Integrating the Concept of Grit into a Curriculum for Counseling Practicum and Internship Students

The concept of grit has emerged as a significant predictor of success in a variety of fields in psychological and educational research. The literature distinguishes the concept of grit from resilience. Resilience is a characteristic of overcoming adversity and having the ability to bounce back, whereas grit is the tendency for an individual to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals. The purpose of this article is to discuss how the concept of grit may be beneficial in the supervising and mentoring of counselors-in-training during their field site experiences. Further, the article illustrates ways counselor educators can integrate the concept of grit into a practicum and internship course curriculum. The adoption and benefits of multimedia, experiential, and bibliotherapeutic approaches are also discussed.