Tag Archives: Counselor Educators Audience

Counselor Educators Audience

Counseling Connoisseur: Fostering female mentorship in counseling

By Cheryl Fisher August 31, 2022

My cell phone lights up with a text from my 15-year-old client. He is mad at his parents who are constantly arguing and often use him as a pawn, and he has skipped school to make a point. He took his bike and rode to a local convenience store. His text says, “I will show them!”

In the process of calling my client, I get another call: It is his father. The call goes to voicemail, and he leaves a message saying that he is worried because his son left a note that he is running away. He has called the police and wonders if I have heard from his son.

I am torn. I want to maintain the trust of my client, but I also recognize that he is a minor and could be putting himself in harm’s way. His parents are extremely dysfunctional and are no doubt blaming each other for their son’s disappearance.

I take a deep breath and then pull up the phone numbers of three women who have served as my professors, clinical supervisors and now dear friends. I text, “I need a consult now. Are you available?” Within seconds my phone lights up again. When I answer, I hear the calm voice of one of my mentors. I summarize the situation and my concerns. She reiterates that my client is a minor and regardless of how dysfunctional the estranged parents are, they need to know the location of their son. After processing with her, I decide to call the father and provide him with the son’s location. I also point out for the 100th time that he and his ex-wife need to seek counseling to better navigate co-parenting because the current situation is too stressful for their son. The father thanks me and hangs up.

I immediately call my client to let him know that his father is on his way to find him and to give the client space to diffuse from the morning’s event. I apologize for the breach of his confidence and remind him that as a minor he could be in harm’s way by running off. I validate his frustration. And I ask for his forgiveness. He pauses a moment and then says, “Yeah, I figured you’d have to tell my parents. I am mad … but not at you. We’re good!” Then he sees his dad’s car pull into the parking lot and says, “I guess I’ll see you in session.”

I let out the breath that I felt like I had had been holding since my client’s initial text and call my mentor to thank her for the consultation and support.

The benefits of mentorship

Mentorship is when a more experienced person provides guidance to a less experienced person. The relationship may be formal (e.g., programs for emerging leaders) or informal (e.g., naturally occurring relationships that may develop between student and faculty). In a 2011 article published in Counselor Education and Supervision, L. DiAnne Borders and colleagues found informal mentoring relationships to be more “visible, meaningful, comfortable, individualized, effective, and long-lasting.”

Stephanie Maccombs and Christine Bhat, in 2020 article published in the Journal of Counselor Leadership and Advocacy, identified two areas where mentorship relationships can be most impactful: career development and psychosocial development. In addition to providing a way for the mentee to make connections in the industry, research consistently finds that engaging in a mentoring relationship is associated with positive outcomes for both mentor and mentee. For example, people who receive mentoring are more likely to experience career satisfaction and advancement. Additionally, students in mentoring relationships are more likely to complete dissertations and take advantage of professional leadership and research opportunities. This is especially true for female students.

Women in counselor education

Currently, there is not much data on women’s leadership in higher education. Ashley Gray, a senior analyst for the American Council on Education (ACE), studies leadership patterns in higher education and recommends that a deeper dive into the intersectionality of identities and experiences are needed to inform policy and practice of higher education (see Gray’s article in the 2021 edition of ACE’s International Briefs for Higher Education Leaders).

Although there are more women enrolled in higher education and appointed to junior faculty roles, too few female leaders exist in counselor education. Female leadership styles have historically been found to emphasize collaboration and teamwork which tend to promote innovation, and we need more innovative and transformative leadership to help navigate the existing challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Systemic barriers

Women in higher education must often navigate competing efforts. These include balancing family and work responsibilities, navigating pregnancy and childbirth with the tenure time frame, and establishing relational networks that may be diminished by a patriarchal social structure. The pandemic further highlighted and exacerbated gender inequities: The increase in virtual learning brought the classroom into the home and caused women in higher education to navigate remote work and child care.

In their article “Only second-class tickets for women in the COVID-19 race. A study on manuscript submissions and reviews” (published in PLoS ONE in 2021), Flaminio Squazzoni and colleagues used the term “she-cession” to describe the disproportionate gender disadvantages created by the pandemic. Women submitted fewer manuscripts, participated in less research and applied for fewer research grants during the pandemic. However, there appeared to be an opposite impact on men in higher education, with more men publishing academic works during the pandemic.

Challon Casto and colleagues noted in their 2005 article published in the Journal of Counseling & Development that female counselor educators often lack the inside knowledge of internal structures and politics across department and university structures. This places women at a disadvantage in traditional “good old boy” systems that thrive on strong networks. The authors recommended creating a formal and informal system that connects female graduate students and marginalized students with mentors to help navigate the unspoken rules of graduate school and advancement.

Women’s Inclusion Mentorship Framework

Maccombs and Bhat created the Women’s Inclusion Mentorship Framework (WIMF), a model of mentorship specifically for women in counselor education programs. The WIMF provides mentorship opportunities and leadership development to any interested female student or faculty member. Based on their extensive review of research of higher education and mentorship in counselor education, Maccombs and Bhat identified four areas emphasized in the WIMF approach: (a) a relational-cultural focus, (b) quality mentors and mentor-mentee matches, (c) vision and plan development and (d) mentoring interventions specific to counseling and women.

