Sexuality training in counseling psychology: A mixed-methods study of student perspectives.

<p>本研究主要在探討將多元性別與社會正義單元融入諮商心理訓練之實踐經驗。研究分為兩部分：研究一聚焦於探討融入多元性別單元之影響，課程包含講座、閱讀與討論及性別自傳撰寫等活動。研究參與者為48名諮商心理科系研究生。課程後進行焦點團體訪談，並針對逐字稿與性別自傳進行主題分析。結果顯示五大主題：從衝擊到理解、反思自身性別經驗、肯定多元性別訓練的重要性、整合性別觀點與專業能力、及其他複雜感受。研究二在多元性別單元基礎上增加社會正義倡導訓練，課程除了講座外，包括反思校園性別不友善現象及設計倡導方案。研究參與者為30名諮商心理科系研究生，共完成八項性別正義方案並提交建議書給學校行政單位。課程後之焦點團體訪談逐字稿與性別自傳之主題分析包括四大經驗：性別偏見的覺察與覺醒、理解並體會多元性別者受壓迫經驗、提升性別相關知能、倡導行動中的體會。整體而言，兩個研究顯示多元性別單元對研究生具正面影響，加上社會正義訓練進一步強化其能動性，促使將所學轉化為行動。最後，針對未來在諮商心理訓練中納入多元性別與社會正義提出相關建議。</p><p>This study aimed to explore the experiences and practices of integrating modules on gender and sexual diversity, along with social justice advocacy, into master’s level counseling psychology training courses. This approach aligns with current trends in academic literature and ethical guidelines in the counseling psychology field, which emphasize the importance of enhancing future counseling professionals’ gender sensitivity and equity awareness, especially on topics related to LGBTQIA+ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other) clients. To achieve this goal, adopting a social justice stance to advocate for vulnerable clients who have experienced oppression at both the interpersonal and systemic level regarding their gender, and sexual orientations or identities is crucial, as these clients often lack access to resources and the power to express their opinions and needs, which are essential for promoting their psychological well-being. An emerging consensus among researchers and practitioners suggests that counseling psychology training should include components that address gender and sexual diversity, as well as social justice advocacy. Past research in Taiwan has typically focused only on integrating gender and sexual diversity into counseling training without incorporating social justice advocacy. To address this gap, the authors conducted two studies to evaluate the effectiveness of training that combines these two components. Study One examined the impact of integrating a Gender and Sexual Diversity Module into two counseling courses. Class activities included guest lectures, literature reading and discussions, and gender autobiographical writing. Participants comprised 48 graduate students enrolled in “Counseling Theories” and “Counseling Practicum” courses in a counseling psychology department at a university. Following the completion of all activities, the participants were divided into five focus groups for interviews. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed alongside the participants’ gender autobiographies using thematic analysis. The results identified five major themes in the participants’ experiences: (1) From Impact to Understanding, (2) Reflecting on Personal Gender Experiences, (3) Affirming the Importance of Gender and Sexual Diversity Training, (4) Integrating a Gender Perspective into the Counseling Profession, and (5) Experiencing Mixed Feelings. Study Two expanded on the first by incorporating a Social Justice Advocacy Module. In addition to guest lectures, a four-week activity series was introduced into the class activities. These activities guided students to reflect on and examine the friendliness of current gender and LGBTQ practices on campus and then to design advocacy projects to present to school administrative executives. This study involved 30 graduate students enrolled in “Counseling Theories” and “Counseling Practicum” courses, also recruited from the same university department. After completing the activities and implementing the advocacy projects, focus group interviews were conducted and verbatim transcripts were analyzed along with participants’ reflections on their gender autobiographies. Thematic analysis revealed four major themes: (1) Raising Awareness and of Gender Prejudice, (2) Understanding and Empathizing with the Oppressed Experiences of Sexual Minorities, (3) Enhancing Gender-Related Competencies, and (4) Learning Through Advocacy Actions. Overall, the findings of these two studies suggest that integrating gender and sexual diversity modules into counseling courses can positively impact graduate students in counseling psychology. Furthermore, the addition of the Social Justice Advocacy Module can enhance students’ sense of agency, enabling them to translate their knowledge into practical actions, an ability urgently needed by counseling psychology practitioners. Even when advocacy outcomes may not fully meet expectations, learning experiences are nonetheless highly valuable for students. Finally, this study proposes recommendations for incorporating gender and sexual diversity and social justice advocacy modules into future counseling psychology training programs.</p>

Beginning graduate students in programs in counseling psychology approved by the American Psychological Association were surveyed to determine salient demographic characteristics, motivational factors influencing their decisions to enter graduate training in counseling psychology, their perceptions of the appropriate roles and functions of professionals in the field, and their goals and expectations regarding their future employment settings. Median or modal demographic data suggest that the "typical" beginning doctoral student in counseling psychology is a 25- to 35-year-old white female who has done previous graduate work and who has had prior mental-health-related work experience. Reasons for entering graduate school in counseling psychology were found to vary as a function of age. Although students 'perceptions of the field were found to be similar to those of seasoned professionals, they did vary somewhat depending on the students' professional goals. A very strong preference was expressed for private practice as a career goal.

