Re-evaluating Learning Styles: Practical Implications for School Counselors

Recent research has found little evidence to justify the actual effectiveness of learning styles into the classrooms. To improve student academic success, school counselors need to provide evidence-based support. This presentation will consider different factors that impact student success while providing alternative practical skills that can be used to support students’ learning

Responding to the Mental Health crisis in Schools: Implications for Counselor Education Programs

The significant rise in mental health issues among students is alarming and challenges school counselors’ preparation and professional identity. This mental health crisis in schools establishes the need for counselor education programs to revamp curriculum training methods, teaching pedagogy, and dual field experiences for counseling students

Encouragement Is Not Enough: Perceptions and Attitudes towards Corrective Feedback and Their Relationship to Self-Efficacy

This correlational study explored the relationship between feedback and counselor self-efficacy during online counselor education residency. Participants (N=145) were students from eight Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited online counseling programs who completed instruments on perceptions of positive and corrective feedback, attitudes towards corrective feedback, and counselor self-efficacy. Results showed a significant positive correlation between perceptions of corrective feedback and self-efficacy. Two factors related to perceptions of corrective feedback also showed significant correlations with self-efficacy. Implications concerning providing corrective feedback in supervision for counselor in training are discussed

Perceptions of Feedback and the Relationship with Self-efficacy in Residency Counselor Education Settings

This correlational study explored the relationship between feedback and self-efficacy in training counseling students. Specifically, it focused on perceptions of supervisory feedback and the relationship with self-efficacy, as well as attitudes towards corrective feedback and the relationship with self-efficacy. The focus was feedback given in residency supervisory settings, such as those used for training in online counseling programs. One hundred and forty-one participants were selected from eight CACREP (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) accredited online counselor education programs using residency supervisory trainings to supplement online courses. Participants completed a demographics questionnaire, a researcher designed questionnaire that measured perceptions of feedback, the Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES), and the Corrective Feedback Instrument-Revised (CFI-R). Results showed a small but significant positive correlation between perceptions of corrective feedback and self-efficacy, however there was no significant correlation between perceptions of positive feedback and self-efficacy. There was also no significant correlation between attitudes towards corrective feedback as measured by the CFI-R and self-efficacy as measured by the CSES. While the overall model of regression between the CFI-R (factors and total score) and the CSES was not significant, there were several significant negative correlations between CFI-R factors and CSES. The researcher discusses implications for counselor educators and researchers as well

Emerging Leadership: Mental Health Counseling Competencies for School Counselor Trainees

School counselors’ training and clinical competencies for providing mental health counseling continues to be a point of debate regarding professional roles and identities. This study focuses on the eight counseling core competencies as defined by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The research study compares the theoretical counseling competencies of school counselor graduates to clinical mental health counselor graduates as measured by the results of the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE). The data were retrieved from an archival database that included scores collected over 13 years. Participants include graduate students (N = 682) from a CACREP accredited counselor education program at one public university. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to examine the significant differences between CPCE total scores and subscales based on program specialty (school counseling versus clinical mental health counseling). Results demonstrated significant differences between the group means for two of the subscales (Helping Relationships and Group Work), with students in clinical mental health counseling scoring higher than students in school counseling