TPC-Journal-V5-Issue3

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 3 335 Other ideas that came up frequently were program elements and flexibility around structuring research to include interest. Lindsey discussed how this impacted her RI process: If you are interested in helping . . . clients, you should do [research] projects. You know, the program recognized that everybody has different interests and . . . they can’t teach us everything, they . . . let us adapt what we researched to what we are interested in. Other program elements related to faculty playing a role in the RI process. Participants in this stage did not place as much emphasis on the faculty role as those in lower levels of RI; this shift seemed related to individuals at higher stages having more of an internal drive to know themselves as researchers. Participant Bob described how faculty can facilitate higher levels of RI: [The] professor . . . was amazing. She is always continuing research and she likes to involve students . . . so she definitely pushed me and showed that continuing research is very important to professional development. So I would say that would be the number one factor for me. Discussion The findings of this research tell a story about the phenomenon of master’s-level counseling students’ RI. The story can be understood through viewing the process on a continuum that is fluid and comprised of interactions between the themes manifested in this study. The idea that research is a sub-identity of a counselor’s professional identity was validated at all levels of RI. Participants frequently identified what it would take to reach higher levels of RI. This information was used to further understand the facilitation of the RI development process across stages. Some participants believed that research is important and has its place, but those in the stagnation stage believed that others should produce the research (i.e., diffusion of responsibility). There are multiple aspects that comprise stage one of RI (see Table 1). Factors that facilitate a higher level of RI in students at stage one include the following: more infusion of research across courses and continuing education training, open and frequent communication about research, teaching more critical thinking skills, supervisors providing directives such as having supervisees read research articles, knowledge of alternative methodologies, challenging views of research and working to help them establish a new conceptualization, and more research programming, such as assignments that require research activities. Participants described the negotiation stage as a “necessary evil.” Although participants in this stage wanted to act on their belief that research is important to practice, they often described a struggle to make that happen. However, participants in the negotiation stage stated that they were more likely to engage in lower- to moderate-level research behaviors (e.g., reading articles, referencing research in papers and copresenting). Multiple aspects are comprised in this stage of RI (see Table 1). Counselors need to understand how to facilitate higher levels of RI. In addition to the factors mentioned in stage one, some factors that facilitate higher levels of RI include the following: establishing peer support for research activities, supervisors providing directives around and modeling research activities, mentoring students through research activities such as presenting