Sensitizing Counselors and Educators to Multicultural Issues: An Interactive Approach

This discussion describes a program that was developed to provide an opportunity for children of farm workers to accrue academic credit toward graduation. It was also designed to include intense interaction between the students and educators. This program illustrates how multicultural awareness can be developed within a relatively short period of time through immersion in experiences and by providing appropriate incentives. Se describe un programa que se desarrolló para dar una oportunidad a los hijos de agricultores para ganar créditos académicos para graduarse. También lo diseñaron para incluir interación intensa entre estudiantes y educadores. Este programa muestra como se puede desarrollar un conocimiento multicultural en relativamente muy poco tiempo a través de la inmersión en experiencias y dando incentivos apropriados.     

Helping Teenage Parents: The Independent and Collaborative Roles of Counselor Educators and School Counselors

In recent years, the leadership of the American Counseling Association (ACA) has posed an earnest and urgent challenge to the counseling profession to develop and apply collaborative approaches to solve the complex problems of society. Teenage parenthood is one example of a major societal concern requiring cooperative, professional interventions. The purpose of this article is to recommend independent and collaborative roles for counselor educators and school counselors in addressing the many needs of teenage parents. In addition, this article serves as a model of how the counseling specialties can work together to resolve other critical social issues.     

Archetypal Identity Development,Meaning in Life,and Life Satisfaction: Differences Among Clinical Mental Health Counselors,School Counselors,and Counselor Educators

Adults pursuing careers in counselor education, clinical mental health counseling, and counselor education (N = 256) participated in a study that examined relationships among archetypal identity development, meaning in life, and life satisfaction. Significant differences between groups existed for 5 archetypal identities, and meaning in life was significantly related to life satisfaction.     

Investigation of Ethnic Self‐Labeling in the Latina Population: Implications for Counselors and Counselor Educators

Using a qualitative approach, the author explored the process of ethnic label selection, change, and the meaning assigned to ethnic labels. Ten women of Mexican descent participated in semistructured, in‐depth interviews. Phenomenological analysis of the data revealed several themes, including the importance of family, ancestral traditions, and cultural traits; label as identity; and labels as complex and dynamic. Factors that influenced label choice, meaning, and change; implications for counselors and counselor educators; and limitations and suggestions for future research were addressed.     

Examining the Association Between Self-Reported Multicultural Counseling Competencies and Demographic Variables Among Counselors

The authors examined the association between demographic variables and self-reported multicultural counseling competencies among counselors. A national sample of 220 counselors affiliated with university counseling centers participated in this investigation. Counselors responded to 40 Likert-type statements about multicultural awareness, knowledge, skills, and relationships. Results from a series of multivariate and univariate analyses indicated that Asian American and Hispanic counselors reported more multicultural knowledge than did White counselors, and African American, Asian American, and Hispanic counselors reported more competence in multicultural awareness and relationships than did White counselors. No effects were found for other demographic variables. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

The American Mental Health Counselors Association: Reflection on 30 Historic Years

The American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) celebrated its 30th anniversary in May 2006. This article provides a synopsis of AMHCA's illustrious history, from its urgent beginnings in 1976 to its current status as the premier organization attending to the needs and representing the interests of mental health counselors in the United States and elsewhere.     

Counselors and Self-Help Groups

Self-help groups have become legion in both number and purposes. The authors review the growth of this movement and its current status and suggest ways in which counselors can draw upon such groups in their professional practices.     

Counselors and learning styles

Nearly everyone agrees that the counselor should be aware of individual differences. Many also agree that an important function of the counselor is to consult with teachers regarding individual differences in student learning performance. Although there has been much research about the relationship of learning performance and individual differences in learning style, there has been little written about how to diagnose the styles. The author presents a theoretical understanding of learning styles and suggests assessment questions that a counselor can use in observing students and consulting with teachers about different learning styles.     

Competencies Counselor Educators Value

The research described here demonstrates one method for the behavioral definition of competencies desired for graduate students in counseling. Counselor educators were asked to rate the importance of selected student behaviors in their current evaluation of their graduate students. A total of 684 or 45.6% of all full-time counselor educators in Hollis and Wantz's Counselor Education Directory 1974 completed the questionnaire. Ten dimensions emerged from the factor analysis of the data: Personal Development, Research and Professional Activities, Behavioral Strategies in Counseling, Application of Counseling Theory, Class Participation, Relationship Strategies in Counseling, Collaboration, Efficiency, Respect for Individuality, and Flexibility. Counselor educators self-identified with four theoretical orientations differed significantly at the .05 level on their valuing of 8 of the 10 factors. The orientations compared were behavioral, client-centered, eclectic, and humanistic. The analyses of variance also revealed significant differences on five factors among the respondents when the data were analyzed by academic rank.