The Relationship Between Implementation of the American School Counselor Association National Model and Professional Secondary School Counselor Burnout

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between demographic and occupational variables, the implementation of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model, and burnout in professional secondary school counselors. Participants in this study were professional secondary school counselors who were members of ASCA (n=494). All participants completed the Secondary School Counselor Demographic, Implementation of the ASCA National Model, and Burnout Survey that was designed to assess counselors’ perceptions and practices related to the level of implementation of the ASCA National Model and the degree of burnout. The instrument combined a researcher-developed questionnaire with the School Counseling Program Implementation Survey (SCPIS) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). Descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rho correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression models were utilized for data analysis. The results of this study indicated that professional secondary school counselors had high levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, yet also had high levels of personal accomplishment. In addition, results indicated that professional secondary school counselors believed they are making progress in implementing the ASCA National Model; however, the model is not fully implemented. An inverse, significant relationship was discovered between the level of implementation of the ASCA National Model and the degree of burnout