Apologizing for Who I Am

Philosophical discussions of apologies have focused on apologizing for wrong actions. Such a focus overlooks an important dimension of moral failures, namely, failures of character. However, when one attempts to revise the standard account of apology to make room for failures of character, two objections emerge. The first is rooted in the psychology of shame. The second stems from the purported social function of apologies. This paper responds to these objections and, in so doing, sheds further light both on why we apologize (when we are in the wrong) and on why we accept apologies (when others are).     

Jane E. Myers: The Evolution of an Advocate

This profile highlights Jane E. Myers's journey to becoming a leader in the counseling profession through her roles as a rehabilitation counselor, counselor educator, supervisor, mentor, and advocate. Her legacy is explored through her narrative of the evolution of her distinguished career, from early pivotal childhood experiences to her current professional passions. No matter how well the reader knows Dr. Myers, the authors believe that additional insight will be gained about this inspiring woman through this profile.     

Dennis Engels: A Humanitarian and Ethical Scholar

Dr. Dennis Engels retired in 2011 after a 35‐year career as a counselor educator, during which he contributed over 30 years of service to the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling. In this profile article, the author reviews the highlights of Dr. Engels's distinguished career and presents an interview in which Dr. Engels discusses (a) his journey as a counselor educator, (b) ethical standards and credentialing, and (c) the future of counseling.     

An Interview With Samuel T. Gladding: Thoughts on Becoming a Counselor

This interview highlights the career and rich professional influence of Samuel T. Gladding, a prolific writer and educator who was listed in the top 1% of contributors to the Journal of Counseling & Development between 1978 and 1993. This interview was conducted shortly after he began his 2004–2005 term as president of the American Counseling Association. The interviewers hope that Gladding's insights on becoming a counselor will help to focus and strengthen the professional journey of contemporary counselors.     

Who I Am Depends on How I Feel: The Role of Affect in the Expression of Culture

ABSTRACT— We present a novel role of affect in the expression of culture. Four experiments tested whether individuals' affective states moderate the expression of culturally normative cognitions and behaviors. We consistently found that value expressions, self-construals, and behaviors were less consistent with cultural norms when individuals were experiencing positive rather than negative affect. Positive affect allowed individuals to explore novel thoughts and behaviors that departed from cultural constraints, whereas negative affect bound people to cultural norms. As a result, when Westerners experienced positive rather than negative affect, they valued self-expression less, showed a greater preference for objects that reflected conformity, viewed the self in more interdependent terms, and sat closer to other people. East Asians showed the reverse pattern for each of these measures, valuing and expressing individuality and independence more when experiencing positive than when experiencing negative affect. The results suggest that affect serves an important functional purpose of attuning individuals more or less closely to their cultural heritage.     

L'Arche: Homes for People Who Are Mentally Retarded

The author describes L'Arche, an international federation of homes for mentally retarded people, and explores the views of Jean Vanier, the organization's founder, on issues of social justice and world peace. The therapeutic relationships formed in L'Arche communities are compared to healing counselor-client relationships, and the role of the counselor as consultant on problems related to mental retardation is discussed.     

Journeys With People Who Have Dementia: Connecting and Finding Meaning in the Journey

This article begins with a reflective journey with one person who was diagnosed with early onset dementia. It then turns to reflect on the subsequent journey of research with other people who have dementia and where they find meaning in life, through the process of spiritual reminiscence. The article views dementia through a theological lens that sees those who have dementia as people made in God’s image and the implications this has for the lives of those living with dementia and those who care for them. One of the important findings from research conducted in the small group process was that meaning was almost synonymous with relationship and connectedness for participants, just as it is for people who don’t have dementia.     

Application of Yoga as a Spiritual Practice to Enhance Counselor Wellness and Effectiveness

In this article, we explore potential benefits of yoga, an ancient Indian tradition for spiritual growth and development, for counselors. Counselors use themselves as instruments to support clients and are constantly exposed to the traumatic experiences of clients, which may leave them susceptible to secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue (Shallcross, 2011). Yoga can help counselors not only in achieving holistic wellness but also in developing a way of being consistent with the characteristics of an effective counselor. Furthermore, yoga, as a spiritual practice, can empower counselors to embark on a spiritual journey driven by their own personal experiences.     

Power Within the Counselor Identity Development of African American Women in Pastoral Counseling

This study explored experiences of power among 11 African American female pastoral counselors‐in‐training. Limited research exists within the field of pastoral counseling regarding the dynamics of power within the development of minority counselors‐in‐training. Experiences of power such as microaggressions and empowerment were evidenced in the art created by participants during their qualitative interviews. Use of a heuristic arts‐based research design resulted in 6 final essences (major themes): symbolic analysis of the journey of identity development, empowerment, powerlessness, ownership of power, integration, and pervasive spirituality. Practical implications for counselor educators and pastoral counseling programs are provided.     

