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This study explored the self-reported symptoms of burnout in a sample of 246 novice professional counselors. The authors inductively analyzed 1,205 discrete units using content analysis, yielding 12 categories and related subcategories. Many emergent categories aligned with existing conceptualizations of burnout, while other categories offered new insights into how burnout manifested for novice professional counselors. Informed by these findings, the authors implore counseling scholars to consider, in their conceptualization of counselor burnout, a wide range of burnout symptoms, including those that were frequently endorsed symptoms (e.g., negative emotional experience, fatigue and tiredness, unfulfilled in counseling work) as well as less commonly endorsed symptoms (e.g., negative coping strategies, questions of one's career choice, psychological distress). Implications for novice professional counselors and supervisors are offered, including a discussion about counselors' experiences of burnout to ensure they are providing ethical services to their clients.

Counseling students often experience clinical supervision for the first time during their participation in practicum courses. Counseling practicum supervisees new to supervision rely on their supervisors to provide direction and structure in supervision experiences to help them grow professionally and personally. Yet little is known about how students view their roles as new supervisees. Supervisors can benefit from structuring and delivering their courses informed by new supervisees' perspectives on their roles. Accordingly, the authors conducted a Q methodology study with a purposeful sample of seven counseling practicum students, a doctoral co-instructor, and a counseling practicum instructor engaged in a first-semester counseling practicum course. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation of Q-sort data revealed three factors depicting supervisee roles (i.e., Dutiful, Discerning, and Expressive Learners). Implications for applying findings to improve supervision instruction and student learning are discussed, including limitations and future research suggestions.

School counselors are uniquely qualified to meet the increasing mental health needs of students within the school setting. Play therapy is an evidence-based intervention used by school counselors to address the mental health needs of youth. Job demands require school counselors to provide goal-focused and time-sensitive interventions. Accordingly, this article describes how to utilize play therapy within the ASCA National Model and provides examples for elementary school counselors implementing play therapy interventions with students. A case example illustrates individual play therapy goal setting.

This study examined differences in 149 counselor education doctoral students' self-efficacy toward teaching related to their number of experiences with fieldwork in teaching (FiT). Results showed counselor education doctoral students began FiT experiences with high levels of self-efficacy, which decreased after one to two FiT experiences, increased slightly after three to four FiT experiences, and increased significantly after five or more FiT experiences. We discuss implications for how counselor education doctoral programs can implement and supervise FiT experiences as part of their teaching preparation practices. Finally, we identify limitations of the study and offer future research suggestions for investigating FiT experiences in counselor education.

Using item response theory, we examined the psychometric properties of scores on the Trauma-Informed Practice Scales -- Supervision Version (TIPS-SV) -- a unidimensional measure of supervisees' perceptions of their supervisors' adherence to trauma-informed supervision -- in a sample of 312 supervisees. Implications for research and supervision practice are discussed.

Burnout is a statistically significant phenomenon for school counselors, correlated with various individual and organizational factors, which have been studied independently. Therefore, we investigated both individual and organizational factors of burnout conceptualized as a multidimensional phenomenon with 227 school counselors. Multidimensional burnout was measured by the five subscales of the Counselor Burnout Inventory, which included Exhaustion, Incompetence, Negative Work Environment, Devaluing Clients, and Deterioration in Personal Life. Using hierarchal regression analyses, we found individual and organizational factors accounted for 66.6% of the variance explained in Negative Work Environment, 38.3% of the variance explained in Deterioration in Personal Life, 36.7% of the variance explained in Incompetence, 35.1% of the variance explained in Exhaustion, and 14.0% of the variance explained in Devaluing Clients. We discuss implications of the findings for school counselors and supervisors. Identifying the multidimensions of burnout and its correlates, addressing self-care and professional vitality goals, communicating defined school counselor roles, providing mentoring opportunities, and increasing advocacy skills may help alleviate burnout.

The three-factor model structure of the School Counseling Program Implementation Survey was tested with a national sample (N=275) of school counselors. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) suggested a modified two-factor model was the most appropriate fit. Implications and future research for the school counseling profession are discussed.

In the present study, we examined the predictive relationships between individual and organizational factors and multidimensional wellness, as described by the Indivisible Self wellness model. Participants were 297 practicing school counselors from across the United States. Using hierarchical regression analyses, we found predictive relationships between years of experience, race and ethnicity, gender, and amount of time engaged in monthly consultation with several dimensions of wellness.

Thirty-two counselor educators completed Q sorts measuring beliefs about helpful learning for clinical mental health counseling students. Four viewpoints developed: Preparing Scientists of Counseling, Preparing Agents of Change, Preparing Lifelong Learner-Practitioners, Preparing Artists of Counseling. Implications for teaching and curricula within counselor education programs and future research directions are discussed.

