Certification of Specialties: Not If,But How

The guest editorial and featured articles have established the fact of counseling specialties and also that counselors have no clear or consistent scheme to recognize professional specialization. If counselors expect external recognition of and respect for their credentials, the credentials first must be recognized and understood by counselors. The experiences of other professions suggest strategies, but counselors must determine their own way of recognizing specialties without denying counselors' common identity. The profession and practice of counseling will be strengthened if all counselors have a minimum foundation of counseling knowledge and competencies and build accepted specializations on that foundation. The counseling profession must distinguish among work settings, professional interests, and specializations as a prerequisite to a coherent scheme of recognizing specialties.     

Professional Issues of International Genetic Counseling Students Educated in the United States

International students have unique personal and academic challenges during their training in genetic counseling programs across the United States (U.S.). Previous research has explored their motivations and experiences; however, there is scant research on how their international status affects the post-graduate experience. The current study used semi-structured phone interviews to explore the professional issues that international students face throughout their educational and professional careers. Twenty-six participants were interviewed including international genetic counseling students in their second years of training and international genetic counselors who graduated from a U.S.-accredited program. Participants included six, second-year students, twelve genetic counselors employed in the U.S., six employed in Canada, and one employed in the United Kingdom (U.K.). Qualitative analysis of interviews captured the common experiences and challenges international students faced during their training and post-graduation. Participants stated that they applied to programs in the U.S. because there is wide transferability of qualifications across the world, and there is limited or no opportunities for masters level genetic counseling training in their home country. Most participants who had applied for jobs in the U.S. experienced difficulties regarding unfamiliarity of human resources (HR) departments and Border Control Officers with international genetic counselors (GCs) and their visa requirements. The results suggest that currently there are insufficient job resources tailored to international genetic counselors, and an inadequate availability of peer support. The results also speak to the need to develop resources for prospective international students and for international GCs seeking jobs, and establishment of a peer support network. These resources may also provide assistance to genetic counseling training programs and employers to address the challenges faced by international genetic counselors.     

Rehabilitation Counseling: A Profession or a Trade?

The problem of the shortage of counselors is examined and the various possible solutions considered. A solution that appears to be developing in many state rehabilitation agencies is the employment of college graduates with no preparation in counseling. These employees are designated as counselors, counselor aides, or counselor trainees, and given in-service training. Such persons, it appears, will eventually be considered counselors without any further educational preparation. It is questioned whether they are, in fact, counselors, but if they are able to perform all the functions of those designated as counselors (excluding professional counseling), then counseling is not a profession, but a trade, for which adequate preparation can be obtained through on-the-job training.     

Enriching the Genetic Counseling Recruitment Pipeline: A National Cross-Sectional Study of Public High School Counselors

Early awareness of careers is helpful in recruiting students into a career pipeline. School counselors are among the top resources that students turn to when seeking advice about choosing their career. Studies show that high school is the ideal time to generate interest in the genetic counseling career, especially for minorities. This novel study of 291 high school counselors working in ethnically diverse public school districts in the United States examined to what extent members of this important group discuss genetic counseling as a career option with their students. The findings indicate that the majority of school counselors in this study (83%) did not discuss genetic counseling with their students, citing a lack of resources and lack of student interest as the major barriers. Suggestions of ways to increase high school counselors’ awareness of the genetic counseling career in order to enhance the goal of enriching recruitment of ethnic minorities into the genetic counseling pipeline are presented.     

Publishing a Master’s Thesis: A Guide for Novice Authors

Publication of original research, clinical experiences, and critical reviews of literature are vital to the growth of the genetic counseling field, delivery of genetic counseling services, and professional development of genetic counselors. Busy clinical schedules, lack of time and funding, and training that emphasizes clinical skills over research skills may make it difficult for new genetic counselors to turn their thesis projects into publications. This paper summarizes and elaborates upon a presentation aimed at de-mystifying the publishing process given at the 2008 National Society of Genetic Counselors Annual Education Conference. Specific topics include familiarizing prospective authors, particularly genetic counseling students, with the basics of the publication process and related ethical considerations. Former students’ experiences with publishing master’s theses also are described in hopes of encouraging new genetic counselors to submit for publication papers based on their thesis projects.     

