Innovation Research Lab
Strengths and Wellbeing
Research Publications
Active Research Projects – Manuscripts in Progress
Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and Considerations for Counselor Education: A Scoping Review of Scoping Reviews
This scoping review of scoping reviews synthesized existing evidence on how artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated into higher education teaching and learning. Guided by PRISMA-ScR, we searched four databases in 2024 and 2025 and applied eligibility criteria to identify peer-reviewed scoping reviews focused on AI’s role in postsecondary education. Seven reviews met inclusion criteria. We coded and charted study characteristics and inductively developed themes. Findings indicated that AI is influencing pedagogy, assessment, and institutional strategy, with reported benefits including personalization, formative feedback, and instructional efficiency. Challenges centered on academic integrity, equity, faculty readiness, and gaps in governance frameworks. Cross-review synthesis highlighted methodological limitations, Western-centric evidence bases, disciplinary variability, and limited counseling-specific research. Overall, the review illustrates rapid AI adoption alongside persistent ethical, pedagogical, and institutional uncertainties. Implications include the need for clearer policy guidance, faculty development, and discipline-specific research, particularly within counselor education. Spears, J. R., Prasath, P.R., Duffey, M., & *Gilmore, E. (2025, submitted). Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education and Considerations for Counselor Education: A Scoping Review of Scoping Reivews.
Between Ethics and Engagement: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of Mental Health Professionals Creating Short-Form Video Content on TikTok
This hermeneutic study investigates the meaning-making processes licensed mental health professionals engage in when balancing clinical precision with platform engagement on TikTok. By examining creators' decision-making frameworks, ethical interpretations, and boundary construction practices, the research explores how professionals navigate tensions between their clinical training and the demands of algorithm-driven content creation. The study explores how this practice shapes their professional identity and understanding of their role in democratizing mental health knowledge. Bloomfield, M. E., Daou, C., Nieto, I., & Prasath, P. R. (2026). Between Ethics and Engagement: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of Mental Health Professionals Creating Short-Form Video Content on TikTok.
Counseling leaders’ perceptions of the future of mental health care in AI era
Duffey, M., Prasath, P. R., *King, R., *Raaths, S., & Neito, I. (2025, planning). Counseling leaders’ perceptions of the future of mental health care in AI era*
Comparing human and AI diagnostic judgments: An examination of graduate student accuracy and confidence in response to AI-generated diagnoses.
This study examines the diagnostic accuracy of graduate mental health counseling students compared to AI-generated diagnoses and explores how exposure to AI diagnostic content influences students' confidence in their clinical judgments. The research addresses critical questions about AI's role in clinical training and its impact on developing clinicians' diagnostic competence and self-efficacy. Findings will have implications for integrating AI tools into graduate counseling education and understanding how emerging technologies shape clinical decision-making development. Bloomfield, M. E., Harrichand, J. J. S., Daou, C., Behl M, & Prasath, P. R. (2026, data collection). Comparing human and AI diagnostic judgments: An examination of graduate student accuracy and confidence in response to AI-generated diagnoses.
Manuscripts Under Review
Exploring the Role of Counselor Training in Graduates’ Work in Non-Clinical Organizational, Administrative, and Leadership Roles.
As counseling graduates pursue roles beyond direct clinical practice, this study examined how counseling trained professionals apply preparation to non-clinical organizational, administrative, and leadership work. Fifteen counseling trained professionals participated in interviews, and we analyzed data using reflexive thematic analysis within a constructivist framework. Findings reflected three domains: Knowledge, Skills and Practices, and Attributes. Participants described applying counseling knowledge, adaptive interpersonal practices, and dispositions to support organizational decision making, relationship building, and ethical leadership. Prasath, P. R., *Daou, C., & *Nieto, I. (2025, revisions). Exploring the Role of Counselor Training in Graduates’ Work in Non-Clinical Organizational, Administrative, and Leadership Roles .
The paradox of knowledge democratization: Mental health professionals and social media.
Mental health content on TikTok has generated over 25.3 billion views (Basch et al., 2022), with licensed professionals increasingly sharing clinical knowledge outside institutional channels. This conceptual paper examines the paradox of democratizing information without the disciplinary formation that contextualizes it. Using a Foucauldian framework, we examine how academic institutions function as disciplinary apparatuses producing professional subjects through examination, supervision, and ethical training (Foucault, 2012). When professionals share knowledge on social media, they invoke institutional credentials while circumventing regulatory structures. Through genealogical analysis (Garland, 2014), we trace how mental health expertise became institutionally controlled and examine social media as counter-conduct (Lorenzini, 2016), resistance operating within and against existing power structures. This creates vulnerabilities for audiences lacking apparatus to evaluate clinical information (Yum, 2023), while algorithmic gatekeeping reconfigures power/knowledge dynamics (Wallace, 2018). We explore implications for professional formation and tensions between democratizing information and ensuring contextual application. Bloomfield, M. E., Daou, C., & Prasath, P. R. (2025, under review). The paradox of knowledge democratization: Mental health professionals and social media.
