1. PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLOR IDENTITY EVOLUTION: researching counsellor knowledge, attitudes, and skills
BACP 2016
BACP Brighton, 2016

2. Presenters: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Dr
Presenters: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Colette Dollarhide Dr. Darcy Haag-Granello Dr. Paul Granello
BACP 2016

3. WHAT IS PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY?
Integration of professional training with personal attributes in the context of a professional community
(Gibson, Dollarhide, & Moss, 2010)
Self-labeling as professional
Competence as professional (KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS)
Internal locus of professional decision-making (ATTITUDES)
Sense of self within professional community
* Interpersonal
BACP 2016

4. What was your greatest learning experience in your training?
BACP 2016

5. DOMAINS OF IDENTITY PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE: PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES:
Cognitive
PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES:
Affective
*Professional Community: Context
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
Behavior
BACP 2016

6. Cognitive development in counsellor identity--
BACP 2016
KNOWLEDGE

7. COGNITIVELY COMPLEX COUNSELLORS…
More effective at client understanding, case conceptualization, & in generating appropriate clinical hypotheses
More sophisticated in their client descriptions
More flexible, empathetic, & autonomous
More multiculturally competent; Less prejudiced
Less anxious & self-focused
BACP 2016

8. THREE QUANTITATIVE STUDIES
Counselling Students
3 points in Counselling Program (1. beginning, 2. after practicum, 3. end of program)
Cross-Sectional (Monotonic Trend ANOVA)
Longitudinal (Repeated Measures MANOVA)
Practicing Counsellors
Cross-Sectional (Stepwise Regression, Somer’s d)
All Measured Assumptions about Nature of Knowledge
Perry’s Model of Cognitive Complexity
Learning Environment Preferences (LEP)
BACP 2016

9. RESULTS Counselling Students Practicing Counsellors
Cross-Sectional: Statistically significant monotonic trend based on level in program (small effect size)
Longitudinal: Statistically significant change in cognitive complexity over program (med-large effect)
Most change occurred during internship
Practicing Counsellors
Years in Practice predicted 10% of variance
Addition of Highest Degree predicted 13% of variance
Progression through Perry’s stages, with statistically significant differences based on years in practice (0-5; 6-9; 10-15; 15+) (medium effect size)
BACP 2016

10. Affective development in counsellor identity--
BACP 2016
ATTITUDES

11. Challenges of Affective Learning
Lack of perceived connection to traditional coursework
Difficult to assess
Legal/ethical concerns over imposing values
Lack of support from university or agency
Resistance from students
BACP 2016

12. Study of social justice identity development
Exploratory phenomenological study of social justice identity
60-90 minute phone interviews, taped and transcribed
Respondents: 10 self-identified social justice workers in counselor education (doctoral students and faculty)
BACP 2016

13. findings Awakening & awareness; family values or own diversity
Challenges and supports were experienced in affect, behavior, cognition, context
Affective development (reflects Affective Taxonomy):
Reflecting on value of diversity
Valuing diversity in all ways
Organizing work around social justice
Organizing self around social justice
Social Justice Identity is current lived reality
“It’s who I am” “I can’t NOT be working for social justice in all aspects of my life”
Meaning, Purpose, Fulfillment, Confidence
BACP 2016

14. Behavioral development in counselor identity--
BACP 2016
SKILLS

15. Practitioner Research
Practitioner Research: Field Work Caseloads
Practitioner Research
Kurt Lewin: “Research that produces nothing but books will not suffice”
Wide landscape: action research, teacher research, and inquiry as practice
Published nationally and internationally in peer reviewed journals
Generates research questions from reality of practice
Findings useful to practitioners in field and may be part of social movement for school transformation or curricular change
Depends on both traditional and innovative data collection and rules of evidence.

16. Curious About Caseloads
Practitioner Research: Field Work Caseloads
Curious About Caseloads
What is the nature of student caseloads in Counsellor Education today?
How many clients?
Where are students working?
What types of diagnoses?
How stressful?
What about supervision?
How prepared do students feel?
What about suicide and trauma training?
Qualtrics Survey Software, Export to SPSS
16 items
N = 90
11 Institutions
Gender: 83% female
Age: M = (33) (range = 23-69)

17. MAJOR FINDINGS 63% Adequately or Well Prepared
32% No Info or 1 Lecture on Suicide
35% No Info or 1 Lecture on Trauma
> 50% of Cases were Difficult, Very Difficult, or Extremely Difficult
BACP 2016

18. YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION
TAKE OUT A PIECE OF PAPER
WRITE A QUESTION YOU WOULD LIKE TO RESEARCH ABOUT PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
BACP 2016