TPC Journal Volume 11 Issue 2

176 The Professional Counselor | Volume 11, Issue 2 these in the clinical setting, and clients may not be able to reap the benefits of strengths-based counseling (e.g., increased resilience, self-efficacy). Given the evidence in favor of strengths-based counseling for minoritized communities, the purpose of this study was to offer a strengths-based perspective of the coping strategies used by IGSCs. Our goal was to capture the psychosocial strengths IGSCs employ to support their well-being. Thus, our research question was, “What are the psychosocial strengths that IGSCs employ to support their well-being during their study abroad experience in the United States?” Method The present inquiry was the first part of a larger study. In this first part of the study, we focused on the strengths of IGSCs. We applied IPA (Smith, 1996) to explore IGSCs’ use of psychosocial strengths to support their well-being. IPA is an approach that allows researchers to maintain the uniqueness of each participant’s subjective lived experiences while laying emphasis on the contextual nature of interpretation (Smith, 1996). In other words, people’s interpretation of their lived experiences is grounded in the specific social and cultural context of their narratives. The primary focus of IPA is to examine how individuals make sense of their experiences and minimize any chance of researchers imposing their personal beliefs and expectations on the participants’ experiences (Smith, 1996). All research activities were in compliance with the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Code of Ethics (NBCC, 2016). Researcher Roles and Trustworthiness There are four aspects of effective qualitative research (Guba, 1981), and each aspect was pursued by the team through varied ways: credibility (e.g., member checking, two coders), transferability (e.g., multiple data points for each subtheme), dependability (e.g., utilizing external auditor’s feedback), and confirmability (e.g., field notes). The research team for this study was composed of three cisgender women. At the time of the study, the first author, Anandavalli, identified as an IGSC from India. The second author and auditor for the study, Borders, is a White American counselor educator and has worked with IGSCs from multiple countries. The third author, Kniffin, also a White American, has experiences working with international students in her previous professional roles. Each researcher’s ongoing reflexivity journal, an integral part of IPA, served to identify potential blind spots specifically centering around stereotypes and perceptions surrounding the IGSC community, and the role of institutions and structures in impacting IGSCs’ mental health. To establish meaningful trustworthiness, Anandavalli immersed herself in the IGSC community at a medium-sized university in the United States for about 2 years before beginning the study. The cultural immersion and community-building opportunity allowed for the research question(s) for the larger study to emerge from collective reflections with the participating community. Individuals with prior relationships with the research team were not selected as participants to ensure an ethical inquiry and avoid undue influence of coercion and/or social desirability. Participants Based on Smith and Osborn’s (2007) recommendation, a sample size of seven to eight participants was deemed sufficient for the current study. In this IRB-approved study, the inclusion criteria were that participants needed to: (a) be at least 18 years of age, (b) be proficient in English (interview language), (c) hold a valid F1 or J1 visa (higher education visas in the United States), and (d) be enrolled in any graduate program in the United States. They were also required to self-identify as a person of color and should have lived in the United States for not longer than 2 years, given the rapid effects of acculturation to dominant culture and resulting changes in their mental health experiences (Erichsen & Bolliger, 2011).