Celebrating 50 Years of Service: A Conversation With Mary Thomas Burke

Mary Thomas Burke, known affectionately to many in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the surrounding communities as “Sister,” has devoted over 50 of the past years of her life to service. In this interview, she explores the paths that her service endeavors have followed, the influences and turning points in her life, and shares her insights on achieving balance in service and in life.     

Counseling in the Later Years: A Growing Need

This article examines some of the major transitions of aging and indicates possible ways counseling services can help older persons cope with the changes.     

The Authoritarian Personality: A Re-Review 46 Years Later

The author revisits his contemporary review of The Authoritarian Personality (TAP) in the light of subsequent developments in research and theory. In spite of warranted criticism of the F-scale, the major substantive findings of TAP have held up well. Whether they are better understood in terms of psychoanalytic psychodynamics or Bandura's social learning theory remains controversial. The role of the four authors is briefly examined.     

A Conversation With Donald H. Blocher

Donald H. Blocher has been a major contributor and advocate in the field of counseling psychology for more than 30 years. He has written six books, more than 60 book chapters and journal articles, and has had several publications translated into international journals. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award from Harvard University, and a Fulbright Lecturer in the United Kingdom. Donald Blocher was interviewed on the occasion of his retirement after a distinguished career. In this conversation he discusses a wide range of provocative ideas as he looks back at his life as a developmental psychologist.     

Following Inspiration: A Conversation With Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter

Our distinguished guest for the 3rd installment in this inaugural Hearing our Elders series is former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Mrs. Carter is arguably among the most active former First Ladies since she and her husband, the 39th President of the United States, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, left the White House in 1981. The zeitgeist of the mid‐1950s through the 1970s provides the context that frames Mrs. Carter's responses to questions about her involvement in the mental health movement that continues to the present day. The historical as well as contemporary social and political environments relative to understanding and appreciating mental health and wellness in the United States, then and now, are explored and illuminated in portions of the interview with Mrs. Carter. The interview revealed 6 critical themes: really listening with an empathic ear, resilience/persistence, commitment across time, thinking like a global citizen, a quiet‐storm leadership style, and self‐discovery in service to others. Nuestra distinguida invitada en la 3ª entrega de esta serie inaugural de Escuchar a Nuestros Mayores es la ex Primera Dama Rosalynn Carter. La señora Carter es sin duda una de las ex primeras damas más activas desde que en 1981 dejó la Casa Blanca junto con su marido, el 39° Presidente de los Estados Unidos James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. El espíritu cultural del periodo entre la mitad de la década de los años 50 hasta los 70 proporciona el contexto en el que se enmarcan las respuestas de la señora Carter a preguntas sobre su implicación en el movimiento para la salud mental que continúa hasta hoy. Los entornos social y político de ayer y hoy, tanto en su perspectiva histórica como contemporánea, y cómo estos se relacionan con la comprensión y valoración de la salud y bienestar mental en los Estados Unidos se exploran e ilustran en varios segmentos de la entrevista con la señora Carter. Esta entrevista reveló 6 temas críticos: la escucha con atención y empatía, la resiliencia/persistencia, el compromiso a lo largo del tiempo, el pensamiento como ciudadanos globales, un estilo de liderazgo firme pero calmado, y el autodescubrimiento a través del servicio a otros.     

Substance Use Assessment Instruments: 13 Years Later

The authors surveyed Master Addiction Counselors and members of the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counselors (N = 131) about their use of substance use disorder and process addiction screening and assessment instruments. The results are compared with those of Juhnke, Vacc, Curtis, Coll, and Paredes ( 2003 ).     

Prediction and Clinical Inference: Forty Years Later

The earlier controversy between clinical and statistical prediction has faded into the shadows. Few people today challenge the necessity for both approaches in seeking to develop and apply knowledge. In more contemporary terms, the issue of which prediction method should be preferred involves choosing between a quest for historical truth (i.e., correspondence demonstrated by staristical methods) and a quest for narrative truth (i.e., coherence achieved by clinical formulations).     

