TPC Journal V8, Issue 1 - FULL ISSUE

64 The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 1 with clients who have experienced suffering (Figley, 2002). Compassion fatigue is influenced by: (a) self-care, (b) unresolved trauma, (c) inability or unwillingness to control work stressors, and (d) a lack of work satisfaction (Figley, 1995; Turgoose & Maddox, 2017). Compassion fatigue can be characterized by emotional and physical exhaustion, withdrawal, stress, a reluctance to discuss or address the issue, and irritability both in and out of the work environment (Turgoose & Maddox, 2017). On the opposite end of the spectrum, professional quality of life includes compassion satisfaction, which involves the pleasure derived from doing work well (Stamm, 2010; Turgoose & Maddox, 2017). Compassion satisfaction is often an overlooked component of professional quality of life and is viewed as mitigation to compassion fatigue. The key to preventing compassion fatigue lies in counselors detecting and reinforcing the sense of satisfaction they derive from working with clients (Figley & Stamm, 1996). To remain effective and vital in their work, counselors must be able to recognize and find joy in their ability to help others. Purpose of the Study We chose to assess a career counseling class for a number of reasons, including (a) career education requirement(s) outlined in ethical codes and professional mandates within the helping professions; (b) the general consensus that students dislike the career topic compared to other counseling classes; (c) the idea that CITs have low levels of perceived competence in relation to career topics, specifically assessment; (d) the value of experiential or applied learning in the development of competence; and (e) to assess student career values, career engagement, and quality of life. By assessing students’ work values, occupational engagement, and professional quality of life, students can explore their own experiences and professional wellness, while also gaining competence in career assessment for later application in the field. By evaluating personal variables (e.g., career values, engagement, quality of life), CITs might be more equipped to discuss similar variables with clients in the future. The aim of this study was to extend the literature on CITs’ career values, engagement, and quality of life, specifically within the context of a career counseling course. In addition to simply exposing CITs to career-related topics through taking assessments, the questions that guided this investigation included: (a) What are the highest ranked and lowest ranked (top three and bottom three) work values of counseling students, and is there a statistical difference in scores at pre- and post-assessment? (b) How occupationally engaged are counseling students, and is there a statistical difference in scores at pre- and post-assessment? and (c) What are the levels of burnout, compassion satisfaction, and compassion fatigue in a sample of counseling students, and is there a statistical difference in scores at pre- and post-assessment? Method Participants and Procedure The researchers implemented a pre- and post-assessment cross-sectional research design (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007) for assessing participants’ change during their time in a career counseling course. Participants included CITs at the clinical level of their counseling program (e.g., in practicum or internship) from a large Midwestern CACREP-accredited university. Specifically, students ( N = 24) in a career counseling course met the requirements for participation, which was active enrollment as a degree-seeking student in counseling, enrollment in the required career counseling course during the Summer 2016 course section, and at the practicum or internship level in the counseling program.