Community college grief counseling services: A national survey of grief counseling services for counselors at community colleges in the United States

Abstract

Empirical research on the grief experience of undergraduates in the United States has not traditionally focused on the experiences of students and counselors providing services at community colleges. Six hundred and ten counselors were surveyed to gain a better understanding of the training and education in grief of the professional counseling staff at national community colleges. The type and frequency of counseling services and resources (individual counseling, group counseling, workshops, seminars, techniques and strategies used, assessments, printed materials, etc.) that are provided to community college students experiencing issues of grief and loss, and representative descriptive data from a sample of counselors about the nature and scope of these services were examined.

Counselors at community colleges reported the most frequent grief and loss situations that they have counseled students for in the past 5 years were the following: loss of relationship (84.5%), dropping out/withdrawing from school (83.7%), financial/money problems, loss of income (79%), loss of job/employment (76.9%), divorce (77.5%), and accidental deaths (motor vehicle, drowning, fire, etc.) (73.1%). However, findings suggested that very little grief counseling was provided at national community colleges; 44% of counselors indicated that they provided grief counseling only a few times a year. In addition, most respondents had very little graduate education in grief courses (equivalent to that of less than a 3 credit course) and a limited knowledge base of grief, grief counseling, and theories and models of grief deriving from formal graduate education. Fifty seven percent received less than 4 hours of professional development and training in grief counseling over the past 5 years. Additional research is needed to examine the state of personal counseling services at national community colleges and the training and education of the counselors in order to better address the needs of bereaved students.