A relational-cultural focus

Research consistently finds that mentorship relationships in counselor education contribute to psychosocial and clinical growth and, as noted by Maccombs and Bhat, to “a sense of empowerment, increased insight, increased self-efficacy” that results in mutual respect and empathy. Therefore, Maccombs and Bhat recommend that mentorship relationships are fostered between mentor and mentees who self-identify as women. Women mentors emphasize nurturing the relationship and encourage interconnectedness and the sharing of empowerment and authenticity. Interventions in line with this approach include self-reflection, self-care, connection to groups (such as in group writing) and recognition of the collective accomplishments of other women in the academic community.

Quality mentors and mentor-mentee matches

Quality mentorship can be challenging. Faculty are inundated with responsibilities and even the most well-intended mentor may fall short if they do not have the time to commit to the relationship. Additionally, incompatible pairing can be frustrating to both mentor and mentee. Mentors need ongoing training and support to be effective and sustainable. Maccombs and Bhat suggest that female mentors actively recruit other women in counselor education programs to a meet-and-greet event at the beginning of the academic year. This approach allows for an informal connection to occur organically between mentor and mentee, as mentors and mentees exchange information regarding research interests and academic and leadership experiences. And it also reduces the chances of incompatible pairing.

Vision and plan development

Maccombs and Bhat also recommend that that counselors outline the expectations of the mentorship relationship. Research indicates that clear expectations are associated with a more effective and satisfying mentorship experience. Additionally, mentees are encouraged to identify clear indicators of their academic and career vision. These could include increasing industry networking or scholarships such as publications or conference presentations. In addition to performance indicators, leader attributes and behaviors can be explored in a more measurable approach by using Chi Sigma Iota’s Principles and Practices of Leadership Excellence or the Dynamic Leadership in Counseling Scale — Self- Report (developed by W. Bradley McKibben and colleagues).

Mentoring interventions specific to counseling and women

Maccombs and Bhat encourage counselor education departments to consider allowing two to four hours of dedicated mentoring time a month. A flexible meeting schedule that works best for the mentor and mentee will be more successful. Additionally, a family-friendly approach that allows for child-care options or virtual meetings will be supportive of female mentees and mentors who may be caregivers. Service, research and teaching success include learning how to navigate these demands and other obligations. During pre-enrollment interviews, I encourage student applicants to approach their graduate degree as a “family degree” by recruiting the support of their partners, friends and family members in a variety of ways, including outsourcing some tasks and setting healthy boundaries. For example, family members can help with setting timers for lunch breaks on the weekend when the graduate student is immersed in research and writing papers.

According to Maccombs and Bhat, additional strategies around research and service include “being persistent, … avoiding personalizing the barriers, staying true to one’s personal plan or vision, and engaging in self-care.” It also helps if you are surrounded by a support system who can cheer you on during challenging times, such as dissertation editing.

Focusing on service activities that align with your areas of expertise or personal interests can create an extension of your personal worldview. My research interest in nature therapy, for example, has led me to be more engaged in sustainable ways and serve as the Green Office Ambassador for my counseling program. In this role, I helped the department identify ways to be more responsible with resources and sustainable in practices.

Finally, creating an environment of collaboration will aid in accessing the resources and knowledge to be successful in scholarship, teaching and service. Recently, I identified an area for growth at my university around research support for online faculty, who are mostly women in my department. I met with executive leadership and discussed my observations and suggestions. This resulted in plans to form a student and faculty clearinghouse for resources (e.g., research projects, grant opportunities) and a forum for trainings and mentorship on research development, implementation and publication.

Conclusion

Research indicates that mentorship relationships promote growth and satisfaction, professionally and personally. Women are often disadvantaged by historical academic and professional structures. But the WIMF provides one approach to capitalize on the mentorship relationship between women.

I have been fortunate in my career because I have always been surrounded by wise and empowered women. Women who dared to offer their secrets of success and wisdom in mentorship. They have shaped me professionally, informed me clinically and ultimately transformed me personally.

Whether it was providing me with feedback to hone my clinical skills, observing and ever so gently illuminating countertransference observed in a session, or simply bearing witness to my struggles of navigating work, family and graduate school, these women crafted a web of support as well as strategy that continues to sustain me as a clinician, counselor educator and administrator of a counselor education program.

I am forever grateful to the wise women who not only taught me how to be a strong clinical counselor but also guided me into my role as a counselor educator so that I may also mentor women entering the field of counseling.

In appreciation to my mentors, Sharon Cheston, Gerry Fialkowski and Rev. Anne Stewart.

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Cheryl Fisher is a licensed clinical professional counselor in private practice in Annapolis, Maryland. She is director and associate professor for Alliant International University California School of Professional Psychology’s online master’s in clinical counseling. Her research interests include examining sexuality and spirituality in young women with advanced breast cancer, nature-informed therapy and geek therapy. Contact her at cyfisherphd@gmail.com.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Returning to campus with a wellness focus

By Bethany Bray December 16, 2021

Youngstown State University (YSU) held most of its classes virtually throughout the 2020-2021 school year to ensure the safety of students and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In some ways, this has led to two classes of freshman on the campus this year, says Kristin Bruns, an associate professor and coordinator of the College Counseling and Student Affairs program at YSU: True freshman who are beginning their college careers and sophomores who are interacting with peers on campus potentially for the first time.

