Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Educational counseling'

In Education, there has been an amplified interest regarding the need for distance education practices over the course of the last century (Allen & Seaman, 2010, 2013, 2014). The purpose of the present study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of counselor educators in Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited counseling programs in relation to distance education. A secondary purpose was to gather data about the implementation of distance education activities in these programs. Exploring this phenomenon provided an up to date picture of the lived experiences of counselor educators with distance education.

This research study employed a phenomenological design with a quantitative survey and qualitative follow-up interviews. The sample for the quantitative phase of the study consisted of 41 CACREP-accredited counseling programs that successfully completed the researcher-designed survey instrument. Maximum variation purposive sampling for the qualitative phase of the study identified four participants for follow-up interviews. Three themes emerged from participant interviews that described the lived experiences of counselor educators with distance education: external encouragement for implementation, adequate preparation and support for development and delivery, and evolving design for counseling programs and courses.

The results of the study indicated that implementation of distance education in counselor education programs was related to both extrinsic and intrinsic motivational factors. Factors such as institutional encouragement, incentives, student needs, adequate support services for distance education, competitive program marketability, and university-level teaching experience, were identified as influencing distance education adoption in counselor education programs.

The results of the study provided information helpful to counselor educators and university administrators planning to implement distance education in counselor education programs. In order for counselor education programs to serve a larger population and remain competitive, they may need to consider incorporating distance education activities within their curriculum. Counselor education preparation programs may need to further infuse instructional components in their curriculums that prepare graduates with the skill and knowledge necessary to implement distance education. A wide range of support services need to be available to assist faculty that want to develop and implement distance education activities. It is recommended that counselor education programs first use a hybrid model in knowledge base courses and transition to making available full distance education courses that include skilled based coursework.

The present study built on the design and results from the pilot study in an attempt to explore the relationship between psychologists' personal ideologies and the decisions they make in school-based counseling. Of particular interest was whether higher levels of self-reported ideology were related to support of relevant school policies. Participants included 166 psychologists who responded to an online survey that included questions related to personal and professional ideologies, attitudes toward school policies, training and preparedness in four areas of interest, and hypothetical scenarios. Consistency among responses in areas including theoretical orientation, political party, and training and preparedness in ethics and multicultural issues limited the analyses that could be performed to compare different populations. Correlation data indicated that there was no relationship between those who reported to be religious and those who reported that they were not religious, though slight differences were noted qualitatively. There was also no difference between responses of individuals who had not taken a class but felt prepared as compared with responses of the rest of the population. Correlation data also indicated some associations between the school policies related to liberal/conservative political views and the vignette designed toward that ideology.

Emergent popularity and student consumer/educational administrator demand for online technology in counselor education is also increasing the need to research its impact and potential effectiveness/ineffectiveness as a pedagogical tool. Research shows that the trend toward online coursework is likely to increase in the future and also that the new trend is moving away from asynchronous text-based delivery toward virtual environments using video and audio (Robey, 2009).

Counselor educator led preparation programs are experiencing more pressure to join the online bandwagon and yet lag behind other professions in utilizing technologies in education (Karper, Robinson, & Casado-Kehoe, 2005). Although some studies have investigated the use of online technology in counselor education, very few studies have explored using virtual simulated clients in counselor education in order to develop counseling skills (Engen, Finken, Luschei, & Kenney, 1994; Hayes, Taub, Robinson, & Sivo, 2003; Karper et al., 2005).

Furthermore, self-efficacy is a critical component of counseling skill development for counselors-in-training (CITs; Levitt & Jacques, 2005). Therefore, the purpose of this mixed-methods dissertation was to investigate whether online learning technology using synchronous, online, video-based, computer-guided, simulated-client microskills drills in real time influenced microskills development for counselors-in-training.

Further, I used Counselingskills on Demand (COD) online virtual client microskills drills within the framework of Bandura's (1977) social cognitive theory that performance is the best indicator of self-efficacy and explored how online microskills drills influence counseling student microskills performance and developmental process.

Qualitative data analysis suggested that participants were comfortable with online learning, found virtual client microskills drills most beneficial while developing a basic understanding of the difference between microskills and how to use them, and less useful once a basic understanding and ability to use the microskills was established. Overall, study results appeared to indicate that online learning technology using synchronous, online, video-based, computer-guided, simulated-client microskills drills in real time may be beneficial, may assist counseling students in the developmental process of increasing cognitive complexity and self-efficacy, could lead to decreased anxiety when doing counseling, and might help develop microskills understanding and basic proficiency.

To address the void in scholarly literature, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experiences of counseling supervisors involved in cross-disciplinary supervision in post-educational settings. This research study was qualitative in nature and utilized a phenomenological approach. The central questions being asked were: (a) How do counseling supervisors experience cross-disciplinary supervision? and (b) How does power impact cross-disciplinary supervision? Seven participants were interviewed from the following professional disciplines within the state of North Carolina: social work, professional counseling, marriage and family therapy, and counseling psychology. Data analysis yielded the following textural themes: (a) challenging, (b) collaborative experiencing, (c) impact on belief system, and (d) managing power in relationships. Analysis also yielded the following structural themes: (a) supervision setting, (b) supervision format, (c) supervision structure, and (d) supervision perspective. Supervisors regarded cross-disciplinary supervision as a valuable part of their professional career, despite the challenges. From the findings, cross-disciplinary supervision is an experience of interdependence that encourages professional growth and development, and ultimately supports quality client care. Recommendations for future research include: (a) expanding the target population to include a more diverse supervisor demographic, (b) including field observations, (c) investigating the frequency of supervisees who engage in cross-disciplinary supervision and (d) exploring the impact of a more formal evaluative process, specifically for cross-disciplinary supervision experiences.

