Exploring master-level counseling students experiences in taking online counselor education courses

The purpose of this research was to explore master-level counseling students’ lived experiences when taking online counselor education courses within the past five years (i.e., 2017-2022). Traditionally, counselor education programs and classes are offered through in-person learning modalities. However, the increased movement and utilization of online learning in higher education has raised the question and application of online learning within counselor education. Although past research explored the efficacy of online counselor education, there is a limited amount of research available about students’ experiences with training to become counselors in an online environment. My dissertation sought to fill this gap by using a qualitative, transcendental phenomenological approach to learn more about master-level counseling students’ experiences with taking their counseling classes through an online learning environment. Based on 13 participants’ experiences, four categories emerged. Participants spoke of their positive experiences with taking online counseling classes, the challenges the experienced, the ways that they coped or adjusted with taking online classes, and how they felt that their online counselor education impacted their counselor development. The findings of this study are intended to help provide counselor educators and counselor education programs ways to better develop and implement online counseling classes in ways that promote student success.