Spiritual Empowerment: A Metaphor for Counseling

The metaphor of counseling as spiritual empowerment is presented, followed by an explanation of spiritual empowerment as a metaphor and spiritual empowerment as a theoretical framework for counselors. In the use of this metaphor, counselors initiate a spiritual experience with clients, and clients often experience a spiritual awakening in which they discover or rediscover their own spiritual power. Five conclusions are identified.     

Spiritual Assessment in Genetic Counseling

One hundred and twenty seven full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors participated in this study exploring current spiritual assessment practices of genetic counselors and reactions to a spiritual assessment tool. While 60% of genetic counselors reported they had performed a spiritual assessment within the past year, fewer than 8.7% of these counselors assessed spirituality in more than half of their sessions. Counselors reporting high perceived relevance of spiritual assessment performed an assessment more frequently than those reporting a low perceived relevance. Barriers to spiritual assessment included lack of time, insufficient skills, and uncertainty regarding the role of spiritual assessment within genetic counseling. Almost two-thirds of counselors expressed that having a spiritual assessment tool would increase their ability to elicit relevant information. These data suggest a need for increased training regarding the methods for and relevance of spiritual assessment in genetic counseling. Recommendations for future directions of research are explored.     

Integrating Spiritual Experiences in Counseling

Although the spiritual dimension is an integral part of psychotherapy, most mental health professionals lack the necessary training for working with spiritual experiences therapeutically. The experiential focusing method developed by Eugene Gendlin (eg., 1969, 1981) offers a key tool for counselors to help clients integrate their spiritual experiences in counseling. In this article, the author offers a definition of the spiritual experience, outlines the focusing method, presents examples of its application, and discusses the implications of using focusing to help clients integrate spirituality in counseling.     

A Spiritual Issues Discussion Group for psychiatric in-patients

This article describes a weekly Spiritual Issues Discussion Group, co-led by the author, open to psychiatric in-patients at New York Presbyterian Hospital. The group is open to people of all faiths and endeavors to allow participants to explore the many relationships between their beliefs, past experiences, mental illness, and spiritual lives. The article also summarizes the professional literature reporting on similar groups and suggests areas for further study.     

Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making: Addressing Worldview Dilemmas in School Counseling

The role of school counselors has expanded and deepened over the past few decades, just as the K–12 student population has become more diversified. Professional school counselors regularly encounter ethical dilemmas related to the intersection of their transformed role and students' needs. School counselors, therefore, need assistance and support to develop the skills and problem‐solving strategies to effectively, ethically, and respectfully negotiate these dilemmas. The authors propose the Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making as a practical, user‐friendly tool to help school counselors meet these complex challenges.     

A Model for Individual Career Counseling

The focus of the article is on a visual model for individual career counseling. The model takes into account psychological, social, and economic factors and describes decision making as a journey with four discernible stages.     

Counseling for Spiritual Wellness: Theory and Practice

Spiritual wellness is an emerging area of interest in counseling. It still lacks clarity, however, in definition and application. To increase familiarity with and encourage counselor intervention regarding the spiritual dimension, the authors of this article attempt to define more clearly the concept of spiritual health and to describe ways to use techniques for the enhancement of spiritual wellness and the advancement of spiritual development.     

A Maslovian Counseling Model

With Maslow's hierarchy as a basis, the model expands to provide a structure for setting goals in counseling cases and overall programs. Fourteen kinds of client concerns are identified, and suggestions are made for using these 14 categories. The article includes specific suggestions for using the model in diagnosis, evaluation, counselor education, and research.     

Addressing Value‐Based Conflicts Within the Counseling Relationship: A Decision‐Making Model

A growing number of legal and ethical cases have involved value conflicts between counselors, or counselors‐in‐training, and their clients. The authors examine considerations that professional counselors are encouraged to take into account when value conflicts arise within the therapeutic relationship. The authors present a strategy known as ethical bracketing and the Counselor Values‐Based Conflict Model as tools to use when facing conflicts that arise between personal and professional values.     

Oedipal Issues in Counseling Psychology

The current status of counseling psychology is analyzed from the perspective of a Freudian, drive-structure theory. It is argued that counseling psychology has committed the classical response to the Oedipal conflict in its treatment of counselor education by identifying with the aggressor (i.e., psychiatry and clinical psychology). A more unified relationship between counseling psychology and counselor education is recommended.     

Lesbian-Related Issues in Counseling Supervision

No abstract available for this article.     

Counseling Issues for Adult Women in Career Transition

This article addresses current psychosocial issues facing women in career transition and the implications of those issues for career counselors. Specifically, psychosocial developmental trajectories, the roles of family and relationships, the importance of underlying physical and mental health issues, and sociocultural and contextual stressors are relevant for women in the midst of career change. The author discusses how career counselors can prepare for this complexity and addresses clients' current economic and social milieus. A checklist is provided to aid the career counselor in addressing the multiple issues that a new client brings to the 1st counseling encounter.     

Buddhist Perspectives for Addressing Values Conflicts in Counseling: Possibilities From Practice

In recent years, the issue of value conflicts in counseling has become more salient, whereas equitably working with such conflicts has been increasingly contested. Interest in the confluence of counseling and spirituality has also grown. Using relevant Buddhist principles, the authors offer a spiritual framework that is illustrated through clinical case studies. These are used to conceptualize concerns, understand the conflict, and find ways to be responsive to the disjunction between client and counselor.     

Addressing the Complexities of Culture and Gender in Counseling

The purpose of this article is to describe a model for organizing and systematically considering 9 complex and overlapping cultural influences that counselors need to be addressing in their work: Age and generational influences, Disability, Religion, Ethnicity, Social status, Sexual orientation, Indigenous heritage, National origin, and Gender (which together form the slightly misspelled acronym ADRESSING). The ADRESSING model is particularly useful in helping counselors and educators to (a) examine their own biases and areas of inexperience regarding minority cultures and (b) consider the salience of multiple cultural influences and identities with their clients.