Professional Counselors’ Experiences Counseling and Working in Areas Repeatedly Impacted by Hurricanes

Abstract

Previous research on professional counselors’ lived experiences of disaster counseling has focused mainly on single disasters. Researchers have identified a need to explore further the phenomenon of post-disaster counseling and shared trauma between counselors and clients. In this article, the authors sought to answer the following research question: What are the lived experiences of professional counselors who live and facilitate post-disaster counseling in areas repeatedly affected by hurricanes along the Texas Gulf Coast? The authors describe their phenomenological study of licensed professional counselors (n = 6) who lived and worked in areas repeatedly impacted by hurricanes along the Texas Gulf Coast. Implications for counselors, counselor educators, and supervisors are provided.

Keywords:

• repeated disasters Keyword: repeated disasters
• post-disaster Keyword: post-disaster
• counseling Keyword: counseling
• disaster counseling training Keyword: disaster counseling training
• shared trauma Keyword: shared trauma

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