Addressing Spiritual Issues in Secular Counseling and Psychotherapy: Response to Helminiak's (2001) Views

D. A. Helminiak (2001) suggests that counselors who work within the framework of a client's chosen religious or spiritual perspective are illegitimately responding to spiritual issues in counseling. In contrast to this position, this article affirms that spiritually sensitive counselors who work within the religious or spiritual framework of clients can practice both ethically and effectively and can generate useful research examining the relationship between spirituality and successful therapeutic outcomes.     

Religious Diversity From a Jewish Perspective

The exploration of spiritual and religious diversity may receive less attention in counselor education than is warranted, resulting in counselors who are unprepared to deal with spiritual and religious issues in counseling. This trend could have a negative impact on Jewish clients, as well as on other religious clients, who feel that issues related to their identity are ignored. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2001) has recognized that religious diversity is an integral component of the multicultural counseling movement, but counselor education and training programs, as a whole, still need to embrace this standard.     

The Use of Structured Clinical Interviews for Assessment in Counseling

The purpose of this article is twofold: to summarize some of the major issues concerning structured clinical interviews and to review data available on some of the most widely used interview schedules. One of the key challenges with the practitioner—scientist approach to counseling is the ability to compare information from a variety of clients and counselors. A structured clinical interview can be considered an empirically driven instrument that has preestablished questions and scoring procedures that make it a useful assessment tool. Through its use, comparisons can be made among clients, and the reliability of assessment and diagnosis can be increased.     

Christian Counselors and Affirmative Counseling of Lesbian and Gay Clients

In this phenomenological study, we interviewed 12 counselors who identified as both religious and able to provide ethical and competent counseling to lesbian and gay clients. Participants discussed their lived experiences providing counseling. Our analysis revealed three primary themes: seeking congruence, responding to lesbian and gay clients, and cultivating competency. We discuss these findings and identify implications for counselor training and practice.     

Predicting Dropout in Counseling Using Affect Coding of the Therapeutic Relationship: An Empirical Analysis

This study used an observational research method to examine affective counselor–client exchanges during the initial session of counseling for clients who dropped out of counseling and clients who remained in counseling. Results confirmed significant differences in the affect codes of clients and counselors between the 2 groups. Discriminant function analyses classified 77% of counselors and clients in the correct groups and correctly classified over 94% of clients who returned for 4 or more sessions.     

Advocating for Atheist Clients in the Counseling Profession

Atheism is a controversial topic, with individuals who identify as atheist reporting high rates of discrimination. Despite increasing literature discussing religious/spiritual views and beliefs, few scholarly discussions of atheism in the counseling field can be found. Counselors need to be made aware of the issues facing atheist clients and educated on the best interventions to use in collaborative work with clients. Counselors should also be prepared to advocate for atheist clients in multiple domains. This article aims to explore the relevant literature around atheism, identify implications for counselors, and provide a path to advocacy for counselors in their work with atheist clients.     

心理咨询中领悟质量的评定依据——当事人和咨询师的视角

为获得当事人和咨询师对心理咨询中领悟质量的评定依据,采用协商一致的质性研究方法分别对13位当事人和15位咨询师的访谈材料进行分析。结果：当事人的评定依据包括影响力和特性;而咨询师的评定依据包括影响力、特性、类型、产生方式以及当事人对领悟的接纳程度。结论：领悟的影响力和领悟的特性是评定领悟质量的重要依据。     

高校心理咨询师多重关系情境与决策类型的研究

为探索高校咨询师面临的多重关系伦理情境、决策过程,对访谈17名高校心理咨询师的资料进行分析。结果：常见情境主要包括接送礼物承载的新关系、来访者和咨询师除咨询关系外的师生关系、咨询师与和来访者有关的第三人有关系、咨询师在咨询室之外的场所偶遇来访者、来访者有咨询师的联系方式、来访者和咨询师有身体接触等。决策表现为两种：经验主导型,决策时未意识到处于伦理情境只凭经验决策;伦理主导型,决策时意识到处在伦理情境。结论：高校心理咨询存在一些特殊多重关系,心理咨询师需增加具有伦理意识的决策。     

Spiritual Issues in Counseling: What Do Students Perceive They Are Being Taught?

Client religious and spiritual practices have recently emerged as beneficial to both mental and physical health. However, graduates of counseling programs indicate that they have not been adequately trained to address religious and spiritual issues with clients. This exploratory study focused on the perceptions of counselors‐in‐training regarding what messages they received about these issues during their training programs, as well as their potential behaviors when working with clients. Results indicated that potential behaviors are not always consistent with what they are taught. Implications for training and future research are discussed.     

Use of profanity in the counseling interview

Although profane language is used in the counseling interview by both clients and counselors, past research has focused on the counselor's use of profanity without considering whether the counselor is matching the language of the client. This research examined 160 college students' impressions of an audiotape of a female counselor who used profanity with either a male or female client who did or did not use profanity. In general, when the female counselor swore she was less likely to be sought for help. Further research is recommended.     

Jewish Meditation in Counseling

Many counselors integrate meditation into treatment with clients. Although meditation can be presented as a secular practice, it also holds spiritual and religious relevance for many faith communities. In this article, we explore the use of Jewish meditation as a spiritually oriented treatment intervention with Jewish clients. Literature examining the relationships among counseling, the Jewish population, and Jewish meditation is presented. This article also includes practical considerations for integrating Jewish meditation into counseling.     

