School Counselor Self-Efficacy in Advocating for Self: How Prepared Are We?

Advocacy is a central component of providing comprehensive school counseling programs. Often, counselor advocacy entails advocating for the profession and clients. Utilizing the New General SelfEfficacy scale, this quantitative study examined the effect of advocacy training type, counselor education program level, and CACREP program attendance on the self-efficacy of school counselors in advocating for self. School counselors' self-efficacy in advocating for self (as a school counselor), rather than advocacy for the profession and/or students, was assessed. Analysis revealed advocacy training was a statistically significant predictor of self-efficacy in advocating for self, while program level and CACREP attendance were not significant predictors. Implications for counselor preparation and counselor education are discussed.