Last year, YSU students did not have regular access to the locations and activities that often foster friendships and connection organically, such as eating in dining halls and in-person events organized by student affairs offices. That shift, along with the overall stress of the pandemic, has affected student wellness across the board, most notably in the realms of mental health and social wellness, notes Bruns, a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC).

YSU’s student counseling center saw such an increase in demand for services last year that they contracted Bruns and Amy Williams, a colleague who is an LPCC and assistant professor in YSU’s Department of Psychological Sciences and Counseling, to counsel students in addition to their teaching duties.

When Bruns and Williams applied for and were awarded a federally funded COVID-19 relief grant this past summer to support students’ mental health as the YSU campus reopened in the fall of 2021, they knew the project should have a wellness focus. The result is a campus-wide program with dozens of initiatives focused on student wellness, including a depression screening event; sessions on conflict resolution, stress management and many other topics; and incentives for students to engage in wellness-focused activities.

The YSU Department of Campus Recreation was already using a wellness model with nine pillars (emotional, career, spiritual, physical, financial, aesthetic, environmental, social and intellectual) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was a natural fit to use that same model for the grant program, Bruns says. Each month has roughly 10 activities or initiatives focused on one of the wellness model’s pillars.

“From a college student development lens, we know that learning is not just academic learning,” Bruns says. “Students learn through being engaged on campus. The [grant program’s] focus is to get them engaged not just with wellness topics but [also] with peers.”

“Given that many things happened virtually for over a year and many are still happening in a virtual format, there have been challenges to get students reengaged on campus,” she continues. “Students talk about how difficult it is. They’re learning or relearning what opportunities exist for being engaged on campus. For those who have been online primarily at the end of the high school experience and then entrance to college, they may be learning how to make friends in this atmosphere. We have needed to equip them with skills on how to ask questions [and] how to approach a professor or a peer.”

Adding to this learning curve is the fact that some students are still struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased anxiety, loss over last year’s missed experiences and financial worries, Bruns adds.

When planning the grant program, aptly named “Bouncing back from COVID-19,” Bruns and her cohort partnered with more than 20 different offices on the YSU campus to create and help promote wellness-focused activities. They are also making the program’s resources and materials available to YSU staff, and some professors have been incorporating lessons on topics such as resilience and stress management into classes.

Ten YSU counseling graduate students are involved and help run activities and information booths, such as a monthly table events with resources and giveaways.

Program organizers are intentional about distributing resources and information about how to find support, both on the YSU campus and in the local community, at each wellness activity, Bruns says. They also hosted a workshop for faculty at the start of the year on students’ needs in the midst of the pandemic, including a recommendation to check in with students regularly and information on how best respond to student concerns.

Campus-wide workshops for students have included sessions on making smart choices with substance use, organization and time management, mental health and mindfulness, and physical health, including the importance of hydration, sleep, healthy eating and physical activity.

Bruns, Williams and their cohort will report the full results of the grant program later in 2022, but so far, they’ve seen it boost student engagement and make campus reentry a little easier for all involved.

“Our wellness focus is trying to take away the stigma of [help seeking] and understand that an approach through a self-care and wellness lens can help better manage symptoms and mental health,” Bruns says. “We are engaging students by bringing the opportunities to them in a variety of ways (e.g., to the classroom, tabling in the student union, hosting small groups and campus-wide workshops). We wanted to make the materials and information accessible to the students and for them to have these types of conversations to see they aren’t alone in their wellness journey. We knew that it was a need.”

Find out more about the grant program at ysu.edu/bouncing-back.

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Look for an in-depth cover story on addressing client wellness in the January 2022 issue of Counseling Today.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Incorporating interprofessional education and practice in counselor development

by Judy Schmidt April 13, 2021

As the complexity of care for people with mental health needs increases, more counselors are serving on interdisciplinary teams responding to the acute and chronic needs of their clients. Many people with serious mental illness may also have co-occurring physical disorders such as cardiovascular disease or nutritional/metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes, obesity), as reviewed by Mark De Hert and colleagues in 2011. These individuals require increased medical care involving physicians, nurses, dietitians, and radiologic and clinical laboratory specialists. Social work also coordinates care with mental health teams for community resource support and with vocational rehabilitation counselors to assist with employment needs. Thus, counselors’ understanding of the role and function of interprofessional collaboration in providing care is vital for achieving quality outcomes.

As a counselor educator, I strive to create opportunities for students to develop strong communication and leadership skills during their clinical training. When I invite alumni to talk with students about different aspects of building their career, many discuss their work on community-based mental health teams. They explain having to learn to work with people outside the counseling profession — nurses, psychiatrists, physical and occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, pharmacists, police officers and others. I began to understand the need for our students to have better skills for team-based care. So, I worked with our faculty to offer more opportunities to expose our students to a wider range of care providers and delved into the research on interprofessional education and practice (IPEP).

During this time, I engaged with faculty from physical and occupational therapy in our Department of Allied Health Sciences who were involved in IPEP. Through them, I started learning more about IPEP in medicine, nursing and other health affairs schools on campus. My personal exposure to interdisciplinary care began in earnest when, as part of my clinical faculty duties, I started working part time as the rehabilitation counselor on the acute inpatient rehabilitation unit at our hospital located on campus. This fully immersed me in an interprofessional setting with providers from all health disciplines.

