This phenomenological study explored the impact of the rural context on the experiences of rural school counselors related to their professional identity construction. The author interviewed six participants in their respective communities and identified three themes—(a) the tight-knit community, (b) permeable professional/personal boundaries, and (c) fewer resources—as characteristics of the rural context that influence school counselors’ professional identity construction. This article presents implications and provides recommendations for practicing school counselors and counselor education programs.

This grounded theory study sought to identify the process by which master’s level counselors-in-training (CITs)develop social justice counseling competencies. Participants (N = 41) from a clinical mental health counseling(CMHC) program were interviewed at pre-practicum, pre-internship, and post-internship phases. CITsprogressed through the stages of exposure, recognition, and action, influenced by self-reflection and attitudes.These stages differed from the awareness, knowledge, and skills domains identified in prior multicultural andsocial justice counseling literature. Most CITs planned advocacy action steps by the conclusion of their program,though few implemented them. Implications for counselor educators are discussed.

This research was conducted as part of a larger qualitative study that involved the collection and analysis of in-depth interviews with 15 counselor educators at counselor education and supervision doctoral programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The participants were asked to identify strategies used to help students navigate the dissertation process and if the strategies were successful. Structural and relational strategies were identified as significant to the successful completion of the dissertation process. Although additional research is necessary to determine if the strategies are successful for faculty and students in other counselor education and supervision doctoral programs, we identified five themes that support the completion of the dissertation process: (a) mechanics of the program, (b) supportive environment, (c) selecting and working with committee members, (d) intentionality in developing a scholar identity, and (e) accountability.

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A long-standing challenge in counseling practice is the application of multicultural and social justice competencies through traditional counseling paradigms, many of which uphold systems of oppression. Although contemporary standards for the profession emphasize the need for greater attention to systemic influences on clients’ lives, enacting frameworks such as the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (MSJCC) proposed by Ratts et al. without a complementary theoretical framework can be challenging for mental health counselors. Relational-cultural theory (RCT) offers such a framework to support counselors’ efforts to serve marginalized clients, as well as understand their own oppressed identities in the counseling room. Following an overview of RCT, the authors describe practical guidelines for enacting the MSJCC through RCT in clinical practice. A case study is provided to illustrate a workable application for mental health counselors.

School-based mental health services address the rising rates of emotional distress among youth and promote student success. Barriers to effective school mental health services arise due to challenges implementing coordinated and evidence-based practices among school staff. Popular strategies for remediating these challenges, such as one-time professional development experiences or individual coaching, often fail to be effective and/or sustainable. The present study investigates a set of professional development activities designed to alleviate these challenges by combining sequential online learning modules with live, group-based telementoring sessions. At the end of the first year of training activities, we conducted focus groups with 14 participants from the larger training cohort of participating school mental health professionals. Using qualitative methods, we mapped participants’ responses against an augmented framework for effective training criteria to gauge practitioners’ reactions to training activities and to determine how training activities facilitated staff learning and behavior change as well as student results. Consistent with our theory of change, participants emphasized more proximal outcomes (i.e., reaction and learning) than distal outcomes (i.e., behavior changes and student outcomes). Participants most often described positive reactions, learning, and behavior change with respect to equitable service provision and interdisciplinary teaming. Overall, results suggest that group-based telementoring may be a low-cost, high-impact strategy for facilitating learning and behavior change among school mental health providers when paired with a more traditional professional development approach (i.e., online modules).