Training of the Career Development Specialist Within Counselor Education

What is the responsibility of counselor education programs in more efficiently preparing students in the area of career guidance and development? This article attempts to explain one department's efforts in this important area. It explains the rationale, development, and implementation of a subspeciality, Career Development Specialist (CDS), in a counselor education program. Covered are areas such as historical/conceptual review of the CDS, competencies and courses, recruitment of students, and where graduates have located jobs. Finally, the implications for counselor education are discussed.     

School Counselor Preparation to Meet the Guidance Needs of Exceptional Students: A National Study

A representative sample of counselor educators at U.S. universities were surveyed to identify the kinds of curricula school counselor preparation programs use for preparing students to work with exceptional students (ES). Program courses in exceptional student education (ESE), competencies, field experiences, state certification requirements for ESE courses, the degree of importance accorded by counselor educators to prepare graduates to serve ES, and the educators' level of satisfaction with current program requirements were investigated. Sixty‐two percent of the programs surveyed did not offer a specific ESE course; however, 53% of these programs (N = 146) reported that ESE competencies were incorporated in other program courses.     

Phenomenological understanding of Black counselor education students at Predominately White Institutions,Historically Black Colleges and Universities,and Hispanic Serving Institutions

The experiences of Black counseling students at Predominantly White Institutions are well documented. Using a transcendental phenomenological environmental research design, we explored how 12 Black counselor education graduates experienced their respective institutions across three types of academic institutions—Predominantly White Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Hispanic Serving Institutions. Three salient themes emerged—(1) exposure, (2) real-life exposure, and (3) cultural oasis. The researchers also discussed implications for counselor education programs and future research.     

A Follow-Up Study of School Counseling Graduates Specializing in Work with Hearing Impaired Clients

This study evaluated the adequacy of training provided to more than 80 graduates of a school counseling program for specialists with hearing impaired individuals according to employment demands and continuing education needs. Results indicated that almost all graduates were employed in settings consistent with their training. Continuing education needs in the areas of consultation skills, networking strategies, and administrative and management training were similar to results obtained in studies of generic counselor education programs.     

A Comparison of Doctoral Graduates in Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

In a nationwide study of graduates of doctoral programs in counselor education and counseling psychology, researchers found similarities between the two groups in educational and work history, current employment, professional activities, and future goals.     

Perceptions Regarding the Professional Identity of Counselor Education Doctoral Graduates in Private Practice: A Qualitative Study

Ten doctoral graduates of counselor education programs accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) who were engaged in full-time private practice were interviewed for this qualitative study to determine how they viewed professional identity.     

Group Work in Counselor Education: A Decade of Growth

This study was designed to assess the current status of group work preparation in counselor education programs. The authors sent a questionnaire to a 10% (N = 310) stratified random sample by state of the membership of the Association for Specialists in Group Work. Respondents provided demographic information that was compared with two similar studies conducted 10 years ago. The results showed that counselor education programs are providing more and broader didactic and experiential group work preparation for graduates who are gaining employment in diversified work settings. In addition, the respondents surveyed indicated an increase in females as group workers and a more “active-instructive” role on the part of group counselors.     

Training nonsexist counselors

Traditional counselors have helped to perpetuate sex role stereotypes which prescribe restrictive behaviors for both women and men. One of the most logical places to begin helping counselors overcome their own sex biases and stereotypic behaviors is during the time of their training—in their counselor education programs in universities.Paper presented at the XIIth International Round Table for the Advancement of Counselling, June 22–26, 1986, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden.     

Counselor Educators and Qualitative Research: Affirming a Research Identity

The lack of enthusiastic research activity among counseling professionals has been a subject of professional concern for the last 2 decades. Many graduates of counselor education programs are not connected to academic research and do not establish a research identity. Qualitative research methods have the potential for creating this connection for some students. To increase understanding of the nature and potential usefulness of this paradigm for increasing counselors' connection to academic research, the authors conducted a phenomenological study to investigate the experiences of counselor education doctoral students as they encountered qualitative research. Students' positive responses were summarized as they reflected 4 themes: worldview congruence, theory and skills congruence, research identity and professional viability, and holistic nature of perceptions and experiences.     

A Role for the Counselor Educator in Teacher Education

Teacher education can use the knowledge and skills counselor education takes for granted. This article outlines a role for counselor education in preservice teacher education by describing two programs in which a counselor education faculty has contributed to the improvement of teacher education. Both programs—one facilitating the career development of prospective teachers and the other, teaching human relation skills to prospective teachers—have been integrated into the teacher education curriculum.     

