Introduction

School counselors are leaders in the mental health field in educational systems. A widely recognized counselor education accrediting body in the US (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) requires counseling programs to help master’s and doctoral students develop leadership skills (Lindsay et al. 2021). One of the most important training components required is academic training in leading psycho-educational intervention programs in schools. This training can provide opportunities to develop and refine counseling skills (Bledsoe et al. 2021; Bultsma, 2021), assist in adapting to changing cultural and environmental demands and enhance school counselors’ professional growth and leadership development (ASCA, 2019).

Although intervention programs are routinely delivered by school counselors in schools across the world, many pupils still have unmet mental health needs. This can be significantly detrimental to pupils’ academic, career and social/emotional development, as well as school safety. Research indicates that 20% of pupils need mental health services, yet only one out of five of these pupils receive them (Erford, 2019). This is especially true for children from minority groups (Jongen et al. 2023). There is a need to design effective in-depth training that prepares counseling students to deliver comprehensive face-to-face programs which can provide pupils with coping skills to meet their true needs.

In the present study we offer a meaningful and in-depth training model for school counselors who are learning to deliver intervention programs in schools, designed to enhance their ability to substantially promote pupils’ well-being. The proposed training program is gradual and based on parallel processes. It can be a theoretical and practical basis for effective training that can influence counseling students and their pupils in the long term. In the study we explored graduate students’ experience during an Intervention Programs course, both as group members in class and as group leaders in school. Students’ reflections relied on their personal experience as well as on feedback they received from pupils, teachers and school counselors.

Psycho-educational group counseling

Recent trends in school counseling indicate the effectiveness of a comprehensive model of psycho-education (e.g., Kahn et al. 2021). Psycho-educational groups are the most common types of preventive group programs in school and consist of both educational and emotional processes, addressing pupils’ academic, social and emotional difficulties (e.g., substance use prevention, sex education; Neuer Colburn and Bowman, 2021). One of the major goals in schools is to mitigate potential sources of psychological stress while strengthening pupils’ coping skills and resilience (e.g., Orozco-Solis et al. 2021) and improving social, emotional and academic adjustment and quality of life. It is assumed that the large bulk of pupils who experience behavioral or emotional difficulties will benefit the most from primary preventive group counseling in school. Thus, psycho-educational intervention programs in the classroom are generally considered more appropriate for school populations. In contrast, clinically oriented psychological interventions are usually implemented by health professionals only after emotional distress has emerged and is manifested as a full-blown problem in school (Stavrou and Kourkoutas, 2017).

Psycho-educational group counseling, held with peers who share similar needs, provides children and adolescents with a unique experience of universality and sharing. The group setting promotes intimate relationships, is based on the principles of group facilitation, and helps group members form close and supportive relationships. Thus, the school counselor, as group leader, can encourage the growth of group members and provide support (Neuer Colburn and Bowman, 2021; Schmidt, 2008).

Psycho-educational group intervention programs have been reported to have many advantages. They have been found to be effective in changing faulty cognitive thinking; in increasing pro-social behaviors, self-regulation and the ability to resolve conflicts and handle life’s stressors; and in reducing emotional reactivity and disruptive and aggressive behavior (Bloomquist and Schnell, 2005; Galassi and Akos, 2007; Neill et al., 2023; Van Velsor, 2009). It is also cost effective and practical in reaching many children, making it an appropriate service for pupils to acquire skills necessary for social and academic success (Galassi and Akos, 2007; Neill et al. 2023; Schmidt, 2008). Efforts aimed at preventing problems (e.g., test-anxiety) are believed to reduce the need for future expenses, which are high in terms of both human suffering and societal or economic consequences. Moreover, the programs emphasize short-term interventions that are often provided in school (Coetzee et al. 2021). Thus, the use of psycho-educational intervention programs, with specific techniques well within the capability of the professional staff at the school, may help to ease the existing mental-health personnel shortage to carry out needed psychological work with children and adolescents. Although the effectiveness of psycho-educational group counseling in schools has been demonstrated, its optimal application can only be comprehended if school counselors receive adequate group counseling training and acquire sufficient group work skills (Chang et al. 2017; Galassi and Akos, 2007).

Experiential training in group counseling

Experiential training is learning that takes place through participants’ personal experiences. According to this approach, participation in the group is an opportunity to experience the process first hand, which differs from just listening or reading about it (Osborn et al. 2003). In addition, participants receive feedback, guidance and emotional support from the lecturer and group members (Galassi and Akos, 2007). Experience in leading and participating in groups normalizes counseling students’ anxiety and provides predictability and knowledge about what should be expected from the process (Osborn et al. 2003), as well as better understanding of their clients’ experiences in groups (e.g., Chi-Sing et al. 2020).

