The impact of behavioral healthcare professionals’ multicultural counseling self-efficacy on their professional quality of life

Objective The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine associations between behavioral health professionals’ cultural competencies, multicultural counseling self-efficacy, and professional quality of life. Method Participants (N = 113) were graduate students recruited from a public Midwestern university and were on average 30 years old (SD = 9.23), majority female (n = 88; 78%), and White (n = 86; 76%). Participants completed surveys on demographics, anti-racism, self-reflection, intercultural communication, multicultural counseling self-efficacy (session management, intervention, assessment) at enrollment and on professional quality of life (compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress) 9-months post-graduation. Results Compassion satisfaction was significantly associated with higher levels of assessment self-efficacy ( p = 0.01). Burnout was significantly associated with lower levels of self-reflection ( p = 0.04) and lower levels of intervention self-efficacy ( p < 0.05). Secondary trauma was not significantly associated with any target variables. A linear regression model revealed that assessment self-efficacy was a significant predictor of compassion satisfaction ( p < 0.01). The other quality of life subscales did not have any significant predictors. Conclusion Findings of the study suggest that multicultural counseling training may be a potential point of intervention for improving behavioral health professionals’ professional quality of life, which should have implications for retention and positive client outcomes. Future research is needed to examine pedagogical and training interventions that will increase levels of multicultural counseling self-efficacy.