TPC-Journal-V2-Issue1

The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 1 99 secure various types of grants to assist with resources (e.g., additional staff, technology, wellness initiatives). Additionally, agencies may benefit from developing ad-hoc committees that will evaluate processes and procedures (e.g., paperwork, documentation) to potentially reduce workloads and ensure that counselors’ time is used efficiently. Finally, counselors should be proactive in seeking out further training in wellness, self-care and burnout prevention through conferences (e.g., ACA, AMHCA) or other professional development opportunities, and should advocate that their agencies provide these types of trainings. Limitations and Future Research Despite the depth and richness of information obtained in this exploratory study, there are multiple limitations. First, we did not spend prolonged time in the field in order to gather further data about wellness practices through observation or document analysis. Future researchers may benefit from direct observations of wellness practices in the natural setting. Additionally, we only utilized one source of data for interpretation (i.e., interview/focus group) which may have affected the depth of information obtained. Finally, although generalizability is not a major goal of qualitative research, readers should be mindful that the findings may not be representative of other counselors in different settings. Future researchers could explore wellness experiences of more diverse racial/ethnic groups and those at various income levels. Additional studies may include more prolonged engagement in the field by the researcher in order to make observations about wellness practices as well as multiple data sources (e.g., observations, questionnaires, reflective journals). Other studies may include agencies that are currently implementing specific wellness practices in order to evaluate their effect on counselor wellness. Finally, future researchers may benefit from identifying particular agencies that maintain effective wellness practices and exploring them through in-depth analysis. Conclusion Counselor wellness is an important aspect of ensuring effective and ethical services to clients (ACA, 2010; NBCC, 2005). The findings in this study provide some initial information about the various aspects of wellness that may be influenced by professional counselors’ work environment. Although agencies may not be able to immediately change all aspects of the work environment (e.g., salary, caseloads, work hours), other aspects such as agency culture and adequate supervision are easier to address. Counselors and clinical directors may benefit from evaluating their current wellness practices through staff questionnaires, focus groups, or needs’ assessments. Attending to professional counselors’ wellness needs may help to improve the morale in the agency, help counselors avoid burnout, and ensure more quality care for clients. References Ackerly, G. D., Burnell, J., Holder, D. C., & Kurdek, L.A. (1988). Burnout among licensed psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 19 , 624–631. American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA code of ethics. Alexandria, VA: Author. American Mental Health Counselors Association. (2010). AMHCA code of ethics. Author. Bell, H., Kulkarni, S., & Dalton, L. (2003). Organizational prevention of vicarious trauma. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Services , 84 , 463–470. Cain, D. J. (2001). Defining characteristics, history, and evolution of humanistic psychotherapies. In D. J. Cain & J. Seeman (Eds.), Humanistic psychotherapies: Handbook of research and practice (pp. 3–54). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Ducharme, L. J., Knudsen, H. K., & Roman, P. M. (2008). Emotional exhaustion and turnover intention in human service occupations: The protective role of coworker support. Sociological Spectrum, 28 , 81–104. doi:10.1016/j. jsat.2006.04.003