Educational Interventions in Counseling: The Need to Avoid Pronouncements

This article proposes that counselors who use educational interventions in their work with clients, and thereby simultaneously teach while they counsel, are apt to unwittingly make “pronouncements.” Pronouncements are unqualified statements of, or declarations of, expertise. It is suggested that pronouncements are generally an unethical form of language for the counselor-teacher to use, and that although they serve a number of persuasive functions for the counselor, they mystify knowledge and authority relationships for the client. In addition it is suggested that language usage and attendant ethical pitfalls that arise in using new counseling methodologies should receive more attention in the counseling literature.     

The Need for Counselor Licensure: A Rehabilitation Counseling Perspective

The legal, ethical, and professional problems related to the private practice of rehabilitation counseling are described. Counselor licensure is recommended as a remedy.     

Women and AIDS: Implications for Counseling

Women's concerns regarding AIDS have been ignored or minimized by most writers and AIDS educators. Although women may share many similarities with men in their reactions to AIDS, they have unique concerns that must be recognized. Understanding these concerns is essential for counselors in order to give quality care to women at risk for infection. This article describes women at risk and offers suggestions for counselors in working with such women.     

Involving Family in Psychosocial Interventions for Chronic Illness

ABSTRACT— Interactions with close family members have consequences for the emotional and physical well-being of individuals who are dealing with a chronic physical illness. Therefore, inclusion of a close family member in psychosocial interventions for chronic illnesses is a logical treatment approach that has the potential to boost the effects of intervention on the patient and also benefit the family member. However, randomized, controlled studies indicate that such family-oriented interventions generally have small effects. The efficacy of these treatment approaches might be enhanced by targeting specific interactions that emerging research identifies as promoting or derailing healthy behaviors and by better incorporating strategies from family caregiver interventions. In addition, family-oriented interventions should be more fully evaluated, by assessing the benefits for both patients and family members. Future research in this area can tell us much about how and when to involve family in treatment of specific chronic illnesses and, in turn, may inform conceptual models of the impact of family interactions on health.     

Counseling Child Sexual Abuse Victims: Myths and Realities

The goal of the authors is to (a) create an awareness among counselors about the nature and prevalence of child sexual abuse, (b) examine myths and realities about the topic, and (c) present recommendations for interviewing suspected victims of child sexual abuse.     

A Model of Stress and Counseling Interventions

Current popular interest in stress and its effects on physical and psychological functioning has implications for counselors and clients. Although many counselors have not been trained in the physiological and medical aspects of stress, they do have skills that can be appropriately applied to the alleviation and modification of environmental and internal sources of stress. This article describes a model to aid counselors in understanding stress and in designing and implementing counseling interventions to mediate its effects.     

Culturally Adapted Psychosocial Interventions for Schizophrenia: A Review

Recent research examining the potential efficacy of culturally adapted interventions for various mental disorders illustrates increasing interest in the integration of cultural perspectives into mental health systems. Despite recent evidence demonstrating that culturally adapted interventions may be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach, few psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia consider cultural factors that may enhance their efficacy with diverse populations. The aim of this review is to discuss the empirical evidence examining the potential utility of culturally adapted group interventions for schizophrenia, as a means to encourage further work and expansion in this area. Specifically, this article provides an in-depth review of the empirical literature on culturally adapted psychosocial interventions for individuals with schizophrenia and their family members, with a focus on group-based interventions. This review is followed by a discussion of a few cultural constructs that may impact patient and family member functioning, and therefore may be important to address in psychosocial treatments for schizophrenia. Finally, we end this review with a broad discussion of research limitations and potential areas for additional research, clinical implications for adapting EBTs to better address cultural concerns, and a case vignette to illustrate how cultural considerations can be integrated into a traditional multifamily group therapy approach.     

Creative Interventions for Teaching Empathy in the Counseling Classroom

Empathy is a foundational, necessary component of successful counseling. Relaying an understanding of empathy, including the components and science behind the phenomenon, is critical to the development of counselors-in-training. In addition, creative practice is a pillar of professional counseling, and is linked to experiential learning and meaningful integration of new knowledge in counselor education. The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the definitions of empathy, provide current literature on the science of empathy, and discuss specific creative interventions to use within counseling courses to increase empathic knowledge and skills.     

