Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Adrian S. Warren

Abstract

Clinicians who work with sexually violent persons (SVPs) are faced with various problems related to the nature of their job duties, job settings, and the specificity of the population they serve. Although researchers have investigated the phenomenon of burnout extensively over the last decade, research focusing on burnout among counselors who work with SVPs is insufficient. The purpose of this quantitative comparative survey study was to investigate differences in burnout among clinicians working with SVPs by examining their grit, the supervisory working alliance, and job settings. The Grit Short Scale (Grit-S), the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory—Trainee version (SWAI-T), and the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) were used to evaluate the differences in burnout levels. The sample size for this study was N = 95 and included master’s and doctoral-level clinicians from counseling, social work, psychology, marriage and family, and substance abuse fields. The participants responded from 16 states across the United States. A comparative survey design and a three-way ANOVA were used to examine differences between the groups. The results revealed that the clinicians with high grit and a strong supervisory alliance had significantly lower burnout than clinicians with low grit and a weak or a medium supervisory working alliance. There was no significant difference in burnout by job settings. The results of this study contribute to social change by highlighting the role of individual and organizational factors in burnout. This understanding can help develop effective interventions to prevent clinician burnout and increase the quality of provided services.

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