Herbaceuticals: An Overview for Counselors

As more and more people are using unregulated herbaceuticals worldwide, counselors need to be alert to the types of herbs clients may be taking; the effects, side effects, and drug interactions associated with different herbaceuticals; and the ethical implications of treating a client who is taking herbaceuticals. This article provides an overview of the psychological, physiological, cultural, and legal issues associated with herbaceuticals and introduces some of the emerging ethical issues.     

Counselors and the Older Worker: An Overview

Between 1980 and 2000, the number of people now 55 and older who survive to become 75 and older will increase by over 52%. Also, older people are living longer and are retaining high levels of mental and physical capacity longer. Consequently, prevailing notions about retirement and retirement age are rapidly shifting. Already mandatory retirement age has been delayed from 65 to 70 in most areas of employment. This change and continued high rates of inflation have begun increasing the interest of more older people in seeking to remain qualified to stay in their present or related jobs, or, if retired, to seek to prepare for further careers. Employment counselors, and personnel and guidance professionals generally, who have tended to focus their attention on young people preparing for their first careers face a major challenge in the years ahead in preparing themselves to meet the major and novel demands placed on them by people 55 and older who increasingly will come to them for help.     

Leveling Up Your Game: The Use of Video Games as a Therapeutic Modality

This article introduces and begins to explore the use of video game technology in a therapeutic setting, providing context, rationale, and an introduction to the culture of video game players. Through the lens of play therapy, authors seek to create an awareness of the potential effectiveness of video games as a means of fostering safe self-exploration for the client. An introductory course on gaming culture and terminology is offered to better aid in the therapist’s integration and facilitation of this new modality into practice.     

End‐of‐Life Care: An Overview for Professional Counselors

Although “End‐of‐Life Care for Terminally Ill Clients” is a section of the ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association, 2005), neither the Code nor the counseling literature provides much direction for counselors who work with clients who are dying and with the clients' loved ones. The authors provide counselors with an overview of the issues that may be relevant when working with such clients.     

Therapeutic Encouragement as Conceptualized by South Korean Youth Counselors

This study explored counselors’ conceptualization and use of encouragement as a therapeutic tool. Responses to two questions from 100 South Korean youth counselors were analyzed using consensual qualitative research–modified. As a result, six categories emerged under each domain. Implications for counseling and future studies are discussed. Este estudio exploró la conceptualización y el uso del apoyo como herramienta terapéutica por parte los consejeros. Usando el método modificado de investigación cualitativa consensual, se analizaron las respuestas proporcionadas a dos preguntas por 100 consejeros surcoreanos que trabajan con jóvenes. Como resultado, surgieron seis categorías bajo cada dominio. Se discuten las implicaciones para la consejería e investigaciones futuras.     

Vagueness as a Modality

I present a modal conception of vagueness and vague objects, according to which a vague object is a transworld object which coincides with one precise object in one world and with another precise object in another world. Such worlds are called precisifications; they are modal, worldly counterparts of the precisifications postulated in supervaluationism. I criticize Evans' argument against vague objects, admitting the validity of the argument, but rejecting its basic assumption that if there are vague objects, certain identity statements must be indefinite in truth value. I distinguish identity from coincidence, and claim that if there are vague objects, some statements of coincidence will be indefinite in truth-value, not statements of identity. To establish this point, I compare vagueness with temporal modality.     

Genetic Counseling Services and Training of Genetic Counselors in Israel: An Overview

Genetic counseling services have existed in Israel since 1964 and are available in almost all the major hospitals. Given the socialized healthcare system and small country size, genetic services are generally accessible and often free. The existence of founder mutations in various communities in Israel makes genetic testing easier to perform. Yet, the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of the population has major implications on the design of the screening programs and the use of genetic services. The Israeli Association of Genetic Counselors (IAGC) was established in 2008 and had existed informally since 1989. There are two Master level genetic counseling training programs (6 students/class, 2 year program): Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School (established in 1997) and the Technion (established in 2009). Genetic counselors’ clinical training is largely observational and 2 years of supervised counseling sessions post degree are required for board exam eligibility. Genetic counselors are licensed and lead counseling sessions individually, but currently must work under medical geneticist supervision. This is the first article to summarize the history and training of Master level genetic counselors in Israel. Genetic services, coverage and regulations are also described.     

Qualitative Assessment: An Approach for Counselors

Qualitative assessment offers the counselor methods of helping clients to know and understand themselves better—methods that are flexible, open-ended, holistic, and nonstatistical. The methods are diverse and include card sorts, simulations, exercises and games, worksamples, and others. Many of the methods may be considered projective in nature and thereby tap values, interests, and needs in ways that standardized tests do not. Because these activities involve the client actively, they can flow directly out of and back into the counseling relationship rather than being a discrete element.     

Mediation: An Intervention Strategy for Counselors

Conflict resolution is a rapidly expanding field, one in which counselors need to be more knowledgeable. An overview of conflict resolution and mediation concepts is presented with a comparison to therapeutic counseling interventions. Applications are provided for various areas such as family mediation, community disputes, and mediation in public education. Implications for counseling and the role of the counselor are discussed.     

Adoption Counseling as a Professional Specialty Area for Counselors

Adoption is an area of professional specialization that has resided primarily with social workers. However, with some additional training, many counselors can acquire the expertise to provide service to members of the adoption triad: birthparents, adoptive parents, and adoptees. This article provides an overview of the major issues that may arise in the lives of triad members and suggests ways in which counselors can be equipped to respond to those issues.     

Intuition as a Healing Modality: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

This article examines intuition as an archetypal, cultural-spiritual healing modality. It builds on the notion of intuition as a reality founded on the archetypal calling to become a healer. Consideration is given to a variety of intuition traditions as well as contemporary understandings of intuition based on natural scientific evidence. Intuition needs to be understood within the context of practice for appropriate use.     

Existential Group Therapy as a Treatment Modality for Exiting Christian Fundamentalists

This article suggests that existential concepts can be useful in group therapy with exiting Christian Fundamentalists.