Some Implications of Recent Research in Social and Developmental Psychology for Counseling Practice

Blocher sees four implications for counseling as a result of the additions to research and theory building of social, developmental, and general psychology. From social influence theory, from cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, and developmental research (and their hyphenated combinations) he offers a prototype “systematic eclectic” task-model directed toward implications (1) counseling is a social influence process, (2) counseling centers on the client's cognitive activity, (3) a major variable in the outcome of counseling is the level of the client's cognitive development, and (4) counselors may need intervention programs to raise cognitive levels.     

Current Status and Prospects of Korean Counseling Psychology: Research, Clinical Training, and Job Placement

En Corée, la psychologie du counseling s'est développée régulièrement au cours des six dernières décennies. Au cours de ce développement, divers problèmes sont apparus en provenance aussi bien de l'intérieur que de l'extérieur de la discipline. Dans cet article, nous survolons rapidement l'histoire de la psychologie du counseling coréenne et analysons ses forces et ses faiblesses internes, ainsi que les opportunités et les menaces en provenance de l'environnement. Cette analyse SWOT a été focalisée sur trois thèmes majeurs de la discipline, la recherche, le soutien clinique et l'orientation professionnelle. En conclusion, on esquisse un projet pour la psychologie du counseling en Corée.
Counseling psychology in Korea has been steadily growing in the past six decades. Along with its growth, various issues have emerged from the inside of the field as well as from the outside. In this article, we briefly review the history of Korean counseling psychology and then discuss internal strengths and weaknesses of the field and external opportunities and threats that the field is facing. This SWOT analysis was centered on three major themes of the discipline: i.e. research, clinical training, and job placement. Finally, a vision for counseling psychology in Korea is discussed.     

Personality Assessment Training in Counseling Psychology Programs

Although data about personality assessment training in clinical psychology programs have often been gathered, little comparable data have been collected about assessment training in counseling psychology programs. To collect such information, we conducted a survey of all programs identified as part of the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs. A two-page questionnaire was sent out to the 64 program directors, with 56 (88%) of the questionnaires being returned. Information about availability of required personality assessment courses, availability of elective assessment courses, and types of personality tests covered in the counseling curriculum is presented and discussed.     

Spirituality and Homelessness: Implications for Pastoral Counseling

This article presents a limited number of findings from a larger research project that explores spiritual themes related to the experience of homelessness as reported by 16 research participants following their residence in a 90-day emergency shelter program in Los Angeles County, California. By utilizing interpretive phenomenological analysis, the study focuses solely on three spiritual themes present in the experience of homelessness. Participants noted experiencing the presence of hope and motivation while homeless, the challenges of coping with the homeless stigma, and times in which they felt (and did not feel) “human.” Implications for pastoral counselors and others offering spiritually-integrated counsel in the context of homelessness are discussed.     

Spirituality and Loss: Approaches for Counseling Grieving Adolescents

The death of a loved one has serious implications for adolescent growth and development. The authors review relevant research on the grief process and spirituality in adolescence, and they give a rationale for integrating spirituality into adolescent grief work. By way of a case illustration, they draw implications for counselors’ use of spirituality in addressing adolescent grief.     

Religion, Spirituality and Therapy: Implications for Training

Religion and spirituality are recognized coping resources but are neglected in psychological training and practice. However, religion and spirituality can be successfully used to cope with psychological disorders, prevent unhealthy behaviors and promote resilience. This study explored and described two questions regarding the concepts of the terminology religion and spirituality, and the perceptions of the use of religion and spirituality in therapy. Purposive sampling was utilized in a qualitative study of 15 registered psychologists, and data were analyzed using Tesch’s model of qualitative content analysis. The concepts religion and spirituality appear difficult to define but the importance of their use as coping mechanisms in their own and their clients’ lives was recognized. These findings have implications for professional training.     

Students' Perceptions of Multicultural Training in Counseling Psychology Programs

The Multicultural Competency Checklist (Ponterotto, Alexander, & Grieger, 1995) was used to assess counseling psychology students' perceptions of multicultural training in their programs. Results revealed that most students perceived their programs to (a) have a required multicultural counseling course, (b) employ diverse teaching strategies and procedures, (c) use varied methods of evaluating performance, and (d) have faculty members whose primary research interest was in multicultural issues. Alternatively, many students reported that their programs did not (a) have appropriate representation of bilingual individuals on the faculty, (b) demonstrate adequate leadership and support with regard to multicultural issues, (c) use assessment instruments in evaluating their level of multicultural competency, and (d) make available a “multicultural resource center” for their use. The importance of integrating multicultural issues throughout academic programs is also discussed.     