This required me to be a member of a team of varied professionals focused on quality patient care that depended on strong communication, an understanding of team members’ roles in providing care, and the use of best practices for supporting the team. I witnessed (and contributed to) interprofessional practice at its finest being carried out every day. I was hooked and worked with other allied health faculty to find ways for our students to engage with one another. With the support of our dean, I became the coordinator for IPEP for our department.

Two years ago, when our university leadership developed a campuswide initiative for intentionally integrating IPEP and created a formal office for it, I was ready to represent our Department of Allied Health Sciences as the director of IPEP. I work closely with other directors from all health disciplines as well as public health, social work, business and education to intentionally build IPEP across curricula. Student and faculty support have been tremendous. I see the need to expand knowledge of IPEP to counselor education as a whole and to build these endeavors into our programs to ensure that future counselors can easily transition to interprofessional care and become leaders on these teams.

Thus, counselor educators should be aware of current interprofessional teamwork practices and curriculum frameworks that provide opportunities for students to understand their roles on these teams, effectively describe and implement counseling services, and uphold the culture of interdisciplinary care. Establishing opportunities for counseling students to participate in IPEP with stakeholders was a critical need noted by Kaprea Johnson and Krystal Freeman in 2014 in their work on integrating IPEP into mental health counselor education. This knowledge will help new counselors understand their role in a variety of settings and learn appropriate communication strategies for sharing knowledge in team settings. IPEP trainings for graduate students also helps dispel preconceived ideas about other professional team members’ roles and highlights the importance of quality care.

Core competencies

In 2009, the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) was formed by six national health profession education associations covering nursing, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, medicine and public health. Their goal was to advance interprofessional learning strategies to enhance skills in team-based care that promote quality health outcomes. The collaborative also established core competencies in providing interdisciplinary care for student clinical training programs. By 2016, IPEC had expanded its academic partnerships to include 21 health-related institutions. Its vision is to promote interprofessional teamwork and collaborative practice that reinforces quality, accessible, person-centered care that improves population health.

IPEC has four core competencies that guide the development of curricular content:

Values/ethics for interprofessional practice to build and maintain mutual respect and shared values in patient care
Knowledge of roles/responsibilities in interdisciplinary teams to help assess and address health care needs
Interprofessional communication that is supportive and responsive to team-based care and treatment and prevention of disease
Teams and teamwork that uphold high values and principles recognizing different team members’ roles in planning, delivering and evaluating patient care, programs and policies

The overarching goal for IPEP is for health care workers to learn from, with and about each other.

These competencies also promote the principles of the “Quadruple Aim” in health care. Three of the principles were originally developed in 2007 by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to promote health system reform to improve patient experiences, reduce costs and increase better outcomes. The fourth principle, improving the clinical experience for providers, was added in 2015, primarily to address and manage clinician burnout.

Counselor training opportunities that embrace these competencies help students understand their team roles, effectively describe and implement their services, learn appropriate methods for sharing knowledge in team settings, and uphold the culture of interdisciplinary teamwork. Overall, curriculum structures that promote opportunities that integrate the IPEP competencies help develop graduates who are leaders in their field. These graduates will possess the skills for teamwork that can address challenges in providing quality health care, including in the counseling field.

IPEP in relation to accreditation and licensure requirements

CACREP recognizes the need for counselor education programs to provide specific information and training to students about interprofessional care and their respective roles on these teams. On its website, CACREP states that it is a member of the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative, which works to promote learning opportunities that prepare students for interprofessional practice. Requirements for interprofessional education opportunities are outlined in the 2016 CACREP Standards in Section 2, Standard F.1.c. and Section 5, Standard D.2.b.

The 2014 ACA Code of Ethics clearly states in Section D, Relationships With Other Professionals, the importance of being a part of interdisciplinary teamwork (Standard D.1.c.) and understanding the professional and ethical obligations as a team member (Standard D.1.d.). In 2017, the Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors provided guidelines for certified rehabilitation counselors working as members of interdisciplinary teams that provide complex and comprehensive services to people with disabilities. Section E, Relationships With Other Professionals and Employers, outlines these ethical responsibilities in Standards E.1., E.2.a. and E.2.b.

Thus, counselor education programs are called to build relationships among all stakeholders (administration, faculty, students and community partners for clinical training) that are crucial for successful IPEP development and implementation, as noted by Daniel Kinnair and colleagues (2012) and Kaprea Johnson and Krystal Freeman (2014).

IPEP experiences for counselor education and development

Innovative ideas for incorporating IPEP experiences in counselor education include collaborative learning experiences with other professions, problem-based learning events and simulation activities. One of the best approaches for initially developing IPEP in counseling programs is to seek opportunities with other departments on campus that may have similar graduate-level introductory courses that include content on disability rights and current health care issues such as quality indicators of care, disparities in care, implicit bias and leadership development. These topics lend themselves to developing interdisciplinary journal clubs, case-based events for problem-solving and opportunities for students to talk about their different professions or why they chose their career path in graduate school. Most importantly, these activities will help students begin to understand and clarify their roles and how they fit in interprofessional teams. Their professional thinking may be challenged by understanding different viewpoints, decreasing the use of jargon, and building confidence and leadership for future teamwork.