This Major Contribution, consisting of four articles, critically evaluates the status of training in counseling psychology, especially at the entry level, and offers a model for moving the field forward. In this first article, we provide a rationale for the contribution, laying the foundation for the subsequent three articles. Specifically, we ask the questions, Do training programs in counseling psychology produce the desired results? and Is the prevailing paradigm of training effective in developing counselor competence? Then we report on the research showing a disappointing relationship among training, experience, and expertise. We conclude by inviting the profession to engage in honest self-reflection about the status and future direction of training in counseling psychology.

The relationship between research self-efficacy, the research training environment, and research productivity was examined among a sample of 125 graduate students in counseling psychology. All participants completed a measure of self-efficacy in research, the Research Training Environment Scale, and a demographic questionnaire that included a measure of research productivity. Results revealed a positive relationship between research self-efficacy and the research training environment, and between self-efficacy and productivity. A significant relationship was not observed between the research training environment and productivity when the data were analyzed across all participants. Developmental differences between beginning versus advanced graduate students were examined, as were possible differences based on gender and ethnicity. Implications of the findings for training and research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence the stated career goals that racial and ethnic minority graduate students in counseling psychology make while pursuing their graduate education. A national sample of 118 minority students, representing 50 training programs, participated. Participants completed a career goal instrument and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicated that most counseling psychology minority students preferred combined academic and practitioner career goals, whereas few were interested in pursuingfull-time academic careers; the presence of positive feedback and reinforcement of counseling skills were primary influences on career choices. Findings are discussed in terms of recommendations for training programs and future theoretically based studies.

Jackson and Scheel aptly elucidate the relevance of master’s level counselor training programs for counseling psychology doctoral training programs, highlighting key antecedents of the current critical period in our relationship. Counseling psychology has an essential role in the professional lineage of counseling master’s programs. Master’s training programs have been essential in generating the revenue necessary to sustain doctoral training in counseling psychology at many if not most of our institutions. This commentary suggests that it is imperative for counseling psychology to first acknowledge the professional abdication of our master’s programs—and then fight to remedy the situation through reconciliation, and recognition of the unique professional contributions and identity of master’s level counselors. The remedy requires aggressive action and legislative advocacy on behalf of our master’s programs. A case study in effective legislative advocacy follows, providing suggestions for actions that may serve to ensure our viability.

The purpose of this article is to propose competencies that are necessary to conduct research in counseling psychology and to propose curricular modifications that will aid the acquisition of those competencies. To understand better the present status of research training in counseling psychology, programs approved by the American Psychological Association were surveyed to assess the research design and analysis curriculum of those programs, research articles in the Journal of Counseling Psychology were examined to determine the types of analyses commonly used, and the literature discussing research training in counseling psychology was reviewed. Generally, it was found that many students are not well trained in procedures that are commonly used in counseling psychology research and that the present level of training attenuates the quality of research in counseling psychology. To obtain the research competencies necessary to conduct quality research, a curriculum containing didactic and experiential components is recommended.

Previous scholars have made specific suggestions regarding what counseling psychology training programs can do to help future psychologists become more cross-culturally aware. This article addresses the questions of whether and how U.S. counseling psychology training programs are currently employing these suggestions. Forty-seven American Psychological Association— accredited counseling psychology programs responded (67% response rate) to a survey designed to assess the availability of international training opportunities to graduate students in counseling psychology. In-depth interviews were also conducted with faculty members from 10 programs. Several ideas emerged from the data, including the role of students and the most common obstacles for developing an international perspective. Specific examples of programs' international activities are provided, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

In recent years, many counseling psychology training programs in the United States have adopted social justice principles into training. Although previous studies have provided thought-provoking discussions on social justice advocacy, they mostly reflected the voices of psychologists in academia; therefore, the advocacy work of practitioners has been neglected. In order to explore the advocacy experiences of counseling psychologists in practice, we utilized qualitative content analysis to analyze semistructured interviews with 11 practitioners who were trained in social justice-oriented counseling psychology doctoral programs. The findings were clustered under three domains: (a) participants’ development of a social justice orientation, (b) different ways of implementing advocacy in practice, and (c) positioning advocacy in psychology. The interviews depicted resources and challenges with regard to integrating advocacy into practice indicating that counseling psychologists continue to struggle with systemic barriers that limit their advocacy actions. We discuss implications for research, practice, and training in counseling psychology.

This study attempted to answer several questions about the research attitudes (interest in doing research and the personal value of research) of graduate students in counseling psychology, the research training environments in graduate programs, and the impact of programs and environments on students' attitudes. Participants were 358 students from 10 APA-accredited programs who responded to a survey on research attitudes and research training environments (86.1% return rate). Results for the major research questions were (1) recalled research attitudes upon entrance to training did not differ among the 10 programs; (2) on the whole, self-reported research attitudes became slightly more favorable during training; (3) training programs varied widely in both impact on research attitudes and research training environment; and (4) the most impactful programs differed from the remaining ones on several research training environment ingredients, but not on others. The results permit a beginning sketch of the impactful research training environment. Additionally, the role of environment on attitude change seems to depend on students' training levels, suggesting a training environment by developmental level interaction regarding influence on research attitudes.