Studies of counseling students’ experiential group training indicate that they find it a unique learning opportunity that allows for increased professional and personal growth and development (Bourgeois et al. 2016; Terrazas-Carrillo et al. 2022). Thus, group facilitation training can not only improve the training of school counselors as group leaders, by strengthening facilitation and care skills and allowing for broader perspectives on group issues and processes, but can also address specific emotional needs (Bore et al. 2010). Indeed, it has been reported that when practical training, including first-hand participation as a group member, accompanies the experience of leading a group of pupils in schools, this may maximize the ability of school counselors to lead groups professionally and effectively (Chi-Sing et al. 2020). Practical training is deeper and more effective when there is supervision that accompanies the experience, imparting and strengthening therapeutic skills and cognitive learning. This type of training allows counselors to learn from mistakes, glean insights, deal with concerns and anxieties and strengthen their self-confidence as group leaders (Van Velsor, 2009).

The training process is carried out with support from the lecturers, which is crucial for counseling students, aiding them to deliver effective psycho-educational interventions in schools and promote their pupils’ well-being and resilience. Lecturers can provide valuable insights, feedback and strategies to help students develop their counseling skills. They can offer guidance on evidence-based practices, intervention planning, implementation techniques and assessment strategies, increasing positive outcomes. Lecturers can also assist students in navigating challenges and addressing behavioral issues by drawing on their expertise. Moreover, they encourage reflection and ongoing learning for skill improvement. Indeed, such a training process in higher education was found effective in several studies (e.g., Romano et al. 2021). Moreover, counselors who report increased self-awareness and an openness to meet personal challenges are likely to experience less countertransference and greater emotion regulation when faced with distress (Callender and Lenz, 2018). Therefore, the investigation of counselors’ wellness and professional well-being is warranted (Callender and Haktanir, 2023). It has also been asserted that the explicit examination of parallel processes during supervision of group counseling may promote counselors’ professional growth (e.g., Callender and Haktanir, 2023; Thacker and Diambra, 2019).

The parallel process of supervision

Parallel processes in supervision entail the transference of experience from the counselor–client bond to the counselor–supervisor bond, and vice versa (Thacker and Diambra, 2019). Searles (1955; see also Waugaman, 2015) was the first to suggest that “processes at work currently in the relationship between patient and therapist are often reflected in the relationship between therapist and supervisor” (p. 135). The concept of the parallel process is based on psychodynamic supervision, describing “the potential transference and countertransference issues in supervision and psychotherapy” (Heidel, 2012, p. 22).

Transference occurs when the counselor reconstructs the process and responses discussed in the therapeutic relationship as part of the supervision process. In turn, countertransference arises when the supervisor replies to the counselor in the same way that the counselor responded to clients. Thus, the supervisory interaction is parallel to the counseling interaction. Making these insights conscious requires the supervisor’s awareness of the emotions, responses and dynamics in the parallel process. By discussing and working through these emotions and dynamics, trainees increase awareness of their relationship with both client and supervisor (Prasko et al. 2022; Xu et al. 2021).

Supervision is considered a “three-person system” (Bernard and Goodyear, 2014) including the supervisor, supervisee and client. The counselor–client and supervisor–supervisee relationships impact the client, as the supervisor acts as a channel for information and processing between both relationships. Understanding parallel processes, countertransference and resistance that arise in both the counseling relationship and the supervision relationship are significant for counselor development (Guest and Williams-Thompson, 2021; Hayes et al. 2015). These are even more important for counselors working with children and adolescents, who process experiences at varying developmental levels and provide different challenges than adults.

There are two reasons that a parallel process might take place. Firstly, the counselor may look inward for parallels between the self and the client as a means to develop a proper therapeutic strategy, thus tapping into the same issue as that of the client. Secondly, counselors may over identify with their clients and be uncertain of how to continue with therapy (Aponte, 2022). Wanting the supervisor to feel the same feelings they experienced with the client, the counselor unconsciously recreates the problem experienced in the therapeutic relationship in an effort to get the supervisor to model appropriate responses or make suggestions for problem resolution (Mueller and Kell, 1972; Prasko et al. 2022).

It has been argued that an immediate response to the parallel process, once recognized, improves the quality of supervision and that the examination of parallel processes encourages counselor growth. Thus, supervision is a teaching process that emphasizes theories and techniques (Watkins, 2012). There is evidence that supervision based on parallel processes is particularly effective in school counselor training (ASCA, 2019). Observing 17 supervision sessions, Tracey et al. (2012) reported that counselors and supervisors alike altered their behavior in almost every session in keeping with the theory of parallel processes. The counselors behaved in the same way as their clients from the previous session, and the supervisors also changed their behavior accordingly. In a study of the training of counseling graduate students who led small pupil groups or classes at school, while taking an introductory school counseling course, the graduate students reported that their practical experience in school helped them develop their skills more than the theoretical knowledge from the college course (Finnerty et al. 2019).

