171 The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 3 toward their work and the people with whom they work (R. T. Lee & Ashforth, 1993; Maslach & Leiter, 2016; Maslach et al., 2001; Park & Lee, 2013; Taris et al., 2005; van Dierendonck et al., 2001). Lastly, our serial process model confirmed Devaluing Client to be the final stage of counselor burnout, predicted by Negative Work Environment through Deterioration in Personal Life, Exhaustion, and Incompetence. According to Maslach (1998), devaluing clients (i.e., a cynical attitude and feelings toward work and clients) begins with the action of distancing oneself emotionally and cognitively from one’s work, which can be a way to cope with emotional exhaustion. In fact, emotional detachment from work can be viewed as somewhat functional and even a necessary action to take to maintain effectiveness as a professional (Gil-Monte et al., 1998; Golembiewski et al., 1986). Maintaining proper emotional distance from clients and creating a clear boundary from work may act as an effective coping strategy for dealing with emotional and physical exhaustion. However, emotional detachment from work, despite its virtue as a potential coping strategy and an ethical practice (Gil-Monte et al., 1998), can be aggravated by emotional exhaustion through the perceived lack of competence as professional counselors. Such a detached attitude may lead counselors to become callous toward clients and to contemplate leaving the counseling profession (Cook et al., 2021). As the process model indicates, a negative work environment could significantly affect counselors’ social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects in order, which may harm their clients and the profession. In addition to the mechanism of counselor burnout involving all dimensions with three mediators, the final model also identified effects involving a part of the five dimensions (Figure 2). Among those, a significant finding relates to the one without Exhaustion. According to the model, without Exhaustion, Negative Work Environment may still lead counselors to devalue clients through the deterioration in their personal lives and the feeling of incompetence. This finding is significant given that a variety of burnout theories and research have posited exhaustion as a key concept of burnout, insisting that emotional and physical depletion of counselors would lead up to feelings of incompetence and devaluing clients (Leiter & Maslach, 1999; Maslach & Leiter, 2016; Maslach et al., 2001; Park & Lee, 2013). Distinguishably, our findings suggest that, even when counselors do not necessarily experience emotional and physical exhaustion or are not aware of such experiences, counselors who work in unfavorable work environments that negatively impact their personal lives for a long period (Puig et al., 2012) may feel unable to maintain their effectiveness as professionals (Bandura & National Institute of Mental Health, 1986; Hattie et al., 2004) and thus become callous toward their work and clients (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). Implications To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first attempt to acquire an in-depth understanding of a process model of counselor burnout using the five dimensions of burnout. The present study introduced a model that depicts the sequential process among the five dimensions of counselor burnout, indicating how counselor burnout may develop from their experiences at work as counselors to the point where they may harm their clients. Our research findings suggest important practical implications for counselors, clinical supervisors, and counseling center directors. Implications for Counselors The findings first enrich counselors’ understanding of their experiences of burnout and allow them to reflect on how they can relate themselves to each stage of the model. Counselors may use this model to examine their environments and experiences and to engage in self-reflection, assessing whether they have any signs of burnout. A single experience that may not have always necessarily been considered an indication of being in a developmental phase of counselor burnout, such as a limited number of
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