International Counseling Students’ Social Support and Personal and Professional Identities: a Mixed Methods Investigation

Through this study, we investigated the mechanisms between social support, social connectedness, personal identity gaps, and professional identity among international counseling students in the United States (U.S.), following a concurrent embedded mixed methods design. Participants were 60 international counseling students enrolled in U.S. counselor education programs. We first tested a multi-mediator path model for a direct effect of social support on international counseling students’ professional identity outcome, as well as indirect effects of social support on the students’ professional identity via perceived connectedness and personal identity gaps. We then performed a manifest content analysis of parsimonious qualitative data retrieved from participants’ responses to the Social Support Questionnaire. Our path analysis supported significant direct and indirect effects of perceived social support on international counseling students’ professional identity development. Qualitative findings revealed differences in social support among international counseling students, as well as nuances concerning their social support across circumstances. Implications for counselor education and supervision are discussed.