Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Corinne Bridges

Abstract

Past research has shown that the rate of substance abuse in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) communities is substantially higher when compared to the general population. However, the literature has revealed that many counselors lack competency in working with clients who identify as LGB. Research also has shown that counselor competency to work with LGB clients has a negative relationship with religiosity. The purpose of this descriptive, quantitative study was to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in counselor competency to work with LGB clients between recent graduates and students of Christian and nonreligious affiliated Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs addiction counseling programs. This study, grounded in the multicultural and social justice counseling competency theory and the tripartite model of multicultural counselor competency, included administration of the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale to measure the dependent variables of awareness, knowledge, and skills to work with LGB clients. The sample consisted of 84 participants who met inclusion criteria. Multivariate Analysis of Variance was used to test the hypotheses. Participants from nonreligious affiliated addiction counseling programs scored higher on the awareness (M = 68.82, M = 63.03), knowledge (M = 50.22, M = 35.88), and skills (M = 43.20, M = 37.91) subscales than participants from Christian-affiliated programs. These differences were found to be statistically significant at p = .000. Such use of data could positively impact social change within the counselor education and supervision field by encouraging evaluation of curricula for inclusion of LGB content, assessment of supervisees for LGB affirmative care, and a stronger focus on addressing biases and discrimination against LGB individuals.

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