The Influence of Instructional Modality on Counselor Self-Efficacy: A Comparison of In-Person and Online Learning in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Graduates

Abstract

The expansion of online learning in counselor education has raised questions about if instructional modality influences counselor preparation outcomes, particularly counselor self-efficacy. Counselor self-efficacy refers to counselors’ beliefs in their ability to perform counseling-related tasks and is an important component of clinical confidence and professional readiness. Grounded in Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether counselor self- efficacy differed between recent graduates of CACREP-accredited Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs who completed their training through online versus in- person instructional modalities. Participants included 128 recent graduates of CACREP- accredited Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs who had graduated within the past 12 months and were employed in mental health-related counseling roles. The sample included 64 graduates from online programs and 64 graduates from in-person programs. Counselor self-efficacy was measured using the Counselor Activity Self- Efficacy Scales. Results indicated that graduates of in-person programs reported slightly higher counselor self-efficacy scores (M = 6.32, SD = 1.40) than graduates of online programs (M = 5.94, SD = 1.66); however, this difference was not statistically significant, t(122.51) = -1.41, p = .161, Cohen’s d = -0.25. Hierarchical regression results indicated that instructional modality did not explain significant additional variance in counselor self-efficacy after accounting for selected demographic and training-related variables. These findings suggest that instructional modality alone may not be a significant predictor of counselor self-efficacy among recent Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduates.