TPC-Journal-V2-Issue1

The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 1 93 Data Collection Demographic questionnaire. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire consisting of questions about their age, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, years in the field and work setting prior to participating in the interviews. Individual interviews. The second author facilitated individual, semi-structured interviews with seven of the participants. Each interview lasted between 60 and 90 minutes. The interview started with the interviewer explaining the purpose of the study and then posing the first question: “How do you relate to the concept of wellness as a professional counselor?” Once this area was completely explored between the researcher and the interviewee, the researcher posed the second question: “How do you perceive your agency impacts your sense of wellness?” The researchers used follow-up, open-ended questions to elicit significant depth for each of the questions. Focus group. The focus group included three counselors at a university-based counseling clinic and was facilitated by the second author. Prior to the group, the researcher reminded the interviewees about confidentiality and its limitations. The group lasted approximately 90 minutes and followed the same protocol as the individual interviews. Data Analysis After completing the interviews, we transcribed the audio-recorded sessions. All identifying information of the participants and location of employment were altered to maintain confidentiality. Next, the first and second authors read through transcripts to find initial categories. We employed inductive coding to devise categories that represented the overall essential message that was being conveyed in each interview and the focus group. The coding categories that emerged were recorded as well as thoughts about possible relationships between the categories (Glesne, 2006). Next, using the qualitative research software ATLAS.ti (Muhr, 2004), we loaded the documents and reduced the data using a chunking method, which requires the researcher to highlight sections of the transcription and assign codes or categories. Finally, we numbered the code list and noted connections among the interviewees’ coded chunks. This procedure consists of the researcher reviewing the codes to determine if a pattern, theme or relationship occurs (Glesne, 2006). Verification Procedures We implemented multiple verification procedures in order to ensure the trustworthiness of the study (Creswell, 2008). First, we performed member checks with participants to verify that the themes developed captured the essence of their experience. We addressed the threat of subjectivity through revealing our positionality and attempting to view information as objectively as possible. Additionally, we employed a peer-debriefer who continuously asked the primary author questions about the study, reviewed the relationship between the data and the research questions and reviewed the accuracy of the data analysis in comparison to the transcriptions. Findings In this study, we conducted seven individual interviews and a focus group to explore wellness for professional counselors in various mental health agencies. From the two research questions, “How do you relate to the concept of wellness as a professional counselor?” and, “How do you perceive your agency influences your sense of wellness?” five themes emerged: (a) resources, (b) time management, (c) occupational hazards, (d) agency culture, and (e) individual differences. We discuss each theme with thick, rich descriptions. Agency Resources Resources within the agency appeared to be a common theme that influenced participants’ sense of wellness. Participants consistently discussed areas such as salary, staff coverage and workloads as barriers to wellness. For example, participants discussed how financial compensation affected their feelings of being valued as well as their means to do things to maintain wellness. One participant, Anne, explained, “I am a 37-year-old woman who has to live with a roommate… I’m paid half of what nurses [at the same facility] are paid for the same amount of time.” When asked how she handled being paid less than other helping professionals, Anne responded, “I commiserate with other people in the field about being underpaid and undervalued. I can’t beat my head against a wall.” Another participant, Brian, discussed how his salary often impeded his ability to engage in wellness activities: