biomedicalman

Depends on where you are applying. I think in most cases a B- not in a PhD program, in combination with several other mid-level grades, is probably something you should fix. So I would say, repeat it. Also, get a second faculty opinion. Your advisor may not be the best source of info on this, depending on how many students s/he has graduated, how well s/he is in touch with the general picture of getting into PhD programs, etc.

I'm not clear on this, but it would seem that you should do well with your research in the MA program if you are going for a PhD. The grades partly matter, but your research ability is most important in a PhD program. Theoretically, you could have a student who was barely passing courses in a PhD program (which means barely earning a 3.0) and doing stellar research, and that would be OK. The opposite, where little to no productive research is happening but grades are good, is actually not preferred. However, if you are applying to a PhD program for counseling psychology, I have no idea.

So I assume that the problem the OP was having has at least been confronted by now, but if it hasn't, I can't reiterate the importance of having a very frank discussion with your mentor/advisor about how you're doing, what your progress looks like, etc. I tried for over a year to hint to my mentor that things weren't as good as he thought (yes, big mistake), and that I needed more direction at times, and it definitely did not achieve the results I had anticipated. Asking yourself clear questions about your graduate experience is very useful -- I didn't do that until I had been embarrassed in a presentation session on 3 separate occasions. Whatever it takes, don't be subtle. Graduate advisors can be very bad at honesty because they aren't as invested in this as you are. They will say it's on you to move things forward, etc. I think it's more of a one-sided relationship, which reminds me of those bad high school relationships where things were going wrong and one of the people involved had no idea until the gf/bf said they were really upset. It could also be a variant of those marriages where they've been together for 30 years and similar obliviousness is going on. Whatever the case, confront it NOW, and be very clear about what needs to be said, and things may get better. Don't confront it and you risk switching mentors late in your graduate career, at best; at worst, you risk leaving your graduate program, although I can't say that this would be a bad thing for everyone. Sometimes academia is just not the right place to be.