Trends in the Treatment of Men Who Commit Violence against Women

Violence committed by men against women has a long history. At this time its prevalence is being increasingly documented and questioned in our society. Mental health workers have not had sufficient knowledge of the problem and, therefore, have not provided adequate treatment or devised preventive strategies. This article reviews the available literature regarding characteristics and treatment of three types of abusive men (rapists, incest offenders, wife batterers) and discusses the generalizability of common treatment approaches and counselor roles in treating these men.     

Using Creative Techniques With Children Who Have Experienced Trauma

Verbal and emotional forms of expression can be difficult for young children who have experienced trauma. Creative methods and approaches such as puppets, sandtray, letter writing, and art are therapeutic mediums that provide an outlet for a young client’s story of trauma to be told. Children can use puppets to depersonalize and share feelings with a counselor that would provide insight into their coping strategies. Similarly, sandtray is another nonverbal approach that gives children the opportunity to externalize their feelings safely and can be easily used with extroverted and introverted clients. Letter writing and art can empower children and give them hope for the future. In summary, creative techniques can allow counselors to help explore stories of trauma with young clients.     

Counseling Clients Who Self‐Injure: Ethical Considerations

This article provides an overview of ethical considerations related to counseling clients who engage in self‐injurious behaviors. Ethical issues concerning client welfare, counselor competence, countertransference, referral and consultation, informed consent, and duty to protect are discussed in relation to the American Counseling Association's (1995) Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Implications and recommendations for counselors who work with clients who self‐injure are provided.     

I Am A Woman

No abstract available for this article.     

I Am Your Sister

No abstract available for this article.     

The Counselor Who Is: A Critique and a Modest Proposal

In light of the essential nature of counseling as it is reflected in current theory and texts, it is submitted that a discrepancy exists between the idea of the counseling process on the one hand, and the teaching and practice of counseling on the other hand. The absolute necessity for the counselor's having a body of substantive information relating to the discipline of counseling psychology is asserted but the sufficient condition is that the counselor be (or become) the kind of person who can facilitate the therapeutic happening. Two proposals are made. A rationale for the exposure of counselors and aspirants to group-encounter experiences is given, and possible outcomes suggested. Further, in response to a basic need in our educational structure, the staffing of each large high school with a relatively independent counseling center is recommended. The function and possible ameliorative effects of such centers are described.     

I Am a Mystery to Myself

Throughout my lifetime I have had a vague sense of my identity. There were no distinct memories or stories from my childhood and adolescence to provide me with the recognition, much less an appreciation, for who I was in the world. It wasn’t until I entered psychotherapy that revelations about my family life came into understanding. This was not from any recollecting of actual events but from the indirect observations of families where being engaged with each other had occurred. Through psychoanalysis, reading a variety of psychoanalytic thinkers, and by taking up my own writing I was encouraged to discover myself, even at the cost of the sorrow of never having that encouragement in growing up, the cost that comes with the exploration. Where no childhood home was to be found a new one was to be created instead.     

The Experience of Religion and Spirituality Among College Students Who Use Illicit Substances

Nine collegiate illicit substance users participated in a phenomenological study of their perceptions of religion, spirituality, and substance use. We identified three themes from the interviews: (a) development of substance-using behaviors, (b) journey with religion and spirituality, and (c) intersectionality of substance use and religious and spiritual journeys. The participants voiced a complex bidirectional relationship among use behaviors, religion, and spirituality that could be facilitative, adverse, or divergent. We provide implications and suggestions for future research.     

I Am Yourself: Subjectivity and the Collective

This paper suggests that social and historical forces play an unconscious yet decisive role in our lives. Telling the story of a conversation between Israeli parents about the prospect of their children becoming soldiers, and of an analytic relationship between two Israelis, the paper aims to bring to light a hidden balance of power between family bonds and collective attachments. The paper uses ideas developed by Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Felix Guattari in the field of critical theory to examine the ways in which families function as social agents, that is, as socializing institutions. It suggests that, as a result, in some situations, families may face a conflict of identifications, a dilemma between responsibility to kin and responsibility to the collective. If the dilemma commonly persists unheeded, it becomes painfully evident in extreme situations. Such is the case when parents are asked to allow their children to become soldiers, or when individuals strive to care for themselves against a binding ethics of communal and intergenerational responsibility. The paper examines the effect of the collective trauma underlying the dominant discourse of the Israeli society, and the hypercollectivity of the Israeli Kibbutz, in generating powerful unconscious conflicts that haunt subjective and family life. The paper argues that collective affiliations and consequently, collective politics are inseparable from individual psychology and interpersonal relations. It suggests that, for this reason, political awareness and political exchange can play a crucial, liberating role in the therapeutic relationship, and life in general.     

Guidance of the College-Bound

This paper discusses the paradox which exists between counselor education and counselor practice as related to counseling and guidance of the college-bound. Theory and research about higher education, the school counselor mandate concept, and implications for strengthening counselor education are explored. The position is taken that the gap between counselor education and counselor practice in guidance services for the college-bound is too great but that correctives exist which must be examined and implemented.