Initial Exploration of Therapeutic Presence Pedagogy in Counselor Education

Abstract

A qualitatively modified Delphi approach was used to operationalize therapeutic presence so that it can be further studied as it relates to counselor training and therapeutic outcomes. A total of 12 counselors and counselor educators with over 200 combined years of experience in counselor education participated in this study. The results include a definition of therapeutic presence geared toward counselors-in-training, 13 recognizable signs of students’ expressed therapeutic presence in session, and 17 suggestions for counselor educators to help students develop therapeutic presence. We also discuss implications and recommendations for further investigation.