Date of Conferral
5-8-2024
Date of Award
May 2024
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Human Services
Advisor
Barbara Benoliel
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of many individuals and communities and their access to mental health counseling. This study explored the experiences of mental health counselors attempting to build online relationships with clients during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these workers experienced and interpreted relationships with their clients during that period. The transactional theory of stress and coping model provided theoretical foundation to this study. One limited licensed and eight fully licensed professional counselors participated in this study. A generic qualitative design was used, and data were collected by audio recording interviews via Zoom, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis. The analysis identified themes of (a) mental health counselors’ interpretation of the meaning of client engagement, (b) mental health counselors’ interpretation and experience with COVID-19 protocols, and (c) mental health counselors’ interpretation and experience of building client relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study may impact social change by providing information that can encourage new policies and procedures for not just mental health counselors but also other professionals working online with individuals with mental challenges.
Recommended Citation
Gaines, Paulette, "Experiences of Outpatient Mental Health Counselors Building Relationships with Clients During COVID-19 in Michigan" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15765.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15765