Scrolling through symptoms:
A scoping review of professional mental health content on TikTok.
The rise of social media platforms like TikTok has transformed how people access mental health information, with the #mentalhealth hashtag accumulating over 25.3 billion views (Basch et al., 2022). Despite this popularity, fewer than 20% of mental health creators are licensed professionals, making the quality of their content critically important given their disproportionate influence (Karasavva et al., 2025; Turuba et al., 2025). This study assesses the quality of mental health content created by licensed professionals on TikTok and examines their adherence to professional communication standards. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we analyzed 71 videos from verified US-licensed mental health professionals across four diagnostic categories: depression (n=18), anxiety (n=13), trauma-related disorders (n=29), and neurodevelopmental conditions (n=11). Videos were coded using structured rubrics assessing clinical inaccuracy, exaggeration, oversimplification, and pathologizing, along with five professional communication elements. Significant differences emerged across diagnostic categories in clinical inaccuracy, exaggeration, and pathologizing (p
Teaching through collaboration: A new era for peer teaching assistants in counselor education
Daou, C., McVay, K., Cruz, T., & Prasath, P. R. (2025, under review). Teaching through collaboration: A new era for peer teaching assistants in counselor education. [Manuscript being revised]
Artificial intelligence use by mental health professionals:
A scoping review
Prasath, P. R., *Gilmore, E., & *Contratres, A. (2025, under review) Artificial intelligence use by mental health professionals: A scoping review.** [Manuscript being revised]
Completed/Published Projects
Studying associations among mental health and PsyCap in persons with stuttering.
This cross-sectional, psychometric validation and comparative analysis study investigates the associations between mental health and Psychological Capital (PsyCap) in persons with stuttering (PWS; n = 60) and fluent speakers (FS; n = 60), while validating the Tamil translations of the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) and Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ). Exploratory Factor Analyses, Cronbach’s alphas, and item-total correlations were used to evaluate the scales with a sample size of 120 participants. The conducted factor analyses demonstrated that the translated MHC-SF aligns structurally with prior studies, as compared to the PCQ, which diverged in factor loadings. The study also applied Independent Samples t-tests, revealing significant differences among comparison groups. PWS reported lower mental health and PsyCap levels than FS, emphasizing psychosocial challenges as stuttering as inversely correlated with mental health and PsyCap dimensions—hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism. In conjunction with offering preliminary validated tools, the study findings advocate for increased, holistic mental health approaches within traditional speech therapy to enhance the quality of life for PWS. Furthermore, this study underscores the importance of addressing cultural considerations when conducting future research and therapeutic practices with this population. Selvaraj, J. L., Spears, J. R., Prasath, P. R., & Purushothaman, G. (2025). Studying associations among mental health and PsyCap in persons with stuttering. Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941251355192
Strategies to promote post-pandemic growth among college students
In May 2023, the World Health Organization declared that while COVID-19 remained classified as a pandemic, it no longer constituted a public health emergency. Despite aspirations to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, the disruption to education and development experienced by college students during high school and university has resulted in persistent trauma-related symptoms that extend beyond the pandemic itself. The lasting effects, both negative and positive, on students’ mental health and developmental trajectories, including psychological, academic, and social growth, are increasingly evident. This conceptual article centers on post-traumatic growth (PTG) and introduces a novel construct—post-pandemic growth (PPG)—to address the specific developmental challenges confronting students in the post-pandemic context. We present strategies to foster PPG within the institutions of higher education including faculty, staff, student affairs professionals, mental health professionals, and higher education administrators. Prasath, P. R., MacCombs, S., & Bhat, C. S. (2025). Strategies to promote post-pandemic growth among college students. Journal of College and Character.1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/2194587X.2025.2501045
Attending to neuromyths in counselor education by integrating neuro-informed cognitive behavioral therapy course content.
