The Professional Counselor | Volume 14, Issue 1 105 Faculty Supervision and Learning Activities During the semester, faculty supervision was an essential component of the process. If additional support or guidance was needed for participants, faculty were available via phone between 8 am–8 pm, Monday through Friday. Faculty were available to all role-play participants regardless of their role (i.e., counselor, client, or observer). While supervision can look different for each instructor, the counselor educators in this study regularly consulted with one another to ensure that they were conveying the same expectations to the students enrolled in the courses. This extended to making sure they discussed similar topics at the same time during the course; included the same teaching activities, readings, and assignments; and consulted with one another when a concern arose that may have changed course plans. In addition to completing the virtual role-plays during the semester, participants completed a variety of activities and assignments that were intended to prepare them for realistic experiences needed upon graduation. For example, participants completed components of a treatment plan after each counseling session which were submitted to the instructor immediately following the role-play. Additionally, they submitted video tapes of role-plays for faculty feedback. Finally, participants transcribed one 30-minute role-play. This assignment allowed them to identify and reflect on specific foundational skills that they used when working with a client reporting suicidal ideations. At the conclusion of the semester, participants were asked to complete the posttest using the same username they created at the beginning of the semester. The posttest included the same assessment as the pretest (CSAES). Participants A convenience sample was used for this study. Master’s-level counseling students enrolled in the spring 2021 and spring 2022 counseling skills courses (10 sections total) in an online clinical mental health counseling graduate program were recruited via news announcements and emails to participate in this study. A total of 120 students were invited to participate in the study; however, only 60 were included because they completed both the pretest and posttest self-efficacy assessment. Included students’ ages ranged from 21–61 years old. The average age of participants was 29.03 (SD = 8.49). The sample consisted of the following racial identities: 80.0% White or Caucasian (n = 48), 10.0% Black or African American (n = 6), 6.7% Hispanic or Latino (n = 4), 1.7% Asian or Asian American (n = 1), and 1.7% did not indicate their racial identities (n = 1). Most participants identified as female (90%, n = 54) and were enrolled in the mental health counseling program full-time (51.7%, n = 31). When asked about prior experience in the mental health field, 60% (n = 36) had this experience; however, only 45% (n = 27) had prior professional experience or training in suicide risk assessment. Table 1 contains all participant demographics. Measure The study participants completed the CSAES (Douglas & Wachter Morris, 2015). The CSAES measures self-efficacy in suicide assessment and intervention. According to the developers (Douglas & Wachter Morris, 2015), the CSAES is comprised of 25 items that may make suicide assessment or intervention difficult for a counselor. These items are rated on a confidence scale that ranges from 1 (not confident) to 5 (highly confident). The confidence items are organized into four subscales: • General Suicide Assessment, which has seven items and a maximum score of 35 • Assessment of Personal Characteristics, which has 10 items and a maximum score of 50 • Assessment of Suicide History, which has three items and a maximum score of 15 • Suicide Intervention, which has five items and a maximum score of 25
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