Perceived Leadership Practices of Mental Health Counselors After the Completion of the Master’s Degree

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the leadership practices of mental health counselors following the completion of the master’s degree in efforts to identify whether a relationship existed between years of clinical practice and self-perception of leadership practices.

METHODOLOGY
A non-probability census sampling strategy was used to gather a sample from the total population of individuals receiving notifications through the Tennessee Counseling Association, Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor Association, and Tennessee Mental Health Counselor Association Listservs (N=1317), with the sample involving 82 respondents. They completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and provided demographic information. The typical respondent was female (81%), held a master’s degree (88%), held licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (43%), and an average of 8.6 years as a mental health counselor

KEY FINDINGS
The most frequently engaged leadership practice reported was Enable, followed by Encourage, and then Model, Challenge, and Inspire. Years of clinical practice as a mental health counselor was not related to the frequency of use for any of the five leadership practices. The author suggestions: “A clearer understanding of the difference between positional and non-positional leadership can help to inform the perception of counselors as leaders” (p. 106).