What Does Self-Care Look like for Online Graduate Mental Health Counseling Students?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to highlight what self-care looks like for online graduate mental health counseling students and implications for counselor educators. Results come from a program evaluation examining self-care practices for online mental health graduate students. Furthermore, these results will guide the examination of best practices to meet student reported needs while integrating self-care into the program’s mission, program objectives, and curriculum.     

Photovoice: Fulfilling the Call for Advocacy in the Counseling Field

Counselors are bound by ethical code to advocate at individual, group, institutional, and societal levels to examine potential barriers and obstacles that inhibit the growth and development of clients. Photovoice is a participatory action research method that utilizes a specific photographic technique to capture an issue from the lens of those affected. The authors of this article propose that photovoice can be adapted to individual counseling with clients to fulfill our ethical call to advocate at the individual level to address barriers and promote growth. A case example is given to demonstrate how photovoice can be used in a counseling session to advocate for clients.     

Who visits online dating sites? Exploring some characteristics of online daters.

Although online dating has become an important strategy in finding a romantic partner, academic research into the antecedents of online dating is still scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate (a) the demographic predictors of online dating and (b) the validity of two opposite hypotheses that explain users' tendency to use the Internet for online dating: the social compensation and the rich-get-richer hypotheses. We presented 367 single Dutch Internet users between 18 and 60 years old with an online questionnaire. We found that online dating was unrelated to income and educational level. Respondents between 30 and 50 years old were the most active online daters. In support of the rich-get-richer hypothesis, people low in dating anxiety were more active online daters than people high in dating anxiety.     

Teen Dating Abuse: A Paradigm for Mental Health Counselors

Teen dating abuse (TDA) is a serious public health problem affecting almost half of all adolescents in the United States. Because of the developmental characteristics of adolescence such as identity confusion and rejection of adult authority figures, counseling adolescents who are experiencing TDA can be particularly challenging. This article describes the types of abuse, the early warning signs of abuse, and effective strategies that mental health counselors can use to counsel and educate teen victims of TDA and others.     

An empirical examination of client attitudes towards online counseling.

Trends over the past decade have shown that online counseling has grown in terms of popularity among consumers and clinicians alike; however, little, if any empirical evidence exists that examines client attitudes towards online counseling as alternative to traditional face-to-face therapy. Therefore, this study investigated client attitudes towards online counseling. Data was collected from 48 e-clients who received online counseling at the Center for Online Addiction. Variables such as client perceptions and concerns about using online counseling, clients' reasons for seeking online counseling over in-office treatment, and demographic profiles of e-clients were assessed. Results suggested that Caucasian, middle-aged males, with at least a four-year bachelors degree were most likely to use online counseling and anonymity, convenience, and counselor credentials were the most cited reasons they sought online counseling over in-office treatment. The lack of perceived privacy and security during online chat sessions and the fear of being caught while conducting online sessions were the main concerns reported by e-clients. A better understanding of client motives and perceptions towards online counseling helps to guide treatment in using the Internet as a clinical tool, especially as the Internet becomes increasingly more available in previously remote markets and the field of online counseling continues to grow.     

网络心理咨询的疗效与展望

心理学家预测,通过互联网开展的心理咨询,在未来的10年里将成为第二大快速增长的服务领域。该文综述了近期国外有关网络心理咨询的概念和种类,有关网络心理咨询疗效的实证研究以及确保网络心理咨询疗效所采取的措施等。在此基础上作者指出网络心理咨询研究中存在的问题,相信随着这些问题的改进,网络心理咨询必将迈向规范、标准和科学的轨道     

Free to be me: The relationship between the true self,rejection sensitivity,and use of online dating sites

Prior research (Blackhart et al., 2014) found that rejection-sensitive individuals are more likely to use online dating sites. The purpose of the current research was to explain the relationship between rejection sensitivity and online dating site usage. Study 1 examined whether true self mediated the relation between rejection sensitivity and online dating. Study 2 sought to replicate the findings of Study 1 and to examine whether self-disclosure moderated the relationship between true self and online dating in the mediation model. Results replicated those found by Blackhart et al. and also found that true self mediated the relationship between rejection sensitivity and online dating site usage. These findings suggest that rejection-sensitive individuals feel they can more easily represent their “true” selves in online environments, such as online dating sites, which partially explains why they are more likely to engage in online dating.     