IPEP events that are more intentional with specific learning outcomes require more planning. However, working with other health professionals on campus or in field placements to design opportunities will prevent reinventing the wheel and will model interprofessional collaboration for students. Examples of IPEP activities designed around specific learning objectives for students include case-based learning experiences, seminars with small-group discussions and debriefs, and clinical simulations that use videos or actors to play patients and portray different health issues and patient ages. Service-learning opportunities, particularly focused on rural health care, can bring students together from many disciplines, including business, education, legal care and faith-based organizations. These opportunities serve as excellent avenues for learning from, with and about each other to serve the community.

Field placements for clinical work offer built-in opportunities for IPEP in clinical agencies where interdisciplinary teamwork is provided. These preceptors will have practical knowledge to share about their teamwork and examples of interprofessional care that works and does not work. They can also offer opportunities for counseling students to incorporate counseling theory with IPEP practice and to reflect on potential ethical dilemmas for counselors when providing team-based care. These environments can help all students, not just counseling students, learn how to deal with complex issues and bridge theory to practice difficulties in providing clinical care as new professionals. Furthermore, these experiential learning opportunities are very important in IPEP because they offer environments in which professionals and students can interact and reflect on practices for improved care.

It is important to note that the four IPEC core competencies discussed earlier should always guide a program’s IPEP initiatives and curriculum. Students and faculty should be able to explain how the activity meets the competencies. Evaluation by participants for each event is critical to ensure that the goals of the training are being met and that it represents a valuable learning opportunity. Faculty development for counselor educators and other health disciplines and IPEP partners is critical to designing, developing, implementing and assessing successful learning opportunities.

In the planning of IPEP events, it is crucial to involve students from the beginning. They may have friends or contacts in other departments or community agencies that have resources or programs that can be used to help with planning and executing events. Encouraging students to take leadership roles in working with faculty to develop IPEP on campus is an excellent way to build their leadership skills and a commitment to interprofessional learning.

Value in counselor development

Incorporating IPEP into counselor education programs can increase opportunities for clinical participation with other related disciplines in a manner that helps counseling students develop a strong professional identity. Well-planned IPEP activities build on the knowledge being learned in the classroom and increase critical thinking skills by evaluating complex care needs from multiple perspectives. In addition, students see faculty and professionals from other disciplines working together during IPEP activities, modeling effective interprofessional teamwork that may not be experienced during training.

IPEP training offers opportunities for students to better understand aspects of patient-centered care, holistic treatment and shared decision-making practices that guide teams in their goals for achieving outcomes. But most importantly, students enjoy IPEP events. They naturally form their own interdisciplinary groups for further discussion after participating in IPEP opportunities and develop friendships that can lead to building a better workforce in the future.

Our students have their own campuswide Student Executive Committee with representation from all the schools participating in IPEP. They plan formal and informal events that promote IPEP and serve as liaisons between the IPEP office and student groups across campus to increase awareness of interprofessional learning and collaboration as part of their academic experience. These students are leaders on campus and are also developing into our future leaders in counseling and in team-based community care. Actually, they are why we have a deep commitment to IPEP on our campus. And they are worth it.

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Judy Schmidt is the director of Interprofessional Education and Practice (IPEP) for the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of the leadership team for the university’s Office of IPEP, which is dedicated to working collaboratively to transform health education and prepare professionals from different disciplines to work better together for quality patient care. She is a clinical assistant professor in the department and a certified rehabilitation counselor. Contact her at judy_schmidt@med.unc.edu.

Counseling Today reviews unsolicited articles written by American Counseling Association members. To access writing guidelines and tips for having an article accepted for publication, visit ct.counseling.org/feedback.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

Exploring class privilege in counselor education

By Cynthia Miller, Frankie Fachilla and Jennifer Greene-Rooks February 9, 2021

James is a student in the first year of his master’s program in counseling. Typically very conscientious and enthusiastic, he recently started to leave class early without any explanation. Last week, he missed all of his classes and did not contact anyone to explain his absence.

When his adviser calls him to express concern, James says that his car recently broke down and he does not have the money to pay for repairs. He’s been relying on friends to help him get to and from class. He’s been leaving early because that was the only time someone could give him a ride home. Last week, he couldn’t find anyone to give him a ride. He’s been too embarrassed to ask his classmates or his professors for help.

Stephanie is in the final year of her doctoral program and has been applying for teaching positions. Despite good grades, multiple honors within her program, good teaching reviews from students, and strong recommendations, she is having difficulty getting interviews. Stephanie recently received feedback that her curriculum vitae lacks evidence of significant professional involvement. Reviewers have been concerned that she has not shown evidence of attending or presenting at state, regional and national conferences. Although she is a member of the American Counseling Association, she has not joined any divisions or state chapters.

Stephanie is frustrated and discouraged. She has not been able to afford the registration, travel, lodging and meal expenses associated with conferences, nor could she pay for multiple professional memberships. She feels that her financial position during her doctoral studies is being held against her during her job search.

Celia is a single mother of three living in a multigenerational home with her children and her elderly parents. She has worked as a case manager for several years, and her supervisor has been consistently impressed with her work ethic, empathy, creativity and critical thinking. Her supervisor has been encouraging her to pursue her master’s degree for years.

