To study school counseling professional advocacy in Alabama, I explored the lived experiences of Alabama School Counseling Program of Distinction school counselors. Through a qualitative, phenomenological design, I examined the research question addressing the professional advocacy experiences of Alabama school counselor Program of Distinction…

This study aimed to understand the relationship between School Counseling Site Supervisors' (SCSS) characteristics, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) training, cultural humility, advocacy competency, and SDOH competency (n = 69). SDOH refers to the factors that inform an individual's physical and mental health. Cultural humility refers to an…

Although social justice advocacy is a core competency of counseling psychology training, a lack of formalized training prohibits trainees from engaging in advocacy efforts, specifically at the community and systems-level (Alexander & Allo, 2021). Moreover, prior research has suggested that counseling psychology trainees are feeling…

Social justice advocacy is a necessary role for counselors. It is a part of their identity and ethical obligations to engage in advocacy with and on behalf of any individuals and communities experiencing injustice related to systemic disenfranchisement stemming from marginalized status due to race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and social…

The American School Counselor Association has placed an increased emphasis on school counselor leadership. School counselors play an essential role within the educational setting (ASCA, 2019). Leadership embodies the overarching role of a school counselor and is a key component of each school counselor's professional identity (McMahon et al.,…

The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the use of live actor improvised simulations as an innovative teaching tool in the development of social justice advocacy competencies for school counselors in training (SCITs). The feminist theoretical framework that guided the design of this study is from the challenges of bell hooks in her…

The manifestations of institutional and interpersonal racism have been linked to lower recruitment, retention and matriculation rates among ethnic minority students in predominantly white institutions (Harper, 2012). Those who experience racial and ethnic microaggressions have been impacted in numerous deleterious ways. Physical, mental, emotional…

The field of modern counseling is conceptualized through a lens of social justice advocacy with professionals tasked with actively engaging in advocacy efforts. However, counselor education has been slower to make systemic changes needed to decolonize and dismantle the field to prepare future counselors with the skills needed to adequately address…

The number of emergent bilingual students in the United States increased by over half a million students between 2010 and 2020, and Texas' school counselor ratios do not reflect the minimum ratio recommended nationally, nor do they reflect the recommended ratio by The Texas Counseling Association, Texas Association of Secondary School Principals,…

This study is an exploration of the lived experience of multicultural leadership intentionality in counselor educators. There is a gap in the literature regarding counselor educators' lived experience of intentionality in multicultural leadership development. The research question that drove this study was "What is the lived experience of…

There is limited research related to counseling the unhoused population. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to explore counseling trainees' experiences and self-perceptions of preparedness to provide counseling services to Black women experiencing homelessness. Guided by an intersectionality framework, 13 participants…

This narrative inquiry explored the experiences of Latinas in early career counselor education and supervision positions. Four participants who graduated from CACREP counselor education and supervision programs in their first 5 years in the field as emerging professionals participated in interviews and discussed their experiences. Following the…

Self-efficacy is frequently explored as a construct within assessments in counselor education (Crutchfield & Borders, 1997; Cashwell & Dooley, 2001; Kozina et al., 2010). However, despite the importance of advocacy in our field, there is a lack of research that measures self-efficacy in relation to advocacy attitudes and behaviors (Smith…

School counselors play a vital supportive role in schools. As the needs of students and diverse populations in urban schools surge, the need to improve understanding of school counselors' experiences facing social justice issues also increases. Framed through the lens of Rawls's social justice theory, the focus of this generic qualitative study…

This study sought to evaluate school psychologists' perceptions of their graduate training experience in preparing them to work with transgender and other gender minority youth. The quality of graduate training was also examined through a compilation of syllabi. The participants (N = 193) completed a questionnaire regarding their confidence in…