Date of Award
1-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College/School
College for Community Health
Department/Program
Counseling
Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair
Dana Heller Levitt
Committee Member
Amanda Baden
Committee Member
Leslie Kooyman
Committee Member
Kathryn Herr
Abstract
This qualitative study, informed by narrative inquiry, examined how counselors described the interplay of values in professional practice. Participant narratives highlighted the challenges they experience in the process of values integration, defined as counselors’ awareness and management of personal values in counseling processes. Participants often made value judgments that occurred rapidly and beneath awareness and only became aware as a result of discordance in the counseling relationship. They further struggled in skillfully working through values conflicts. These findings reveal that values integration is a developmental process that challenges counselors beyond the training years and thus requires an infrastructure that supports them in their professional growth. Participants found that such support was often insufficient and unreliable. The study provides a broader understanding of the values integration process, which previously had been limited by its focus on counselor trainees, and provides implications for practicing counselors and counselor educators.
File Format
Recommended Citation
Randall, Rebecca, "Values Integration and the Professional Counselor" (2024). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 1364.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/1364