Volume 38/Number 3/July 2016/Pages 187-200/doi: 10 .1774/mehc.38.3.01

RESEARCH

Emotional Intelligence and the Counselor: Examining the Relationship of Trait Emotional Intelligence to Counselor Burnout

Daniel G utierrez University of N orth Carolina at Charlotte

Patrick R. Mullen East Carolina University

Given the intimate and emotional nature o f counseling, counselors are often highly suscepti­ble to counselor burnout. Scholars have reported on how important it is for counselors to find strategies that mitigate stressful scenarios and prevent burnout. Emotional intelligence could he a preventative factor. This article describes a correlational investigation that examined the rela­tionship o f practicing mental health and marriage and family counselors’ (N = 539) emotional intelligence to their degree o f burnout. The results from this study indicate that participants’ level o f emotional intelligence negatively predicted their level o f burnout (r = -.62, p < .001; 38% o f the variance explained). This article provides a description o f our findings, suggestions for future research, and implications for counselors.

By nature of the profession, counselors encounter many types of stressful scenarios that can lead to emotional exhaustion, empathy fatigue, and coun­selor impairment (Lawson, Venart, Mazier, & Kottler, 2007; Roach & Young, 2007; Stebnicki, 2007; Young & Lambie, 2007). For example, a counselor may spend a single work day listening to client stories that involve addiction, abuse, trauma and other emotionally draining themes (Stebnicki, 2007); and, in between sessions, be expected to comply with stressful institutional demands, such as completing paperwork on a deadline, dealing with billing concerns, and managing clients in crisis. Counselors must also remain open and compas­sionate, which leaves them vulnerable to experiencing their client’s emotional pain and compounds emotional exhaustion (Stebnicki, 2007). Moreover, counselors who are weighed down by the emotional strain of sessions often do not have immediate resources for relief or support; counselors who work at

Daniel Gutierrez, Departm ent o f Counseling, University o f N orth Carolina a t Charlotte; Patrick R.

Mullen, D epartm ent o f Interdisciplinary Professions, East Carolina University, Greenville.

Patrick R. M ullen is now a t Departm ent o f School Psychology and Counselor Education, College o f W illiam

and Mary. Correspondence concerning this article should be sent to Daniel Gutierrez, Departm ent o f

Counseling, University o f N orth Carolina, Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte NC, 28223. E-mail: dgutierrez@ uncc.edu

0 Journal o f M ental Health Counseling 187

agencies tend not to have significant time between sessions to vent frustrations and those in private practice seldom have someone to turn to at all. Thus, counselors must understand how to manage their emotional exhaustion or else it may lead to counselor burnout.

Counselor burnout is a negative state characterized by physical, psycholog­ical and emotional strain (Lee et al., 2007; Maslach, 2003). When counselors experience burnout they demonstrate fatigue and emotional exhaustion, and depersonalize or devalue clients (Lee et al., 2007; Maslach, 2003). Research suggests that counselors experiencing burnout have significant difficulty compe­tently performing their duties (Lawson et al, 2007; Lee et al, 2007). Therefore, counseling scholars have consistently reported on tire importance of using self-care strategies to prevent counselor burnout (Cummins, Massey, & Jones, 2007; Roach & Young, 2007; Smith, Robinson, & Young, 2007; Witmer & Young, 1996; Yager & Tovar-Blank, 2007; Young & Lambie, 2007).

Research suggests that emotional intelligence (El) could play a role in buffering counselor burnout. El consists of one’s ability to identify, regulate and use emotions effectively (Davey, 2005). Salovey and Mayer (1990) were the first to formalize the definition of El, stating that it entails: (a) the appraisal and expression of emotion, (b) emotional regulation, and (c) the utilization of emotions. However, since their original publication the definition of El has expanded to include a constellation of personality traits, abilities, and behavioral dispositions, such as adaptability, self-awareness, and relationship skills (Cherniss, Extein, Goleman, & Weissberg, 2006; Goleman, 1995; Matthews, Roberts & Zeidner, 2004; Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 2008; Petrides & Furnham, 2001). In an attempt to create a comprehensive and measurable definition for El, Petrides and Furnham (2001) divide El into two categories: trait El and ability El. Trait El encompasses an array of behavioral dispositions and self-perceived abilities that are measured through self-report; whereas abil­ity El is performance-based and is more consistent with a measure of achieve­ment, cognitive ability, and information processing. The wider and more comprehensive definition of El is trait El; however, it would be erroneous to suggest that these two constructs are mutually exclusive (Petrides & Furnham, 2001).

Studies have shown that higher El is associated with less occupational burnout in nursing, teaching and with resident doctors (Gorgens-Ekermans & Brand, 2012; Pishghadam & Sahebjam, 2012; Swami & Mathur, 2013) and less anxiety (Lizeretti & Extremera, 2011; Yip & Cote, 2013). Salovey, Bedell, Detweiler, and Mayer (1999) argued that because coping inevitably involves managing emotions it is not surprising that El would be associated with an increased ability to manage distressing emotions. In addition, scholars propose that El not only helps to regulate negative emotions but also facilitates coping through the management of positive emotions (Goleman, 1995, Salovey et al., 1999). Therefore, increased El could facilitate the coping process, strengthen wellness, and aid in preventing burnout. However, research on El and burnout is still relatively young (Cherniss et ah, 2006;; and to our knowledge, no study exists examining the influence of El on counselor burnout.

