Date of Conferral

9-25-2026

Date of Award

September 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Thomas Hegblom

Abstract

Counselors-in-training (CITs) encounter grieving clients despite limited grief-specific preparation. Understanding these experiences could inform preparation for supporting grieving clients. Guided by Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study explored these perceptions. The purposive sample included 10 CITs who were master’s-level students completing field experience or postgraduate counselors under clinical supervision, lacked independent licensure, attended or graduated from Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)–accredited programs without required stand-alone grief coursework. None had a direct supervisory, instructional, or evaluative relationship with the researcher. The research question was: How did CITs perceive and make meaning of the role of counselor educators and supervisors in the development of grief counseling self-efficacy in a CACREP-accredited counselor education program that did not require stand-alone grief counseling courework? Semistructured interview data were analyzed through iterative descriptive and interpretive coding and reflexive memoing. Participants described educators as providing foundational relational skills and clinically engaged supervisors as supporting grief-specific application through consultation, modeling, feedback, and emotional support. Direct practice and emotional responses shaped perceived capability, and participants requested applied grief preparation. Findings may inform curriculum integration and grief-informed supervision, potentially supporting more compassionate, culturally responsive care for death-related and nondeath losses.

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