Volume_6_Issue_4_Digest

11 TPC Digest W ellness is an integral component of the counseling profession and is included in ethical codes, suggestions for practice and codes of conduct throughout the helping professions. Yet, individuals in the helping professions do not necessarily practice wellness or operate from a wellness paradigm, even though counselors are susceptible to becoming unwell simply because of the nature of their job. Proximity to human suffering, trauma, difficult life experiences and additional occupational hazards (e.g., high caseloads) make careers costly for helpers. Further, counselors may be vulnerable to experiencing burnout because of their ability (and necessity because of their career) to care for others. Compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization and other illness-enhancing issues often coincide with burnout, increasing the propensity for counselors to become unwell. Furthermore, counselors who are unwell have the potential of acting unethically and may in turn harm their clients. Thus, it is imperative that helping professionals’ wellness continue to be examined. Counselor impairment occurs when counselors ignore, minimize, and dismiss their personal needs for health, self-care, balance, and wellness. Counselors need awareness of their personal wellness and should work to maintain their wellness. The American Counseling Association states that counselors are responsible for seeking help if they are impaired and that it is the duty of colleagues and supervisors to recognize professional impairment and take appropriate action. Thus, counselors and supervisors are responsible for not only maintaining their personal wellness, but also are responsible for monitoring the wellness or impairment of their colleagues. One of the platforms for monitoring counselor wellness is supervision. Limited researchers have examined wellness in counseling supervision and, therefore, we explored clinical mental health supervisors’ experiences with their supervisees’ levels of wellness within this article. Through a phenomenological investigation, we examined expert (M = 21.2 years of experience supervising) supervisors’ experiences of their supervisees’ wellness. Emergent themes gleaned from the research investigation include: (a) intentionality, (b) self-care, (c) humanness, (d) support and (e) wellness identity. Ashley J. Blount, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Dalena Dillman Taylor is an Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida. Glenn W. Lambie, NCC, is a Professor at the University of Central Florida. Arami Nika Anwell is a recent graduate of the University of Central Florida. Correspondence can be addressed to Ashley Blount, 6001 Dodge Street, RH 101E, Omaha, NE 68182, ablount@unomaha.edu . Read full article and references: Blount, A. J., Taylor, D. D., Lambie, G. W., & Anwell, A. N. (2016). Clinical supervisors’ perceptions of wellness: A phenomenological view on supervisee wellness. The Professional Counselor , 6 , 360–374. doi : 10.15241/ab.6.4.360 11 TPC Digest