188 0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling

E m o tio n a l In te llig e n c e a n d th e C ou nse lo r

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between El and counselor burnout. Given the relationship that El has with stress, anxiety, and burnout in other professions, it is logical that El is associated with counselor burnout. If so, counselors, counseling supervisors, and counselor educators could focus on strategies that increase El to mitigate the deleterious effect of counselor burnout. This study aims to answer the following research question: What is the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and burnout in a sample of practicing professional counselors?

METHOD

Procedures and ParticipantsThe sample included 539 practicing counselors from a Southern state

in the United States. Prior to the collection of data, approval for this investi­gation was obtained from the lead author’s Institutional Review Board. This study utilized simple random sampling of licensed mental health counselors and licensed marriage and family therapists accessed with permission from the state’s department of health. A total of 8,935 individuals were invited to participate in this investigation through three email invitations that adhered to Dillman, Smyth, and Christian’s (2009) tailored design method protocol for email surveys. Twenty-seven participants responded by email indicating they were no longer practicing and therefore did not qualify for the investigation. The series of invitations resulted in 539 respondents (6.05% usable response rate), which is a large sample size as compared to other published studies exam­ining this population (e.g., Lanharn, Rye, Rimsky, & Weill, 2012; Thompson, Amatea, & Thompson, 2014; Williams, Helm, & Clemens, 2012). While this response rate is low, an accurate return rate for online email-based surveys is difficult to discern because researchers have a limited knowledge of whether the email addresses acquired for invitation are working and active for the poten­tial respondents (Granello & Wheaton, 2004). Therefore, it is likely that the true response rate for this survey is higher than what resulted in this study due to the chance that participants did not receive the opportunity to complete the as a result of email addresses that are no longer used.

The participants' (N = 539) age ranged from 25 to 87 years (M = 53.26, SD = 12.26) with 430 women (79.8%), 108 (20.0%) men, and one (0.2%) respondent selecting “Other” as the gender identifier. The ethnicity of the sample was 78.3% Caucasian (n = 422), 13.0% Hispanic (n = 70), 5.2% (n = 28) African American, 3.0% (n = 16) Other Ethnicity, 0.4% (n = 2) Asian American, and 0.2% (n = 1) Pacific/Islander. The professional identify of the participants included 388 (72.0%) mental health counselors, 92 (17.1%) mar­riage and family therapists, and 59 (10.9%) who identified with some other profession. Participants’ years of experience ranged from 2 to 50 years (M = 19.61, SD = 10.38). The characteristics of the participants in this investigation are similar to a study that used the same sample and data collection methods (Mullen, Lambie, & Conley, 2014) and with other studies that surveyed men­tal health counseling practitioners using different data collection methods

^ Journal o f Mental Health Counseling 189

(e.g., Thompson et al., 2014; Williams et al., 2012); thus, the representation of counselors is similar to previous studies.

MeasuresCounselor Burnout Inventory. The Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI;

Lee et al., 2007) is a 20-item self-report measure that is designed to examine counselors’ burnout. Specifically, the CBI intends to measure five domains of burnout that include: (a) Exhaustion, (b) Incompetence, (c) Negative Work Environment, (d) Devaluing Client, and (e) Deterioration in Personal Life. Items include a 5-point numerical response scale (1 = never true, 5 = always true) that assesses respondents’ agreement with feelings and behaviors associ­ated with various aspects of burnout. Higher scores on the CBI indicate a higher degree of symptomology for overall burnout or the given subscale. A sample item from the CBI is “I feel I am an incompetent counselor.” The internal con­sistency of the CBI was good with alpha coefficients of .85 for the Exhaustion scale, .83 for the Negative Work Environment scale, .80 for the Devaluing Client scale, .73 for the Incompetence scale, and .78 for the Deterioration in Personal Life scale (Lee et al., 2010). Construct validity was supported through an exploratory factor analysis that produced a five-factor solution along with a confirmatory factor analysis that indicated adequate fit with the data (Lee et al., 2007). The Cronbach’s alphas for the scales on the CBI in the present investi­gation indicated acceptable (Streiner, 2003) internal consistency with scores of .87 for Exhaustion, .72 for Incompetence, .88 for Negative Work Environment, .72 for Devaluing Client, and .72 for Deterioration in Personal Life.

Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF; Petrides & Furnham, 2001) is a 30-item self-report measure that is designed to examine participants’ global trait El. The TEIQue-SF is derived from the longer, full version Trait El Questionnaire (TEIQue; Petrides & Furnham, 2001) that covers 15 facets of El. The TEIQue-SF provides subscale scores based on the long form version of the TEIQue that include the following domains: (a) Well Being, (b) Self-Control, (c) Emotionality, (d) Sociability, and (e) Global Trait (Petrides, 2006). However, the instrument developer encourages researchers to use the TEIQue-SF as a measure of global trait El because the subscales have not been validated through research (Petrides, 2006). Items include a 7-point Likert response scale (1 = completely disagree, 5 = completely agree) that assesses respondents’ agreement with feelings and behaviors associated with various aspects of global trait El. Higher scores on the overall TEIQue-SF indicate an increased degree of overall trait El and higher scores on the TEIQue-SF subscales indicate an increased degree for the domain of each given subscale. A sample item from the TEIQue-SF is “I usually find it diffi­cult to regulate my emotions.” The internal consistency of the TEIQue-SF has been found to be strong with alpha coefficients ranging from .87 to .89 (Cooper & Petrides, 2010). Similarly, the internal consistency of the TEIQue-SF with this study was strong with a Cronbach’s alpha of .88.

190 0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling

E m o tio n a l In te llig e n c e a n d th e C ounse lo r

Data ScreeningPrior to analysis, the data were screened. Initially, the data were examined

for extreme outliers by identifying variables three standard deviations from the mean (Osborne, 2012). Nineteen cases had at least one variable with an extreme outlier. We decided to address extreme outliers because structural equation modeling (SEM) is sensitive to the impact influential data points have on means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients (Schumacher & Lomax, 2010). A Windsorized mean was calculated to replace the extreme outlier variable based on adjacent data points (Barnett & Lewis, 1994; Osborne & Overbay, 2004). Next, the fit between the distribution of the variance and the assumptions for the statistical analysis employed (i.e., normality, homogeneity of variance, linearity, and nrulticollinearity; Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tathanr, 2006; Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007) were analyzed. The assumption of normality was violated as indicated by absolute skewness values (Curran, West, & Finch, 1996; Kline, 2011); however, no other violations of statistical assumptions were identified. The treatment of non-normal data is discussed in the data analysis section.

Data analysisThis investigation employed a two-step SEM approach (Kline, 2011) to

test the research hypothesis using AMOS (version 21; Arbuckle, 2012). soft­ware. In the first step we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to inspect the measurement model’s fit with the data. Next, we developed and tested the hypothesized structural model that was formulated based on the measurement models. Both the measurement and structural models were eval­uated with model fit indices, standardized residual covariances, standardized factorial loadings, and standardized regression estimates and modifications were made if needed (Byrne, 2010; Kline, 2011).

As noted, some data in this study were non-normal. We decided to use a maximum likelihood (ML) estimation technique because researchers have noted that ML may be robust to non-normal data given sufficient sample sizes (> 100; Chou & Bentler, 1995; Lei & Lomax, 2005).

To evaluate the goodness of fit of the hypothesized measurement and structural models we used a diverse selection of endorsed fit indices (e.g., Hu & Bentler, 1999; Kline, 2011; Weston & Gore, 2006). The fit indices we con­sulted include: (a) chi-square, (b) comparative fit index (CFI), (c) goodness-of- fit (GFI) standardized root mean square residual (SRMSR), and (d) root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Additionally, the Normed Fit Index (NFI) and Non-normed Fit Index (NNFI) were consulted because they are more robust to non-normal data as compared to other indices (Lei & Lomax, 2005).

0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling 191

RESULTS

Counselor BurnoutThe means and standard deviation were calculated for the CBI (Lee et

ah, 2007) subscales. The subscale with the highest degree of symptomology were Exhaustion (M = 2.39, SD = .83), Deterioration in Personal Life (M = 2.08, SD = .68), and Negative Work Environment (M = 2.03, SD = .95) with Incompetence (M = 1.90, SD = .61) and Devaluing Client (M = 1.34, SD = .43) as the lower-scoring subscales. These results are similar to other studies using the CBI (e.g., Lee et ah, 2007; Lee et ah, 2010; Puig, Yoon, Callueng, An, & Lee, 2014) and indicates that the respondents indicated moderate to low levels of burnout across the five domains examined in the CBI.

Counselor Emotional IntelligenceThe means and standard deviation were calculated for the TEIQue-SF

total score and subscales. Participants (N = 539) reported an average total score on the TEIQue-SF of 5.59 (SD = 0.51). These findings from counselors are higher as compared to prior research using the TEIQue-SF with multiple samples from the general population (e.g., means ranging from 4.94 to 5.18; Cooper & Petrides, 2010), which indicates that the participants in this study on average had a higher degree of trait El as compared to a general sample of individuals.

Model TestingThis investigation used SEM analysis to examine the relationship of prac­

ticing counselors’ El to their degree of burnout. The manifest variables were measures of counselor El (as indicated by the TEIQue-SF total score; Petrides & Furnham, 2001) and burnout (as indicated by the CBI subscales; Lee et ah, 2007). The latent variables were counselor El and burnout. A post hoc power analysis using G*Power (Faul, Erdfelder, Lang, & Buchner, 2007) indicated that the observed statistical power was 1.0.

