Development and Validation of the Korean Family Counselor Core Competency Scale

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a core competency scale for Korean family counselors, which will serve to increase the effectiveness of family counseling and provide the basis for professional family counseling management. Methods: A Delphi survey was conducted to detail the core competencies of family counselors. A preliminary survey was then administered to 223 family counselors to evaluate goodness of fit for seed items, conduct exploratory factor analysis, and confirm reliability. The main survey was then carried out with 317 family counselors. Construct validity and concurrent validity of the scale were verified through correlation analysis to confirm criterion-related validity. Results: The resulting scale comprises five factors and 26 items, designated as counseling relationship formation, family evaluation, family counseling intervention, family counseling case management, and professional ethics. Conclusions: This study identified the differentiated competencies for family counselors in Korea and validated a novel core competency scale through a simultaneous quantitative and qualitative approach, a methodology not previously used in this field.