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Abstract
The multi-professional health care setting calls for a stronger evidence-based practice for providing collaborative framework/theory across disciplines. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the perspectives of counselors who practice in Interprofessional Collaborative (IC) settings related to training and support needs. Interviews were conducted with 10 licensed or associate licensed counselors with experience working on integrative behavioral and mental healthcare teams. A qualitative design was used to explore counselors' lived experiences and the factors that influence their practice environment and supervisory needs. A phenomenological data analysis procedure using an Ad Hoc technique for interview analysis was used to analyze the data. Participant perspectives were framed by analyzing the individual emic perspectives and then the overall composite or etic perspective. The analysis indicated that there were common themes across participants working within an IC environment. Themes of mutual responsibility, disconnect, and isolation served as the common thread for the participants working in this practice culture. The findings suggest that counselors working in integrated collaborative care environments could benefit from support from both counseling education programs as well as on-site supervisors. Providing additional training that addresses collaborative care with allied disciplines and coursework in understanding medical terminology, in an effort to improve readiness for students in counselor education programs, is necessary to both prepare and support new counselors. Additionally, research is needed that continues to expand the knowledge base of support for counselors in IC settings in order to help prepare counselor educators and supervisors as to what will be needed to meet the needs of those practicing at internship, associate, and post-licensure levels.