Measurement model. A CFA was conducted to examine the measure­ment model for the TEIQue-SF and CBI. The initial standardized factor loadings for the measurement model produced scores that ranged from .47 to .80 for the CBI (Lee et ah, 2007). All CBI factor loadings were acceptable (i.e., > .40; Comrey & Lee, 1992; Stevens, 1992; Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007). Moreover, all fit indices for the measurement model indicated a poor-fitting model, x2 (df= 9, N = 539) = 125.67, p < .001; GFI = .92; CFI = .87; RMSEA = .16; SRMR = .07; NFI = .87; NNFI = .79. Therefore, the modification indices and standardized residual covariance matrix of the CBI measurement model were consulted, which suggested that the error terms for the subscales Exhaustion and Deterioration in Personal Life be correlated. In consider­ation of the theoretical nature of these constructs, we deemed it justifiable to correlate the errors. However, this modification may be a limitation of this measurement model. After correlating the errors of the subscales Exhaustion and Deterioration in Personal Life, all fit indices for the measurement model

192 0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling

E m o tio n a l In te llig e n c e a n d th e C ounse lo r

indicated an acceptable fitting model except for chi-square, \2 (df = 8, N = 539) = 64.84, p < .001; GFI = .96; CFI = .94; RMSEA= .11; SRMR = .05; NFI = .93; NNF1 = .88. The cutoff range for the chi square fit index, RMSEA, and NNFI were not met; however, we used a diverse selection of indices to obtain a diverse perspective regarding how the data fit the model (Hu & Bentler, 1999), which indicated an overall acceptable-fitting measurement model. The modification resulted in new standardized factor loadings that ranged from .56 to .68 for the CBI. The measurement model was deemed appropriate for use in the structural model with these data.

Structural model. The structural model (see Figure 1) was hypothe­sized and developed based on a thorough review of the literature regarding a potential relationship between El (as measured by the TEIQue-SF; Petrides & Furnham, 2001) and counselor burnout (as measured by the CBI; Lee et al., 2007). El was identified as the exogenous variable and counselor burnout was identified as the endogenous variable. A review of the structural model indi­cated an acceptable goodness-of-fit across all fit indices except for chi-square, RMSEA, and NNFI, x2 (df = 8, N = 539) = 64.84, p < .001; GFI = .96; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .11; SRMR = .05; NFI = .93; NNFI = .88. Examination of the standardized regression weights acknowledged that counselors’ TEIQue-SF scores contributed to 38% ((3 = -.62, p < .001; large effect size; Sink & Stroh, 2006) of the variance in their CBI scores. The TEIQue-SF made a statisti­cally significant contribution (p < .001) to EL. All of the CBI subscales made a statistically significant contribution (p < .001) to counselor burnout. The CBI subscales Incompetence ((3 = .68), Exhaustion ((3 = .65), and Negative Work Environment ((3 = .61) were the strongest contributors to burnout with Devaluating Client ((3 = .56) and Deterioration in Personal Life ((3 = .56) making the weakest contribution. This structural model indicates that a higher degree of global trait El contributes to a decreased level of burnout in coun­selors.

D IS C U S S IO N

In the current study, we endeavored to understand better the relationship between El and counselor burnout, and to assess the contribution of practic­ing mental health counselors’ El to their degree of burnout. Using structural equation modeling, we are able to conclude that, in this sample of professional counselors, El does have a significant relationship with counselor burnout. Moreover, we determined that in our sample, El accounted for 38% of the variance in counselor burnout, and that individuals with higher El had lower levels of counselor burnout. Given that little is known regarding the role of El in counselors and that, to our knowledge, no study exists examining the role of El in counselors’ self-care, we believe these findings provide a significant contribution to the research literature and present several avenues for future research.

Further examination of the structural model (Figure 1) provides more findings that are derived from this investigation. Specifically, counselors’

0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling 193

44

F ig u r e I . S t r u c t u r a l m o d e l d e p ic t in g t h e c o n t r ib u t io n o f c o u n s e lo rs ’ e m o t io n a l in te l l ig e n c e t o t h e i r

b u r n o u t .

incompetence, exhaustion, and negative work environment were the strongest predictors of their burnout as measured by the CBI (Lee et ah, 2007). These findings are not consistent with the descriptive statistics that found exhaustion, deterioration in personal life, and negative work environment to have the high­est mean score for these participants with incompetence and devaluing client returning the lowest mean scores. An additional noteworthy finding was that the data necessitated we correlate the error terms of exhaustion and deteriora­tion in personal life, which indicates these factors may overlap in terms of the construct they measure. Overall, the results from this study provide a novel look into counselors’ degree of El and burnout.

Implications for Mental Health CounselingGiven the myriad of stressors encountered in counseling, it is crucial

that counselors find methods for preventing counselor burnout. As previously noted, a high level of burnout is considered a factor relating to relate to poor job performance for counselors (Lawson et ah, 2007; Lee et ah, 2007). When counselors experience burnout they are likely to de-personalize their clients

194 0 Journal of Mental Health Counseling

E m o tio n a l In te llig e n c e a n d th e C ou nse lo r

(Maslach, 2003) limiting their ability to develop an effective therapeutic alli­ance. Building an effective therapeutic alliance is crucial to being an effective counselor (Rogers, 1957; Young, 2013), and accounts for the largest portion of client outcomes (Norcross, 2009). When counselors are unable to build an alli­ance counseling could easily turn caustic. Additionally, helping professionals experiencing burnout are likely to harm clients with unprofessional behavior and a lack of empathy (Dyrbye et ah, 2010).

