Faculty and Student Receive Awards, Present at Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision

Faculty and Doctoral Students from the Department of Counseling receive awards at the First Annual Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (RMACES). The awards were presented at the 2017 National Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference, October 3-8, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois.

• David M. Kleist, Chair and Professor, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Jehan Hill and Melisa DeMeyer, doctoral students, were selected for the Emerging Leadership Workshop.
• Renee Howells and Kerrie Taylor, doctoral students, each received the dissertation award.
• Volunteer Scholar award was presented to doctoral student Jehan Hill.
• Marisa Rapp, doctoral student, received the 2017 Research Grant Award for her proposal entitled, “The Process of Becoming a Gatekeeper in Counselor Education: A Grounded Theory.”

Dr. Christian Chan was also the awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student Leadership Award. The award honors a graduate student who is a member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES), and has provided outstanding leadership to counselor education and ACES and the counseling profession. Christian is a Member-at-Large, Outreach and Advocacy, Association for Adult Development and Aging (AADA) and Past-President, Maryland Counseling Association (MCA).

At the 2017 National Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Conference, October 3-8, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois, the faculty and doctoral students presented sixteen Inform, Education, Poster, and Roundtable sessions.

Steven Moody and Chad Yates (Assistant Professors) presented Rasch Analysis of the Counseling Self Efficacy Measures. This presentation explored the methodology of Rasch Analysis. The methodology of a study which investigated Counseling Self-Efficacy through Rasch Analysis of the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) and the Counselor Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES), to demonstrate how this methodology can fit within counseling research.

Randall Astramovich (Assistant Professor), Judith Crews and Elizabeth Horn (Associate Professors) presented Size Matters: Sampling Considerations for Successful Quantitative & Qualitative Counseling Research. This presentation explored sample size considerations for successful quantitative and qualitative research designs in counseling. For quantitative research, the effects of sample size on statistical power, significance levels, and effect sizes were reviewed. For qualitative research, sampling issues affecting saturation, transferability, and trustworthiness were discussed as well as considerations for determining sample size in phenomenological and grounded theory designs.

Renee Howells (doctoral student), Kristen Langellier, Tamara Tribitt, and Alexia DeLeon (recent Ph.D. graduates) presented Creating Connection: Incorporating Art and Music into Multicultural Counseling. Counselors are called to continually asses their own multicultural competence. Often, counselors encounter their own fear regarding how to engage in enriching multicultural discussions. Specific strategies for counselor educators were discussed in this experiential presentation. Participants gained an understanding of how expressive mediums, such as music and art, can help counselors connect with clients from diverse backgrounds.

Christian Chan (Assistant Professor) Amanda Friday, David Julius Ford, Jr., and Popiolek Melanie presented Intersectional Pedagogy for Career Development in Counselor Education. The advent of the ACA Code of Ethics (2014) and Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC; Ratts et al., 2016) calls for a richer connection among counseling, counselor education, multiculturalism, and social justice. Utilizing an intersectionality framework, the presenters engaged in a collaborative dialogue to negotiate salient cultural identities, contexts, and careers and foster the connection among career counselor education, multiculturalism, and social justice.

Marisa Rapp (doctoral student), Steven Moody and Leslie Stewart (Assistant Professors) presented Developing a Gatekeeper Identity in Counselor Education: Preparing Doctoral Students. This education session provided counselor educators with training recommendations to better prepare doctoral students in their role of gatekeeper. Presenters provided gatekeeping training guidelines for counselor educators to utilize in doctoral level programs. Presenters disseminated preliminary results from a pilot study examining gatekeeping knowledge of incoming doctoral students and explore implications and recommendations for future research.

Elizabeth Horn (Associate Professor) and Jennifer Gess (recent Ph.D. graduate) presented Queering Counseling Education. The presenters shared results from a grounded theory and situational analysis research study on LGBTQ+ competent counselor educators. Participants learned about the process LGBTQ+ competent counselor’s experience of becoming competent counselors. Also, participants gained tools to infuse LGBTQ+ competence throughout the classroom, including understanding the power of language.

Melissa Luke, Kriss Goodrich, and David M. Kleist (Professor) presented The Big or Small Question: A Model for Conceptualizing Sample Size in Qualitative Research. Counseling researchers often have little guidance in determining sample size for qualitative studies beyond commonly published sample size ranges. This presentation introduced a model that may assist researchers in weighing the multiple factors that may affect the appropriate sample size for their study. The presenters discussed the role of sample size in qualitative research and describe the model and its foundation. Attendees had the opportunity to apply the model to several cases.