Rorschach Test Findings at the Beginning of Treatment and 2 Years Later,With a 30-Year Follow-Up

Four groups of Ss at different levels of psychological distress were asked to draw the most unpleasant thing they could think of. The resulting Unpleasant Concept drawings were rated on a six point continuum of objectivity. On the basis of these drawings, a significant difference was obtained between all groups, with the exception of one comparison.     

Pioneers of Multicultural Counseling: A Conversation With Clemmont E. Vontress

This article presents an interview conducted with Dr. Clemmont E. Vontress, a pioneering scholar in the field of multicultural counseling. In this interview. Dr. Vontress reflects on his long and distinguished career and the evolution of multicultural counseling as professional discipline.     

Religiosity and Religious Participation in the Later Years:

This paper provides a brief overview of the relevant literature dealing w~thre ligiosity in the later years. In this study, reli iosity is reflected by participation in various religious activities suck as prayer, church membership/attendance, Bible and religious reading. Social erontolo ists have observed that individuals become more invoP ved .In re figiou s activities (is., increased religiosity) as they age. In a later section, this paper examines the si nifi cance of religous participation and the spir~tuanl eeds of the el&rlyI However, there is a paucity of literature dealing with the spiritual needs of the elderly and other related areas of interest, such as church attendance and religious beliefs. Issues dealin with religiosity and the spiritual needs of the elderly are examinefin the present study and remain unresolved.     

Job Insecurity Research is Still Alive and Kicking Twenty Years Later: A Commentary

This paper comments on the review of longitudinal job insecurity studies in this special issue. The main conclusion of that review, namely that job insecurity leads to poor health and well‐being, remains undisputed. It is argued, however, that future job insecurity research should focus more on: (a) uncovering the underlying psychological mechanisms of job insecurity; (b) the effects of new forms of labor contracts; (c) differences across nations as a function of different social security systems; and (d) the effects of organisations. It is concluded that job insecurity is a problem of our time and that 20 years after the publication of Dekker and Schaufeli's study on job insecurity among workers in Australian public transport corporation, psychological job insecurity research is still alive and kicking.     

Thirty Years Later: An Oncologist Reflects on Kubler-Ross's Work

As compared with conventional vaccine production systems, plant-made vaccines (PMVs) are said to enjoy a range of advantages including cost of production and ease of storage for distribution in developing countries. In this article, we introduce the science of PMV production, and address ethical issues associated with development and clinical testing of PMVs within three interrelated domains: PMVs as transgenic plants; PMVs as clinical research materials; and PMVs as agents of global health. We present three conclusions: first, while many of the ethical issues raised by PMVs are familiar, PMVs add a new dimension to old issues, and raise some novel issues for ethicists and policy-makers; secondly, it is premature to promise broad applicability of PMVs across the developing world without having demonstrated their feasibility; thirdly, in particular, proponents of PMVs as a solution to global health problems must, as a condition of the ethical conduct of their research, define the commercial feasibility of PMVs for distribution in the developing world.     

The Genetics Journey: A Case Report of a Genetic Diagnosis Made 30 Years Later

Mandibulofacial dysostosis with microcephaly (MFDM) is a rare autosomal dominant condition that was first described in 2006. The causative gene, EFTUD2, identified in 2012. We report on a family that initially presented to a pediatric genetics clinic in the 1980s for evaluation of multiple congenital anomalies. Re-evaluation of one member thirty years later resulted in a phenotypic and molecularly confirmed diagnosis of MFDM. This family’s clinical histories and the novel EFTUD2 variant identified, c.1297_1298delAT (p.Met433Valfs*17), add to the literature about MFDM. This case presented several genetic counseling challenges and highlights that “the patient” can be multiple family members. We discuss testing considerations for an unknown disorder complicated by the time constraint of the patient’s daughter’s pregnancy and how the diagnosis changed previously provided recurrence risks. Of note, 1) the 1980s clinic visit letters provided critical information about affected family members and 2) the patient’s husband’s internet search of his wife’s clinical features also yielded the MFDM diagnosis, illustrating the power of the internet in the hands of patients. Ultimately, this case emphasizes the importance of re-evaluation given advances in genetics and the value of a genetic diagnosis for both patient care and risk determination for family members.