In addition to psychologically and emotionally detaching from clients (Maslach, 2003), counselors who experience burnout often experience depres­sion and a decreased satisfaction with life (Suner-Soler et ah, 2013; Takai et ah, 2009). When a counselor is experiencing unmanaged levels of psychological distress, such as depression, the counselor could unintentionally inflict harm on clients; therefore, the American Counseling Association (2014) Code of Ethics states that it is a counselor’s responsibility to monitor his or her own risk for impairment and limit, lessen, or suspend services accordingly (Section C.2.g). In other words, it is the ethical responsibility of counselors to monitor their risk of burnout, and in order to do such they need emotional self-man­agement and regulation skills (Venart, Vassos, & Pitcher-Heft, 2009). These skills are core characteristics of El (Cherniss & Coleman, 2001; Chernis et ah, 2006; Goleman, 1995). Thus, El can help improve the ethical considerations of counselors.

Lee et al. (2007) noted that counselors have the responsibility to provide the highest quality of care, and burned-out counselors are not capable of doing such. In a qualitative study of 28 rural and urban substance abuse counselors, Oser, Biebel, Pullen, and Harp (2013) explored the clinician’s experiences of burnout. Whereas, there were several differences in subthemes between these two populations, several general themes emerged, one of them being that burn­out resulted in poor quality clinical care, and another being that self-care was essential in preventing burnout. Self-care can be challenging, especially when one considers the way the perpetual cycle of caring and empathic attachments that counselors make quickly depletes their internal resources (Skovholt, Grier, & Hanson, 2001). However, if counselors fail to practice self-care and incor­porate wellness, they risk becoming impaired practitioners (Witmer & Young, 1996; Young & Lambie, 2007). Thus, developing strategies that can prevent counselor burnout is crucial for effective counseling practice.

El Strategies for Mental Health CounselorsTraditionally, scholars have suggested using wellness strategies to avoid

counselor impairment (Cummins et ah, 2007; Roach & Young, 2007). However, the findings of the current study illustrate that increasing El may also contribute to reduced counselor burnout. Petrides and Furnham (2001) and Petrides (2006) reported that El consisted of cognitive-emotional ability and behavioral dispositions, such as emotional appraisal, emotion management, emotion regulation, and social competence. While wellness strategies aim at decreasing the effects of stress and emotional fatigue, El helps by equipping

Journal of Mental Health Counseling 195

and strengthening a counselor’s ability to self-regulate and manage stress and emotions as they are occurring in session or in the work environment. Our aim in this study is not to diminish the benefit of wellness strategies, but rather to illustrate that increasing El can also be beneficial to counselors. One practical implication of the current study for counselors is to simply note that El is a useful addition to their arsenal against counselor burnout. We suggest that, as a part of their continuing education and self-care practices, professional counsel­ors engage in strategies that cultivate their emotional intelligence.

Several researchers have employed psycho-educational strategies to increase El (Nelis et ah, 2011; Nellis, Quoidbach, Mikolajczak, & Hansenne, 2009). These researchers created brief training workshops on the topic of understanding emotions, identifying emotions, expressing and using emotions, and managing emotions. During the workshop facilitators used a variety of techniques, including dramatization, experiential activities, and lectures based on the latest research findings on emotion. In both studies, findings indicated that participants did increase in El. Moreover, Nelis and colleagues (2011) reported that changes remained significant at six months after the training sessions. Counselors should attend and even consider facilitating similar work­shops for counseling professionals in their area.

Researchers have also found that meditation practice can increase El (Chu, 2009; Lomas, Edgington, Cartwright, & Ridge, 2013; Perelman et ah, 2012). Schutte and Malouff, (2011) sought to determine if there was a correla­tion with mindfulness, a positive affect scale, a life satisfaction scale, and El (N = 125). Results indicated that greater mindfulness was associated with higher El (r = .66, p < .001). Likewise, Perelman and colleagues (2012) conducted a longitudinal investigation to assess if prisoners in an Alabama state prison who participated in a meditation group would have higher levels of El. Their findings indicated that those who participated in the meditation treatment had significantly higher levels of El than those in the comparison group (p < .01). Meditation is a simple and effective tool that counselors can implement in their daily routine free of charge. The meditation practice used in the pre­vious studies is mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation trainings are widely available throughout the United States. We recommend that counselors employ meditation as a part of their daily self-care.

In sum, previous research has indicated that El can be increased through interventions. Given the benefits of El to counselors, they would be wise to consider incorporating El interventions into their professional lives and profes­sional development. Counselors can begin by taking small steps, such as read­ing the latest research on emotions or beginning a brief meditation practice that they can employ before seeing clients. Counselors (especially beginning counselors) should also consider expanding their understanding of the way emotions influence their health (i.e., increasing their cognitive-emotional apti­tude), in addition to employing a wellness plan.