In sum, studies have shown that psycho-educational group counseling skills can be useful for counselors who work with schoolchildren (e.g., Bledsoe et al. 2021) and that school counselors are likely to improve their group therapy skills when participating in a training group (Kahn et al. 2021). Such participation exposes them to complex group interactions, which in turn help them acquire cognitive and emotional skills to lead groups (e.g., Heidel, 2012). However, there is a paucity of research examining school counselor training based on parallel processes that not only explores experiential group training in academia, but concurrently targets the deliverance of psycho-educational intervention programs in schools. In addition, very little is known about the specific processes and work methods that may strengthen the experiential and emotional component of parallel processes in students’ group work training. This knowledge can contribute to the acquisition of counseling skills and emotional insights, enhancing school counselors’ professional development and personal growth. Moreover, most of the intervention programs delivered to pupils in schools fail to bring about substantial changes, such as reducing violence and anxiety and improving communication (Erford, 2019). Therefore, the training model suggested here is designed not only to ease pupils’ difficulties, but also to provide graduate students and their pupils alike with long-term coping skills.

Study aims

This study aims to address the gap of knowledge by presenting a training model applied in a school counseling graduate program. It is innovative in that it examines a theoretical and practical training model from the trainees’ perspectives, in terms of its reinforcement of students’ counseling skills and, in turn, its promotion of pupils’ well-being. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time the contribution of such a model has been examined in terms of the personal and professional processes undergone by trainees and in terms of its facilitation of significant emotional processes and changes among groups of pupils in schools. The results of the study may help improve school counselors’ skills and their ability to promote deep emotional processes among pupils. This may foster a shift in the role of school counselors as agents of long-term change who contribute to improving pupils’ quality of life.

Thus, in this qualitative-phenomenological study our research goal was to present a gradual training model based on parallel processes and to identify the subjective experience of school counseling graduate students in two realms: as participants in the Intervention Programs course and as group leaders of psycho-educational intervention programs in schools. We aimed to better understand whether and how the training model contributed to their personal insights and professional development, including their group leading skills, as well as to pupils’ well-being.

Two research questions were posed: (1) What was the experience of school counseling students in the Intervention Programs course (in academia and in the practicum with pupils in schools)? (2) How, if at all, did participation in the course impact the students’ professional development as school counselors?

Methods

We used a phenomenological methodology to explore participants’ points of view. In phenomenology, reality is viewed as depending on context and on the individual interpretation of those who experience the phenomenon. To describe the phenomenon studied, the most basic commonalities among participants are identified (Smith et al. 2022).

Participants

We used a purposive sample: graduate students taking a school counseling Intervention Programs course in a college in northern Israel. All course attendees over the two-year study period were invited by email to be interviewed at the conclusion of the course so as to relate their experiences. Of the 48 students who attended the course in this time frame, 33 volunteered to participate. In general, they were representative of the entire student group. Of the 33 participants, 29 (88%) were women; 15 were Jews, 17 were Arabs (15 Muslims and two Christians), and one was a non-Arab Christian born abroad. Most interviewees (28) were married, and their mean age was 34.79 (SD = 7.57, range = 26–54). Demographics of this group are presented in Tables 1 and 2.

Table 1 List of Interviewees, gender, age and religion.
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Table 2 Demographic breakdown of interviewees.
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In terms of the intervention programs delivered at the practicum, as shown in Table 3, almost half of the students interviewed (15) worked with a group of elementary school children. Most students led the group on their own. Together, they delivered 27 group intervention programs, mostly consisting of 10–12 meetings.

Table 3 Information about schools, group leaders, means, SD, ranges and percent of number of pupils and meetings in each group.
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Measures

Demographic questionnaire

The questionnaire included questions on demographics such as gender, age and religion, and details about the intervention program (e.g., number of pupils in the group).

Semi-structured interview guide

The interview guide was based on the research questions. The in-depth interview consisted of general questions that allowed for more detailed follow-up depending on how each interview developed. Sample questions were: (1) Please describe your experience in the Intervention Programs course (derived from research question 1); (2) How, if at all, did the course affect your professional development? (derived from research question 2). A pilot interview was first tried with two participants to test its suitability. As no significant changes were made, the interviews of these two participants were included in the study.

Procedure

The current study is part of a larger research project. The researchers are Jewish women who teach in the school counseling graduate program. The first author is an experienced qualitative researcher, and the second author is an experienced researcher and an instructor of group counseling courses. After receiving approval and funding from the Council for Higher Education, Planning and Budgeting Committee and the College Deans’ Office (2017, No. 3401.58-871), information about the study was given to those students who volunteered to take part, including their right to discontinue participation at any time and assurances of anonymity. They filled out an informed consent form and a demographic questionnaire and were interviewed in private at the college. Interviews were conducted in Hebrew by the first author, who was familiar with participants as one of their lecturers in the program but not in the specific Intervention Programs course. The study was conducted towards the end of the academic year and the course instructor had no access to the interviews or transcripts. The interviews lasted approximately an hour, were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim, and the accurateness of the transcripts was reviewed by both authors. Additionally, from the inception of the study the authors conducted a “bracketing” process (Creswell and Poth, 2018), i.e., self-reflection journaling aimed at becoming aware of one’s expectations and prejudices, so that they influence data collection and analysis as little as possible. Based on the bracketing process, we assumed that students would not have enough time, when interviewed, to deeply think about or process their experiences or clearly formulate the process they underwent. We also expected them to see the course as interesting and important but not to provide a particularly rich or elaborate account of it.