Although advances in neuroscience validate the therapeutic practices and professional identity of counselors, educators struggle to infuse accurate neuroscience knowledge into the classroom. Utilizing a quasi-experimental, repeated measures design, this study examined the effectiveness of a neuro-informed lecture in reducing neuromyth endorsement among graduate students enrolled in the counseling theories course. Participants (n = 62) completed a demographics questionnaire and identical neuroscience pre- and post-surveys. The intervention group (n = 32) received the lecture-based intervention, while those in the comparison group (n = 30) did not. Results revealed significant improvement in neuroscience knowledge scores for those receiving the lecture (pre: M = 41.47, SD = 3.689; post: M = 45.25, SD = 3.203; t (31) = -4.082, p = 0.0003, Cohen’s d = -0.722), while the comparison group experienced minimal change. Findings suggest the effectiveness of lecture interventions in enhancing neuroscience understanding and reducing neuromyth endorsement in counseling theories students. Spears, J. R., *Rich, W. Z., & *Villalobos, N., Prasath, P. R., & Ray, W. (2025). Exploring neuromyths in counselor education: A neuro-informed cognitive behavioral therapy approach. Teaching and Supervision in Counseling, 7(1). 3. https://doi.org/10.7290/tsc07jkay [Manuscript accepted for publication in August 2024; Published online January 30, 2025]
Examining counselor-in-training self-efficacy through a “choose-your-own-adventure” classroom activity.
Creative classroom activities can promote learning environments that foster student development and competency in counselor education. This study examines how a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure classroom activity influences the self-efficacy of Counselors-in-Training enrolled in the helping skills course. Results indicated a significant increase in several subthemes of the Counselor Activity and Self-Efficacy Scales (CASES). Further, the authors present recommendations and future research for counselor educators. *Spears, J. R., *Duffey, M. E., & Prasath, P. R. (2024). Examining counselor-in-training self-efficacy through a “choose-your-own-adventure” classroom activity. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 19(4), 648-660. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2024.2303495 [Published online January 22, 2024]
Mental health disparities among cisgender, transgender, and gender non-conforming college studentsin the United States
Compared to cisgender men and women, transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals receive very littl.e attention on their experiences related to mental health. This study examines gender differences in mental health-related outcomes and their relationship to mental illness diagnoses, psychological service utilization, help-seeking attitudes, and overall health among students attending universities in the United States. A survey of 1,034 college students indicated psychological health significantly varied by gender such that mental health-related outcomes, mental illness diagnoses, and psychological service utilization were worse for TGNC individuals than for cisgender women or men. These healthcare outcomes were also reported to be worse for cisgender women than for cisgender men, except for resilience, loneliness, and overall health, for which TGNC participants reported worse outcomes, but cisgender men and women did not differ. Implications for mental health counselors and recommendations for future research are provided. Prasath, P. R., *Lohmar, S., *Rich, W. Z., *Dalan, E. E., & James, J. K. (2023). Mental health disparities among cisgender, transgender, and gender non-conforming college students in the United States. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 45(2), 129–146. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.45.2.03 ** Impact Factor (2021): 0.9
A group counseling intervention for African American boys in elementary students: Providing support for transitioning to 4th grade.
The primary purpose of this article is to provide an overview of a strengths-based group counseling intervention based on the Achieving Success Everyday Group Model which was implemented with African American third-grade boys who needed to attend summer school in order to transition successfully to fourth grade. The intervention resulted from the partnership between a counselor education faculty member and a small charter school’s school-counseling supervisor in the northeast U.S. The group leaders’ and participants’ reported experiences indicating reinforced basic reading and writing skills among students. Finally, based on the feedback implications for training, practice, and research are provided. Prasath, P. R., Steen, S., & *McVay, K. (2023). A group counseling intervention for African American boys in elementary students: Providing support for transitioning to 4th grade. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health. http://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2023.2166184 ** (12 Citation) Impact Factor (2022): 1.0
Creativity in the classroom: A content analysis of The Journal of Creativity in Mental Health from 2005 to 2020
This content analysis provides an overview of articles specific to creativity in counselor education classrooms published in the American Counseling Association (ACA) journal for creativity – The Journal for Creativity in Mental Health (JCMH) between the years 2005 and 2020. In addition to the number of articles on this topic published during this time period, the study identifies other aspects such as authors and institutional affiliations; methodology; study locations, target populations, and sample characteristics; area of CACREP course offering; and creative teaching strategies and course assignments. Implications for the scholarship of creative teaching in counselor education are discussed. Recommendations are directed toward future research areas for counselor educators’ consideration in the JCMH. Prasath, P. R., Chandrika Prasanna Kumaran, A., *Spears, J., & Jackson, K. L. (2021). Creativity in the classroom: A content analysis of The Journal of Creativity in Mental Health from 2005 to 2020. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2021.1983493 ** (2 citations) Impact Factor (2022): 1.0
Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP) group intervention: A systematic review.
A systematic review was conducted to examine the evidence base for Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP) as a group intervention. Four studies met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. Results indicate MBSP is an effective group intervention yielding significant positive outcomes. Recommendations for researchers and group practitioners are provided. Prasath, P. R., *Morris, C., & MacCombs, S. (2021). Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP) group intervention: A systematic review. Journal of Counselor Practice, 12(1), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.22229/asy1212021 ** (10 citations)
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