Creating Creative Clinicians: Incorporating Creativity Into Counselor Education

Creativity plays a critical role in today’s society by aiding an individual’s response to the mounting complications of modern life and assisting in the maintenance of mental health. Though counselors seek to promote similar developments in their clients, they often do so without the benefit of any particular training in theories of creativity or creativity-enhancing techniques. This article examines literature in the fields of creativity, counseling, and education to highlight the essential nature of creative processes in counseling and psychotherapy, ultimately presenting a rationale for the incorporation of creativity in counselor education.     

Facilitating Online Counseling: Perspectives From Counselors in Training

To address the need for research regarding online counseling, the authors explore the experiences of 4 female and 2 male Caucasian counseling students who facilitated 5 chat‐based online counseling sessions. Conducting semistructured interviews based in grounded theory methods, the authors discuss technological barriers, counseling without visual and verbal cues, online counseling techniques, counseling from home, and factors related to the pace of the sessions. They suggest that online counseling requires specific technical, ethical, and clinical considerations.     

addressing career issues online: perceptions of counselor education professionals

The Internet is the latest arena in which counseling services are available for a variety of issues. This study surveyed counselor education professionals about their perceptions regarding the use of online counseling to address various mental health issues including career counseling. It also examined their perceptions about 3 formats of online counseling: e‐mail, text‐based chat, and videoconferencing. Results indicated that counselor education professionals were open to the use of online counseling to address career issues. The implications for the practice of online career counseling and for the training of counselors are discussed.     

Lonely hearts and angry minds: Online dating rejection increases male (but not female) hostility

The present work explores the hostile tendencies elicited by romantic rejection in the increasingly common context of online dating. To empirically investigate this issue, we created an ad hoc online dating platform in which fictitious online dating partners romantically rejected heterosexual male and female participants. Results revealed that male—but not female—participants who were rejected by desired dating partners displayed increased hostility. This pattern of findings was consistent across different measures, which considered both aggressive tendencies against the rejecting partners and hostile attitudes against the opposite gender. Further, increased feelings of anger explained the relationship between online romantic rejection and increased male hostility. Our work and its findings have both theoretical and methodological implications for the understanding of interpersonal processes in online interactions and the growing body of literature on online dating.     

大学生网络和当面咨询态度的比较研究

该研究的目的是比较大学生对网络和当面咨询的态度及其影响因素的不同。采用问卷调查的方式对603名大学生进行网络和当面咨询态度调查。结果表明从目前看当面咨询态度比网络咨询态度积极,但是网络咨询态度的两个维度均在中性评价之上,且接受心理帮助污名、交流恐惧度和自我隐蔽等三个求助态度的负面影响因素,对当面咨询态度有显著的负向预测作用,对网络咨询态度没有显著的负向预测作用。结论:网络咨询可以减弱学生求助态度负面因素的影响,弥补当面咨询的不足,增进学生的求助行为。     

Pulling the strings: Effects of friend and parent opinions on dating choices

The current study examined how dating choices are affected when individuals are faced with social network opinions that are in agreement or disagreement about the quality of potential dates. In a virtual dating game paradigm, participants spoke to 2 potential romantic partners online and received positive and/or negative feedback ostensibly from their friend and parent about 1 of the partners. The study employed a 2 (parent opinion: approve, disapprove) × 2 (friend opinion: approve, disapprove) × 2 (interaction partner: evaluated target, control target—within subjects) mixed factorial design. Friend opinion influenced who the participants liked, whereas parental opinion was influential when participants relied on their parent for more resources than their friend. In the end, though, only friend opinion predicted dating choice.     

