The relationship between psychological well-being and perceived wellness in graduate-level counseling students

Abstract

Research has established that individuals who provide personal therapy to others should have stable personal and professional lives, and possess a keen and accurate perception of wellness. Unfortunately, sometimes students pursuing careers in counseling and psychotherapy have unresolved psychological issues that, if unresolved, could later affect them in their professional lives. Thus, the purpose of the study was to understand psychological well-being and perceived wellness in a sample of graduate students (N = 97) preparing to become counselors in a CACREP-accredited counseling program at a state university in Pennsylvania. It measured the participants' psychological well- being by the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and their perception of wellness by the Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS). Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between psychological well-being and perceived wellness of counselors-in-training. The results of this study could have implications for additional problems such as the failure of self-care among counselors or the nonexistence or nonuse of adequate wellness assessment tools during counselor development. DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v3i2.91

Keywords

• Psychology
• well-being
• students
• counseling
• psychotherapy
• wellness