School Counselor Trainees’ Experiences with Dilemma Discussions in Ethics Education

Student-led ethical dilemma discussions were incorporated into counseling ethics instruction for school counselor trainees (SCTs). Phenomenological content analysis was employed to gain insight into the experiences of SCTs who participated in this teaching and learning strategy. Fifteen (n = 15) master’s level SCTs responded to open-ended questions about their experiences with the dilemma discussions. The following themes emerged from the data: (a) social learning, (b) self-awareness, (c) subjective learning experience, and (d) applied learning. A description of the teaching method is discussed as well as implications for counseling ethics instruction

The Relationship of Professional School Counselors\u27 Self-efficacy and Motivation to their Counseling Service Delivery

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between professional school counselors\u27 perceived self-efficacy of mental health counseling skills (as measured by the School-Based Mental Health Survey; developed by A. D. Waliski & A. Barthel; adapted and published by Carlson & Kees, 2013) and level of situational motivation (as measured by the Situational Motivation Scale; Guay et al., 2000) to the extent of counseling services provided to students (as measured by the School Counselor Activity Rating Scale; Scarborough, 2005). Based on the principles of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986) and Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2017), the researcher tested the hypothesis that practicing school counselors (N = 128) with higher levels of perceived self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation will report providing higher levels of counseling services to students. The results of the multiple linear regression analyses identified that school counselors\u27 perceived level of self-efficacy was the only statistically significant predictor of the frequency at which school counselors provide counseling activities, β = .375, p \u3c .001. Further, post hoc analyses revealed that the frequency at which school counselors preferred to do counseling activities was a more statistically significant predictor of the frequency of actual counseling activities, β = .562, p \u3c .001. In addition, though not statistically significant, results found external regulation had an inverse relationship with all predictor models. Therefore, external factors may have a negative effect on school counselors\u27 frequency of performed counseling activities, although additional study in this area is warranted. Implications for the findings include (a) greater insight into the internal and external drive of school counselors; (b) increased understanding of the training needs of school counselors; and (c) insight into the practices of school counselors as they tend to student mental health needs

Who Took “Counseling” out of the Role of Professional School Counselors in the United States?

The rates of mental health concerns among school-aged youth are increasing and the growing rates of students considering or planning for suicide is alarming. Although school counselors are often the only professionals with the training to support students’ mental health needs in schools, they are often inaccessible to students to receive long-term mental health counseling services. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) advocates for school counselors to focus on prevention, short-term intervention, and crisis work rather than long-term counseling given their primary role in other activities such as student planning and systems support (ASCA, 2019). However, the role of school counselors advocated by ASCA is insufficient to meet students’ growing mental health concerns. This article (a) reviews the increasing mental health needs of youth in the United States and (b) presents an appropriate role for school counselors in addressing students’ mental health needs with implications for policy and practice in the United States and abroad

Addressing the Needs of Transgender Expansive Students’ Career Development: Practical Applications for School Counselors

Due to multiple worldviews, gender biases, and more, Transgender and Gender-expansive (TGE) individuals often face many obstacles in their career development. As ASCA calls for school counselors to address the career needs of all students, this presentation highlights the challenges of the TGE community and offers resources and practical applications for school counselors to assist TGE students with their post-secondary and career transitions

A mobile app offering distractions and tips to cope with cigarette craving: A qualitative study

Background Despite considerable effort, most smokers relapse within a few months after quitting due to cigarette craving. The widespread adoption of mobile phones presents new opportunities to provide support during attempts to quit. Objective To design and pilot a mobile app "DistractMe" to enable quitters to access and share distractions and tips to cope with cigarette cravings. Methods A qualitative study with 14 smokers who used DistractMe on their mobiles during the first weeks of their quit attempt. Based on interviews, diaries, and log data, we examined how the app supported quitting strategies. Results Three distinct techniques of coping when using DistractMe were identified: diversion, avoidance, and displacement. We further identified three forms of engagement with tips for coping: preparation, fortification, and confrontation. Overall, strategies to prevent cravings and their effects (avoidance, displacement, preparation, and fortification) were more common than immediate coping strategies (diversion and confrontation). Tips for coping were more commonly used than distractions to cope with cravings, because they helped to fortify the quit attempt and provided opportunities to connect with other users of the application. However, distractions were important to attract new users and to facilitate content sharing. Conclusions Based on the qualitative results, we recommend that mobile phone-based interventions focus on tips shared by peers and frequent content updates. Apps also require testing with larger groups of users to assess whether they can be self-sustaining

An object-centred approach to encourage online participation in the context of behaviour change

Online groups rely on contributions from their members to flourish, but in the context of behaviour change individuals are typically reluctant to participate actively before they have changed successfully. We took inspiration from CSCW research on objects to address this problem by shifting the focus of online participation from the exchange of personal experiences to more incidental interactions mediated by objects that offer support for change. In this article we describe how we designed, deployed and studied a smartphone application that uses different objects, called distractions and tips, to facilitate social interaction amongst people trying to quit smoking. A field study with 18 smokers revealed different forms of interaction: purely instrumental interactions with the objects, subtle engagement with other users through receptive and covert interactions, as well as explicit interaction with other users through disclosure and mutual support. The distraction objects offered a stepping-stone into interaction, whereas the tips encouraged interaction with the people behind the objects. This understanding of interaction through objects complements existing frameworks of online participation and adds to the current discourse on object-centred sociality. Furthermore, it provides an alternative approach to the design of online support groups, which offers the users enhanced control about the information they share with other users. We conclude by discussing how researchers and practitioners can apply the ideas of interaction around objects to other domains where individuals may have a simultaneous desire and reluctance to interact

Introducing the Ambivalent Socialiser

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