An Assessment of the Levels of Stress Among Beginning Counselor Education Graduate Students, Students Beginning the Counseling Practicum and Students Graduating from their Program of Studies

The following study examines stress among graduate level counselor education students at different stages during their training program. The students were assigned to three groups according to training level: (1) beginning, (2) practicum, and (3) graduating. The Stress Profile (Nowack, 1999) was administered to the students (N= 58). Three constructs were chosen from the survey: (1) stress, (2) cognitive hardiness, and (3) psychological well-being. The constructs were developed using the theoretical framework of Lazarus's (1999) theory of appraisal and stress. These variables were compared among the students to determine if a difference in stress levels exists at different times during their training. The beginning students demonstrated a significantly higher amount of psychological well-being when compared to the graduating students. Although the survey did not demonstrate significance on the measure of stress and cognitive hardiness, the data displays a directional trend of increasing stress as the students progress through their training program. Implications for counselor education training and mental health professionals, as well as limitations and a need for future research are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Counselor Education and Supervision (ExCES)

Year dc:date.available

2006

Author dc:creator

• Hoffman, Richard Christian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joseph F. Maola
• James E. Henderson
• John E. Welburn

• Counselor Education
• Experience Levels
• Stress
• Students

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/655

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1671