196 ^ Journal o f Mental Health Counseling

E m o tio n a l In te llig e n c e a n d th e C ounse lo r

Limitations and Future Research DirectionsAs with all research, this investigation has its limitations. First, due to the

cross-sectional design of this study, it is not possible to suggest causation. In order to make such claims, we would need longitudinal data and a sufficient control group. Additionally, although we have a substantial sample size (N = 539) the data for the current study were collected from only one region of the United States. Although we believe our findings provide a significant contri­bution to the literature, further research is needed to determine if our findings are generalizable to other groups of counselors. These findings provide us with preliminary data to justify a larger-scale investigation. However, we can not state that the findings are generalizable to the greater population of counsel­ors because the data were only collected from a single geographic location. Another limitation includes the low response rate for this investigation. Despite these limitations, this investigation provides new and relevant insight into the emotional intelligence and burnout of practicing counselors.

This study is part of emerging research that examines the relationship of El to counselor qualities (Easton, Martin, & Wilson, 2008; Martin, Easton, Wilson, Takemoto, & Sullivan, 2004) and therefore provides some directions for future research. First, research is needed to replicate these findings with larger samples from different regions to support the generalizability of the results. Researchers can consider the use of different data collection methods to obtain a better response rate. Furthermore, research is needed to examine strategies for increasing El in counselors. Previous research (Nelis et al., 2009) has examined interventions with university students, and we believe it would be advantageous to examine these interventions within counselor preparation programs. Additional research can examine the relationship between El and other counselor characteristics not explored in this study such as clinical com­petency and empathy. Given that some scholars suggest that El is associated with relationship enhancement skills (Cherniss et ah, 2006; Goleman, 1995) it is possible that El could benefit counselors’ effectiveness in session and that measures of El could be used to assess student counselors’ preparation for clinical practice. Finally, little is known about how El develops over the course of counselor training programs. Therefore, future research should examine the development of El on student counselors at key points during their prepara­tion (i.e., through a longitudinal study). More research on El may illuminate its relationship to key counselor characteristics and El’s implications for the counseling profession.

In summary, this investigation examined the contribution of El to coun­selor burnout in a sample of professional counselors. The findings indicate that participants’ level of El negatively predicted their degree of burnout. Given that counseling can be as difficult as it is rewarding, it is important that counsel­ors find effective ways of keeping themselves fit for the profession and develop an understanding of what factors may prevent burnout. The findings from this study indicate that El may prove to be a helpful tool in burnout prevention.

0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling 197

REFERENCESAmerican Counseling Association (2014). ACA Code o f ethics: As approved by the ACA governing

council. Retrieved April 11th, 2016 from https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-on ethics.pdf

Arbuckle, J. L. (2012). Amos (Version 21.0) [Computer Program], Chicago: SPSS.Barnett, V., & Lewis, T. (1994). Outliers in statistical data (Vol. 3). New York: Wiley.Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and

programming. New York, NY: Routledge.Cherniss, C., Extein, M. Goleman, D., & Weissberg, R. P. (2006). Emotional intelligence:

What does the research really indicate? Educational Psychologist, 41, 239-245. doi: 10.1207/ s!5326985ep4104_4

Chou, C. P., & Bentler, P. M. (1995). Estimates and tests in structural equation modeling. In R. Id. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling (pp. 37-55). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Chu, L. (2009). The benefits of meditation vs-a-vis emotional intelligence, perceived stress, and negative mental health. Stress and Health, 26, 169-180. doi: 10.1002/smi. 1289

Comrey, A. L., & Lee, H. B. (1992). A first course in factor analysis (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Cooper, A., & Petrides, K. V. (2010). A psychometric analysis of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF) using item response theory, journal o f Personality Assessment, 92,449-457. doi: 10.1080/00223891.2010.497426

Cummins, P. N., Massey, L., & Jones, A. (2007). Keeping ourselves well: Strategies for promoting and maintaining counselor wellness. Journal o f Humanistic Counseling, Education &• Development, 46, 35-49. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1939.2007.tb00024.x

Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, J. F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods, 1, 16-29. doi: 10.1037/1082-989X. 1.1.16

Davey, G. (2005). Encyclopaedic Dictionary o f Psychology. London, U.K.: Routledge.Dillnran, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2009). Internet, mail, and mixed-mode surveys:

The tailored design method. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley & Sons.Dyrbye, L. N., Massie, F. S., Eacker, A., Harper, W., Power, D., Durning, S. J.,...Shanafelt, T.

D. (2010). Relationship between burnout and professional conduct and attitudes among US medical students. Journal o f the American Medical Association, 304, 1173-1180. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.1318

Easton, C., Martin, W. E., & Wilson, S. (2008). Emotional intelligence and implications for counseling self-efficacy: Phase II. Counselor Education and Supervision, 47,218-232. doi: 10.1002/j. 1556-6978.2008.tb00053.x

Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G Tow er 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39, 175-191. doi:10.3758/BF03193146

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. London, U.K.: Bloomsbury.