Case Study: New Directions For the College Counselor at CCNY

Community mental health concepts suggest that college counselors may move towards preventive activity rather than remaining focused primarily on response to established symptoms in troubled students. Preventive activity views the college, its policies, and its administration as legitimate areas of counselor-involvement. Experience indicates there is room on the campus for both functions: (a) traditional one-to-one interactions within the counseling office; and (b) outreach programs affecting large numbers of students and administrators. Outreach has shown itself effective in reaching students who might not spontaneously seek out the counseling office. Several areas of counselor involvement at City College in which the staff has experimented with the outreach philosophy are discussed.     

Community-based college guidance for the disadvantaged

New techniques of counseling and guidance must be developed in order to increase substantially the number of disadvantaged students going to college. One major effort should be an organized community guidance program whose essential elements are: (a) professional school and college counselors operating outside the school; (b) key community persons acting as links between potential college students and professional counselors; and (c) ongoing programs providing literature, speakers, and special services geared to motivate and help disadvantaged students to enroll in and be successful at college.     

What Do Genetic Counselors Learn on the Job? A Qualitative Assessment of Professional Development Outcomes

Professional development is an important goal for professionals in human service fields such as counseling, teaching, and nursing. However, there are relatively few published papers on this topic specific to genetic counselors, and no studies systematically examine the outcomes of their professional development. This study was designed to investigate genetic counselors’ perceptions of their post-degree learning and to compare themes in their learning to those of psychotherapist professional development models. Two hundred ninety-three genetic counselors completed the demographics portion of an anonymous online survey, and of these, 185 also responded to at least one of two open-ended items: What is the most important thing you have learned about yourself in your practice as a genetic counselor? and What advice would you give to genetic counseling students just starting their career? An interpretative content-analysis method was used to extract three major themes: Intrapersonal lessons, Interpersonal lessons, and Professional lessons. Training and practice implications and research recommendations are provided.     

Christian Couple Counseling by Professional,Pastoral, and Lay Counselors from a Protestant Perspective: A Nationwide Survey

Couple counseling is widely practiced by Christian counselors, but there are almost no empirical data investigating it. The present study presents data from a national web-based survey of counselors from the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). We describe the nature of Christian couple counseling, as well as counselors' religiousness and their attitudes toward integrating religion and spirituality into couple counseling. Christian couple counselors were highly religious and their personal religiosity affected their attitude toward incorporating religion in counseling. There were differences between professional, pastoral, and lay counselors suggesting that each be treated separately rather than be lumped generically as Christian couple counseling.     

Lived Stories: Participatory Leadership in School Counseling

The article is a personal and professional account by 2 counselor educators who worked together as professional school counselors in the same high school setting. Both reflect on the “storied” nature of their professional development and define participatory leadership in school counseling as emerging from engagement and participation in collaborative efforts to bring about systemic change in schools by advocating for all students, especially those who have been traditionally marginalized.     

Student Perception of Counselor Role

A semantic differential and a Thurstone-type rating scale of satisfaction with counseling were used to measure changes in the perceptions held by students regarding their high school counselors over a period of 2 years. During this time, the large suburban high school that was the locale for the study changed from a system of deans who had both counseling and disciplinary duties to a system of counselors who did not discipline students. Factor analyses and non-parametric change tests were conducted. It was found that, especially during the first year, students perceived their counselors more negatively than they had perceived their deans. Some signs of movement toward more favorable views were noted by the end of the second year. Satisfaction with counseling, however, was favorably perceived by students throughout the two years. Students tended to perceive their counselors in evaluative terms. There was no relationship between perception of counselors and satisfaction with counseling. The evidence suggests that discipline may not be the crucial variable in either student perceptions of counselors or student satisfaction with counseling.     

Actors in the Classroom: The Dramatic Pedagogy Model of Counselor Education

Role playing is a fundamental component in the training of counselors to use counseling skills. However, role play activities commonly involve counseling students as clients or actors and hence have notable limitations. One training method widely practiced in the medical profession is the use of professional actors as patients. Although there are some examples in the literature of studies that have used actors for counselor training, most address only a specific topic or skill set. In this article, the authors propose the dramatic pedagogy model (DPM) as a comprehensive model for implementing client actors into the education of counselors. The DPM includes a set of pedagogical techniques and a structure for preparing actors and curriculum.     

