Taqueena Quintana, PhD, faculty in the Counseling Division and Clinical Mental Health at Antioch University, recently published the article “Military Spouses’ Perceptions of Their Resilience” in The Professional Counselor, the official, peer-reviewed, open-access, electronic journal of the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates (NBCC).
Military spouses face many challenges due to the military lifestyle, yet little research has explored how these spouses perceive and define their own resilience. While efforts have focused on enhancing resilience in military and civilian communities, this qualitative study sought to understand military spouses’ perspectives through interviews with eight individuals. The findings revealed that spouses’ resilience is influenced by the priorities of their service members and the challenges of military life. They often feel external pressure to be resilient and bear a sense of responsibility for their family’s well-being. Additionally, they emphasize both their personal resilience and the collective resilience of the military spouse community. This study discusses ways military leadership and the counseling profession can best understand and enhance the resilience of military spouses.
Quintana is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), nationally certified counselor (NCC), approved clinical supervisor (ACS), board-certified telemental health counselor (BC-TMH), registered yoga teacher (RYT-200), counselor educator, author, and consultant. She has over 15 years of experience in education and counseling within various settings including K-12 institutions, colleges/universities, private practice, military installations, hospitals, and community mental health agencies.
She is dedicated to supporting and preparing the next generation of professional counselors to serve historically excluded groups and communities. She has presented nationally and internationally at various counseling conferences and has published peer-reviewed articles that focus on culturally responsive practices in counseling. Her research interests include counseling military-connected youth, clinical supervision, school-based mental health, supporting students with disabilities, anti-racist counseling, and telemental health.
Learn more about Quintana here.
