Counselor educators and supervisors have the incumbent responsibility to ensure that CITs are sufficiently prepared to engage in counseling work with clientele from diverse backgrounds. Extant literature has demonstrated the use of film to teach CITs about racism and antiracism, promote exploration and awareness of racial attitudes, and examine the interactions of culturally diverse individuals. Films have also been utilized to assist CITs with acquiring knowledge about certain categorical cultural and social populations. Despite the recognition of popular film as a beneficial media to facilitate cultural learning in counselor education, there exists a gap in the literature regarding the experiences and understandings of CITs exposed to media, specifically film, that explicitly portray the dynamic interactions of intersectional identities through a lens of development. Additionally, no studies in the counselor education field have focused on the experiences of more advanced counseling students enrolled in clinical courses such as practicum and internship who have been exposed to multicultural or intersectional films. In this study, a basic interpretative qualitative approach was employed to explore the experiences and perceptions of mental health counseling interns exposed to the popular film, Moonlight. Five final themes emerged as a result of this study. 12 master’s level counseling interns engaged in a focus group interview, completed written reflection responses, and participated in member checks to discuss their experiences and perceptions of the film. Interpretations of themes were presented to conceptualize and discuss implications for counselor education and supervision, suggestions for integrating Moonlight, or other similar films, into curriculum, and directions for future research.
","abstract_html":"<p>Counselor educators and supervisors have the incumbent responsibility to ensure that CITs are sufficiently prepared to engage in counseling work with clientele from diverse backgrounds. Extant literature has demonstrated the use of film to teach CITs about racism and antiracism, promote exploration and awareness of racial attitudes, and examine the interactions of culturally diverse individuals. Films have also been utilized to assist CITs with acquiring knowledge about certain categorical cultural and social populations. Despite the recognition of popular film as a beneficial media to facilitate cultural learning in counselor education, there exists a gap in the literature regarding the experiences and understandings of CITs exposed to media, specifically film, that explicitly portray the dynamic interactions of intersectional identities through a lens of development. Additionally, no studies in the counselor education field have focused on the experiences of more advanced counseling students enrolled in clinical courses such as practicum and internship who have been exposed to multicultural or intersectional films. In this study, a basic interpretative qualitative approach was employed to explore the experiences and perceptions of mental health counseling interns exposed to the popular film, Moonlight. Five final themes emerged as a result of this study. 12 master’s level counseling interns engaged in a focus group interview, completed written reflection responses, and participated in member checks to discuss their experiences and perceptions of the film. Interpretations of themes were presented to conceptualize and discuss implications for counselor education and supervision, suggestions for integrating Moonlight, or other similar films, into curriculum, and directions for future research. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Elliott, Joshua"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Doctoral's","degree_discipline":"Counseling and Educational Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z","subjects":["film-based pedagogy","intersectionality","multicultural counselor education","Counseling Psychology","Counselor Education"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Joshua Elliott"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/606","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Elliott, Joshua"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Counseling and Educational Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["film-based pedagogy","intersectionality","multicultural counselor education","Counseling Psychology","Counselor Education"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Joshua Elliott"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/606"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Counselor educators and supervisors have the incumbent responsibility to ensure that CITs are sufficiently prepared to engage in counseling work with clientele from diverse backgrounds. Extant literature has demonstrated the use of film to teach CITs about racism and antiracism, promote exploration and awareness of racial attitudes, and examine the interactions of culturally diverse individuals. Films have also been utilized to assist CITs with acquiring knowledge about certain categorical cultural and social populations. Despite the recognition of popular film as a beneficial media to facilitate cultural learning in counselor education, there exists a gap in the literature regarding the experiences and understandings of CITs exposed to media, specifically film, that explicitly portray the dynamic interactions of intersectional identities through a lens of development. Additionally, no studies in the counselor education field have focused on the experiences of more advanced counseling students enrolled in clinical courses such as practicum and internship who have been exposed to multicultural or intersectional films. In this study, a basic interpretative qualitative approach was employed to explore the experiences and perceptions of mental health counseling interns exposed to the popular film, Moonlight. Five final themes emerged as a result of this study. 12 master’s level counseling interns engaged in a focus group interview, completed written reflection responses, and participated in member checks to discuss their experiences and perceptions of the film. Interpretations of themes were presented to conceptualize and discuss implications for counselor education and supervision, suggestions for integrating Moonlight, or other similar films, into curriculum, and directions for future research.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Qualitative Investigation Of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Interns’ Experiential Reflections On The Popular Film, Moonlight: An Intersectional Activity In Multicultural Counselor Education"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Elliott, Joshua"],"dc:description.abstract":["Counselor educators and supervisors have the incumbent responsibility to ensure that CITs are sufficiently prepared to engage in counseling work with clientele from diverse backgrounds. Extant literature has demonstrated the use of film to teach CITs about racism and antiracism, promote exploration and awareness of racial attitudes, and examine the interactions of culturally diverse individuals. Films have also been utilized to assist CITs with acquiring knowledge about certain categorical cultural and social populations. Despite the recognition of popular film as a beneficial media to facilitate cultural learning in counselor education, there exists a gap in the literature regarding the experiences and understandings of CITs exposed to media, specifically film, that explicitly portray the dynamic interactions of intersectional identities through a lens of development. Additionally, no studies in the counselor education field have focused on the experiences of more advanced counseling students enrolled in clinical courses such as practicum and internship who have been exposed to multicultural or intersectional films. In this study, a basic interpretative qualitative approach was employed to explore the experiences and perceptions of mental health counseling interns exposed to the popular film, Moonlight. Five final themes emerged as a result of this study. 12 master’s level counseling interns engaged in a focus group interview, completed written reflection responses, and participated in member checks to discuss their experiences and perceptions of the film. Interpretations of themes were presented to conceptualize and discuss implications for counselor education and supervision, suggestions for integrating Moonlight, or other similar films, into curriculum, and directions for future research.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/606"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Joshua Elliott"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["film-based pedagogy","intersectionality","multicultural counselor education","Counseling Psychology","Counselor Education"],"dc:title":["A Qualitative Investigation Of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Interns’ Experiential Reflections On The Popular Film, Moonlight: An Intersectional Activity In Multicultural Counselor Education"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Counseling and Educational Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z"}