Description of training based on a gradual model of parallel processes: delivering psycho-educational intervention programs

The presented training model was tailored to graduate students in school counseling who were learning to deliver intervention programs in schools. It aims to promote students’ personal growth and professional development and to provide students with counseling skills to help pupils, in a gradual learning process. It thus entails several stages that allow for progressive learning. The first stage, for first-year students, is a preliminary basic Group Counseling course that provides professional guidance in group facilitation and session building, a personal growth process and peer group facilitation. The same group members usually continue to study together in small groups (10–15 students) throughout the two-year degree, thus enhancing group cohesion and close relationships.

The second and main stage of this process consists of an advanced two-semester Intervention Programs course given in the second year of the program. In the first semester students are taught to conduct a needs assessment in the practicum at school (interviewing school staff and prospective group participants) and how to plan and build their program and evaluate it based on theory and research. In the second semester, students begin conducting their intervention programs with groups in the school community, mostly with pupils. With the aim of promoting personal and professional development, course participants receive group supervision in the college classroom to address questions and dilemmas that arise in the group intervention at school. In addition, they participate in peer group dynamics themselves. Within these group dynamics, the course instructor raises awareness of issues of transference, countertransference, resistance and projection. Thus, the students go through a process that is parallel to that of their own pupils, experiencing group dynamics at the college while leading a group of their own in the practicum at school.

Data analysis

Analysis of the interview protocols, conducted by the first author, was based on Colaizzi’s (1978) phenomenological method. It included six steps (see also Mulli et al. 2022): (1) reading all interview protocols to get a sense of what was said; (2) extraction of meaningful statements from each protocol; (3) giving meaning to each statement; (4) creating clusters of themes from shared meanings among protocols, as well as comparing themes to the interview transcripts to check for interpretation accuracy; (5) writing a rich description of the phenomenon based on the clusters of themes; and (6) describing the essence of the phenomenon by identifying its most basic elements. The second author reviewed the analysis, and differences in interpretation were discussed.

Trustworthiness

Several verification steps (Creswell and Poth, 2018; Levitt et al. 2018) were taken to increase the study’s rigor and strength. Bracketing was employed by the authors before and throughout data collection, analysis and interpretation. The interview questions were based on the research questions and constructed by three instructors who had experience in teaching the Intervention Programs course (including the authors). Pilot interviews were conducted to test the interview guide. The accurateness of the transcripts was verified prior to the data analysis by the research team. In addition, for the most part, only themes common to at least half the participants were deemed significant. We also provided quotes from the interviews to verify the identified themes. Finally, the second author served as an auditor of the themes and sub-themes identified and any discrepancy in interpretation was discussed and agreed upon.

Results

Results are presented according to the research questions and the themes identified. Themes are ordered by their centrality, taking into account the chronology of the course where relevant. It should be noted that the students’ accounts are based on their personal experience as well as on feedback they received from pupils, teachers and school counselors. All quotes were translated from the Hebrew. The frequencies of themes and sub-themes that informed the writing of the Results are presented in Table 4.

Table 4 Frequency of themes and main sub-themes among participantsab.
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The experience in the intervention programs course

The first research question dealt with the students’ experience during the course. In line with the progression of the course, as it was intentionally designed, students described different experiences during the first (Fall) and second (Spring) semesters.

The first semester

Four themes emerged regarding participants’ experience during the first semester: (1) initial uncertainty; (2) it took time; (3) the helpful course instructor; and (4) gaining professional knowledge.

Initial uncertainty

Most students (30 participants) recollected that, at the beginning of the course, they had felt uncertain and unclear about it. Fifteen recalled that they had not known what an intervention program was, let alone how to build and deliver one, and felt the information about it was vague. Fourteen indicated that, to their knowledge, they had not encountered any intervention program during their practicum and therefore could not understand why they should learn about something they perceived as superfluous to their work in schools. Some initially believed it was the same material learned in the Group Counseling course and was therefore redundant and unnecessary.

For most participants (21), expectations at the start of the course were colored by apprehension, anxiety and self-doubt. Their main concerns included worries about whether they would be able to complete the task at hand successfully, whether their intervention program would be good enough, and whether the pupils would cooperate with them. Some explained that they felt inexperienced and that this would be the first time they would lead a group on their own or work with children this age. Ziv said:

I had concerns. Like, they told me I need to lead a group of elementary kids, it’s – it stressed me out because I’m not experienced with that and hadn’t done it [before] and just like that, [do it] right away. Like, my worry was also about what content I’ll [include] and how I’ll deliver and how I’ll stand before them. I think that was something that really activated me and there was a lot of fear.

It took time

Even as the first semester progressed, most participants (23) indicated that it took them time during the semester to understand what an intervention program is (12) and/or how to prepare and build the program (15). Alona said:

It was really vague for us. It also took a while until we really started to understand what the [intervention] program was and then also until we wrote [it] and it took a while. At the end, when we started to really write the whole part about the goals and aims, to really plan the program, it became a bit clearer.

