Bibliotherapy: Does It Work?

Bibliotherapy continues to be used by counselors as an adjunctive technique in their professional work. This article updates the research literature and reports conflicting responses to the question, “Does bibliotherapy work?”     

Survivor Revictimization: Object Relations Dynamics and Treatment Implications

In the search for more specific and practical treatment direction for survivors of abuse, counselors continue to recognize the importance of understanding the strong and complex dynamics of survivor revictimization. Although there is an abundance of research and theory in the revictimization literature, counselors seek to understand revictimization dynamics at a more practical level, along with specific treatment direction based on both theory and research. In this article, an integrated, unified framework based on object relations theory and research is used to provide specific and practical understanding of survivor revictimization. In addition, treatment direction based on that framework is presented.     

The Counselor and Student Discipline: Suggested Roles

The problem of role definition for counselors relative to discipline problems has been persistent. Difficulties in defining and adopting appropriate roles in discipline have been exacerbated by conflicting expectations between and among administrators, counselors, and faculty. This article provides a short summary and analysis of the literature on the counselor's role in school discipline; possible counselor roles are grouped into six categories: mediator, ombudsman, consultant, psychological educator, special program developer, and counselor. From the variety of roles defined and discussed, counselors may find one or a combination of several roles that both satisfy the needs of their students and are appropriate to their own personalities and/or skill levels.     

End‐of‐Life Care: An Overview for Professional Counselors

Although “End‐of‐Life Care for Terminally Ill Clients” is a section of the ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association, 2005), neither the Code nor the counseling literature provides much direction for counselors who work with clients who are dying and with the clients' loved ones. The authors provide counselors with an overview of the issues that may be relevant when working with such clients.     

Neurocounseling: Promoting Human Growth and Development Throughout the Life Span

Professional counselors must understand both psychological and neurological factors that impact human development across the life span. Despite an emerging body of literature about neurocounseling, little is known about how to integrate this information into supervision or the counseling curriculum. This article provides an overview of neuroscience topics applicable to professional counselors and recommendations for learning about neurocounseling.     

Philosophical Orientation of Counselors in Iowa Secondary Schools

Guidance and counseling in the schools lack focus and direction. Some attribute this confusion within guidance and counseling to a lack of a philosophical foundation. Little is known about the philosophical assumptions of counselors functioning in secondary schools. In this study, the counselors in the secondary schools of Iowa identified most frequently with the phenomenological orientation. The experience of the counselors was related to their philosophical orientation. Counselors with less experience subscribed to an existential orientation.     

Pseudo-Subjectivity in Counseling

Leaders in the field of counseling have stressed an integration of objective and subjective attitudes as being essential to the counselor. Yet, a review of the literature concerning the ideal characteristics of counselors shows a heavy emphasis on subjective traits, such as warmth, acceptance, and understanding. The authors are critical of such an overemphasis and point to studies of effective people which demonstrate the importance of objective traits and attitudes as well. A recommendation is made for the recognition of individual differences in the selection of counselors and for the strengthening of objective attitudes and skills in the training of counselors.     

Intentional Forgiving as a Counseling Intervention

Forgiveness has been represented in counseling literature as an effective means of promoting personal and relational development. Despite this, a concise set of guidelines to direct counselors in the use of forgiveness has yet to be proposed. The author presents theological and counseling understandings of forgiveness and delineates contexts in which counselors have promoted forgiveness in clients. Drawing on the increasing base of counseling-related literature concerning the importance of forgiveness, the author defines and proposes guidelines for a counseling approach called “intentional forgiving,” an intervention in which clients are directed to forgive someone who has wounded them.     

Employment and Rehabilitation Counselors Characterize one another Using Stereotypes

Thirty employment counselors appraised personal and job-related attributes of rehabilitation counselors using a 67-item semantic differential stereotype scale. Thirty rehabilitation counselors rated themselves and also how they believed employment counselors would rate rehabilitation counselors on the same scale. The rehabilitation counselors' self-ratings revealed a generally positive self-portrait; however, the self-ratings, when compared to how they believed employment counselors perceived rehabilitation counselors, yielded statistically significant negative relationships on 60 scales. Comparison of perceived versus actual ratings of rehabilitation counselors by employment counselors showed statistically different ratings on 49 scales, all in a positive direction. That employment counselors perceived rehabilitation counselors much more positively than the latter expected helps explain why placement functions and team cooperation are limited among these professionals, and should therefore be increased.     

Writing About Clients: Developing Composite Case Material and Its Rationale

Ethical guidelines of the 4 major professional associations representing counselors and psychotherapists are reviewed. To help clarify thinking about writing up clinical cases, 3 kinds of cases are described. The author concludes that the current guidelines for clinician‐authors in writing about clients for publication or presentation are contradictory and conflicting. The use of composite clinical case material is discussed as having a number of advantages over disguise or consent when writing about clients. Presented are guidelines for developing composite clinical cases and an example of how to use them effectively.     

Counselors With Disabilities: A Comment on the Special Feature

The aim of this comment is to focus more attention on the topic of counseling and disabilities. A literature review is presented on the question of whether clients perceive counselors with disabilities more positively or more negatively than they perceive counselors with no obvious physical disabilities. The results of the review provide tentative implications for counselors.     

