Suicide Training and Counselor Education

The purpose of this study is to understand the attitudes toward the topic of suicide in the counselor education and supervision (CES) community. This research expands upon prior research by exploring the perceived attitudes toward suicide among counseling faculty, supervisors, leaders, and students. The research question is: What are the perceived attitudes in CES toward the topic of suicide? The study involved 45-90 minute phone interviews with 15 participants, including counseling faculty, supervisors, and/or administrators. The majority of participants identified as White and female. Applying interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology guides the researchers in two phases: 1) developing a descriptive account of phenomena through the perspective of the participant and 2) interpreting underlying meaning about perceived attitudes toward suicide. The steps of IPA include reading and rereading, developing emergent themes, searching for connections across emergent themes, moving to the next case, looking for patterns, and making interpretations to deeper levels. The present study utilizes the talents of a McNair scholar, their McNair Mentor, Dr. Jenny Cureton, and a research team of counseling doctoral students and faculty members. Findings will inform counselor training on suicide, training program functions, and leadership and policy impacting counselors and counselor preparation.