Focus Groups: A Practical and Applied Research Approach for Counselors

Focus groups are becoming a popular research approach that counselors can use as an efficient, practical, and applied method of gathering information to better serve clients. In this article, the authors describe focus groups and their potential usefulness to professional counselors and researchers. Practical implications related to the use of focus groups in counseling practice are discussed, and case examples are provided demonstrating how focus groups can be useful to counselors.     

Counselors' and clients' ethnic similarity and therapeutic alliance in time-limited outcomes of counseling.

51 pairs of clients and counselors at a Southwestern university counseling and research training clinic were assessed for ethnic similarities in relation to the therapeutic alliance and counseling outcomes in 6 sessions of counseling. Analysis showed after 6 sessions symptom distress was reduced. Also, counselors and clients who had similar ethnicity had significantly more positive counseling outcomes than ethnically dissimilar pairings, but ethnic similarity was not related to the nature of the therapeutic alliance and therapeutic alliance was not a correlate of counseling outcomes.     

Review of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Principles and Practice of Grief Counseling</Emphasis> by Darcy L. Harris and Howard R. Winokuer

This is an extended book review of the second edition of the book by Harris and Winokuer (2016). They describe what is currently known about grief counseling, bringing us up to date about the latest research and what has been successful in working with clients. They seamlessly fit the theoretical foundation of grief counseling with its practice and process. This helps the reader to understand the relationship between grief counseling and other kinds of counseling. The book includes chapters that help counselors reflect on the quality of their own work. The book’s style is easy to read and filled with examples, yet also a resource for further study. It does not have explicit references for grief counseling in religious settings, though its principles are applicable to religious settings. Moreover, the book provides a social-historical context of grief counseling, helping the reader understand how far the science has advanced since the 1960s. This resource is valuable for pastoral counselors, care-givers, and others that minister to people in grieving situations.     

Religiosity,Gender, and Preferences for Religious Interventions in Counseling: A Preliminary Study

The authors sought to determine whether relationships existed between religiosity, gender, and preferences for a counselor's use of religious interventions in counseling. First, it was hypothesized that students with high religiosity would express stronger preferences for a counselor's use of religious interventions than would students with low religiosity. Second, it was hypothesized that women would express stronger preferences for religious interventions in counseling than would men. Results supported both hypotheses, and the findings may have important implications for counselors working with clients who indicate adherence to religious views or faith.     

Intentional Forgiving as a Counseling Intervention

Forgiveness has been represented in counseling literature as an effective means of promoting personal and relational development. Despite this, a concise set of guidelines to direct counselors in the use of forgiveness has yet to be proposed. The author presents theological and counseling understandings of forgiveness and delineates contexts in which counselors have promoted forgiveness in clients. Drawing on the increasing base of counseling-related literature concerning the importance of forgiveness, the author defines and proposes guidelines for a counseling approach called “intentional forgiving,” an intervention in which clients are directed to forgive someone who has wounded them.     

Experiences of Altruism in the Therapeutic Relationship: Perspectives of Counselors‐in‐Training and Their Clients

The purpose of this phenomenological investigation was to explore experiences of altruism in the therapeutic relationship to better understand how counselors‐in‐training (CITs) and their clients mutually perceived the construct in sessions. Findings from interviews with clients (n = 14) included emotional–relational characteristics and cognitive–behavioral aspects of altruism by their counselors. Findings from interviews with CITs (n = 10) included explorations of the role of altruism in counseling, overall experiences of altruism in counseling sessions, and experiences of altruism with specific clients. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Insights from a deradicalization program in Indonesian prisons: The potential benefits of psychological intervention prior to ideological discussion

Discussions that are based on religious understanding and aimed at reducing terrorists' hostility have been used as a central part of terrorist deradicalization programs in many countries where acts of Islamic terrorism are prevalent. Currently, various psychological approaches such as presenting social support and providing counseling sessions are being applied alongside religious discussions. Observers of these programs have reported benefits and positive responses to the psychological approaches, but there is still a lack of empirical evidence confirming this. In the current study, we examine the effects of two psychological interventions—emotional expression training and cognitive flexibility training—in predicting detainees’ acceptance of the idea of democratic life. We investigated the observational records taken during the psychological interventions and religious discussions. Results showed no main effect of emotional expression and cognitive flexibility in predicting one’s acceptance of democratic civil life, but there was a significant interaction between the two predictors. Among those who scored high in cognitive flexibility, detainees who scored also high in emotional expression were significantly more agreeable towards the state’s sovereignty over belief in an Islamic caliphate during religious discussions. Our findings suggest that psychological interventions do indeed offer benefits for detainees’ deradicalization programs.     

Effect of Client Expectations on the Counseling Relationship

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect upon an initial interview of positive and negative client expectations for counseling. 30 subjects or clients were randomly assigned to 3 groups (1 positive expectation group, 1 negative expectation group, and a control group). Following a 30-minute counseling session, the counselors and clients were asked to evaluate the relationship that had been established. Despite pre-counseling differences in client expectations, no significant differences were found in the relationships established.     

Religious Issues in Secularly Based Psychotherapy

Because many potential clients have religious as well as secular concerns, secular counselors and psychotherapists are striving to become more empathic and competent in treating religious individuals. This article discusses some issues and implications involved in working with religiously committed clients in secularly based counseling.