Gorgens-Ekermans, G., & Brand, T. (2012). Emotional intelligence as a moderator in the stress- burnout relationship: A questionnaire study on nurses. Journal o f Clinical Nursing, 21, 2275- 2285. doi: 10.1111/j. 1365-2702.2012.04171 .x

Granello, D. H., & Wheaton, J. E. (2004). Online data collection: Strategies for research. Journal of Counseling & Development, 82, 387-393. doi: 10.1002/j.l 556-6678.2004.tb00325.x

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Hu, L., & Bender, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118

Kline, R. B. (2011). Principles and practice o f structural equation modeling. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Lanham, M. E., Rye, M. S., Rimsky, L. S., & Weill, S. R. (2012). How gratitude relates to burnout and job satisfaction in mental health professionals. Journal o f Mental Health Counseling, 34, 341-354. doi: 10.17744/mehc.34.4.w35q80wllkgpqn26

Lawson, G., Venart, E., Hazier, R. J., & Kottler, J. A. (2007). Toward a culture of counselor wellness. The Journal o f Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 46, 5-19. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1939.2007. tb00022.x

198 0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling

Emotional Intelligence and the Counselor

Lee, S. ML, Baker, C. R., Clio, S. H., Heckathorn, D. E., Holland, M. W., Newgent, R. A.,... Yu, K. (2007). Development and initial psychometrics of the Counselor Burnout Inventory. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 40, 142-154.

Lee, S. M., Cho, S. H., Kissinger, D., & Ogle, N. T. (2010). A typology of burnout in professional counselors. Journal of Counseling <5 Development, 88, 131-138. doi: 10.1002/j. 15 56-6678.2010. tbOOOOl.x

Lei, M., & Lomax, R. G. (2005). The effect of varying degrees of nonnormality in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 12, 1-27. doi:10.1207/sl5328007seml201_l

Lizeretti, N. P., & Extremera, N. (2011). Emotional intelligence and clinical symptoms in outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder. Psychiatry Quarterly, 82, 253-260. doi: 10.1007/ si 1126-011-9167-1

Lomas, T., Edginton, T., Cartwright, T., & Ridge, D. (2013). Men developing emotional intelligence through meditation? Integrating narrative, cognitive, and electroencephalography (EEC) evidence. Psychology of Men (5 Masculinity, 14, 1-10. doi: 10.1037/a0032191

Martin, W. E., Easton, C., Wilson, S., Takemoto, M., & Sullivan, S. (2004). Salience of emotional intelligence as a core characteristic of being a counselor. Counselor Education and Supervision, 44, 17-44. doi: 10.1002/j. 1556-6978.2004.tb01857.x

Maslach, C. (2003). Burnout: The cost of caring. Cambridge, MA: Major Books.Matthews, G., Roberts, R. D., & Zeidner, M. (2004). Seven myths about emotional

intelligence. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 179-196.Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2008). Emotional Intelligence: New ability or eclectic

traits? American Psychologist, 63, 503-517. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.63.6.503 Mullen, P. R., Lambie, C. W., & Conley, A. H. (2014). Development of the Ethical and Legal

Issues in Counseling Self-efficacy Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 47, 62-78. doi: 10.1177/0748175613513807

Nelis, D., Kotsou, I., Quoidbach, J., Hansenne, M., Wytens, F. Dupuis, P., & Mikolajczak, M. (2011). Increasing emotional competence improves psychological and physical well-being, social relationships, and employability. Emotion, 11, 354-366. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.046

Nelis, D., Quiodback, J., Mikolajczak, M., & Hansenne, M. (2009) Increasing emotional intelligence: (How) is it possible? Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 36-41. doi: 10.1037/a0021

Norcross, J. C. (2009). Psychotherapy relationships that work: Therapist contribution and responsiveness to patients. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Osborne, J. W. (2012). Best practices in data cleaning: A complete guide to everything you need to do before and after collecting your data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Osborne, J. W., & Overbay, A. (2004). The power of outliers (and why researchers should always check for them). Practical Assessment, Research &■ Evaluation, 9. Retrieved from http:// PAREonline.net

Oser, C. B., Biebel, E. P., Pullen, E., & Harp, K. L. (2013). Causes, consequences, and prevention of burnout among substance abuse treatment counselors: A rural versus urban comparison. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 45, 17-27.

Perelman, A. M., Miller, S. L., Clements, C. B., Rodriguez, A., Allen, K., & Cavanaugh, R. (2012). Meditation in a Deep South prison: A longitudinal study of the efFects of Vipassana. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 51, 176-198. doi: 10.1080/10509674.2011.632814

Petrides, K. V. (2006). Deriving factor scores from the TEIQue-SF. Retrieved from http://www.ioe. ac.uk

Petrides, K. V., & Furnham A. (2001) Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 9, 425-480. doi: 10.1002/per.416

Pishghadam, R., & Sahebjam, S. (2012). Personality and emotional intelligence in teacher burnout.The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 15, 227-236. doi:10.5209/rev_SJOP.2012.vl5.nl.37314

Puig, A., Yoon, E.,Callueng, C., An, S., &Lee, S. M. (2014). Burnout syndrome in psychotherapists: A comparative analysis of five nations. Psychological Services, 11, 87-96. doi: 10.1037/a0035285

Roach, L. F., & Young, M. E. (2007). Do counselor education programs promote wellness in their students? Counselor Education and Supervision, 47, 29-45.

Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 95. doi: 10.1037/li00453 57

0 Journal of Mental Health Counseling 199

Salovey, P., Bedell, B. T., Detweiler, ]. B., & Mayer, J. D. (1999). Coping intelligently: Emotional intelligence and the coping process. In C. R. Snyder (Ed.), Coping: The psychology o f what works (pp. 141-164). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Salovey, P. & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185-211. doi:10.2190/DUGG-P24E-52WK-6CDG

Schumacher, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (2010). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. New York, NY: Routledge.

Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J.M. (2011). Emotional intelligence mediates the relationship between mindfulness and subjective well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1116-1119. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.01.037

Sink, C. A., & Stroh, H. R. (2006). Practical significance: The use of effect sizes in school counseling research. Professional School Counseling, 9, 401-411. doi:10.5330/prsc.9.4.283746k664204023

Smith, H. L., Robinson, I. H., & Young, M. E. (2007). The relationship among wellness, psychological distress, and social desirability of entering master’s-level counselor trainees. Counselor Education and Supervision, 47, 96-109. doi: 10.1002/j. 15 56-6978.2007.tb00041 .x

Skovholt, T. M., Grier, T. L., & Hanson, M. R. (2001). Career counseling for longevity: Self-care and burnout prevention strategies for counselor resilience. Journal o f Career Development, 27, 167-176. doi: 10.1177/089484530102700303

Stebnicki, M. A. (2007). Empathyfatigue: Helpingthemind,body,andspiritofprofessionaI counselors.American Journal o f Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 10, 317-338. doi: 10.1080/15487760701680570

Stevens, J. P. (1992). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Suner-Soler, R., Grau-Martin, A., Font-Mayolas, S., Gras, M. E., Bertran, C., & Sullman, M. J. M. (2013). Burnout and quality of life among Spanish healthcare personnel. Journal o f Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 20, 305-313. doi: 10.1111/j. 1365-2850.2012.01897.x

Swami, M. K., Mathur, D. M., & Pushp, B. K. (2013). Emotional intelligence, perceived stress and burnout among resident doctors: An assessment of the relationship. National Journal of India, 26,210-213.

Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Takai, M., Takahashi, M., Iwamitsu, Y., Ando, N., Okazaki, S., Nakajima, K.,...Miyaoka, H. (2009). The experience of burnout among home caregivers of patients with dementia: Relations to depression and quality of life. Archives o f Gerontology and Geriatrics, 49, el-e5. doi: 10.1016/j. archger.2008.07.002

Thompson, I. A., Amatea, E. S., & Thompson, E. S. (2014). Personal and contextual predictors of mental health counselors’ compassion fatigue and burnout. Journal o f Mental Health Counseling, 36, 58-77. doi:10.17744/mehc.36.1.p61m73373m4617r3

Venart, E., Vassos, S., & Pitcher-Heft, H. (2007). What individual counselors can do to sustain wellness. Journal o f Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, 46, 50-65. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1939.2007.tb00025.x

Weston, R., & Gore, P A. (2006). A brief guide to structural equation modeling. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 719-751. doi: 10.1177/0011000006286345

Williams, A. M., Helm, H. M., & Clemens, E. V. (2012). The effect of childhood trauma, personal wellness, supervisory working alliance, and organizational factors on vicarious traumatization. Journal o f Mental Health Counseling, 34(2), 133-153. doi: 10.17744/ mehc.34.2.j3162k872325h583

Witmer, J. M., & Young, M. E. (1996). Preventing counselor impairment: A wellnessapproach. The Journal o f Humanistic Education and Development, 34, 141-155.doi: 10.1002/j.2164-4683.1996.tb00338.x

Yager, G. G., & Tovar-Blank, Z. G. (2007). Wellness and counselor education. Journal o f Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, 46, 142-153. doi: 10.1002/j.2161-1939.2007.tb00032.x

Yip, J. & Cote, S. (2013) The emotionally intelligent decision-maker: Emotion understanding ability reduces the effect of incidental anxiety on risk-taking, Psychological Science; 24, 48-55. doi: 10.1177/09567976

Young, M. E. (2013) Learning the art of helping: Building blocks and techniques. Upper Saddle River: NJ: Pearson.

Young, M. E., & Lambie, G. W. (2007). Wellness in school and mental health systems:Organizational influences. Journal o f Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, 46, 98-113.

200 0 Journal o f Mental Health Counseling

Copyright of Journal of Mental Health Counseling is the property of American Mental HealthCounselors Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites orposted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, usersmay print, download, or email articles for individual use.