Date of Conferral

8-20-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

James Smith

Abstract

Licensed professional counselors working in community mental health centers (CMHCs) frequently respond to client crises; however, little was known about how they understand and make meaning of debriefing following those events. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study was to explore counselors’ meaning-making of debriefing following client crises in CMHCs. Guided by IPA and grounded in phenomenology and hermeneutics, data were collected through semistructured interviews with five licensed professional counselors who had at least 5 years of CMHC experience, participated in postcrisis debriefing, and graduated from programs accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Data were analyzed using a seven-step IPA process. Five themes emerged: relational foundations of debriefing, emotional and cognitive integration, organizational context and system-level influence, professional growth and development, and developmental trajectories of support and self-reliance. Findings indicated that debriefing was a relational, contextual, and evolving process shaped by trust, psychological safety, peer support, and organizational culture, with informal peer-based debriefing often perceived as more meaningful than formal approaches. Findings may contribute to positive social change by informing practices that strengthen counselor well-being, support workforce retention, and enhance care for individuals, families, and communities.

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