Celia recently met with the program director of a counseling program at a local university. She was excited to learn about the classes she could take and the career possibilities that would be available to her if she enrolled and completed the degree. However, when Celia learned that she would have to complete an unpaid internship, she became discouraged. As the sole provider for her family, she cannot afford to give up her full-time job to do an unpaid internship, and the counseling program did not have any sites that offered internship hours only in the evenings and on weekends. Celia ultimately decided not to enroll.

Stories such as James’, Stephanie’s and Celia’s are familiar to many counselor educators, but these stories remain rarely discussed despite the counseling profession’s rich history of promoting awareness of, and respect for, issues pertaining to multiculturalism, diversity and social justice. Both the ACA Code of Ethics and the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies developed by the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development highlight the need for counselors to be aware of issues of privilege and oppression based on membership in various groups. Counselors are also called to understand how such issues affect the worldviews and concerns of the people they serve, and to work to reduce disparities that are based on privilege.

As counselor educators and students in counseling training programs, we have observed that conversations about privilege and oppression are common in training but that they generally occur in two ways. First, the conversations typically use a lens that looks outward into societal structures while neglecting to use a lens that looks inward and focuses on how our own educational and professional structures create disparities. Second, such conversations most frequently center on advantages given to a person on the basis of sex, race, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or age, while ignoring socioeconomic class.

The lack of recognition of class privilege is also reflected in our research. Although a large body of research on privilege based on other criteria exists, there is very little research related to privilege based on class. However, our collective experience leads us to believe that class privilege is embedded in our counseling training programs in ways that create real barriers for entry into the counseling profession for all but the most economically privileged. This strikes us as a significant oversight in the conversation on privilege in general and a crucial issue to address if we are to live up to our ideals as a profession.

Understanding class privilege and classism

Class privilege is generally defined as the tangible or intangible unearned advantages enjoyed by someone of higher class status. At an individual level, indicators of class privilege include such things as the ability to own a home, support a household with one job or one salary, afford child care, pay for a vacation, enjoy frequent meals out or amass savings.

Class privilege exists within the larger construct of social class, which categorizes individuals into groups based on similar levels of wealth, power, resources or status. In the United States, discussions of social class are often considered taboo. As such, social class can be difficult to define. It is important to note, however, that social class does not refer merely to economic status — it also refers to other forms of capital available to an individual. In his 1986 essay “The Forms of Capital,” Pierre Bourdieu identified three different types of capital:

Economic capital — command of resources such as money, assets or property
Social capital — possession of a network of relationships that provide access to power, recognition or economic or cultural capital
Cultural capital — possession of education, knowledge or skills that provide an advantage when trying to obtain a higher social status

In the context of higher education, class privilege can present itself not only through differences in the amount and kind of capital available to students, but also through institutional and programmatic policies and expectations that privilege the holders of different types of capital over those who do not possess that capital. When students lack capital in comparison to their peers, or when they encounter institutional and programmatic policies that assume access to capital that they do not possess, they can experience marginalization and oppression. When marginalization or oppression occurs based on social class, it is referred to as classism.

In our experience as graduate students and counselor educators, we have observed multiple ways in which class privilege and classism pervade graduate programs in counseling even as they go unacknowledged. We believe that ignoring students’ social class positions in counselor education programs facilitates microaggressions related to social class and perpetuates a system of oppression that must be acknowledged, explored and addressed if we are to truly live up to our ethical ideals.

Class privilege in counselor education systems

In 2019, a small group of counselor educators and counseling students began an informal discussion on the CESNET Listserv (CESNET-L) concerning the ways in which social class was perceived to create additional privileges and barriers for students in counseling programs. Participants in the conversation identified multiple ways in which class privilege is embedded in counseling programs. Their comments reflected experiences with class privilege based primarily on economic capital, although cultural capital and social capital were also mentioned. A review of that discussion follows.

Class privilege based on economic capital

Class privilege within counseling programs takes many forms, and although it may be overlooked by counselor educators, students are very aware of it. With respect to economic capital, participants in the discussion noted that class privilege is present from the very beginning of the training process when prospective students must be able to afford application fees and pay for required entrance exams such as the GRE graduate school entry exam. In addition, discussion participants pointed to the overall cost of counseling programs as a significant barrier and noted that many programs contain hidden fees that are not included in the advertised cost. These fees include such things as student activity fees, mandatory membership in professional organizations with significant dues, technology fees, fees for comprehensive exams such as the National Counselor Examination or the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination, and graduation fees. Doctoral students, in particular, reported embedded expectations that they would attend conferences without any consideration of their ability to pay for travel, lodging, food and registration fees.

In addition to the costs cited for applying to and attending counseling programs, there were concerns related to costs of living while enrolled. Participants in the discussion noted that students with dependents must find ways to cover child care or elder care and maintain an income that allows them to continue to pay for food, clothing and other household expenses. Because the majority of counselor training programs offer little in the way of grants or scholarships — particularly at the master’s level — the system appears skewed in a way that privileges those with greater economic capital who can afford the added financial burdens that come with enrollment.

The unique problem of unpaid internships

The practicum/internship experience also exposes class privilege inherent in counseling programs. Practicum and internship experiences typically take about one year to complete and require students to devote between 10 and 20 hours per week to the experience. While the internship experience is an invaluable part of training, the vast majority of internships are unpaid. Some programs may even have internship policies prohibiting any form of payment.

