| Counselor well-being is an important contributor to the effectiveness of the therapeutic relationship. According to Roger's theory of personality, accurate self-perception and psychological well-being are critical to optimal personal development as a fully functioning person. Previous research has indicated some students enter counselor education programs with unresolved psychological concerns. Online instructional forums, with limited face-to-face contact between instructors and students, can exacerbate the failure by educators to recognize psychologically vulnerable trainees. A gap exists in the current literature regarding the well-being of online counselors in training. This nonexperimental study evaluated the relationship between psychological well-being, as measured by the Scales of Psychological Well-Being and perceived wellness, as measured by the Perceived Wellness Survey, in a sample of 100 graduate students enrolled in an online counselor education program in the United States. Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant relationship between psychological well-being and perceived wellness, with purpose in life as the strongest predictor of wellness. Measures of prior counseling experience were not significant. Evaluating online counseling students' perceptions of their psychological well-being is important to advance students' psychological health early in training. The implications for social change include knowledge useful for counselors, educators, and other researchers seeking to promote well-being and self-care in online counseling students. Considering more than 113 million individuals globally were diagnosed with a mental health disorder in 2006, graduating well counselors is imperative to attend to society's mental health needs. |
