Date

4-26-2024

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision (PhD)

Chair

Sharita Knobloch

Keywords

military spouse, counselor, counselor education, mental health, resilience, burnout, coping

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

Military spouses (MLSPs) are an integral part of the military family and key mental health providers in military community. This study explores the mental health, resilience, coping, and burnout of MLSP counselors, counselor educators, and supervisors (CES). This study was grounded in resilience theory, investigating relationships between mental health and burnout, mediated by resilience, and conditioned by coping. An online survey was distributed through social media and email, open to MLSP counselors/CES of all branches and components of service (N = 68). This quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional correlational research designed utilized PROCESS Models 4, 58, and 59, which determined that resilience mediates the relationships between anxiety and burnout as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and burnout. Participants indicated significant mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Additionally, poorer mental health was predictive of higher rates of counselor burnout. The sample size was not large enough to provide moderated mediation analysis, providing no information on how coping moderates these relationships. These results indicate the importance of targeted occupational support for MLSP counselors/CES to mitigate burnout, as they face unique personal and professional adversities due to military affiliation.

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