This system inherently privileges those who can afford to give up full-time jobs to devote themselves to internship. Students who cannot afford that option find themselves trying to complete practicum and internship hours on top of working full time and attending classes. This creates a nearly untenable level of chronic stress and exhaustion that students who are more privileged do not have to bear.

Class privilege based on cultural capital

Participants in the CESNET-L discussion also identified ways in which access to cultural capital creates advantages or disadvantages in graduate school. Among those identified were the quality of prior educational experiences, family members’ educational experiences and attainment, family expectations and support of educational attainment, and other experiences that supported educational attainment.

As much prior research has indicated, educational achievement is highly dependent on the quality of education beginning at the prekindergarten level and lasting through high school. Every year of educational experience sets the stage for the next and begins to build a set of advantages and disadvantages. Access to high-quality, heavily resourced elementary and high school education provides easier access to a college degree that prepares students adequately for graduate-level work in a counseling program. Gaps at any level leave students struggling to catch up. Students who did not attend high schools or colleges where writing was heavily emphasized, for example, may struggle to succeed in counseling programs that place a premium on strong writing skills.

Another privilege that helps students access resources in graduate school is having family members or mentors who have enrolled in and completed higher education. Their knowledge can be capitalized on to navigate the educational system of graduate school. There seems to be a relationship between familial expectations and the willingness of students to take on the tough task of graduate school and then to stay enrolled. We are personally aware of students whose family members have not been supportive of their educational endeavors, interpreting the student’s pursuit of higher education as a rejection of the family’s culture. As they try to work on their degree, these students face the unenviable challenge of navigating a graduate culture in which they frequently feel they do not belong, while simultaneously receiving messages that they no longer fit in with their family either.

Class privilege based on social capital

Additionally, the CESNET-L conversation touched on aspects of privilege that are related to social capital or the ability to build social networks that support access within graduate programs and to employment. Generally, social capital is related to extracurricular activities and family occupations that result in networking opportunities. In counselor education programs and employment, social capital is built through program and department social events, conferences that allow and create networking opportunities, and other situations that support access to mentoring.

The luxury of time is a frequently overlooked form of social capital. Students who do not have outside jobs, caretaking obligations or other responsibilities are able to attend extracurricular events, participate in honor society meetings and attend presentations at agencies in their communities. The same is true for students who have strong support systems that can be called on to help with their other responsibilities and obligations so that they can participate in professional events. Students without the luxury of time to participate in outside events and develop their networks can find themselves at a disadvantage relative to their more privileged peers once they begin searching for jobs.

Getting to know our students and addressing class privilege

The CESNET-L discussion provided anecdotal evidence for the idea that class privilege is embedded in the structure of counselor education in multiple ways. But how extensive is the problem? In considering that question, we realized that we did not have any good data on who our counseling students really are with respect to class and class struggles.

In an attempt to answer the question, research teams have formed to gather quantitative and qualitative data about who our counseling students are with respect to their social class and what their experiences have been with class privilege and classism. We hope that data culled from this research will provide the foundation for a more critical and comprehensive examination of our current training system and result in structural changes that make it easier for students from less privileged backgrounds to obtain a counseling degree.

In the meantime, we believe counselor educators can take some steps now to begin addressing class privilege in a more conscious way:

Consider broaching the issue of class privilege with all students. Individual advising should include a discussion of barriers for students related to class. Group conversations during coursework about privilege and oppression can also incorporate class, alongside other forms of privilege due to gender, race or sexual identity. These conversations will help bring class privilege out of the shadows.
Implement a more formal process to survey students at different stages in the program to assess their levels of economic, cultural and social capital. These survey results can be incorporated into the program’s evaluation plan. For example, how many students would struggle to complete internship hours during the typical 9-to-5 workday? How many internship sites offer hours outside of that time frame that students can access? Should programs seek relationships with additional alternative sites that offer weekend and evening hours?
Develop aggressive fundraising strategies that emphasize the critical role counselors play in addressing the mental health needs of the community. For programs in universities with strong development offices, this may require advocating for greater visibility of the needs of counseling students among the university’s donors. For programs without strong development offices, it could mean advocating for the creation of a development position. Even if more funding for assistantships is not available, strategies can be developed to help students raise funds to attend conferences or other professional development activities. Any degree of financial help will decrease barriers related to economic privilege.
Reduce barriers to paid internships. If sites have the ability to pay students for internships, they should be allowed to do so. However, many sites simply lack the funding necessary to pay interns because they cannot bill for services provided by interns. This requires advocacy with managed care organizations at the state and national levels to allow agencies to bill for services provided by students under the supervision of licensed staff.
Create a formal mentorship program in which students who desire mentorship are paired with faculty, graduates or, potentially, more advanced students in the program. Informal mentorship will, by default, favor students with more class privilege (those who have time to attend departmental events or informally attend office hours for faculty). A formal mentorship process decreases these barriers. Formal mentorship programs also create opportunities for the mentors (more advanced students, doctoral students or alumni) to add experience to their résumés.

Final thoughts

Graduate programs in counseling emerged in the mid-20th century, at a time when higher education was less expensive, costs of living were not as high, and families were easier to support on a single wage. Privilege in graduate education on the basis of sex, race, gender identity, age and other characteristics certainly existed at the time these programs were created and still exists today, but much progress has been made in the past few decades in terms of recognizing and actively addressing those barriers. Class privilege, however, has gone largely unaddressed, even as economic disparities widen.