The helpful course instructor

Despite the initial lack of perceived clarity, more than half the participants (18) reported that the course instructor was helpful during the first semester and taught the course in a clear, structured way. She gave instructions, good tips and directions and discussed practical issues. Ibtisam said:

The [course instructor’s] guidance was meaningful…. In terms of each step and implementing the program and building it and planning the time appropriately. She accompanied me wonderfully. Really. I can completely thank her for that. Does not leave you like that without, without guidance, without like planning.

Gaining professional knowledge

All participants indicated that they learned a great deal during the first semester. In line with the training model, this included: a) building an intervention program (32); b) conducting a needs assessment (13) with teaching staff, the school counselor and especially pupil participants, whom they got to know personally (through individual interviews) so as to understand their needs and expectations; and c) adjusting the intervention program to the population based on the needs assessment (17). Ula spoke about her efforts to create an appropriate intervention program:

I couldn’t find any intervention program on this topic. And I told [the instructor] and she referred me to the literature…. It was very difficult. So now I feel it was very educational because I went through a process with my program until I built it…. I started reading what might work, I looked for activities. But most activities I created [myself] because there were none in Hebrew.

The second semester: students’ experience of delivering the intervention program at school

Two themes emerged about the experience of delivering the intervention program at school during the second semester: (1) learning to lead a group; and (2) flexibility.

Learning to lead a group

Thirty two participants indicated that they learned to lead a group. Most (27) reported that while working with pupils, they learned such skills as providing support, having empathy, listening, giving personal attention to individual group members and creating closeness. About a third (12) said they learned to make room for participants’ voices and points of view and saw them as the center of the process. They also learned not to judge, to accept, to ponder and delay their response, to ask questions and to create a dialogue. Many participants (18) felt they gained experience in holding a group’s attention, maintaining a sense of control over what was happening in the group, and “reading” the group so as to manage them and advance the intervention process. Ziv said:

[At first] it was difficult to get them together. Suddenly [after] two meetings, three meetings, suddenly they all sat quietly, calmly. Like, I told myself, wait a second, somebody [must have done] something here [to make them quiet], I don’t know. It was a really interesting experience. So this was also like a really significant moment for me…. On second thought I said, OK, I guess I had some kind of learning process. I guess I know now how to respond to them better. I know how to set limits better. I understand better, I know how to correctly adjust the activity for these children.

Flexibility

Most of the students (25) felt they learned to be flexible in their delivery of the program. Although they had planned the entire program in advance, they responded to unexpected occurrences at the school or new issues that participants raised or came with to the session on any given day. They found that they often needed to adjust their plan and the activities they had prepared in keeping with the needs of the group, the situation and the population. Some described how challenging it was to set limits while maintaining flexibility. Orit described part of her learning process to manage the group and the flexibility it required:

How much do you allow them that place to also express themselves and how much do you [say]: “I prepared this and this is what we’re doing”? So I really learned flexibility…. [For example,] I wanted to show them a video. Someone sat with her back [to me/the group] and told me: “But that’s how I’m comfortable sitting.” And I told her: “Ah, no. I’m asking you to come and sit here. Later you can return there.” Like to know what to allow them and what’s possible and what’s not possible. So yeah, that’s something important that I learned.

The second semester: students’ experience in the course

Two themes emerged about the students’ experience during the second semester of the Intervention Programs course at the college: (1) cumulative intensified group cohesion, and (2) parallel processes.

Cumulative intensified group cohesion

Most participants (25) felt that their experience in the Intervention Programs course was a continuation of the processes they experienced in other (workshop) courses, particularly the Group Counseling course, and that the courses were connected to one another. They described how they had met the year before, gotten to know each other, developed group cohesion and became close. Noa described the increased group cohesion during the course: “Although we’ve been together two years already…. like something new opened up…. And I think that also the connection to my class, my group … was really strengthened”.

Parallel processes

Almost all students (30) referred to their simultaneous experience both as group participants and as group facilitators and how learning in one context contributed to their understanding of the other context. Two sub-themes emerged: (1) learning the meaning of group through experience, and (2) a process of personal change and development.

Learning the meaning of group through experience. Most participants (24) indicated that the group process in the college classroom became very meaningful for them in the second semester. They seemed to be aware of the parallel process of experiencing the power of group dynamics first-hand while they themselves were leading a group of pupils at the practicum. They were able to both observe their instructor’s interventions and better understand the pupils’ experience. They described an atmosphere of increased openness, personal sharing and significant support from group members in the course. In this way, they felt they also learned from each others’ experiences. In addition, learning group process through experience helped participants deepen their insights and professional development. About a third (12) indicated that the course instructor was instrumental in deepening the group dynamics. Participants felt that the instructor’s guidance deepened their self-exploration and ultimately their personal sharing, development and change. Fatma elaborated about her experience in the peer group and the instructor’s facilitating role:

There’s a very strong role for our group because we’re a group that’s been together since last summer. So [we] have already developed between us, as group members, a sort of very strong and good cooperation. And also she, [the course instructor] gives us space, makes us feel comfortable…. In class we … bring something personal … and [the course instructor] in fact makes sure that we bring something personal.

