My name is Ellen Dotas, and I am a doctoral candidate at James Madison University in Counseling and Supervision. I am currently seeking participants for a research study that focuses on crisis counselor burnout and self-efficacy. I am doing two studies. One is a quantitative study that explores these issues and also looks at whether someone had any prior training in crisis intervention before they started working in that field. The IRB Protocol number through James Madison University is IRB-FY25-309.

Eligible participants will be counselors who:

·       have a master’s or doctoral degree in counseling, and

·       work or (have worked within the past two years) in a crisis counseling position in a hospital emergency department or on a community mental health agency crisis team.

The second study involves an interview. I am looking for several counselors who, after completing the initial surveys, might then be willing to participate in a virtual interview that explores the lived experiences of counselors who work in hospital emergency departments. Counselors who work in this role have a very important place in mental health support for communities. They have often been underrepresented in research. This study aims to focus on their lived experiences and the challenges and rewards of that work.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in participating in this study/studies and meet the above criteria, please follow this link:

Follow this link to the Survey:
https://jmu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0d2FvpqiBTF9T3U

You will then be redirected to the demographic page, consent form, and survey questions. It will take approximately 30 minutes or less to complete.

For those who would then be interested in participating in the qualitative interview, at the end of the survey is a question about participating in that study. If you would like to participate in a one-time virtual interview to share your experience in this area, please complete the last question and I will then follow up to schedule a time to talk and will send appropriate consent for at that time. The interview will take approximately 45-60 minutes. You may withdraw from participation at any time in the interview without penalty. Participants who withdraw will also be allowed to ask that any recordings be deleted. I am very interested in the experiences and perspectives of those who have done this work. The IRB number for that study is: IRB-FY25-234.

I hope you will consider participating in this research. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at dotaser@dukes.jmu.edu.

Thank you for your consideration,

Ellen R. Dotas, LPC, MEd