Counselor Education in the 21st Century: Issues and Experiences aims to provide an in-depth exploration of the multidimensional experience of being a counselor educator and the role that institutional characteristics, accreditation status, program models (traditional, online, or hybrid), professional identity, professional development, and diversity and social justice issues play in that experience. The primary purpose of this text is to serve as a resource for doctoral-level students and new professionals in counselor education. Doctoral students and new professionals will understand the diversity of responsibilities, working conditions, role expectations, evaluation criteria, challenges, and benefits experienced by counselor educators. As a resource for master’s-level students contemplating a career in counselor education, this book provides a realistic perspective of the career options available in counselor education as well as contextual considerations to keep in mind when exploring postgraduate prospects. Counselor educators exploring career options in academia and career counselors or advisers working with graduate counselor education students will find concrete information about the profession grounded in the experiences of seasoned counselor educators working within a diversity of programs and higher education institutions across the United States. We hope that all readers will benefit from the information provided about the contexts of counselor education programs and the impact of these contexts on the practices and experiences of counselor educators.

Organization of the Text

This book contains 12 chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the current status of the field of counselor education, describes 11 key attributes or elements characteristic of the counselor education profession, and discusses the professional practice domains that influence these attributes. The remaining 11 chapters in this book focus on expanding the conceptualization and understanding of the attributes, domains, and contexts of counselor education in the 21st century.

The 11 key attributes of counselor education addressed in Chapters 2 to 12 are as follows: teaching; supervision; advising and mentoring; admissions and gatekeeping processes; scholarship, research, and grant writing; faculty review, promotion, and tenure processes; adjunct, part-time faculty, and nontenured positions; administration (program coordinator, department chair, associate dean, or dean); professional leadership (state, regional, national, and international levels); service (department, community, college, and university service); and collegiality and wellness.

Within each chapter, the authors provide an overview of contemporary literature on each of these attributes in higher education and then pay specific attention to the role each attribute plays in counselor education. The authors also discuss the experience of being evaluated for each of these attributes and how different institutional contexts affect their experiences. An important highlight of each chapter is an exploration of how counselor educators develop their practice of the aforementioned counselor education attributes. The authors also explore the intersections of the counselor education attributes with the professional practice domains included in every chapter, namely, program accreditation status, professional identity development, professional development, and diversity and social justice issues. In addition, the authors address the distinctions, where relevant, between counselor education practices across the higher education milieu, such as program type (e.g., master’s-only or master’s and doctoral programs), institution type (e.g., research or teaching intensive), and training modality (e.g., traditional, online, or hybrid models). In every chapter, the authors provide practice and training recommendations relevant to the attributes and contexts discussed in the chapter.

Throughout the book, the authors provide a combination of theory, research, practice, case vignettes, and personal narratives to provide perspectives on the evolution of each attribute of counselor education. Our objective in choosing this format is to ensure that the text remains focused on contextualizing and expanding understanding of the experiences of counselor educators rather than focused exclusively on how the various attributes of counselor education should be enacted. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4 (on teaching, supervision, and advising and mentoring, respectively), for example, the authors explore the experiences of teaching, providing supervision, and advising and mentoring in diverse contexts but do not prescribe how to teach, supervise, or advise and mentor. The same approach can be seen in Chapters 5 and 6, which address admissions and gatekeeping processes and research and grant writing and management, respectively. The author of Chapter 7, on faculty review, promotion, and tenure processes, addresses the paths to success, challenges, and issues related to such processes and the counselor educator’s professional life. In Chapter 8, the authors discuss the unique practices, benefits, and challenges of being an adjunct, part-time, or non-tenure-track faculty member in various types of counselor education programs. In Chapter 9, the author provides information useful to doctoral students and new professionals in understanding the roles, responsibilities, and tasks of various types of university administrators and useful to understanding current trends in academia. In Chapter 10, the authors provide valuable information on leadership in counseling and counselor education organizations at the state, regional, national, and international levels. In addition to providing useful information about the roles, responsibilities, challenges, and benefits of specific leadership positions, the authors share compelling narratives on personal/professional growth and the nature of leadership. In Chapter 11, the author provides a detailed discussion of the role of faculty service in academia, with a focus on the benefits and potential pitfalls of service to counselor educators in university settings. The final chapter, on collegiality and wellness, addresses the interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of being a counselor educator. The author provides valuable information on how faculty and work relationships, student interactions, and personal ways of being can affect job satisfaction and personal wellness. The discussion includes workplace bullying, discrimination, burnout, and compassion fatigue as well as wellness and self-care.

Jane E. Atieno Okech, PhD, NCC, is a professor of counselor education and chair of the Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences in the College of Education and Social Sciences at the University of Vermont. Before taking on her current administrative role, she served as clinical mental health program coordinator, counseling program coordinator, and interim associate dean for academic affairs and research of the University of Vermont’s College of Education and Social Sciences. She is currently an editorial board member of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work and was formerly an editorial board member of the Counselor Education and Supervision. Dr. Okech’s scholarship is anchored in the belief that her teaching, supervision, advising, clinical, and research activities are intertwined and inform one another. At the core of this scholarship is her focus on the practice of group work, guided by an abiding commitment to diversity, multicultural and social justice principles, and the development of the counseling profession. Her scholarly publications have received multiple professional accolades, including the 2017 Article of the Year Award and 2015 Outstanding Article Award from the Association for Specialists in Group Work. She is a 2018 Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work.

