Preservice Counselors' Knowledge of Classmates' Problems of Professional Competency

Approximately 12% of students in any given mental health program (i.e., counseling, psychology, social work) will be perceived as having sufficient problems that would interfere with their ability to successfully complete the program (Oliver, Bernstein, Anderson, Blashfield, & Roberts, 2004). Gaubatz and Vera (2002) stated that as many as 10% of preservice counselors (PSC) may be ill-suited for the profession. A counseling trainee's problematic behavior is not just related to academic criteria but also to the student's personal qualities and characteristics as well as the student's ability to develop the techniques to facilitate an effective therapeutic client relationship (Duba, Paerz, & Kindsvatter, 2010; Frame & Stevens-Smith, 1995; Gaubatz & Vera, 2002). The ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2005) states that "regardless of qualifications, supervisors do not endorse supervisees whom they believe to be impaired in any way that would interfere with the performance of the duties associated with the endorsement" (p. 14). Both the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA, 2005) and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, 2009) require counselor educators to engage in an ongoing, systematic process of developmental assessment of each student's appropriateness for the field of counseling. Specifically, educators and supervisors are to engage in a gatekeeping process to ensure that all supervisees have the proper education, skills, attitude, and self-awareness to competently provide counseling services to the public. In particular, if a student is identified as not meeting the requirements of the program, then remedial assistance must be provided, and if the remediation process is not successful, the student is provided with due process according to the institution's policies and procedures. Researchers have contributed significantly to the literature by providing counselor educators specific protocols and information to assist these educators in establishing gatekeeping and remediation procedures (Bogo, Regehr, Power, & Regehr, 2007; Forrest, Elman, Gizara, & Vacha-Hasse, 1999; Gaubatz & Vera, 2002; Kerl & Eichler, 2007; Kress & Protivnak, 2009; Miller & Koerin, 2001; Russell, DuPree, Beggs, Peterson, & Anderson, 2007; Zoimek-Daigle & Christensen, 2010). However, little research has been done regarding how problematic behavior may affect other students in the program, may influence the overall learning environment of the counseling program, or should be reported by fellow PSC to faculty or administration (Gaubatz & Vera, 2006). Specifically, previous research has focused on problematic students and not on how these students affect other students in the program. Observed PPC Problems of professional competency (PPC) that result in a student being dismissed from a mental health graduate program are defined in three categories: (a) inadequate academic (Kerl & Eichler, 2007; Rosenberg, Getzelman, Arcinue, & Oren, 2005) or clinical skill levels (Bogo et al., 2007; Busseri, Tyler, & King, 2005); (b) personality and/or psychological unsuitability (Bogo et al., 2007; Busseri et al., 2005; Gaubatz & Vera, 2002; Oliver et al., 2004); and (c) inappropriate moral character (Li, Trusty, Nichter, Serres, & Lin, 2007; Mearns A Rosenberg et al., 2005; Russell & Peterson, 2003). Typically, counselor educators can distinguish inferior academic performance, and for most students, the ability to complete course work is not the problem. The difficulty arises when students begin their clinical courses (Kerl & Eichler, 2007). Problematic clinical skills include students who overestimated their own abilities, who were reluctant to take risks, and who did not put the needs of the clients first (Bogo et al., 2007). The area of personality and/or psychological unsuitability is often the most challenging area for counselor educators to define. …