Eating disorders have become an ever-increasing phenomenon in the cultural landscape. The irony of a culture of abundance that produces either abnormally abstemious or indulgent food practices is staggering. This study is a qualitative analysis of recovery from three major eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. It is a phenomenological and existential analysis of the lifeworld of those who have had relief from the symptoms for three years or longer. The Maintenance phase recovery in the Stages of a Change model is used as criteria for participation in this study. Terror Management Theory was used as one lens to elucidate that experience to better understand the psychological and emotional changes the subjects encountered throughout their recovery process, Additionally, Van Manen's (1997) four lifeworld existentials defined the phenomenological glance that the study sought to understand the experience of recovery. Five main themes emerged from the data. These themes characterized the experience of the recovered person. These main themes were 1) a change in self-esteem based on honesty towards self and others, 2) a new relationship with the body, 3) a positive change in family relationships, 4) a new autonomy and competence/spirituality, and 5) optimism in the face of adversity/spirituality. A discussion of implications for and uses in counseling and of further research possibilities conclude this dissertation.

Many forms of distance clinical supervision (DCS) have been used in the last decade, but a sparse amount of research addressing (DCS) in counselor education exists to date. The author used random and snowball sampling to survey American Counseling Association members, with a analytic sample total of 96 participants. In the sample, 54.2% of participants were licensed counseling professionals and 39.6% were student or post-masters level interns. The average participant age was 43, ranging from 23 to 74 years. Participants had a mean of 8.1 years of experience. A total of 37.5% of participants had used DCS at some point for supervision sessions. Overall, participants have a positive attitude toward DCS, agreeing most that DCS is a valid form of supervision and that they are interested in learning about DCS. Overall, participants are being minimally exposed to DCS (x¯ = 1.61). A moderate, negative relationship (r = -.39, p < .001) exists between individuals whom have used DCS and attitudes toward DCS (Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003, p. 52). Also, a weak, negative relationship (r = -.23, p < .05) was found between individuals who have used DCS and their level of exposure to DCS. There is a limited amount of literature related to DCS and counseling professionals are being minimally exposed to distance clinical supervision. Despite limited exposure and literature, professionals are still using DCS to conduct supervision sessions. Therefore, it would seem important to increase research focused on DCS and develop relevant practices in order for DCS to be an effective form of supervision.

Historically, school counselors have been the primary facilitators in supporting the career and college transition process for students, but many school counselors do not have the knowledge, resources, or materials to support students in this transition (Belasco, 2013). One way to help support career and college readiness is to develop comprehensive career and college readiness plans that involve more stakeholders than just the counselor and engage the community in supporting students to define and prepare for their paths for after high school (Alleman & Holly, 2013). This convergent parallel mixed methods study investigated what educators,students, and community partners in rural Oregon think is important to include in a career and college readiness plan that supports all students. I used Bronfenbrenner’s (1994) Ecological Model of Human Development to inform my data collection activities, casting a wide net to identify the stakeholder groups that have a potential impact on supporting students in their pursuit of a career or college education beyond high school. The qualitative data came from interviews with five Douglas County high school career and college readiness teams (n = 8 participants), three student focus groups (n = 24), and two partner meetings (n = 15). The quantitative data was gathered through a career and college readiness survey administered to the staff and faculty at 14 Douglas County high schools (n = 74 respondents). I used Farrell & Coburn’s (2016) Absorptive Capacity Theory as the lens through which to analyze the data, coding for the theory’s constructs around how prior knowledge, communication pathways, strategic knowledge leadership, and resources for partnering can be shared and leveraged between high schools and external partners. Findings from this study provide lessons learned about what should be included in a rural high schools’ career and college readiness plan that will help rural communities better support students in their transitions beyond high school.

To highlight exemplary school counseling programs, in 2003, the American School Counselor Association developed the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) as an acknowledgement for those schools that have implemented a comprehensive school counseling program based on the ASCA National Model (American School Counselor Association, 2016b). Since the inception of the RAMP program, 668 schools have earned the RAMP designation. Of those, 189 have current RAMP status and 469 have had RAMP status at some point but have let it lapse.

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that contributed to a school’s decision to continue or discontinue the pursuit of subsequent RAMP designations. This mixed-methods study surveyed 238 schools of various levels (e.g., elementary, middle and high school) located in 36 states. Following the analysis of the questionnaire data, six in-depth interviews were conducted. Two of the interviews were with schools that had earned multiple-consecutive RAMP designations, two were with schools that earned multiple RAMP designations in non-consecutive years, and two were with lapsed RAMP schools.

The findings of this study indicate that current RAMP schools and lapsed RAMP schools that did not have significant turnover within the counseling department from the time of their original RAMP designation, report to be currently implementing comprehensive school counseling programs regardless of their current RAMP status. Additionally, schools that were unwilling to pursue subsequent Re-RAMP designations were likely to cite multiple barriers or challenges that include: time, a lack of support or understanding from school administrators and staffing turnover. Finally, the results indicate that schools are more willing to pursue the Re-RAMP designation if they have a variety of supports in place and perceive the benefits of the designation to be valuable.

Implications of these findings for the association’s management, improvement and support of the Recognized ASCA Model Program are discussed. Further areas for research regarding the various components of comprehensive school counseling programs are suggested.