We acknowledge that the steps outlined above are not representative of an exhaustive list of all possible steps that could be taken to address class privilege in counseling training programs. However, we believe the steps provide a starting point for counselor educators to more fully enact the ethical call to work to reduce disparities by intentionally addressing class privilege in their program structures. We also hope that our ongoing research will lead to a greater understanding of who our counseling students are with respect to their social class positions so that we can create a training system that better meets the needs of students in the 21st century.

For additional information about class privilege and our research, visit our website at https://classprivilegeinces.wixsite.com/mysite.

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Related reading, from the Counseling Today archives: “Cultivating social class awareness in the counseling profession”

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Cynthia Miller is a licensed professional counselor and counselor educator with a private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has been a practicing counselor for almost 20 years, working with adults in university, community and correctional settings. Contact her at cynthiamillerlpc@gmail.com.

Frankie Fachilla is a licensed professional counselor with 12 years of full-time counseling experience in community mental health and correctional settings. She now provides trainings on evidence-based practices, supervision and coaching to clinicians in community mental health settings. Contact her at frankiefachilla@gmail.com.

Jennifer Greene-Rooks is a counselor educator with a research background in areas such as multicultural counseling competence, counselor preparation and supervision, school counseling, and leadership. Her background is in school counseling, although she now focuses on the preparation of multiculturally competent, social justice-focused counselors. Contact her at jgreene@txstate.edu.

Knowledge Share articles are developed from sessions presented at American Counseling Association conferences.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.

A note of encouragement for counseling students during COVID-19

By Dana M. Cea April 7, 2020

The current situation with COVID-19 and the effect it is having on counseling students’ lives can cause stress, anxiety and uncertainty. In my role as a doctoral student supervisor, I am hearing these stories from supervisees and their classmates. Thankfully, my department, the Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies at East Carolina University, has jumped to action to support all of its students, especially the practicum and internship students. However, the faculty are limited in what they can do based on decisions made by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Keep in mind that there are more than 800 CACREP-accredited programs, which could mean over 10,000 counseling students. All of you are in the same boat and are doing your best to stay afloat. Without flexibility in standards, we could find ourselves with an even larger shortage of mental health professionals over the next couple of years.

As graduate counseling students, you have no control over CACREP, of course. What do you have control over? The following recommendations may not be new to you, yet they are helpful. In fact, you may already be sharing some of these with clients.

Keep your schedule. We all know how helpful schedules and routines are in maintaining our mental health. Although you may not be going to classes or work sites right now, keeping the schedule you had previously or adjusting to a new reasonable schedule is wise. Include a morning routine and a routine for bedtime. If you find that you suddenly have a little extra time each day, explore options for how you can use that time, such as sleeping in, exercising, meditating or doing crafts.

Check in with classmates and colleagues. My Ph.D. student cohort has a group chat, and the Navigate Counseling Clinic where I provide counseling services does too. One day during our “spring break 2.0,” I realized how much I missed seeing my cohort and needed a check-in. When I scheduled a video conference, the other members of my cohort found this funny because I am not known to be the most touchy-feely person. But seeing their faces was so helpful for me. We also host weekly video conferences with the Navigate clinicians, internship students and practicum students. Group chats are great, especially for pet photos and memes, yet video conferences take that connection to the next level.

Check in with your progress. Now is a great time to figure out what you need before you take that next step, whether it be for practicum, internship or becoming licensed. Seek help from faculty, supervisors, webinars and other learning opportunities. I created a “counselor dunking booth” in which supervisees are able to play a short clip of a TV show, movie or counseling tape or create a case study and challenge me concerning how I would address the situation or client. Even if you are unable to go to your site or do telehealth, there are many opportunities to sharpen your skills, knowledge and abilities.

Check in with yourself. How are you holding up under the current stress? Is it affecting your ability to work with clients or complete necessary coursework? If you are having a hard time answering these questions, ask those who know you best. Now may be a good time to find a counselor for yourself if you have not done so already.

Many counselors are indicating their ability to provide telehealth on their personal websites or on Psychology Today’s Find a Therapist directory. The Pandemic Therapists website is compiling a nationwide list of counselors providing support during the current situation. Keep checking back because new resources are being added. If money is a concern, some counselors may offer sessions for free or for a small fee to counseling students. Also check out Open Path Collective and Give An Hour. Do not forget to connect with your state’s National Alliance on Mental Illness organizations and affiliates. The national organization has a helpline that can assist you in finding counselors.

The bottom line is that as a counseling student today, you will be even better prepared than some licensed clinicians once you enter the counseling field. You will be able to show great empathy to clients when they seek services to manage the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. You likely will have gone through a crash course in telehealth or, at the very least, learned how to quickly shift your learning online. You will have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the human connections that we offer to clients as counselors.

You will emerge stronger for having gone through this experience.

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Dana M. Cea, pronouns she/her or they/them, is a volunteer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a mental health professional, a survivor of suicide loss, and a doctoral student at East Carolina University. She focuses her research on mental health and suicide, the LGBTQ+ community, youth, and autism spectrum disorder. Dana lives with mental health disorders, her spouse, and their three dogs. Contact her at danamcea.com.

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Opinions expressed and statements made in articles appearing on CT Online should not be assumed to represent the opinions of the editors or policies of the American Counseling Association.