Date of Award
Summer 8-2013
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Program
Counselor Education
Department
Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Foundations
Major Professor
Dr. Roxane Dufrene
Second Advisor
Dr. Zarus Watson
Third Advisor
Dr. Barbara Herlihy
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Mike Gomila
Abstract
Abstract
According to McAuliffe and Lovell (2006), regardless of the training received in skills classes, master’s level counseling students continue to be rote in their approach to clients and their use of counseling skills as opposed to understanding how skills fit into the helping process. Students also experience confusion manifested by fear, anxiety, self-doubt, and questioning of abilities to perform the required skills (Skovholt & Jennings, 2005). The purpose of this research study was to explore the lived experiences of master’s level counseling students in a beginning counseling skills class. I used Perry’s (1970) scheme of cognitive and intellectual development as a framework for my study. Participants were nine students from three counseling programs in the southern part of the United States, selected by criterion sampling. I used a psychological phenomenological design to gain insights into the nine counseling students’ skills-learning experiences. Data collection methods included student interviews, weekly journals, and course syllabi. To analyze the data, I used a modified version of Moustakas’ (1994) six-step method of data analysis. Four themes resulted from my data analysis: (1) developmental progression, (2) instructional methodology, (3) personal reactions, and (4) pre-defined structures. These themes were used to answer my three research sub-questions and the central research question. Based on the results of my study, students believed that class format, teaching interventions, personality traits, experiences outside of class, peers, time and class schedules influenced their learning of beginning counseling skills.
Keywords: Counseling Students, Developmental Model, Pedagogy, Perry’s Scheme
Recommended Citation
Knight, Brian K., "The Lived Experiences of Master's Level Counseling Students in Beginning Skills Classes: A Qualitative Study" (2013). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1695.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1695
Included in
Counseling Psychology Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.