A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE COUNSELING EXPERIENCE OF COUNSELORS OF PROFESSIONAL SEXUAL MINORITY COUNSELING CENTERS

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find out the effective intervention method of counseling for sexual minorities through counseling experience of counselors at sexual minority counseling centers.To that end, focus group interviews were conducted on the counseling experiences of counselors of specialized sexual minority counseling agencies and the contents of the interviews were analyzed based on the consensual qualitative research (CQR) method. Study participants were 10 counselors from specialized sexual minority counseling agencies. As a result of the analysis, a total of seven areas were created and 35 subcategories were derived from individual areas. Typically appeared answers included ‘Sexual minorities are under minority stress in addition to general stress' and 'Sexual minorities do not feel even counseling spaces safe', and the study participants reported a difficulty as counselors, which was their 'great sense of helplessness felt because the client's problems were social structural problems'. They answered that effective intervention methods were “interventions giving priority to the prevention of trauma re-experience” and “an integrated approach combining diverse theories and techniques”. The study participants reported that a change is shown by their clients after counseling was 'enhancement of psychological stability through self acception'. Matters that must be observed by sexual minority counselors were reported as 'observing basic counselor ethics', 'mandatory completion of gender-related education', 'acquiring and providing sufficient knowledge as a counseling specialist', and 'self-checking and reflecting as a counselor'. Finally, the results of this study were discussed.