Almost half the participants (16) indicated that leading the peer group allowed for feedback from other students which could improve their group management skills. In addition, group members could experience and share a variety of activities that they could then use in their own intervention program at the practicum.

A process of personal change and development. Most participants (20) indicated that during the Intervention Programs course (and other workshop courses) they gained intrapersonal insights and felt they went through a process of development and growth relevant to their lives in general. Some worked through traumatic feelings and experiences, learning to lower their tendency to deny feelings. Qamar described the meaningful process she went through. Her insight into the need to deal with her own issues before she can help others suggests her awareness of the benefits of the parallel process.

During the whole [course of the] degree I grew more open…. It’s a personal growth that I express my feelings and don’t deny them. It requires a lot of strength to come and say that I’m struggling here and it’s difficult for me there…. For example, [she describes a situation with her child] and I always dealt with it alone. [During the courses] I felt an emotional release. I can say I worked through trauma…. Especially since we’re going to be professionals who help others and hear their problems and listen to them and contribute to them in some way. So we need to heal ourselves first and go through an inner process and lift ourselves and become stronger.

The course and students’ professional development

The second research question explored students’ beliefs about whether and how the course participation affected their professional development. Two themes emerged: (1) an important course for school counselors, and (2) confidence and empowerment.

An important course for school counselors

Almost all participants (32) indicated that this was an important course in their degree. The majority of students (24) felt that the course was practical and effective, creating significant change among the pupils at school. They felt it was challenging but interesting and that they had learned a great deal. Chen said:

[It was] challenging, interesting, and I would say it succeeded in making me believe that intervention programs are very effective…. Along the way there were all kinds of experiences that challenged me. It wasn’t one dimensional. Not everything was happy happy. There were all kinds of things that I had to consult [about], that I needed to think a moment, what am I doing here? How do I react?

Most participants (23) reported that delivering an intervention program is an important tool for the school counselor. They believed it allows for meaningful work and gives the counselor an important role in school. Moreover, they felt that they now have this professional tool at their disposal, i.e., knowledge of how to plan and deliver an intervention program and help pupils, which they could use in the future. Basma said:

It’s a very, very important counseling tool…. It’s power in the hands of the school counselor…. I did something! I created a change! … If a good school counselor delivers a good intervention program and sees that it shows significant changes according to pupils, according to parents, according to the staff itself, then it proves to [other] teacher[s] that there’s a role for the school counselor and it’s important exactly like [their] role. Like, you can’t have a school without a school counselor.

Almost half the participants (16) reiterated that their professional identity was affected by the cumulative influences of their experience in several graduate school courses and felt that the Intervention Programs course allowed them to add another skill to their professional toolbox.

Confidence and empowerment

Almost all participants (32) reported an overall positive experience in the course that contributed to their sense of professional confidence and identity. Three sub-themes emerged: (1) a good experience with the pupils, (2) success, and (3) confidence.

A good experience with the pupils

Most students (29) thought that the pupils went through a meaningful process and change. The pupils cooperated, participated, shared, did not miss meetings and became more cohesive as a group. Participants believed that important issues were discussed in their group and significant change was evident. For example, pupils learned to name and express their emotions and learned more about themselves; some improved their interpersonal skills and self-esteem, learned to support each other, and better deal with stress. Ula described an emotional and meaningful session in her intervention program with children who experienced loss in the family:

We watched the movie Simba [The Lion King]…. I felt like I really brought them back to the moment they lost their father, when Simba loses his parent…. [But] I felt they really took things from the movie and connected them to their personal lives, which I didn’t expect. One boy said: “Simba reminds me of myself and Simba’s father reminds me of my father.” … And they really [identified] and it helped them in the end when Simba became king and strong and all that. They identified. They told me: “We are also strong because we overcame dad’s death.”

Success

Most participants (28) felt they succeeded in leading the group and in their intervention program and that the intervention was effective. This success made them feel “wonderful,” proud and satisfied. Over half (19) indicated that they received positive feedback from the school community, which they found important and gratifying. Students reported that pupils liked them, looked for them, waited for them, hugged them and asked when they were coming. A third (11) indicated that the school counselor was happy with their work with the intervention program or that the school staff reported positive change among the pupils. Chen said about her sense of achievement:

I’m content with the process. I think it was an effective process. I think we talked about important things, the children came out of it with friendships, which is the greatest achievement…. Like, I don’t want it to sound like I did [anything] above and beyond. Overall I think I was there, I came, I was present, I invested my time, my attention and they felt it wasn’t fake and it’s real and I want to be there, and good things came out of it.

