagement and consistency regarding the use of (a) evaluation and feedback tools, (b) remediation and gatekeeping processes, and (c) counseling student performance expectations. Replication of this study at diverse institutions is suggested. In addition, quantitative and qualitative investigations examining counseling student competencies and development (e.g., CCS) would contribute to the counselor education, counseling-student development, and counseling supervision literature. A discussion of the investigation's limitations is included.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFE0003739, ucf:48764
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003739
PREDICTING CLIENT OUTCOMES USING COUNSELOR TRAINEE LEVELS OF EGO DEVELOPMENT AND ALTRUISTIC CARING
Title
PREDICTING CLIENT OUTCOMES USING COUNSELOR TRAINEE LEVELS OF EGO DEVELOPMENT AND ALTRUISTIC CARING.
Creator
Hutchinson, Tracy, Young, Mark, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Research suggests that counselor educators continue to debate whether general personality characteristics, relationship building skills, or other knowledge or skills are important in selecting the most effective counselors (Crews et al., 2005). Further, counselor educators continue to rely on measures that have limited ability to predict counseling competence or success in graduate programs. Such measures include GRE and GPA scores along with heavy reliance on the personal interview that is...
Show moreResearch suggests that counselor educators continue to debate whether general personality characteristics, relationship building skills, or other knowledge or skills are important in selecting the most effective counselors (Crews et al., 2005). Further, counselor educators continue to rely on measures that have limited ability to predict counseling competence or success in graduate programs. Such measures include GRE and GPA scores along with heavy reliance on the personal interview that is well-known for bias. Moreover, research supports that there is a need for assessments that will assist in determining the most effective counselors and emphasize the importance of measuring those characteristics that have a solid empirical link to client outcomes. The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap in the literature and to measure counselor characteristics that have are grounded in current outcome literature. Outcome research has suggested that counselor empathy is one of the strongest predictors of client outcome. Therefore, two constructs were explored in this study that are linked to empathy: Loevinger's (1976) Theory of Ego Development and Altruistic Caring as measured by the Heintzelman Inventory (Robinson, Kuch, & Swank, 2010). The sample consisted of 81 graduate-level counselor trainees in their first or second semester of practicum at a large South Eastern university. Results revealed no statistically significant relationship between variables. However, further exploratory analysis yielded a statistically significant relationship between a component of altruistic caring, specifically early career choice in the counseling field (4.1% of the variance explained), and client outcome. Implications for counselor educators are presented along with areas for future research.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFE0003588, ucf:48907
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003588