The COVID-19 pandemic led to an unparalleled disruption of student learning, disengaged students from school and peers, increased exposure to trauma, and had a negative impact on students' mental health and well-being. School counselors are the most accessible mental health care professionals in a school, providing support for all students' social…

Meeting the mental health needs of students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors is particularly challenging for professional counselors who work in college settings, as STEM students are a subgroup of college students that face unique risks for developing mental health issues. The scarcity of literature on…

Researchers have frequently described rural women as invisible, yet at 28 million, they represent over half of the rural population in the United States. We conducted a transcendental phenomenological study using semi-structured interviews and artifacts to explore 12 Midwestern rural-based mental health counselors' experiences counseling rural…

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature surrounding school counselors and their support of underrepresented high school students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The influence of context on school counseling was also explored, in particular practicing during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Using Moustakas's modification of Van Kaam's systematic procedures for conducting transcendental phenomenological research, we explored ballet culture and identity and their impact on ballet dancers' mental health. Participants included four current professional ballet dancers and four previous professionals. Four main themes emerged: (a) ballet…

This qualitative grounded theory study is the first of its kind aimed at understanding the decision-making process of parents and guardians of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth providing informed consent for their children to undergo gender-confirming endocrinological interventions (GCEI), such as hormone replacement therapy and puberty…

When the pursuit of doctoral studies and motherhood intersect, the risk of attrition increases. Although other studies have explored the challenges of student mothers in academia, this study looked at how mentorship might mediate them. This phenomenological study examined the mentoring experiences of doctoral student mothers or recent graduates in…

Literature does little to explore the perceptions of Black adolescents with depression or their perspective of treatment effectiveness. Studies are usually from urban areas and there is a dearth of research with Black adolescents from rural areas. This study explored the unique personal experiences of Black adolescents located in the rural…

The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to explore the experiences of four key internal stakeholders who are involved with a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program in a southeastern state in the United States. In order to explore the experiences of participants, in-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted.…

Counseling licensure portability is in a state of crisis. The collaborative 20/20 initiative made headway in establishing the profession's objectives toward consistent licensure standards across states; however, inconsistencies and significant barriers persist. The authors conducted a qualitative content analysis to understand the logistics…

This study examined whether attitudes based on labels and counselor demographics predicted empathy and rape myth acceptance in counselors. A difference in attitudes based on the labels of either "prostitute" or "sex trafficking" was found. Attitudes based on labels and counselor demographics additionally predicted scores of…

This interpretative phenomenological analysis explored licensed professional counselors' experiences of turning away Medicare beneficiaries because of the current Medicare mental health policy. Researchers used semi-structured interviews to explore the client-level barriers created by federal legislation that determines professional counselors as…

The primary aim of this study was to cross-validate the Revised Fit, Stigma, & Value (FSV) Scale, a questionnaire for measuring barriers to counseling, using a stratified random sample of adults in the United States. Researchers also investigated the percentage of adults living in the United States that had previously attended counseling and…

Advocacy with and on behalf of clients is a major way in which counselors fulfill their core professional value of promoting social justice. Career counselors have a unique vantage point regarding social justice due to the economic and social nature of work and can offer useful insights. Q methodology is a mixed methodology that was used to…

A total of 370 counselor educators in CACREP-accredited [Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs] programs were surveyed to determine their knowledge of master's students' problems of professional competence (PPC) and their perception of roadblocks that affect gatekeeping practices. Findings suggest that educators…