A qualitative study of counselling students’ experience with premature termination

ABSTRACTPremature termination is a prevalent challenge faced by counsellors-in-training. To explore the experience of counsellors-in-training with premature termination of clients, this qualitative study used a transcendental phenomenological approach and recruited eight counsellors-in-training from a medium-size university in the southeastern United States. Adherent to the phenomenology approach with its assumptions, the authors conducted individual interviews with each participant and followed data collection and analysis processes of the transcendental phenomenological approach. Four overarching themes include: (a) Clinical Growth, (b) Coping Strategies, (c) Reaction to PT, and (d) Counsellor Education. Based on the results, discussions and recommendations were provided.KEYWORDS: Premature terminationcounsellors-in-trainingcounsellor educationdropoutcounselling students Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to the containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsShuhui FanShuhui Fan is a lecturer in the Mental Health Services in the Faculty of Psychology at the Beijing Normal university. Her research areas include counsellor education, counsellor supervision, and international counselling students. She is a licensed professional counsellor in Virginia and registered psychologist in China.Jeremy R. GoshornJeremy R. Goshorn is an assistant professor of clinical mental health counselling at Lebanon Valley College. His areas of research interest include addiction counselling, the LGBTQ+ community, and existentialism/positive psychology. He has clinical experience working with individuals, couples and families in a variety of settings. He is a licensed clinical mental health counsellor in North Carolina and a licensed professional counsellor in Pennsylvania.David GoslingDavid Gosling is an assistant professor of counselling at the University of Lynchburg. His areas of research interest include moral injury among combat veterans, eco-anxiety, outdoor behavioural health, and the intersectionality of regenerative agricultural practices with mental health outcomes. His professional history includes time spent in the US Army and the Rhode Island State Police. He is a licensed professional counsellor in Wisconsin and Virginia.