The alienated counselor

This paper deals with the question of the difficulty of communication between the counselor and those individuals who live in the ghetto and who are usually described as alienated. It describes the alienated client and the alienated counselor. On the assumption that the alienation is the responsibility of the counselor rather than the client, the article then goes on to describe the kind of counselor who might be referred to as “non-alienated.”     

The counselor as metaphysician

Despite their scientific temper of mind, counselors should be interested in metaphysics because of its concern with, among other things, the problem of distinguishing the real from the not-real—obviously, a vital issue to every counselor and client. This article sketches the scope of metaphysical inquiry as this discipline is understood in the traditional philosophical sense. The authors also illustrate the significance of metaphysics for counseling by presenting the principal tenets of one metaphysical position—personalistic idealism—and by delineating some implications for counseling that flow from an adherence to this metaphysical view.     

Depression mediates the relationship between social performance impairment and hostility

The goal of this study was to test depressive symptoms as a mediator between social difficulties and hostility in young adults. Hostility is often a reaction to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors; therefore a greater understanding of contributing factors is needed, especially among emerging adults. College students (n = 608; 408 females, 200 males) self-reported on social difficulties, depression, and hostility. Via exploratory factor analyses, two latent constructs related to social difficulty were identified: social performance and social motivation. Using structural equation modeling, the direct effects found that poor social performance was significantly positively associated with BPAQ Total (β = .44, p < .01). Social motivation was not associated with BPAQ Total (β = −.07, p = .21). Further, depression scores were found to partially mediate the relationship between social performance deficits (β = .34, p < .01; 95% CI = .05–.16), but not social motivation (β = −.06, p > .05; 95% CI = −.04 to .04), and overall aggression. Results are discussed in terms of the influence of negative affect and impaired emotion regulatory processes on hostility as a consequence of social performance deficits.     

The counselor as psychoecologist

Counselors may be in need of a new model of practice. Current approaches based on the intrapersonal models of psychotherapy are not congruent with institutional realities. More important, they assume, often falsely, a “disturbed” person who must be adjusted to a “normal” environment. This article suggests that emotional disturbance be viewed as an ecological phenomenon that exists in the transactions among people. The task of the counselor is to alter disturbed transactions in ways that promote individual competence. The implications for practice of viewing the counselor as a psychoecologist are discussed and illustrated through a case study.     

The silent curriculum in counselor education

Counselor educators, while conscientiously preparing students to be sensitive to others through traditional courses and examinations, also communicate an important set of informal, covert attitudes—the silent curriculum. Rapid changes in our social system and in student attitudes are altering one source of this silent curriculum, the teaching-learning relationship. This article suggests possible changes in the counselor education process to encourage individualized instruction, experimentation, and student involvement in departmental decisions, field work, and teaching.     

The counselor and individualized instruction

This article describes some ways counselors can use their skills to help teachers individualize instruction. The author describes the four basic components of most programs of individualized instruction, suggesting tasks counselors could perform relating to each component. The author concludes that the interested counselor is able to contribute greatly toward the improvement of instruction and in so doing become substantially involved in helping pupils to meet their needs.     

The counselor as contingency manager

Aspects of contingency management are discussed as they relate to counseling. Three case studies illustrate the role of a counselor as a contingency manager and adviser to teachers in the application of behavior modification techniques to common classroom problems.     

The pastor as genetic counselor

The pastor as pastoral counselor in the setting of the church can play an important role on a genetic team. This article explores the role the pastor plays in the definitive stage: delivery of information, educating, supporting, and counseling in human genetics. Problems that are encountered by team members, patients, and families, and dominant feelings that seem to exist in couples or individuals who discover that their children have a birth defect or that they themselve are carriers of a faulty gene are revealed and illustrated through clinical examples and interviews. Further suggestions are given on how a constructive team approach can help provide information regarding birth defects and how pastors can help and participate in this process.The Rev.M. Wayne Clark, D. Min., is a United Methodist pastor in Sidney, Iowa, and has completed Care and Counseling's two-year graduate training program for pastoral counselors in St. Louis, Missouri. He has served as a consultant to the Division of Medical Genetics at the University Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, and has worked with the staff of Regional Genetic Consultation Services of the Iowa State Department of Health. He is a member of A.A.P.C. and a clinical member of AAMFT.     

The law and counselor ethics

Counselors cannot look only to the law to solve their professional problems in dealing with information about students. Nevertheless, they must understand confidentiality, privilege, and privacy in the context of ethical standards and legal requirements if they are to meet their responsibilities to clients, the profession, and to themselves.     

The counselor and civil liberties

Although educators tend to talk positively about freedom, civil liberties are often denied to students as a matter of course. Since the counseling profession is committed to the concepts of individual development and human dignity, counselors have no choice but to stand firmly in favor of civil liberties and against repression. Their role should include working toward democratization of the environment, acting as civil liberties advocates for individual students whose rights are in jeopardy, and providing support for counselees who choose to dissent against conventionally accepted policies of school or society.