SUPERVISING PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS

Practical problems in supervision of counselors stem from personality differences and differences in theoretical viewpoints. A survey of current literature on counselor supervision together with personal experiences as a supervisor of counselors, lead to certain conclusions for handling the situations which may arise.     

Feminist and Nonsexist Counseling: Implications for the Male Counselor

Over the past 30 years much has been written about feminism, but the literature needs to point out morestrongly the critical role of counselors, particularly male counselors, in facilitating social change toward a more egalitarian view of the world. This article discusses, from a feminist perspective, issues of anger, power, autonomy, and gender role stereotyping and their importance for women in counseling relationships. Recommendations for training counselors in feminist or nonsexist therapy are also reviewed.     

A Model for Building School–Family–Community Partnerships: Principles and Process

The extant literature documents the importance of school counselors’ roles in school–family–community partnerships, yet no model exists to guide school counselors through the process of building partnerships. The authors propose a model to help school counselors navigate the process and principles of partnerships. They define partnerships; discuss the principles of democratic collaboration, empowerment, social justice, and strengths focus that should infuse partnerships; enumerate a partnership process model; and discuss implications for practice and research.     

Counseling Past and Present: Is There a Future?

Major criticisms directed at counseling are identified and prominent suggestions for their elimination are described through an analysis of the counseling literature of the past 10 years. A brief outline of the history of counseling offers a historical perspective to the discussion. One suggestion to improve counseling, that counselors become change agents in their institutions, is examined and described with steps for its implementation. The implementation of the change-agent role for counselors would address much of the substantive criticism directed at counseling, and would remold the profession to more effectively meet today's needs.     

Broverman's methodology reversed: assessing university students' perceptions of the gender-role characteristics of counselors

This study examined university students' perceptions of which gender-role characteristics described helpful counselors for 137 nonmajors from an introduction to counseling class. Using a modification of the Broverman, et al. method (1970) and a modified version of their Stereotype Questionnaire, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Participants indicated the characteristics of a helpful counselor, a helpful female counselor, or a helpful male counselor using 20 bipolar items of gender-role characteristics. t tests were applied to whether agreement of the pole considered most frequently was greater than chance (50%). Analysis indicated agreement on characteristics were most helpful in a counselor, and the direction of this agreement did not differ across the three conditions or as a function of participants' sex. Agreement was high for the individual gender-role characteristic items across conditions as two of 20 items showed significant differences. There was significantly more agreement that male counselors should not have their feelings easily hurt than female counselors and significantly less agreement that male counselors should be able to express tender feelings easily relative to a counselor of unspecified sex.     

Counseling for the transition to adulthood as joint, goal-directed action

Transition is important in the career literature as it identifies times at which people are often likely to consult counselors about issues for which they need help. However, the counseling literature has not provided a conceptualization of, or research on, the joint, goal-directed actions and projects of the counselor and the client, which explicitly reflect the goal-directed nature of the transition itself. To address this issue, 12 counseling dyads, representing 37 counseling sessions, were studied. In these dyads, counseling was observed as the joint, goal-directed action between professional counselors and youth who sought assistance with their transition to adulthood. The data were collected using the action-project method. The counseling sessions were video-recorded, then immediately played back for the counselor and client separately to gather their recalled thoughts and feeling during counseling. Detailed qualitative analysis of the data set addressed the research question, “What are the goal-directed projects that counselors and their clients jointly construct, articulate, and enact relevant to the transition to adulthood?” The findings indicated the relationship and identity are intertwined goal-directed projects within counseling as well as outside of it. These projects contributed to the reframing and reorganization of clients' transition projects outside of counseling in occupational, educational, and familial domains. The findings suggest important implications for counseling youth in transition, that is, counselors and clients explicitly address their joint relationship and identity goals in an effort to realize a mutually satisfactory and important transition to adulthood.     

Understanding Families of Adults With Cancer: Combining the Clinical Course of Cancer and Stages of Family Development

Since the 1970s, counseling professionals have recommended that cancer be regarded as an illness that affects the entire family. This article combines research on understanding the impact of cancer on the family that relates both to the clinical course of cancer and to the developmental stages of the family system. The combination of these 2 dimensions provides counselors with a template for (a) understanding the current literature regarding cancer's impact on the family, (b) helping counselors formulate intervention strategies for the families of cancer patients, and (c) recognizing future directions for research regarding the needs of family members of cancer patients.     

Advocating for Atheist Clients in the Counseling Profession

Atheism is a controversial topic, with individuals who identify as atheist reporting high rates of discrimination. Despite increasing literature discussing religious/spiritual views and beliefs, few scholarly discussions of atheism in the counseling field can be found. Counselors need to be made aware of the issues facing atheist clients and educated on the best interventions to use in collaborative work with clients. Counselors should also be prepared to advocate for atheist clients in multiple domains. This article aims to explore the relevant literature around atheism, identify implications for counselors, and provide a path to advocacy for counselors in their work with atheist clients.     

Employment Counseling for Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Issues Without Answers

This article provides an overview of issues employment counselors will face in counseling adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). There is little research on counseling clients with ADHD, and counselors are often ill prepared to provide appropriate services for this growing and underserviced population. Reviewed is the evolution of the ADHD label and its prevalence in adults. Diagnostic criteria are presented, and a selected review of adult outcome and treatment research is provided. Strategies for counseling adults with ADHD about careers are adapted, with caution, from literature on counseling adults with learning disabilities (LD), and specific guidelines for the employment counselor are presented.