Psychosocial Interventions for Children with Early-Onset Bipolar Spectrum Disorder

Once considered virtually nonexistent, bipolar disorder in children has recently received a great deal of attention from mental health professionals and the general public. This paper provides a current review of literature pertaining to the psychosocial treatment of children with early-onset bipolar spectrum disorder (EOBPSD). Commencing with evidence of the emerging interest in this topic, we then focus on terminology, the rationale for studying EOBPSD in children, current research and clinical progress, possible explanations for the recent increase in recognition, and essential issues that form the foundation of effective psychosocial treatment. Next we explore areas of research with direct implications for psychosocial treatment. These include biological and psychosocial risk factors associated with bipolar disorder; and the psychosocial treatment of adult-onset bipolar disorder, childhood-onset unipolar disorder, and anger management in children. Following this, we discuss treatments being developed and tested for children with EOBPSD. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for future studies needed to move the field forward.     

The Need for an Awareness of Specialized Issues in Counseling Alcoholic Women

Because of the increase in the number of women seeking treatment for alcoholism in recent years, it is essential that counselors give careful consideration to how this client population can most effectively be helped. Three counselors from the Alcohol Institute of the Eastern Maine Medical Center, Bangor, were interviewed for this article. Their perceptions and experiences as alcoholism counselors are integrated with some of the current research on alcoholic women to provide a framework for professionals in a variety of settings to develop an awareness of the specific issues affecting alcoholic women and to begin to address these issues with their clients.     

An Integrative Model for Ethnocultural Counseling and Psychotherapy of Victims of Organized Violence

The author researched sociocultural factors related to psychotherapy with victims of organized violence from different perspectives: a refugee counseling center in a metropolis (Frankfurt, 1991–95) and refugee camps in neighboring countries (Uganda, 1994–96). At first the psychopathology of victims of organized violence is described. Then a review of treatment approaches follows and a conceptual model for integrative psychotherapy is developed. On the basis of qualitative analysis of client–therapist interactions, case discussions, supervision, evaluation of treatment, and literature review, an eclectic model for ethnocultural counseling and psychotherapy was developed. This eclectic model can be divided into (1) therapeutic relationship and transference, (2) modeling techniques, (3) extrapsychic techniques, (4) somatic techniques,(5) working through traumatic/grief/repressive experiences, and (6) reeducative and supportive techniques.     

Scapegoating: Dynamics and Interventions in Group Counseling

Scapegoating in group counseling may be understood from the perspective of 3 levels of group functioning: intrapsychic, interpersonal, and the group as an entity. Intense scapegoating interactions tend to trigger defense mechanisms among group members. The article reviews a progressive 3‐stage conceptualization of group development that contributes to a more complete understanding of the means to initiate therapeutic change of the phenomenon. Various interventions outlined in the article can assist the group counselor in effectively responding to scapegoating in group counseling.     

Counseling in a Government Agency: Interventions for Employees and Supervisors

This article describes an organizational counseling and career development program that serves both employees and their supervisors. Program components include counseling, workshops, and a career resource center.     

The Relationship Between the Private Self and Helping Victims of AIDS1

Social psychological theory is not often extended into real-world social contexts. In contrast, the current work applies the concept of increasing the accessibility of the private self (Trafimow, Triandis, & Goto, 1991) to a real-world situation; namely, helping people with AIDS. The current results show that priming the private self increases actual helping behaviors directed toward victims of AIDS as compared to a no-prime condition. Furthermore, path analyses show that empathy mediates the prime-helping relationship. No significant gender differences were observed in self-reports of empathy toward victims of AIDS, but women generally volunteered to help more than men.     

The Relationship Between Episodic and Dispositional Forgiveness,Psychosocial Development,and Counseling

The relationship between episodic and dispositional forgiveness and the resolution of Erikson's (1963) psychosocial crises were explored in this study. Participants (N = 66) completed the Enright Forgiveness Inventory ( Enright & Rique, 2004 ), Tendency to Forgive Scale ( Brown, 2003 ), and Measures of Psychosocial Development ( Hawley, 1988 ). Results are consistent with forgiveness and Eriksonian theories. Episodic forgiveness and dispositional forgiveness accounted for 8% and 10%, respectively, of the variance in global resolution of psychosocial crises. The most pronounced relationship was between both forgiveness types and Erikson's crises related to basic trust and ego integrity. Implications for counseling research, practice, and training are discussed.     

The Dimensions Underlying Loneliness Counseling Interventions: A Multidimensional Scaling Solution

The purpose of this study was to investigate major dimensions affecting the acceptability of loneliness counseling interventions from the potential client's perspective and to compare the results with dimensions posited by theoretical models of treatment acceptability. Data were collected from 241 university students who were asked to sort loneliness counseling interventions on the basis of their similarities. Multidimensional scaling analyses revealed 4 dimensions underlying the acceptability of loneliness counseling interventions: the type of activity required by the intervention, the counselor-client relationship, the difficulty of the intervention, and the fit of the intervention to the problem.