The Values of Counseling: A Disparity Between a Philosophy of Prevention in Counseling and Counselor Practice and Training

The results of a study examining the disparity between counseling's philosophy of primary prevention and actual education and practice are presented. Results indicate that only the belief that society does not demand preventive mental health services provided a meaningful explanation for the disparity. Two paradoxical implications for the field of counseling are offered and discussed within the perspective of virtue ethics.     

The Black Church,Values, and Secular Counseling: Implications for Counselor Education and Practice

There has been a recent increase in the amount of attention given in the counseling literature to addressing clients’ religion and spirituality. However, Black American churchgoers are rarely the target population in the discourse, and little is known about how the Black church shapes their views. This article provides information on values of the Black church and the church's influence on Black American churchgoers regarding secular counseling. Implications for counselor education and practice are discussed.     

Team Counseling in Counselor Education

This research compares effectiveness of interaction between student counselors and clients in the counseling practicum utilizing two approaches. One approach involves two student counselors working together simultaneously as a team; the other is the standard counseling approach. Significant differences in satisfaction were found in favor of the team approach. Results suggested that counselor security was enhanced in the team situation, thereby facilitating communication.     

Career Counseling and Counselor Training in Finland

This article gives an overview of career counseling and counselor training in Finland. Changes with respect to theory and practice are also discussed.     

Counseling Outcomes: Counselor Characteristics and Client Results

Eighteen counselors in one of the administrative areas of the California Department of Human Resources and 697 of their closed cases were studied in order to discover whether differences in employability outcomes did exist. The study attempted to answer the following questions: (a) How many clients achieve employability during their relationships with employment counselors? (b) What is the final disposition of cases that are closed other than employable? and (c) To what degree do counselors engage in placement activities and what influence do these activities have on employable closures? The study provides evidence that some counselors had significantly more clients achieve employable status than did other counselors.     

Values in Counseling and Psychotherapy

The purpose of this article is to consider the various ways that values enter into counseling or psychotherapy, with particular attention to the goals of the process and the methods or procedures by which the counselor or therapist implements the process.     

Counselor Roles According to Two Counseling Worldviews

This article defines the traditional psychological worldview and the emergent systemic worldview in counseling theory. The two counseling worldviews are described as presenting distinct roles for professional counselors with respect to assessment, remediation, and case management.     

The Use of Counselor Profanity in Counseling

In this article the author reviews some of the literature on counselor profanity and provides guidelines for its use in counseling.     

Counselor Values: A National Survey

A national sample (n = 479) of counselors representative of the 1993 American Counseling Association membership was surveyed regarding their value orientations in four domains: universal values, mental health values, individualistic-collectivistic values, and religious-spiritual values. Results yielded a multifaceted, generally concordant (although by no means unanimous) value profile for professional counselors across these value domains, presenting an overall content pattern that might be globally summarized as a strong core valuing of holistic-humanistic empowerment related to personal development and interpersonal and social concern. Implications for counseling practice, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Counselor Preparation and the Association for Spiritual,Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling Competencies: An Exploratory Study

A national study of American Counseling Association members (N = 230) examined perceptions of the importance of the 14 Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC) Spiritual Competencies and perceived ability to practice those competencies. Learning pathways to achieve knowledge of the ASERVIC Competencies were explored. Participants viewed the competencies as important but felt less able to consistently practice them. Prior exposure to the content of the competencies through spiritual topics covered in graduate school was positively correlated to perceived ability to practice the competencies. Recommendations were made for strengthening teaching of spirituality in counselor education.     

Counselor Demographics,Ageist Attitudes,and Multicultural Counseling Competence Among Counselors and Counselor Trainees

The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship among counselors’ self‐reported multicultural counseling competence and their attitudes of the geriatric population. A statistically significant negative correlation was found between participants’ attitudes of the geriatric population and their self‐reported multicultural counseling competence. Implications for training and practice are provided.     

The Counselor and Change: Counseling for Cultural Transition

Cultural analysts have indicated that American culture is going through a significant transition in values. The views of three of these analysts are reviewed and implications are drawn for counselors.