Spirituality and Multimodal Therapy: A Practical Approach to Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling

The purpose of this article is to describe how the dimension of spirituality can be added to an existing counseling theory, multimodal therapy (MMT; A. A. Lazarus, 1984), to provide counselors with a practical approach to incorporating clients' religious and spiritual beliefs in the counseling process. An explanation of MMT is given, as well as its supporting research. The context of spirituality in counseling is discussed, and the process by which it can be integrated into the MMT model is explained. Two case studies are described to demonstrate how spiritual issues can be assessed and used to strengthen the counseling process. Finally, implications for counseling are discussed.     

Counseling African Americans: Integrating Spirituality in Therapy

African American culture is rich with religious and spiritual traditions and practices that largely have been ignored in traditional approaches to counseling with this population. The purpose of this article is to describe the religious and spiritual dimensions of African American culture and to offer strategies for incorporating them into counseling African American clients.     

Spirituality and Meditative Practice: Research Opportunities and Challenges

Meditative practices have a long history in India and have influenced contemporary meditative programs elsewhere in the world. Over the last several decades, the use of meditation as a therapeutic tool has been investigated in regard to physical, emotional and behavioral effects with impressive results. In parallel to this has been a growing interest in research on spirituality, spiritual growth, and therapeutic modalities that incorporate the spiritual dimension of the person. Ironically, very little research has explored the interface between these two constructs, despite how closely linked they are traditionally. This paper addresses the range of ways in which spirituality and spiritual development might be fruitfully investigated in the context of meditative practice, bringing further understanding to both psychological constructs. Furthermore, the widely recognized significance of both meditative and spiritual experiences suggests that cross-cultural research may be particularly valuable at identifying factors that engage the universal human capacity of spirituality, and the particular potential for meditative practice in doing so.     

Cross-Cultural Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Historical Perspective,Implications for Research and Training

This article examines the development of cross-cultural and psychotherapy in the United States, and theoretical models and their implications for research and training are reviewed.     

Women's Spirituality Across the Life Span: Implications for Counseling

Women's spirituality has unique characteristics that are often ignored within the spirituality literature. The authors review the literature on women's spirituality to reveal the major themes women have identified as relevant to their spiritual journeys across the life span. Implications for counseling and ideas for practice are included after major themes are examined.     

Integrating Counseling Research and Practice

The current research-practice gap in the counseling profession poses a number of significant challenges to practitioners, researchers, and the profession as a whole. This introduction to the special feature, “Counseling Outcome Research: Implications for Practice,” identifies the important issues regarding the systematic integration of counseling research into practice.     

Kitchener's Principle Ethics: Implications for Counseling Practice and Research

This extensive literature review examining the influence of K. S. Kitchener's (1984) introduction of principle ethics on counseling and psychology ethics notes the ultimate practicality of principle ethics. The authors maintain that although a strong influence of principle ethics in the area of counselor education emerges through the review, there is little clear evidence of influence in the areas of counseling research or practice. A primary reliance in the counseling professional literature on K. S. Kitchener's original work has likely resulted in a static understanding of the concepts and a concomitant theory–to–application knowledge gap. Implications include a more thorough and ongoing bridging between counseling ethics, philosophical ethics and practice, and a more overt presence of principle ethics.     

Multicultural Training in University Counseling Center Predoctoral Psychology Internship Programs: A Survey

Research indicates that graduate programs in counseling and clinical psychology are beginning to include more courses on multicultural issues. Little data is available, however, concerning the inclusion of training in multicultural issues in predoctoral psychology internship training programs. This study examined the amount and type of such training actually occurring at predoctoral psychology internship training programs in university counseling centers.     

Religion,Spirituality, and Positive Psychology in Adulthood: A Developmental View

For decades, psychologists have been interested in the question whether, and how, religious and spiritual behavior, in terms of beliefs, attitudes, practices, and belonging, could be scientifically studied and assessed in terms of their relative good, or ill, for human well-being. This article considers contributions of religious commitment and spiritual practice to well-being and cognitive-developmental theoretical models and related bodies of empirical and clinical research regarding religious and spiritual development across the life cycle, with particular attention to questions related to positive adult development.