An Integrative Approach to Teaching Dreamwork in Group Supervision

Dreams can be an important part of the counseling process to increase clients’ awareness of potentially unfinished business. We present an approach to teaching dreamwork in group supervision that is designed to assist supervisees’ integration of dreamwork techniques into their client consultation and to contribute to further development of advanced counseling skills.     

Chaos,creativity, and counseling: Aspects of a Transtheoretical model of the counseling process

Counselors ask their clients to become creative in their personal lives and within their counseling process. The process of counseling is a creative process. Growth is necessary for effective improvement in the counseling process. This paper will examine creativity from the point of view of the affective experience of the creator, and the relationship of this experience to the client in counseling.

The position here is that the process of counseling is both a creative process and one that involves tensions and turbulence. Based on a model of nonlinear dynamics, and ideas about the creative process, this study draws a dynamical fractal movie of the counseling process in which the counselor serves as an attractor for the construction of opposites in the client behavior that allow for growth and the construction of a new state of psychosocial events.     

What predicts first date success? A longitudinal study of modality switching in online dating

This study uses a longitudinal design to investigate the effects of online dating sites on first date success. Participants were surveyed before their first date with someone from an online dating site (N = 186) and again after meeting their partner in person (N = 94). As part of the survey, they also supplied the e‐mails they had sent to their partner through the dating site so their actual communication could be examined. Findings indicated that first date success was predictable from features of participants' online impressions and relational dynamics. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and methodological contributions to the literature on relationship development, as well as their practical implications for online dating sites and users.     

There Are Plenty of Fish in the Sea: The Effects of Choice Overload and Reversibility on Online Daters’ Satisfaction With Selected Partners

Online dating is often lauded for improving the dating experience by giving singles large pools of potential partners from whom to choose. This experiment investigates how the number of choices online daters are given, and whether these choices are reversible, affects romantic outcomes. Drawing on the choice overload and decision reversibility theoretical frameworks, we show that, a week after making their selection, online daters who chose from a large set of potential partners (i.e., 24) were less satisfied with their choice than those who selected from a small set (i.e., 6), and were more likely to change their selection. While choice reversibility did not affect daters’ satisfaction, those who selected from a large pool and had the ability to reverse their choice were the least satisfied with their selected partner after one week. The results advance understanding of how media features related to choice affect interpersonal evaluations.     

Counseling in Zimbabwe: History,Current Status,and Future Trends

Counseling in Zimbabwe has a long tradition, dating back to pre‐Colonial times. In the modern context, counseling has evolved through the educational and health care sectors. Since the 1990s, Zimbabwean counselors have advocated for professional recognition, a struggle similar to that of counselors in the United States. In this article, the authors provide a historical view of counseling in Zimbabwe, discuss the current status of and future trends in counseling, and make recommendations for the advancement of the profession.     

Experiences of Healing Touch and Counseling on a Bereaved Population: A Grounded Theory

Grounded theory was selected as a way to develop a theory about the potential adjunctive use of energy healing in the form of healing touch (HT) along with counseling on a bereaved population. Semi-structured interviews were conducted twice with clients and once with the counselors and HT practitioners. Results indicated that the participants agreed that both counseling and HT operated well together to provide bereavement support. The themes of trust, openness, intention, and spirituality within the holistic context seemed to make this model possible. Potential ethical concerns are discussed, as well as areas for future research and clinical applications.     

Using Visual Journaling in Individual Counseling: A Case Example

The purpose of this article is to describe and illustrate through a hypothetical case example how visual journaling, a form of expressive arts counseling, can be adapted for use in individual counseling. Counselors may consider using visual journaling as a counseling intervention when working with clients who may not have words for what they are feeling or experiencing, and for clients who tend to be very analytical. Visual journaling can be a way to bypass the intellect and give clients another way to access their experience.