David M. Kleist (Professor) and Jade Letourneau (recent Ph.D. graduate) presented Bringing Self: A Qualitative Study of CEs Incorporating Spirituality and Religion into Teaching. The presenters shared the results of a qualitative research study that explored the processes, social actions, experiences, and contextual influences of counselor educators incorporating spirituality and religion into their teaching. Discussed the four sensitizing concepts that emerged from the data and the concepts' multi-directional processual relationships. Implications and directions for future research were introduced.

Steve Moody (Assistant Professor) and Tamara Tribitt (recent Ph.D. graduate) presented Program-Site Alliance: The Relationship Between CE Programs and Field Placement Sites. This presentation shared results from an interpretive phenomenlogical analysis that explored the program-site alliance from the perspective of site supervisors. Implications for counselor education programs were discussed.

Jehan Hill, Sarah Baquet (doctoral students) and Chad Yates (Assistant Professor) presented The Application of Biofeedback-Assisted Relaxation Training with Counseling Practicum Students. Biofeedback has a history of success in training participants to monitor psychophysiological stress responses, and then through mindful breathing and acceptance alter these stress responses. This ability to self-regulate stress responses could have a range of implications from increased focus with clients to improved self-care. This presentation explored an investigation of counseling practicum students' experience of participating in a semester-long Biofeedback-Assisted Relaxation Training.

Kathleen Muirhead (doctoral student) presented Incarceration Nation: Helping Counselor Educators to Increase Student Awareness with Ex-Offenders. This presentation seek to aid counselor educators in gaining knowledge on the previously incarcerated population and in incorporating this information into curricula and programs of study for students who will be interacting with this population in high numbers.

Marisa Rapp (doctoral student), Leigh Holman, and Tasha Hicks presented The Future of Addiction Counseling Ed: Developing a Behavioral/Process Addictions Course. Due to increased public awareness, more clients are presenting for treatment of behavioral/process addictions (BPAs). Prevalence rates for BPAs is between 2-3%. However, research indicates counselors are assessing, diagnosing, and treating BPAs with little or no training, in spite of CACREP standards and ACA Ethics. Our presentation is designed to provide participants with best practices for integrating BPAs throughout the counseling curriculum and for developing a stand-alone course.

Melisa DeMeyer (doctoral student) and David M. Kleist (Professor) presented Reflexivity's Role in Developing a Teaching Philosophy Statement. The ACES' teaching initiative addresses the importance of teaching excellence. This presentation provided an in-class model for educators to use to facilitate the development of students' teaching philosophy, highlighting the importance of reflexivity within this process. Offered was an integrated model combining the Integrative Reflective Model of Group Supervision (Stinchfield, 2015) with Schonwetter, Sokal, Friesen, and Taylor's (2002) model for developing a teaching philosophy statement.

Jehan Hill and Sarah Baquet (doctoral students) presented Multiracial Identity Models: Current Trends in Teaching and Practice. This round-table discussion provided counselor educators the opportunity to discuss what trends they are seeing when teaching multiracial or biracial identity models. Topics included multiracial or biracial identity models that are being taught, connecting student learning to practice, and increasing awareness inside and outside of the classroom.

Melisa DeMeyer, Dustin Destler, Kerrie Taylor, and Renee Howells (doctoral students) presented Current Events to Broach Social Justice Issues in the Multicultural Course: A Qualitative Study. Counselors have a responsibility to focus on social justice issues-in following the profession's ethical codes, and to best serve a diverse clientele. Counselor educators (CEs) can broach these conversations with students using various methods. Our team of doctoral students seek to share findings of a qualitative inquiry on CE experience of utilizing current events as a vehicle to broach social justice issues. Join us for discussion on created meaning and glean ideas for your practice.

Kathryn Williams, Christian Chan (Assistant Professor), Cirecie West-Olatunji presented
Reciprocal Mentoring in Counselor Education & Supervision: Preventing Burnout in Counseling. As the counseling profession continues to crystallize its identity, the need to more clearly define and actualize the mentoring experience is needed. The session presenters provided an overview of the effectiveness of mentoring in leadership, social justice implications in the mentoring relationship and then highlighted the benefits of reciprocal mentoring as a prevention tool for leadership burnout in counseling and counselor education.