We examined the psychometric properties of the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) with 560 early career, post-master's counselors. We tested the dimensional structure of the CBI, item ordering, and the function of the rating scale using item response theory. Implications of the findings for researchers, counselors, and counselor educators are discussed.

We examined the longitudinal psychometric properties of the Perceived Stress Scale – 4 items version (PSS‐4) using item response theory with a sample of 361 mental health counsellors. Participants completed the PSS‐4 at three timepoints at six‐month intervals in a one‐year period. There were 290 participants who (80.3%) identified as female, 51 (14.1%) identified as male, eight (2.2%) identified as gender variant/non‐conforming, seven (1.9%) wrote in their own gender identity (e.g., genderqueer, gender expansive), three (0.8%) identified as Transgender male, and two (0.6%) did not respond to the item. The racial and ethnic backgrounds were as follows: White (87.3%), Multiracial (5.5%), Latino or Hispanic or Spanish (2.8%), Black or African American (1.4%), Asian (0.8%), Middle Eastern (0.8%), and five did not respond to the item (1.4%). We found unidimensionality evidence of the PSS‐4 across all three timepoints and response categories were monotonically ordered. We also found that across all timepoints, the average person location was lower than the average item location, suggesting that the PSS‐4 may not be well‐targeted for this sample of mental health counsellors. We observed no significant interactions between timepoints, hours worked per week, and length of employment. Implications of the findings, including a discussion of the utility of the PSS‐4 as a global measure of stress and with mental health counsellors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Trauma Informed Practice Scales – School Counseling Programs Version scores using item response theory with a sample of 270 school counselors. Participants ranged in age from 24 to 69 years (M = 42.82, SD = 9.96). Participants identified as female (81.5%), male (14.1%) or unreported (4.4%,). Participants' racial and ethnic backgrounds were: White (79.3%), African American or Black (5.6%), Multiracial (5.2%), Latino/Hispanic/Spanish (4.8%), American Indian/Alaskan Native (0.4%), Other (0.4%), or unreported (4.4%). Participants from 14 states completed an online survey, which included demographics questions and the TIPS-SCP. After removing the poorly performing items, partial credit model estimates explained 58.63% of the variance in participant responses. We found psychometric evidence to support its ability to capture trauma informed practices in schools and school counseling programs. The TIPS-SCP is a brief instrument to provide school counselors with a self-assessment of their trauma informed practices. The TIPS-SCP can aid school counselors in making data-informed decisions about immediate and future incorporations of integrating trauma informed practices into their schools and school counseling programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used structural equation modeling to test client meaningful experiences in counseling and the therapeutic working alliance (TWA) as predictors of affective distress, controlling for clients' age, gender, race and ethnicity, and length of counseling relationship. In a sample of 306 adult clients engaging in counseling, we a found statistically significant relationship between client meaningful experiences in counseling and the TWA (r = 0.80, p < 0.001). There was a significant and negative direct effect from client meaningful experiences in counseling to affective distress (β = −0.45, p < 0.001). However, we did not find a significant direct effect of the TWA on affective distress (β = −0.00, p = 0.97). Implications for counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a statewide survey of 291 participants, professional school counselors in Alabama reported being burdened by noncounseling duties. Noncounseling duties frustrated the school counselors and prevented their alignment with the American School Counselor Association's standards and competencies. This article reports additional analysis of the data from that survey. Three overarching and urgent concerns emerged: (a) Alabama school counselors have significant noncounseling duties, (b) Alabama school counselors feel overwhelmed and misunderstood, and (c) Alabama school counselors need increased support and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During adolescence, females experience a decline in self-esteem and may meet with significant challenges to their mental health and wellbeing. High rates of social media usage can cause additional challenges to their self-esteem in the form of cyberbullying and body image. School counselors, whose roles are to ensure students' academic, social/emotional, and career needs are being met, can help adolescent females feel connected and promote positive self-esteem through small groups. This article outlines the proposal for a nine-session, psychoeducational small group counseling program for middle school counselors to use with adolescent females struggling with low self-esteem. This article addresses additional considerations related to COVID-19 and setting up the small group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the relationships between individual and occupational demographic variables, professional quality of life (i.e., compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress), and affective distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) in a sample of 524 prelicensed counselors. Using structural equation analysis, we found statistically significant relationships between the professional quality of life and affective distress latent variables. Implications for supporting the needs of prelicensed counselors in supervision are discussed. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors conducted a phenomenological qualitative study of counselor students' experiences of learning about wellness guided by the Indivisible Self (Myers & Sweeney, 2004). Participants (N = 11) engaged in the experiential wellness activities during co-curricular group meetings throughout one academic year. Data were analyzed and three themes emerged: Wellness Considerations, Wellness Connections, and Wellness Applications. Limitations and directions for future research are illustrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]