An Examination Of The Effect Of Professional License Type And Gender On The Self-efficacy And Comfort Level Of Counseling Skills In Addressing Sexual Issues With Clients

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine clinicians’ self-efficacy and comfort level based on license type and gender when addressing sexual issues with clients. The Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE) was used to measure participants beliefs or judgments about her/his capabilities to effectively counsel a client in the near future, and the Sexual Intervention Self-Efficacy Questionnaire was used to measure participants current comfort level to work with individuals who have sexual concerns or problems. The sample for this study included 174 fully licensed clinicians recruited from the southeastern region of the United States through membership of online listservs associated to the specific professional license type. The aim of this study was to determine if a particular professional license type and gender perceive a higher level of self-efficacy and comfort level when addressing sexual issues with clients than the others. The results of this study found that LMFT’s and males are more comfortable addressing sexual issues with clients. The results of this study also emphasize that additional required coursework in sexual issues is needed in counseling and social work graduate programs as well as continuing education.