Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Counseling and Psychological Services Department of Counseling and Psychological Dissertations Services 8-11-2011 Understanding School Counselors' Ability to Implement School Counseling Activities Following Participation in Professional Training, Focusing on Adventure Based Counseling Training Tara S. Morgan Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at:http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cps_diss Recommended Citation Morgan, Tara S., "Understanding School Counselors' Ability to Implement School Counseling Activities Following Participation in Professional Training, Focusing on Adventure Based Counseling Training." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2011. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cps_diss/62 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, UNDERSTANDING SCHOOL COUNSELORS‟ ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT SCHOOL COUNSELING ACTIVITIES FOLLOWING PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, FOCUSING ON ADVENTURE BASED COUNSELING TRAINING, by TARA SELENE MORGAN was prepared under the direction of the candidate‟s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student‟s Department Chair, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. The Dean of the College of Education concurs. Catherine Y. Chang, Ph.D. Gregory Brack, Ph.D. Committee Chair Committee Member JoAnna F. White, Ed.D. Phyllis Gerard, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member Date Brian Dew, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Counseling and Psychological Services R. W. Kamphaus, Ph.D. Dean and Distinguished Research Professor College of Education AUTHOR‟S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education's director of graduate studies and research, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. ____________________________________ Tara Selene Morgan NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Tara Selene Morgan 1084 North Highland Avenue Atlanta, GA 30306 The director of this dissertation is: Dr. Catherine Y. Chang Department of Counseling and Psychological Services College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303-3083 CURRICULUM VITAE Tara Selene Morgan ADDRESS: 1084 North Highland Avenue Atlanta, GA 30306 EDUCATION: Ph.D. 2011 Georgia State University Counselor Education and Practice Ed.S. 2001 Georgia State University School Counseling M.Ed. 1996 Georgia State University School Counseling B.S. 1993 University of Florida Psychology PROFESSINAL EXPERIENCE: 2002-2008 Teaching Assistant Georgia State University 1996-present School Counslor Gwinnett County Public Schools PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS 1996-present American School Counselor Association 1996-2011 Gwinnett County School Counselor Association 1996-2009 Georgia School Counselor Association 2004-2005 Chi Sigma Iota PRESENTATIONS: Morgan, T.S. (2008, Fall). How to use encouragement in the classroom to create a sense of belonging. New Educator Conference, Georgia State University, Atlanta. Morgan, T.S. (2007, November) When DFCS knocks at the school door: A school counselor’s role in deprivations. Georgia School Counselors Conference, Atlanta, GA. Morgan, T.S. (2003, Fall) Learning the tools of the trade: A panel for graduate students. Georgia School Counselor‟s Conference, Atlanta, GA. Morgan, T.S. (2002, Spring. Multicultural guidance lesson. Gwinnett County Counselor Staff Development, Lawrenceville, GA. Morgan, T.S. (2000, Spring). Kindness Curriculum. Gwinnett County Counselors Conference, Lawrenceville, GA. Morgan, T.S. (1995, Fall). Encouraging Hope in Low Income African American Girls. Georgia School Counselor‟s Conference, Augusta, GA. ABSTRACT UNDERSTANDING SCHOOL COUNSELORS‟ ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT SCHOOL COUNSELING ACTIVITIES FOLLOWING PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, FOCUSING ON ADVENTURE BASED COUNSELING TRAINING by Tara S. Morgan A concern following school counselors‟ participation in professional training is whether or not they are able to implement information learned. One such professional training that school counselors attend is Adventure Based Counseling (ABC). ABC groups are effective for addressing a myriad of concerns with young people. ABC groups address problem-solving skills, self-esteem, responsibility, goal setting, cooperation, and interpersonal skills. Although many school counselors have participated in ABC training, there is a lack of research that supports whether they are actually utilizing these tech- niques with their students. Additionally, current research does not provide information as to how training programs and school dynamics may be improved to allow for increased utilization of ABC with students; therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the barriers that inhibit and the factors that support school counselors‟ ability to implement information learned from Professional Trainings, with a focus on ABC training. This qualitative study took a phenomenological approach, with a constructivist philosophical stance. Data sources included interviews with school counselors, which provided descriptions of their Professional and ABC training experiences and reasons for either using or not using Professional and ABC activities. The themes included What Professional and ABC training sessions school counselors attended and What they are implementing that they learned from these sessions. In addition, school counselors‟ various reactions to Professional and ABC training, such as Choice, Type of Delivery, Presenter Qualities, Time and Applicability were delineated. Results also included information pertaining to the Impact and Logistics of using information learned at Professional and ABC trainings. The results of this study may have important implications for school counselors, counselor educators, and administrators related to the implementation of skills learned from Professional and ABC training experiences. Implications for future research and limitations of this study are discussed. UNDERSTANDING SCHOOL COUNSELORS‟ ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT SCHOOL COUNSELING ACTIVITIES FOLLOWING PARTICIPATION IN PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, FOCUSING ON ADVENTURE BASED COUNSELING TRAINING by Tara S. Morgan A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Practice in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services in the College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2011 Copyright by Tara S. Morgan 2011 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to offer special thanks to Dr. Catherine Chang, Dissertation Advisory Committee chair; Dr. Greg Brack, Dr. Phyllis Gerard, and Dr. Joanna White, Dissertation Advisory Committee members; and Anna Aronowitz, Stephen Chung, Jeanna Cunningham, Jennifer Little, and Chavonne O‟Rear, research team members. In addition, the author would like to express deep gratitude to her husband and children, for their enduring support and inspiration. ii