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.     

Counseling in Brazil: Past,Present, and Future

This article describes counseling in Brazil, which is rooted in career and vocational guidance. Although considered a distinct discipline, counseling falls under the umbrella of psychology. The multicultural movement is gaining momentum in Brazil, and counselors are pioneers working with socioracial minority college students. This is an emerging dimension to the professional identity. Some Brazilian universities are interested in international partnerships that could lead to the establishment of counseling as an independent profession.     

Using Photography to Enhance Development of Self,Professional Identity,and Multicultural Awareness

Counseling can be a vulnerable process for clients and counselors alike. Counselors-in-training often find their early development to be an ambiguous and anxiety-provoking process. Both metaphors and experiential activities are effective methods in counselor training for addressing the ambiguity of counseling and the concerns experienced by counseling students. This article describes how counselor educators can use photography as a metaphor to support counselor development. We also outline four creative photography activities designed to foster self-reflection, professional identity development, and multicultural awareness among counselors-in-training.     

College Students' Perceptions of the Relationship Between Fee and Counseling

Fee as a variable that could have an impact on college students' perceptions of counseling was explored because of the authentic concerns about college counseling centers needing to charge direct fees for their services. Participants (N = 350) represented a cross-section of potential consumers of psychological services, not just individuals currently receiving services. On an overt level, fees seemed to be less influential in counseling considerations, but were taken into account on a more covert level. This study supports the psychological literature, which suggests that fee is not the most important factor in clients' decisions to seek counseling. Implications for counselors, administrators, researchers, and program planners are discussed.     

Influence of Familial Spirituality: Implications for School Counseling Professionals

This article (a) addresses the importance of familial spirituality on students' holistic development; (b) explores professional ethical codes, standards, and counseling competencies relating to students' familial spirituality; (c) introduces educational activities to assist school counselors in increasing their understanding and appreciation of the influence of familial spirituality on students' behavior; (d) reviews a case study of a counselor integrating the suggested strategies in support of students and families; and (e) provides implications for professional school counseling.     

督导重要事件对新手咨询师专业成长的影响

目的：了解个别督导过程中重要事件的类型、内涵及对新手咨询师专业成长的影响。方法：采用重要事件法，访谈4对受督者和督导师，并用共识性质性研究法分析。结果：有益重要事件包括督导关系、概念化、历程化、个人化4大类；督导促进了新手咨询师干预技巧能力、治疗计划目标等8个专业领域的成长。结论：督导对于新手咨询师专业成长非常重要。各类督导事件对于新手咨询师的促进作用并不均衡。     

督导重要事件对新手咨询师专业成长的影响

目的：了解个别督导过程中重要事件的类型、内涵及对新手咨询师专业成长的影响。方法：采用重要事件法,访谈4对受督者和督导师,并用共识性质性研究法分析。结果：有益重要事件包括督导关系、概念化、历程化、个人化4大类;督导促进了新手咨询师干预技巧能力、治疗计划目标等8个专业领域的成长。结论：督导对于新手咨询师专业成长非常重要。各类督导事件对于新手咨询师的促进作用并不均衡。     

A Comparative Analysis of Ethical and Professional Challenges Experienced by Australian and U.S. Genetic Counselors

Ethical issues are an inevitable part of genetic counseling practice. Prior research identified 16 domains of ethical and professional challenges encountered by practitioners in the United States. In order to further validate these domains, the present study surveyed Australian genetic counselors. Sixty-three respondents rated the frequency with which they encountered each domain, and 39 individuals also provided personal anecdotes detailing their most challenging ethical and professional dilemmas. Every domain reportedly was experienced by the Australian sample. However, there were some differences between Australian respondents and U.S. genetic counselors in frequencies of domain occurrence, and in strategies recommended for resolving them. Several anecdotes illustrate challenging situations due to Australia’s geography, universal healthcare system, and the genetic counseling profession’s evolution in that country. The results generally validate domains identified for U.S. genetic counselors. They further suggest that certain ethical issues may manifest in ways unique to a given country, and therefore they must be addressed in a culturally-appropriate manner.