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Deborah J. Rubel, PhD, is an associate professor and past discipline liaison (roughly equivalent to department chair) at Oregon State University, where she teaches in the doctoral counselor education program and designs undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral hybrid counseling courses. She is a Fellow of the Association for Specialists in Group Work and also served in the past as the organization’s treasurer. Currently in pursuit of full professorship at a doctorate-granting, research-intensive institution, she is gearing up to submit her dossier in fall 2020.

Ryan G. Carlson, PhD, is an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of South Carolina. He previously worked on four federally funded grants at the University of Central Florida’s Marriage & Family Research Institute and currently serves as the lead evaluator for a large randomized controlled trial, Project Harmony. Dr. Carlson is a licensed mental health counselor with clinical experience in community mental health agencies, private practice, and university-based counseling.

Gloria Crisp, EdD, is an associate professor in the College of Education at Oregon State University. Her scholarship focuses on mentoring and related practices and programs designed to support college students’ success.

Erin N. Friedman, MS, LPC, NCC, is a counseling and counselor education doctoral student at Syracuse University. She received her master’s in clinical mental health counseling from Northern Illinois University.

Susan Furr, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Counseling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is a former department chair and has served on both departmental and college review committees.

Kristopher M. Goodrich, PhD, LPCC, is an associate professor of counseling in the Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education at the University of New Mexico. He is a past president of the Association for Lesbian, _Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling and the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. He is the current editor of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work.

Danica G. Hays, PhD, is a professor of counselor education and executive associate dean of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, College of Education. She is past president of the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling and the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. Before taking on her current administrative role, she served as a program coordinator and department chair.

Nicole R. Hill, PhD, LPC, is the dean of the College of Education and Human Services at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where she holds the rank of professor in the Department of Counseling and College Student Personnel. She is a former president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, the Rocky Mountain Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Idaho Counseling Association and a former board member for Counselors for Social Justice. She is currently serving as president-elect of Chi Sigma Iota.

Leslie D. Jones, PhD, LPC-S, RPT, is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education at the University of North Texas. She also serves as the director of the Child and Family Resource Clinic at the University of North Texas.

David M. Kleist, PhD, LCPC, is a professor in, and current chair of, the Department of Counseling at Idaho State University. He is a past president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (2008–2009), current editorial board team leader of The Qualitative Report, and past editorial board member of The Family Journal and Counseling and Values.

Jared Lau, PhD, NCC, LPC, is an assistant professor of counselor education in the Department of Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Services at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Lau is also a national certified counselor and licensed professional counselor.

Melissa Luke, PhD, LMHC, NCC, ACS, is a dean’s professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Services at Syracuse University, where she is associate dean of research and also coordinates both the doctoral program in counseling and counselor education and the master’s program in school counseling. Dr. Luke is the president-elect of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.

Kok-Mun Ng, PhD, is a professor of counselor education in the College of Education at Oregon State University. His scholarship focuses on multicultural and diversity issues in the theory and practice of counseling, counselor education, and supervision.

Lisa L. Schulz, PhD, LPC-S, NCC, ACS, is a former clinical associate professor of counseling at the University of North Texas in Denton and a former assistant professor at _Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. She is currently a practitioner and supervisor.

Heather C. Trepal, PhD, LPC-S, is a professor in and coordinator of the clinical mental health counseling program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a past president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.

Jolie Ziomek-Daigle, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of _Georgia and a licensed professional counselor. She coordinates the school counseling master’s program and advises both master’s and doctoral students.

Our collaboration began when we were graduate students at Idaho State University. Over the years that collaboration has resulted in multiple conference presentations, publications, and finally this book. Our professional and personal relationship symbolizes the possibilities when two people who admire each other are open to learning from each other’s perspectives and experiences. The outcome of our collaboration continues to inspire us to be creative together. We hope that emerging, new, and seasoned counselor educators who read this book are inspired to value the friendships that begin in graduate school and that they continue to believe in the potential of such friendships to blossom into unexpected lifelong personal and professional relationships.

We are grateful for the education and mentoring that we received as graduate students at Idaho State University (ISU) and the United States International University–Africa (USIU-A). From the advising that Jane received from Dr. Ruthie Rono (USIU), the advanced doctoral seminar courses taught by Dr. Arthur Lloyd, the clinical supervision sessions with Dr. Stephen Feit, and the teaching discussions with Dr. David Kleist (ISU), we developed an in-depth understanding of the history and evolution of the field of counselor education and, most important, the value of a well-grounded professional identity. We have gone on to learn from colleagues in our institutions, our students, our clients, and our professional collaborators at state, national, and international levels. We give credit for the strong foundation and understanding of counselor education that we both have today to these individuals and groups and to the unique experiences they enabled.

No one has been as inspiring, challenging, and encouraging to both of us as Dr. William B. Kline, who chaired both of our dissertation committees. We both published articles with him based on our dissertations, and in each case, the collaboration resulted in professional accolades and recognition by peers. Bill saw the potential in both of us long before we individually recognized it. Long after we became leaders and mentors in our own rights, he continued to encourage, support, and celebrate our accomplishments. Bill, we thank you for your unending support, inspiration, and mentorship.