TPC Journal-Vol 9- Issue 2-Full-Issue

The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 2 145 your perspective changed or not changed? Sub-questions also were asked to illicit the meaning and sense attributed to defining moment experiences. Each interview question was presented in the same order with each participant for consistency (Creswell, 2007). Follow-up impromptu questions were asked in between the established questions to obtain richer, more elaborate details or context, as needed. Each interview progressed at a pace that was set by the participant, allowing for the development of more elaborate data with each question (Hays & Singh, 2012). Table 1 Participant Demographics and Defining Moment Experience Pseudonym Gender Age Race Years of Description of Defining Moment Experience Range Experience Ellen F 65+ Caucasian 21–29 Couples counseling with a female client in danger John M 65+ Caucasian 10–15 Counseling a non-mainstream client (LGBT) Ace F 65+ African 30+ Counseling a teenage sexual abuse victim American Alaina F 55–64 African 21–29 Counseling a WWII survivor American Lee M 45–54 Caucasian 16–20 Being “fired” by a client Gina F 45–54 African 10–15 Stepping outside the boundaries to help a American client face school anxiety Gretchen F 45–54 Caucasian 16–20 Suicidal client who experienced child abuse Jon M 55–64 Caucasian 10–15 Counseling a client with addiction problems Jackie F 35–44 African 10–15 Client discontinued treatment after a firm American boundary was set A range of procedural steps were taken to enhance the credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability of the data (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and to counter any potential researcher biases (Morrow, 2005). To establish the credibility of the findings, descriptive field notes were taken during interviews to document observations and add context to the audio data. The field notes emphasized participant content, expressed meaning and PI observations (Creswell, 2007), and provided a means to confirm interpretations of interview data through data triangulation (Anney, 2014). Member checking was used to enhance the credibility of the findings (see Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2005) by asking participants to check summaries of the interview content. Confirmability of findings entailed the use of analytic memos and a reflexivity journal to ensure objectivity in any interpretations made in the course of data analysis (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). Analytic memos were written throughout data analysis to record thoughts about the meaning behind participants’ words (Salda ñ a, 2009). A reflexivity journal was employed to assist the PI with preparing to interview each participant and enter their subjective reality by writing about her own defining moment experiences as a counselor prior to interviews (Hays & Singh, 2012). Moreover, the PI maintained the reflexivity journal throughout the interviews and data analysis processes. The PI made a consistent effort to bracket assumptions