This generic qualitative research study examined licensed professional counselors' (LPC) experiences with advocacy engagement in the rural school setting. Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory provided the theoretical foundation to describe the experiences of LPC advocacy engagement for varying systemic level needs of clients. The sample…

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of 15 professional counselors who work with clients living in impoverished communities in rural America. Researchers used individual semi-structured interviews to gather data and identified four themes that represented the counselors' experiences using the Multicultural and Social Justice…

Social justice has become an increasingly controversial topic among members of the American Counseling Association (ACA). Specifically, concerns have been raised over what is perceived to be: (a) the liberal political agenda of social justice advocates, (b) the marginalization of conservative counselors, and (c) the inappropriate use of ACA…

This study investigated how counselors develop into advocates for the counseling profession. Qualitative case study design was used when interviewing eight counselor advocates. Participants were chosen randomly from a list of attendees who were present at the 2008 state legislative advocacy training. Qualitative analysis was used to explore the…

A sample of American Counseling Association (ACA) members and the entire population of the ACA Legislative Institute attendants was investigated to determine if any variables were contributing to strong scores on the Lange Profession Advocacy Scale (LPAS), a Rasch analyzed instrument. A total of 563 cases had a valid measure score and were…

Uses participant-observation, key informant interviewing, and document analysis to generate a broad understanding of the ways in which counselors advocate for their profession--the elements of an advocacy effort, the possible strategies for advocating, and the people or organizations counselors target when advocating. Compares research results…