This session examines researcher bias within Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and its implications for rigor in counselor education research. Participants will explore how subjectivity functions within hermeneutic inquiry, identify analytic risks such as the “black box” effect, and apply reflexive strategies to enhance transparency, credibility, and methodological coherence in IPA studies.
Predicting safety issues with new clients can feel like fortune telling and often causes clinician anxiety. Hopelessness has long been identified as one of the most prominent warning signs for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, but articulating these feelings can look different to each individual client. The presentation will review approaches to assessing and treating suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and present new findings to inform updated assessment prompts for identifying suicide risk.
This session introduces Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs), emphasizing their framework, measurement, and significance for counseling research. Attendees will learn why PCEs are needed alongside the field’s strong focus on ACEs in research and practice. Presenters will review key frameworks, measurement approaches and limitations, and the value PCEs add to counseling research, along with recent findings and future directions.
This session presents findings from a quasi-experimental study examining an AI-based simulation and feedback intervention's effectiveness on CITs' broaching attitudes/behaviors and counseling self-efficacy. Results revealed significant broaching improvement (p = .019, d = 0.83) and medium-to-large self-efficacy effects between control and experimental groups. Attendees will explore how AI-supported practice can supplement traditional andragogy to enhance CITs' counseling skills.
While research on intercultural couples has primarily focused on their unique relational challenges, cultural humility emerges as a valuable resource toward relational flourishing. Drawing on two quantitative studies, this session presents theoretically-informed pathways linking cultural humility to relational satisfaction via cultural sharing and self-expansion. Attendees will leave with strategies for supporting intercultural couples in counseling and clinical training contexts.
This presentation delivers practical applications of geographic information systems (GIS) in counseling research and assessment. Using a spatial analysis of Medicare-approved mental health counselors and social determinants of mental health, the presentation shows how GIS can enhance counseling research. Attendees will gain an applied overview of data and technical requirements, as well as strategies for mapping and analyzing geographic patterns to inform research and assessment practices.
