THE ROLE OF WORK ENVIRONMENT AND CHARACTER STRENGTHS ON MEANINGFUL WORK IN COUNSELORS: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL OF COUNSELOR BURNOUT

The phenomenon of burnout has been problematic for professionals engaging in people work since the beginning of helping professions. Decades after researchers began investigating the phenomenon of burnout, counselors continue to experience high levels of burnout that substantially impact their personal and professional well-being. With the rise of existential positive psychology, promising applications of existential theories on strengths-based interventions and their application within different work environments may yield promising results in addressing burnout in counselors. This study expanded upon the work of Allan et al. (2019) by introducing work environment as an additional variable when investigating the relationship between salient counselor character strengths on burnout as mediated by meaningful work. The following study also used the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Human Services Survey to examine the relationship of these variables on each dimension of burnout. An online survey of 399 counselors in the United States provided the data for a structural equation model. A post-hoc modification to the mediation model strengthened model fit. Completion of the study yielded additional information on results, discussion, and future recommendations.