TPC-Journal-V6-Issue2

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 2 140 the Problems of Professional Competency Survey – Counselor Educator Version (PPCS-CE). This instrument was divided into three parts: Part I - Demographic Information, Part II - Counselor Educators and Students with PPC, and Part III - Counselor Educators’ Knowledge of Colleagues’ PPC (removed from this analysis). Part II included three sections. Section I, Counselor Educators’ Knowledge of Students’ Problems of Professional Competency, included one question to determine whether participants have observed students with PPC and two questions to determine participants’ knowledge of the type of students’ PPC and the impact of the problematic behavior. Each PPC was rank ordered from 1 being the most common and 9 being the least common observed behavior, and the impact of having a student with PPC was ranked ordered with 1 having the most impact and 9 having the least impact. Chi square analyses of each of the rank ordered items led to a rejection of the null hypotheses of the categories of the item occurring with equal probabilities. Section II of Part II of the survey investigated counselor educators’ reactions to students’ PPC and consisted of seven questions. The answers to all these questions were based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Section III, Counselor Educators’ Knowledge of Counseling Program’s Protocol for Addressing Problems of Professional Competency, included questions relating to responsibility for being aware of students PPC and programs’ protocols for addressing PPC. The first nine questions were evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale. The tenth item was unstructured to provide a place for participants to provide additional information. Results Types and Impact of Students’ Problematic Behavior Of the 370 participants, the majority (91%, n = 338) reported that they had observed students with PPC in their programs. Additionally, 2% ( n = 8) of the respondents indicated they did not know if there were students with PPC in their programs, leaving 7% ( n = 24) who had not observed any students with PPC. To answer the first research question regarding the types and impact of master’s students’ PPC observed by CACREP counselor educators, the responses for the 338 participants who reported observing a student with PPC were examined according to the rank order question regarding the types of PPC that participants most observed with counselors-in-training in their programs. The most frequently identified problematic behaviors included inadequate clinical skills ( M = 2.90, SD = 1.88), inadequate interpersonal skills ( M = 3.15, SD = 1.69), inadequate academic skills ( M = 3.38, SD = 2.29), inability to regulate emotions ( M = 4.16, SD = 1.88), and unprofessional behavior ( M = 4.29, SD = 2.13). Those behaviors ranked as less impactful were unprofessional behavior ( M = 4.29, SD = 2.13), unethical behavior ( M = 5.63, SD = 2.03), psychological concern ( M = 6.20, SD = 1.84), personality disorder ( M = 7.60, SD = 1.61), and substance use disorder ( M = 7.69, SD = 1.68). The responses for the rank order question regarding the type of impact of having counselors-in- training in their program with PPC focused on the behaviors having the most impact on the faculty member. Included in this list were disrupted the classroom learning environment ( M = 2.99, SD = 1.86), negatively affected other students ( M = 3.26, SD = 1.52), increased participant’s workload ( M = 3.29, SD = 2.05), and increased participant’s stress ( M = 3.39, SD = 1.64). Additional items that were ranked as less impactful included negatively affected client care ( M = 5.06 , SD = 2.44), negatively affected relationship with students ( M = 5.47, SD = .87), negatively affected relationship with colleagues ( M = 6.59, SD = 1.42), negatively affected reputation of the program ( M = 6.81, SD = 1.90), and a grievance or litigation occurred ( M = 8.25, SD = 1.94).