Relationship between Wellness and Age, Matriculation, and Relationship Status of Counselor Education Doctoral Students

The authors examined the extent of the relationship between wellness and age, number of years spent in a counselor education and supervision doctoral program that was accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2009), and student relationship status. Insight into wellness of this population and implications for counselor educators and students are presented. Counseling student wellness is a topic that is gaining increasing importance and popularity within the counseling profession (Lawson, 2007). There is a drive within the profession to develop well counselors who can effectively produce well clients (Witmer & Young, 1996) and develop well counselor educators who can effectively produce well counselors (Wester, Trepal, & Myers, 2009). A related goal is to promote strong ethical practice by encouraging counselors to adopt a well lifestyle and engage in self-care (American Counseling Association, 2005; Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, 1993; National Board for Certified Counselors, 2005). To meet this growing demand, counselor training programs are integrating counselor wellness and related topics at both the master's and doctoral levels (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs [CACREP], 2009). Concepts are being incorporated into existing core course work. Elective courses in wellness as well as wellness seminars are also being implemented (Myers & Sweeney, 2005a). As this topic grew over time, researchers began examining wellness of counseling students to identify areas where students may need assistance. Most researchers investigated the wellness of master's-level counseling students (Curry, 2007; Hoffman, 2006; Roach, 2005; Sanders, 1998). However, few researchers explored wellness of counselor education and supervision (CES) doctoral students (Myers, Mobley, & Booth, 2003; Pierce, 2005). This phenomenon seemed to occur because researchers delimited most graduate counseling student samples to master's-level students and excluded students at the doctoral level (Gall, Gall, & Borg, 2007). Thus, a limited amount of information regarding wellness of CES doctoral students is available, and the need for research with CES doctoral students is still present. The few investigations of CES doctoral student wellness available in the literature provide some perspective in this area. For instance, Pierce (2005) conducted a phenomenological qualitative study with eight CES doctoral students who were also mothers. Pierce reported that students indicated that they sacrificed dimensions of their wellness, such as physical fitness, nutrition, and social interaction, to complete the requirements of their respective programs. This report suggested wellness of CES doctoral students may be negatively affected by the choices students make about family, academics, and personal well-being during the CES doctoral program. Myers et al. (2003) provided a few other angles on CES doctoral student wellness. Myers et al. analyzed the impact that sex and ethnicity had on the wellness of CES doctoral students. Those researchers reported no statistically significant differences between men and women or between minority and majority groups on the Total Wellness scale of the Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle (WEL; Myers, Luecht, & Sweeney, 2004). Myers et al. also compared wellness levels of master's- and doctoral-level counseling students. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups with doctoral students' wellness scores being higher than those of master's students. This report suggested that some demographic variables possibly do not have an impact on student wellness. The results of the study by Myers et al. led to the theory that the longer an individual is involved in counseling at the academic level, the more wellness he or she may achieve. This may be related to matriculation or to the increasing age of students. …