Confidence

Most participants (22) felt that the professional experience they gained in the course was valuable to them. It raised their confidence and made them feel capable of creating change even before they became certified school counselors. They reported that they believe in themselves more and feel more professional and empowered by the experience they acquired. About a third (12) reported that this experience made them feel more at ease with the school counselor role. They felt the course prepared them to become professional counselors and to lead groups as soon as they start working in schools. Basma said:

Now I can stand before the principal…. [and] tell him I delivered an intervention program and I have experience and I have knowledge…. The experience itself gives me the power because I actually did it. I know how to deliver a program…. It gives me self-confidence, professional confidence…. There are also schools where there are no intervention programs, so it’s like I have the power to show them how important it is and how much change it creates and how it contributes.

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of school counseling graduate students in the Intervention Programs course from two points of view: a) as participants in the course and b) as group leaders while delivering intervention programs in their practicum at schools. Overall, the themes that were identified point to a positive experience. The students felt that the training program meaningfully enhanced their personal development, group facilitation skills and performance leading groups of pupils. The results of the present study indicate the contribution of the gradual learning process that was applied. Specifically, this process entailed a few stages that built upon one another. This began with the Group Counseling course in the first year and continued into the second year in the form of a two-semester Intervention Programs course. In the first semester of the latter course, students learned to plan, build and evaluate an intervention program. In the second semester students implemented their intervention program at school under the supervision of the course instructor and while undergoing a group process with their peers.

In the first semester of the Intervention Programs course, the students felt uncertainty about what an intervention program is and what was required during the course. It took time for them to understand what it is, how to prepare it and to gain appropriate knowledge. The students described feelings of anxiety, self-doubt and worries about what they perceived as an immense challenge. These reactions probably stemmed from their sense of inexperience. They found themselves facing a new experience of leading a group of children, carrying the weight of full responsibility on their shoulders. Despite the initial apprehension, the students felt the course instructor was helpful, giving clear and structured guidance and instructions. The course structure, built upon the knowledge acquired in the previous year, is believed to have contributed to the students’ increased sense of preparedness for the second semester. These findings support a study which concluded that multiple opportunities to lead groups from several types of roles (i.e., participant, co-leader) during the school counseling degree led to students’ increased sense of confidence and efficacy over time (Bourgeois et al. 2016).

One of the most significant insights reported by students in our study is that they had begun to create cohesive and intimate relations with one another from the beginning of the degree, particularly during the Group Counseling course, prior to starting the Intervention Programs course. Thus, they were well acquainted with each other and had developed friendships among themselves long before they implemented their intervention programs. This positive atmosphere allowed them to study under supportive and enabling conditions and may have strengthened their self-confidence. This is in line with studies emphasizing the importance of group cohesion for a sense of safety that enables sharing and self-exploration (e.g., Anderson et al. 2014; Terrazas-Carrillo et al. 2022).

In the second semester of the course, the students delivered the intervention programs at school. They had hands-on experience leading groups in schools, where they managed the groups and applied the skills they acquired during their studies. They demonstrated flexibility and attentiveness to the needs of the pupils within their groups, enabling a supportive and responsive approach tailored to pupils’ needs. These findings support studies indicating that such training programs offer valuable opportunities for developing and honing counseling skills (Bledsoe et al. 2021; Bultsma, 2021; Terrazas-Carrillo et al. 2022). This training can aid in adapting to evolving educational and environmental demands, and fostering the professional growth and leadership development of school counselors (ASCA, 2019). Indeed, the findings suggest that this experience at school significantly enhanced their self-confidence and skills, provided valuable insights into their use of counseling techniques, and promoted their sense of professionalism, supporting previous studies (e.g., Bourgeois et al. 2016; Chang et al. 2017).

Two prominent themes emerged from the students’ experiences in the second semester of the course: cumulative intensified group cohesion and parallel processes. The students experienced a strong sense of cohesiveness, facilitated by the Group Counseling course they had already participated in during the first year. This heightened cohesiveness contributed to increased self-disclosure, emotional intimacy and trust, increasing the students’ self-awareness. The parallel process that the students underwent deepened their learning through experience, allowing them to understand and apply group dynamics effectively. Their personal change contributed to their overall development and enhanced their effectiveness as school counselors.

The training model enabled students to use their own experience, the experience of their group members, and the instructor’s teaching to gain insights into their own feelings while empathizing with similar feelings among pupils. It is likely that this, in turn, allowed them to make in-depth observations through which they discovered their strengths and weaknesses. Discussions of these feelings with their instructor included important content, such as countertransference, which led to significant insights and thus enhanced both their group facilitation skills in schools and their own personal growth. It can be assumed that after they learned to deal with their own emotions, both those related to strengths and those related to distress, the counseling students were better able to be empathic with their pupils at school without projecting their own feelings onto them. The parallel process by which the course instructor and fellow students modeled a safe and empathic group environment seems to have allowed for emotional availability that enabled students to grow personally and thus effectively lead a group of pupils with a wide and challenging range of emotions. These characteristics of the training model support the importance of experiential group training for counseling students’ emotional and professional growth, as found in other studies (e.g., Chang et al. 2017).

