Creating Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in Counseling: Lessons Learned

Abstract

Action research has long been heralded as the solution to narrowing the gap between counseling research and practice. Collaborative research partnerships are a cornerstone of action research, but these partnerships remain rare in the counseling profession due to the barriers researchers and practitioners must navigate. This article offers an overview of action research and the associated barriers. We, the coauthors, reflect on the lessons learned from our collaborative research partnership in order to provide concrete and pragmatic advice that informs future researcher-practitioner partnerships.

Keywords:

• Researcher-practitioner partnerships
• action research
• research-practice gap
• counseling research
• collaboration

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stephanie A. Crockett

Stephanie A. Crockett is an associate professor and director of the Counseling and Supervision doctoral program in the Department of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University.

Jennifer L. Korenchuk

Jennifer L. Korenchuk PhD, LPC, owns ARISE Counseling Center and Training Institute in Troy, Michigan. With nearly 20 years of clinical experience, she has worked extensively with children, adolescents, and families in non-profit and community mental health settings. Dr. Korenchuk serves as a clinical supervisor and adjunct faculty member at Oakland University and the University of Detroit Mercy. Her research interests include evidence-based practice implementation, practitioner wellness, and improving mental health care through research-practice collaborations. She has presented her research findings at state and national conferences.

Kelly D. Treharne

Kelly D. Treharne MA, LPC works within a community mental health agency in Auburn Hills, Michigan USA. Kelly is the Team Lead over a grant funded treatment pathway for adolescents with eating disorders and substance use related diagnoses. She has worked as a child and family therapist in a nonprofit setting providing individual, family, and group therapy. Kelly is a certified motivational interviewer, and she has presented her findings on outcomes of multifamily group therapy at the American Counseling Association (ACA) annual conference. Kelly is actively working as the Principal Investigator (PI) of a study evaluating burnout and secondary traumatic stress of clinicians in a community mental health setting. Kelly presented preliminary findings from this study at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) conference.