Title

Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Affirmative Couple, Marriage, and Family Counseling Training at CACREP-accredited Counselor Education Programs in Texas: What Factors Influence Student Perceptions?

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

Department

Counseling

Date of Award

Spring 2018

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate student perceptions about how affirmative their marriage and family counseling training was to LGB people and issues as well as to examine what factors may play a role in student perceptions. The author surveyed counseling students at nine CACREP-accredited schools in Texas. The total scores on the Affirmative Training Inventory indicated that there is still a great deal of room for growth when it comes to being LGB-affirmative, though it appears that counselor educators tend to be more affirmative in their attitudes and stances toward LGB people than in the actual content that they teach. The weighted least squares regression analyses used demographic factors as the predictor variables with the total score from the Affirmative Training Inventory and found that several predictor variables were significant. There was a significant difference in student perceptions based on whether the students attended schools that offered master's only classes or that offered master's and doctoral level classes. There was no significant difference in scores based on number of classes taken. There are several implications that counselor educators can take away from the results of this study.

Advisor

Amir Abbassi

Subject Categories

Counseling | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

COinS