Mission Statement

The students and faculty of the Counselor Education Program in the Department of Educational Studies in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina are a diverse community of learners collaboratively engaged in scholarship, leadership, service, and advocacy for systemic change.  The mission of the Counselor Education Program is to prepare multiculturally competent counselor educators, marriage and family counselors, and K-12 school counselors.  Graduates will demonstrate leadership, skill, knowledge, and character that are reflective of the standards set forth by the counseling profession and their areas of specialization.  Students and faculty of the Counselor Education Program are expected to exemplify the highest ethical and professional standards while engaged in accomplishing this mission.

Diversity Commitment Statement

The Counselor Education Program at The University of South Carolina is committed to multiculturalism by actively promoting diversity within a social justice framework by building a community of learners that fosters a climate of respect and values diverse racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds, national origins, native languages, religious, spiritual, and political beliefs, physical abilities, health status, ages, genders, and sexual orientations.

Our program is committed to training counselors in becoming multiculturally competent scholars and practitioners who can meet the diverse needs of diverse clients.  We are equally committed to recruiting diverse students and faculty to our program to enhance the richness of dialogue and experiences that will aid in the expansion of multicultural and culture-specific awareness, knowledge, skills relevant to the client and student populations we aim to serve. 

Using the scholar-practitioner model, we are committed to training our students to be multiculturally conscious change agents who actively engage in critical self-reflective scholarship and practice in an effort to effectively transform communities, institutions, and systems.

Accreditation

CACREP
The Ed.S. degree specializes in school and marriage, couples and family counseling and the Ph.D. degree in Counselor Education and Supervision are fully accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.

NCATE
The Counselor Education program is accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION
The Ed.S. degree in Counselor Education with a specialty in marriage, couples, and family counseling meets state licensure requirements.

News

Congratulations to Leah McCallum for the successful defense of her dissertation entitled, “An Exploration of the Relationship Among Color-Blind Racial Attitudes, White Racial Identity Attitudes, and Social Desirability in Counselors-in-Training Utilizing Fiction Literature as a Stimulus for Cultural Self-Awareness”

Abstract:
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of fiction literature on White racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes among White counselors-in- training. Although self-awareness has been identified as an important facet of multicultural counseling competence, racial identity is largely ignored by Whites. In an effort to prepare multiculturally competent counselors, counselor educators are charged with designing and testing pedagogical interventions that promote cultural self-awareness among White counselors-in- training. Fiction literature represents a promising, yet untested pedagogical tool for counselor educators. Utilizing a posttest only control group quasi-experimental design, this investigator sampled 96 White counselor trainees enrolled in their first year of graduate study at consenting CACREP accredited and CACREP equivalent counselor training programs in the United States. White racial identity attitudes were measured by the White Racial Identity Attitudes Scale (WRIAS), while color-blind racial attitudes were assessed by the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS). The Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) Short Form-C was used to measure the tendency to distort oneself in a socially desirable manner.

A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to examine whether a fiction literature stimulus prompted a measurable change in White racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes among White counselors-in-training while controlling for social desirability. Regression analyses were used to test the relationships among White racial identity attitudes, color-blind racial attitudes, and social desirability. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to determine if differences existed in White racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes based on age, gender, and region of affiliation variables. The results indicated that 1) social desirability accounted for a statistically significant amount of the variance in color-blind racial attitudes; 2) a statistically significant relationship exists between White racial identity attitudes and color-blind racial attitudes; 3) no statistically significant difference exists between participants who receive a fiction literature stimulus and those who do not; 4) social desirability did not account for significant variance in White racial identity attitudes; and 5) no statistically significant differences exist in White racial identity attitudes or color-blind racial attitudes when testing for main effects on age, gender, and region of affiliation.

The results of this study emphasize the need for counselor educators to design and empirically validate pedagogical strategies that support racial identity development among White counselors-in-training. Further research that examines the impact of racial identity awareness on multicultural counseling competence is warranted.

Dollarhide, C.T., Gibson, D.M., & Saginak, K.A. (2008). New counselors' leadership efforts in school counseling: Themes from a year-long qualitative study. Professional School Counseling, 11, 262-271

Leadership requires long-term commitment and a long-range vision of the future. As school counselors are called on to provide leadership, it becomes important to understand the temporal context of school counseling leadership. To accomplish this, a year-long qualitative study was designed in which the authors interviewed five new counselors who agreed to engage in leadership. In this article, the results of these interviews are presented and discussed in terms of school counseling practice and school counselor education.

Gold, J. M. (2008). Rethinking client resistance: A Narrative approach to integrating resistance into the relationship-building stage of counseling. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, 47, 56-70

This article presents a review of traditional definitions of resistance and then presents a conceptualization of client resistance from a narrative perspective. Dr. Gold makes recommendations for using techniques consistent with narrative therapy to address client resistance during the relationship-building stage. These recommendations are illustrated through two case examples.

Dr. James Mensch, Department of Physical Education, and Dr. Gary Miller, Department of Educational Studies (Counselor Education), have edited a new book: The Athletic Trainer's Guide to Psychosocial Intervention and Referral published by Slack, Inc., a major publisher of athletic training literature.

A recent reviewer made the following comments about it:

"The skills addressed in this book are valuable and essential for all practicing athletic trainers. The authors . . . provide an excellent resource for practicing athletic trainers."

"This is a comprehensive, well written resource...."

"... an excellent educational resource for athletic training students and an invaluable resource for practicing athletic trainers."

"I am unaware of any book that so expertly and thoroughly defines and describes psychological issues facing athletic trainers."

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