Counselor Education Focus Group
This was an “exit interview” with students completing the program, conducted by an
interviewer completely unaffiliated with the program.
13 participants; confidentiality assured; “ground rules” established
What do you wish you had known about the program before you began?
- What caused us the most stress when starting practicum was integrating
client schedule with ours—didn’t know we had to do that
- Practicum experience & Time commitment for internship—weren’t given
hours, so we didn’t know how much we’d be working
- A sample schedule would help future students—show how to balance
practicum, supervision, travel, classes, etc.
- Didn’t know depth of program when I began, “this is your life for two years”
- Wouldn’t have stressed so much about certain assignments—we were all
expecting Fs, but all got As—professors are here for you, will support you
- Told it was a cohort model for 2 years; found out that some students were
actually doing it part-time—was told it was not an option to do it part-time
What aspects of the program were most challenging to you academically?
- Online classes—all nod, agree
- In practicum, a lot of projects occurred at the same time, which was
challenging when also trying to juggle everything else,
- Transitioning from fall/spring to summer schedules—had to work five days a
week, hard to get used to
How about personally?
- Being in a counseling program, felt “massively” uncomfortable and
vulnerable at times, but knew that going into it; professors reminded us at
beginning of classes, which was comforting
- Because of all the commitments, challenging to take time for self-care, which
is something that is stressed in this program
- Lack of sleep during practicum semester
- Felt that I neglected some personal relationships, but happy to have cohort
that was supportive
In what ways have you seen your competencies develop in terms of
understanding clients?
- Day one going into practicum, we freaked out; now most of us do this easily,
empathize with clients
- Had a crisis with patient recently, if that had happened on the first day would
have been awful; learned to be more calm in these situations
- “I think it’s just a confidence that you simply don’t have [at first], it’s embedded
in the process of the program. They can’t teach that to you, you just have to
experience it. I think they did a nice job of doing that.”
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“The professors were extremely supportive and encouraging and helped us see
that we have those competencies, which was really nice, [helped us see that we]
have the ability to do what we need to do with clients. That was really helpful in
developing my competencies.”
In practicum, wouldn’t listen to client because I was so panicked about what I
would say next, now seeing them as just another person—calmed me down
In what ways have you seen your competencies develop in terms of helping
clients though individual or group counseling?
- Struggled with silence at first; huge breakthrough not to worry about that
- After taking theory class, thought there was only one correct
theory/technique—now we know how to incorporate what works for us in a
certain situation
- The theory/technique that works for you may not work for the client, so have
to adjust to the client
In what ways have you seen your competencies develop in terms of your
specific setting (Community Counseling or School Counseling)?
- Significantly for me, started out wanting to be in higher education, now I’ve
been in elementary school, had no prior experience, now I can manage a
group of kids, and enjoy it, through work in program
- In elementary school, hard to find developmentally appropriate methods—
need to know about child development from K to 5th grade
- “I feel more comfortable consulting with other professionals—other counselors,
doctors—in my community setting. At the beginning when I wasn’t as confident
in myself, I had a harder time talking to another professional and conveying
what the situation was with the client.”
- Coming in, thought I didn’t want to work in elementary school, but ended up
liking it, and feel confident it in—still not what I want to do, but feel
comfortable; good to have the option to do all 3 grade levels (elementary,
middle, and high school)
- Getting experience with all parts of school counseling—like testing,
graduation requirements—the “non fun stuff,” but important to know both
counseling side and paperwork side
- Previously thought school counseling was only about responsive services of
high school; didn’t think there were opportunities for counseling moments
even in registering student for classes
What, if any, areas in the program (coursework or training) do you feel
needed more attention in order for you to fully benefit from them?
- Online courses—only know about statistics from undergrad classes; same
with other online classes, like career counseling, “we all tried to slip by and
just get out”; so dry, lots of other classes going on at the same time
- For the school counseling track, wish we had spent more time on lesson
planning—more examples would help
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Integrating more school counseling into the program in general—still feel
like I don’t know everything
DSM class should have been longer instead of just a summer class; no matter
what setting, we’re all going to see that; learned how to identify clients, but
not how to treat them
What were the strengths and/or challenges involved with the clinical
supervision you received (from both faculty and doc students)?
- Time and travel
- “I think a strength was how much individual attention we got…the amount of
individualized attention, they keep telling us we’re never going to get that
amount of attention again”
- Strength of practicum: when they pulled us out halftime, supervisors able to
calm me down give good feedback—never felt overwhelmed by feedback;
great supervision around case notes
- I had no supervision around case notes—
 Would help if there were a more uniform standard for what
doc students required (students thinks this is being done for
1st years)
 Others agree
- Strength of practicum—liked having time with supervisor to debrief about
week
If you were able to make recommendations for what would make this
program better, what would you include?
- Would like having two classes in one day—helps with travel and freeing up a
day
- Time management; as far as XXX students who come for practicum, had
issues scheduling meetings with them, then they would not show up—would
help to describe expectations to those students
- We have limited time, then they wouldn’t show up—very frustrating;
have our program communicate that it’s a big deal when they don’t
show up
- No penalty for them; in real world charged if you don’t show up to a
session
- 24 hour cancelation policy would help
- For supervision, some people got triad, others got individual—turned into
another class if you had individual in practicum; twice as much work—some way
of balancing this would be nice