A Comprehensive Model for Multidimensional Competencies in the Training of Secondary School Counselors

Counselor education programs throughout the country have employed competency-based objectives as part of their training programs. The utilization of behavioral objectives in defining specific counselor skills has produced numerous systems and models for the training of counselors. This article presents a multidimensional model for counselor education that uses a behavioral approach in conjunction with the more globally accepted services and functions of the secondary school counselor. The multidimensional model places the competencies in three distinct domains: (a) 10 identifiable services provided by the secondary counselor; (b) the three functions performed by the counselor; and (c) the three types of program training components commonly used in counselor education programs. The three dimensions of the model are presented in a Guilford-like cube for simplicity.     

Effective Supervision and Consultation: A Model for the Development of Functional Supervision and Consultation Programs

Many public and private agencies lack a systematic process for evaluating the quality of counselor supervision. The Effective Supervision and Consultation (ESC) model is proposed as a guide for counselor educators who are helping agencies build effective supervision programs. The ESC model is presented with an emphasis on the assessment, training, and evaluation components of consultation services in counselor supervision.     

Conflicts in Counselor Preparation and Professional Practice: An Analysis

The sharp contrast between counselor preparation and professional practice is one of the most perplexing problems in the counseling profession. Most counselor preparation programs attempt to help prospective counselors acquire the skills, the attitude, and the commitment necessary to be helping persons. Too often, however, when the counselor takes a job in a school, he is unable to establish and maintain his helping position. Further, his effectiveness as a helping person may in fact diminish with time on the job. Some possible reasons for this condition include: (a) lack of a systematic approach, (b) regression to attitudes and concerns held prior to entering the profession, (c) conflict between needs of students and institutional demands, and (d) the tendency to set unattainable goals. These conditions contain several implications for the profession and suggest a reexamination of traditional emphases in counselor preparation.     

Roots of Greatness: Future Directions

This article contains essential and contemporary information in the form of opinion statements written by past-presidents of ACES and serves to meet archival and proactive functions for those persons associated with the guidance and counseling movement. Fifteen leaders report their perceptions and suggest directions vital to future progress in facilitating the work of counselor education graduates. Without exception, the leaders set a mood for optimism with expressions of need for preparation standards of high quality in counselor education—a product of the delicate triangle linking faculty, graduates, and subject matter of the counseling field.     

The Impact of Recent Academic Due Process Decisions on Counselor Education Programs

Although fairly recent to higher education, the broad concept and specifications of due process have had a major impact on the day-to-day operations of educational institutions. The due process concept and its accompanying rights and responsibilities is particularly applicable to counselor education programs in situations where a student is terminated from a degree program. This article discusses a recent United States Supreme Court decision involving a medical student in which the Court established guidelines for academic dismissals and terminations that are now applicable to counselor education programs.     

Following the ACES Standards on Preparation of Secondary School Counselors in Career Guidance

Standards for counselor training have been a topic of concern since the 1930s. More recent accomplishments toward quality in counselor education were the adoption of ACES standards at the 1967 Dallas convention and the special issue of Counselor Education and Supervision, “Up-Grading Guidance Practices” (Hill & Munger 1968). This article concentrates on the career guidance and occupational information aspects of the 1967 ACES Standards. In this context, the degree to which some counselor education programs seem to emulate practices contained in the standards and some suggestions for facilitating such emulation are discussed.     

Characteristics of the Field Practicum: A National Survey

A national survey of counselor education field practicum programs was conducted. Current and ideal characteristics of practicum activities, trainee evaluation, and supervisory requirements were reported by 287 counselor education programs.     

Attitudes Toward Teaching Prevention and Developmental Issues Among Turkish Counselor Educators

The goal of this study was to determine existing attitudes of Turkish counselor educators regarding the need to emphasize prevention and developmental issues in counselor education programs and to propose ways of incorporating these functions into the counseling area as necessary. Data were collected via questionnaire from 104 counselor educators who have been working at Turkish universities. Of the 50 professors, 23 instructors and 31 research assistants who responded, 36 had prior school counselor experience and 68 had not. The counselor educators reported they had given less attention to prevention and developmental issues in their courses than other issues, but indicated positive attitudes towards teaching preventive and developmental issues.     

The results of graduate external degree programs: Some emerging patterns

The Institute for Personal and Career Development, the external degree-granting arm of Central Michigan University, has been administering graduate external degree programs for approximately eight years. A survey of the graduates of Institute graduate programs revealed that these graduates are satisfied with the education they received through the Institute's external degree programs, that they have experienced personal and career development which they attribute at least in part to participation in Institute programs, and that they feel the educational goals and objectives of Institute programs have been accomplished.