Existing literature indicates that individuals experience difficulties with disclosure. Disclosure involves revealing personal information about oneself, both verbally and non-verbally, that may be considered difficult or not disclosed previously, owing to one’s own negative feelings about the information, or a fear that others may respond judgmentally. Various research and theoretical models have aimed to provide explanations as to what facilitates and hinders the process of disclosure. However, to date, trainee counselling psychologists’ experiences of disclosure in personal therapy is under-represented, particularly within qualitative research. This research aimed to explore trainee counselling psychologists’ experiences of disclosure in personal therapy and its impact on personal and professional development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six trainee counselling psychologists in their final year of training and transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Four master themes emerged from the analytic process: ‘Disclosing the self’; ‘The therapeutic process and disclosure’; ‘Process of disclosure’ and ‘Impact of disclosure: Personal and professional development’. The themes illustrate how trainee counselling psychologists’ initial difficulties with disclosure in therapy stem from their struggle with adopting a client role, their sense of the self as imperfect and a fear of rejection. Moreover, the findings highlight how this struggle results in the development of a divided and false self. The themes further illustrate how other factors within therapy facilitate and hinder disclosure, for instance, the therapist’s qualities and responses to disclosures. How and when disclosure takes place was also described by participants, illustrating that this experience is rather subjective. The participants also described how disclosure facilitated understanding of the self and the role of a counselling psychologist, enabling the integration of their dual roles. In light of these findings, suggestions for trainee counselling psychologists, qualified psychologists and training providers are made. These suggestions centre upon trainee counselling psychologists’ willingness to disclose, open discussions between therapists, trainees and training providers and additional training for therapists.

The inconsistent and haphazard approach to the provision of training in human sexuality to health professionals in the UK and elsewhere has been a matter of concern for over half a century. This article discusses the implications of findings from a questionnaire survey of 41 schools of nursing in the UK regarding their provision of training in human sexuality. Schools of nursing were chosen, as nurses form by far the largest employment group in the NHS today. The aim of this questionnaire survey was to obtain information on the provision of training in human sexuality in schools of nursing in the UK. The 20-item mixed qualitative and quantitative questionnaire was designed to elicit maximum information about research questions, it was independently validated after focus group discussion. The results drawn from this study will be primarily presented as observations, rather than statistically tested statements. The provision of training in human sexuality in the pre-registration nursing curricula in the UK is inadequate to meet the current varied needs of patients. On average, a mere 6.8 hours out of a potential 2300 hours of theoretical learning is dedicated to teaching human sexuality in schools of health in the UK. This is considerably less time than is dedicated to other areas of learning within the curriculum. The overall provision of training in human sexuality in the nursing curricula does not seem to have significantly improved, regardless of pleas from such esteemed bodies as the World Health Organisation and others.

Considerable discussion has occurred through the years regarding models of training. With the recent accreditation of counseling psychology programs espousing the practitioner-scholar model, the importance of reexamining the merits of this as well as the traditional scientist-practitioner is now very important for the future of the field. This article consists of two positions: One pro practitioner-scholar and the other pro scientist-practitioner and con practitioner-scholar. The first position (first part of the article) by Biever, Patterson, and Welch argues for inclusion of the practitioner-scholar model as an alternative for training in counseling psychology. The second position (in the second part of the article) by Stoltenberg, Pace, and Kashubeck reviews concerns with two competing models. These authors conclude that the scientist-practitioner model is a better fit for training in counseling psychology. Recommendations for training within models are presented.

Scholars within the field of counseling psychology have for some time now articulated eloquent and compelling calls for attending to social justice in the social sciences. To date, counseling psychologists have been at the forefront of addressing social justice issues in research, practice, and professional development. The present study advances empirical perspectives on social justice by testing the external validity of M. J. Miller et al.'s (2009) social-cognitive model of social justice interest and commitment in a sample of 229 doctoral trainees in counseling psychology. Present findings support the ability of the model to explain, in part, counseling psychology trainees' social justice interest and commitment. In addition, the present study provides novel findings that demonstrate the direct and indirect ways in which program training environment and personal moral imperative relate to social justice interest and commitment. Study limitations, future directions for research, and implications for training are discussed.

The purpose of this article is to explore structural competency as a framework for training in counseling psychology. Structural competency as a guiding paradigm can be an important component of counseling practice that is informed by an understanding of the effects of oppression and structural-level disparities on the psychological well-being of marginalized groups and individuals. We outline a set of training principles that can inform the development of socially responsive curricula in counseling psychology programs. These principles are derived from the need for an emancipatory, liberatory stance among newly trained practitioners and from the need for counseling psychologists to engage in anti-oppression advocacy. We argue that part of this advocacy must involve partnering with clients to counteract the over-reliance on de-contextualized treatments that ignore the role that individual and collective agency can play in bringing about positive psychological change.