Examination of counselors' attitudes towards spiritual issues in counseling process in terms of spiritual orientation and effective counselor characteristics

The main purpose of this research is to examine the attitudes of psychological counselors about spiritual issues in the counseling process in terms of their spiritual orientations and effective counselor characteristics. The other purpose of the study is to develop an attitude scale to measure the attitudes of counselors towards spiritual issues in the counseling process in order to realize the main purpose of the research. The universe of the research consists of counselors who work in public schools and guidance research centers in Istanbul and complete their undergraduate education in guidance and counseling program. The sample of the study consists of 514 (344 female, 170 male) consultants selected by appropriate sampling method. In the scale development process the study group consisted of 386 (253 female, 133 male) counselors. Personal Information Form, Effective Counselor Characteristics Assessment Scale, Spiritual Orientation Scale, and Spirituality in Counseling Counselor Attitude Scale were used as data collection tools. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to determine the construct validity of the Spirituality in Counseling Counselor Attitude Scale. As a result of exploratory factor analysis, a single factor structure consisting of seven items was obtained. The fit of the one-dimensional model to the data was tested by confirmatory factor analysis. The analysis showed that the one-factor model had good fit indexes (RMSEA = .04, RMR = .03, GFI = .98, AGFI = .95, CFI = .99, IFI = .99, NFI = .98). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient calculated in the reliability analyzes of the scale was .89; test-retest coefficient .88, and t-values of the upper and lower group were found to be significant (p <.001). With the developed scale, psychological counselors' attitudes towards spiritual issues during the counseling process were examined according to gender, education level and professional seniority. For this purpose, t-test and one-way analysis of variance were performed for independent groups. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the attitudes of psychological counselors on spiritual issues during counseling process did not differ significantly according to gender, education level and professional seniority variables. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the attitudes of psychological counselors, which are the main purpose of the study, in the counseling process in terms of spiritual orientations and effective counselor qualities. The results of the analysis indicated that the spiritual orientation, and the flexibility dimension of the characteristic of effective counselors were significantly and positively predicts the attitudes of the counselors about the spiritual issues in the counseling process; it has shown that the intellectual competence dimension of the characteristic of effective counselors were significantly and negative way predicts the attitudes of counselors about spiritual issues in the counseling process. It was found that energy, support, goodwill and self- awareness characteristics of effective counselors did not significantly predict counselors' attitudes towards spiritual issues during the counseling process. The findings of the study were interpreted within the framework of the relevant literature and suggestions were presented. Keywords: Counseling Process, Counselor, Effective Counselor Characteristics, Spirituality, Counselors' Attitudes towards Spirituality in Counseling.