Counseling Self-Efficacy And Trainee Development In The Age Of Covid-19: A Quantitative Investigation
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about considerable change with impacts to medical and mental health care as well as training and education within these fields. This cross-sectional research study utilized an online survey to examine trainee developmental impacts in a sample of N=70 mental health graduate trainees since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The following variables were examined: counseling self-efficacy (CSE), percentage of virtual clinical work completed, percentage of virtual coursework completed, self-compassion, perceived stress, COVID-related impacts and stress, telehealth attitudes, future telehealth preferences, perceptions of program support and telehealth preparedness, and trainee-specific variables (e.g., age, gender, years of mental health experience). Results of this study showed that trainees overalled reported more confidence counseling in-person compared to virtual formats. Percentage of virtual clinical work completed was significantly related to counseling self-efficacy (CSE) whereas percentage of virtual coursework completed did not relate to CSE. Trainees with an increased preference for future virtual clinical work tended to be older, have more positive attitudes regarding telehealth, and showed higher levels of counseling self-efficacy specifically for working in virtual counseling modalities. Self-compassion emerged as a potential protective variable associated with trainee development.