Counseling Students: Perceptions of Problematic Behaviors, Self-Care and Related Training Experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine student awareness and frequency of self-reported problematic behaviors, self-care practices, and related training experiences. Participants were randomly selected from regionally represented community and school counseling programs through a faculty representative. Eighty-four subjects from CACREP and Non-CACREP accredited programs completed the Awareness of Problematic Behavior survey, created by Dr. Jamie Carney. The survey focused on counseling students self-report related to issues including problematic behaviors, self-care practices, and related training experiences. Responses were analyzed and subjected to reliability assessment, correlation analysis, and descriptive review to determine significance. Although no significant differences resulted related to problematic behaviors and self-care or problematic behaviors and exposure to training programs, there was a relationship in reported self-care training and problematic training experiences suggesting that subjects who received self-care training, likely received problematic behavior training. All subjects reported practicing self-care. Qualitative responses obtained in this study offers information related to self-reported behavioral indicators. Findings from this study provide new and current information related to problematic behaviors, self-care practices, and academic training program trends.