Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Wynn Dupkoski

Abstract

Forensic mental health is considered a specialty at a doctoral level, yet a majority of mental health services in correctional settings are provided by master’s-level mental health counselors. These clinicians lack the specialized education, training, and experience needed to work with offenders in correctional settings. There is limited research on how master’s-level counselors experience providing mental health services in correctional settings and how they manage challenges. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the lived experiences of master’s-level mental health counselors working with offenders in correctional settings. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to facilitate an understanding of the lived experiences of the nine mental health counselors who participated in this study. Data were obtained through semistructured interviews and data was analyzed by reading transcribed interviews, coding emerging themes, analyzing transcripts, and identifying patterns. After data analysis, the following themes emerged: (a) lack of specialized education and training, (b) environmental challenges, (c) institutional culture, (d) competing goals and values, and (e) mental health treatment in correctional settings. The results confirmed that mental health counselors lacked the specialized education, training, experience, and supervision needed to effectively treat offenders in correctional settings while simultaneously managing the myriad of challenges associated with working in a correctional environment. This study promotes social change by highlighting the need to better prepare correctional mental health counselors while considering the need for ongoing support and training to help them manage correctional challenges.

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