Issues of Crisis Response in Student Counseling:

Four Themes Identified from Group Discussions of Practitioners

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying issues in crisis response by listening to actual practitioners in university counseling, focusing on its organizational aspects. A focus group of seven participants (6 head counselors and 1 former director of a university counseling center) was formed and the discussions were qualitatively analyzed. Issues in crisis response were categorized as (1) “lack of common principles” including lack of underlying philosophy and guiding principles, (2) “inconsistent understanding of responsibility” for legal and ethical responsibilities, (3) “ineffective division of roles” in defining the function of student counseling and division of roles among departments, and (4) “inadequate safety measures” in counseling centers and university- wide support systems. These issues were found to interact with each other and be influenced by the “context of diversity” in terms of crisis incidents, student needs, and environmental factors. Based on the findings, directions for addressing these issues including the use of a legal perspective to develop common principles, the possibility of forming a university-wide crisis response team, and the use of an ethical decision-making model were discussed.