In addition to their personal growth, the students gained professional experience and tools. This finding supports studies indicating that student participation in psycho-educational groups based on parallel processes (Prasko et al. 2022; Urbani et al. 2002; Xu et al. 2021) and supervised group-leading experiences in school (Finnerty et al. 2019; Guest and Williams-Thompson, 2021) can provide important professional tools. It is likely that the guidance received from the course instructor, together with actual experience delivering an intervention program, may explain the students’ enhanced confidence in leading groups. The reported experience of students suggests that they had meaningful and supportive supervision, in keeping with the recommendation that school counseling trainees receive regular group supervision from experienced group facilitators (Callender and Haktanir, 2023; Van Velsor, 2009). Such supervision can reinforce the trainees’ cognitive learning and acquisition of appropriate skills.

The second research question delved into students’ perceptions about the impact of course participation on their professional development. From their responses, two themes emerged: an important course for school counselors and confidence and empowerment. The course’s significance is reflected in its effectiveness, practicality, and cumulative learning of an important tool. The students’ sense of confidence and empowerment is apparent in their feelings of success, confidence and greater ease in their role, supporting previous studies (e.g., Park and Johnson-Avery, 2021; Terrazas-Carrillo et al. 2022). Additionally, they felt this was a good experience for pupils, and the positive feedback they received further validated the impact and value of the intervention and the training.

It appears that the gradual, cumulative training throughout the degree program provided students with a solid foundation to reduce feelings of insecurity. They acquired valuable tools to effectively cope with the complex challenges associated with delivering intervention programs in schools. They could then apply these skills and their first-hand experience when facilitating groups of pupils themselves. Therefore, our findings highlight the importance of first-hand participation in group facilitation and support previous results indicating that school counselors who have experienced group facilitation may feel more secure (Bourgeois et al. 2016; Chang et al. 2017) than those who did not participate in such groups, as the latter lack important professional skills (e.g., building an intervention program, dealing with resistance; Schmidt, 2008).

Limitations

Our study has several limitations. First, we included a small group of participants from one school counseling graduate program trained by the same course instructor. In future studies it may be useful to explore larger groups of participants trained by several different instructors. Second, the interviewer was familiar with participants and although this may have increased rapport, it may have otherwise influenced the responses; this should be taken into account when interpreting results. To mitigate this limitation, interviews were held after the academic year ended. Finally, although the interviewed students had received feedback from pupils, teachers and school counselors and so could report the latter’s views indirectly, in future research these other parties can be interviewed as well. It is also recommended that counseling students be given a questionnaire examining the degree of improvement in the topics they discussed in their group.

Contributions of the study

Notwithstanding the above limitations, the current study offers several theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically our study deepens understanding of the contribution of parallel processes to effective training of school counseling graduate students to provide intervention programs in schools. We propose a gradual learning process that leads to a sense of confidence and personal and professional development. The study’s innovation lies in its exploration of the in-depth perspectives of graduate students during their training process, which can shed light on the important and central components required in school counselors’ training. Insights resulting from the analysis of parallel processes during supervision in the course, alongside training in the practicum, may increase the trainee’s awareness and understanding of group processes and inter- and intrapersonal dynamics.

The results point to the importance of two crucial processes that greatly contributed to the personal and professional growth of school counselors. Firstly, the gradual nature of the learning process played a significant role. As the courses progressed throughout the degree, the students accumulated valuable insights, abilities and knowledge, and they became more cohesive as a group. This gradual approach allowed them to develop a solid foundation and build confidence in their capabilities, ultimately preparing them to effectively address the complexities of providing intervention programs in schools. Secondly, the parallel process, which involved experiencing and learning in real-life situations within schools while simultaneously engaging in training in the college course, proved to be beneficial. It allowed them to apply their knowledge directly and reflect on their interventions, thereby strengthening their skills.

In terms of applicability, the ability to deliver meaningful intervention programs in schools is an essential skill for school counselors in order to prevent and reduce emotional and behavioral problems among pupils. We therefore propose the current training plan, based on a gradual model of parallel processes, for counseling students who deliver intervention programs in educational settings. We believe that the proposed training model can provide an effective outline for enhancing the professional skills of school counselors. Based on the study results, in addition to the suggested model, we offer several practical recommendations for future courses. It may be useful to provide students with concrete examples of intervention programs early on in the course, including an outline of session topics, goals and materials; an example of an evaluation questionnaire; and presentation of a videotaped group session with pupils. These materials could increase students’ understanding of what an intervention program is and reduce their initial anxiety and confusion.

The study results help improve and fine-tune the training process so that school counselors will be able to promote deep emotional processes among pupils, parents and teachers. The proposed model is especially important today, when school counselors are often forced to respond quickly to daily pressures. Planning such a model in schools may help counseling students undergo a deep meaningful process and gain tools that help pupils deal with stressful situations. Based on our findings, we suggest that the role of school counselors is not merely to provide short-term interventions, but rather to be change agents capable of contributing to pupils’ long-term development and growth. By recognizing school counselors as change agents, the study underscores the central role they can play in fostering pupils’ well-being and personal development.