Volume_4_Issue_5_Digest

TPC D igest 81 Bryn E. Schiele is a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina. Mark D. Weist is a professor at the University of South Carolina. Eric A. Youngstrom is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sharon H. Stephan and Nancy A. Lever are associate professors at the University of Maryland. Correspondence can be addressed to Bryn E. Schiele, the Department of Psychology, Barnwell College, Columbia, SC 29208, schiele@email.sc.edu . C linician or counseling self-efficacy (CSE), defined as one’s beliefs about his or her ability to effectively counsel a client in the near future, is widely accepted as an important precursor of effective clinical practice. Previous research has explored the association of CSE with variables such as counselor aptitude, achievement, and level of training and experience. However, little attention has been paid to the CSE of school mental health (SMH) practitioners, factors that play into its development, and the impact of CSE on practice-related variables, especially in the expanded school mental health (ESMH) literature. The current study examined the influence of quality training and supervision on the level of CSE among SMH practitioners, as well as the relationship of specific demographic variables and professional experiences to CSE. Data were collected as part of a larger national evaluation published by Weist et al. in 2009, which focused on quality assessment and improvement (QAI), family engagement and empowerment, and modular evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation in SMH. SMH clinicians ( n = 58; 82.8% female) from three community-based Counseling Self-Efficacy, Quality of Services and Knowledge of Evidence-Based Practices in School Mental Health – DIGEST Bryn E. Schiele Mark D. Weist Eric A. Youngstrom Sharon H. Stephan Nancy A. Lever