Attribution Retraining as a Structured Group Counseling Intervention

The efficacy of attribution retraining as a structured group counseling intervention was tested. Participants were classified as having either an adaptive or nonadaptive attributional style. Three groups of participants were then created: Adaptive Group, Nonadaptive Group, Treatment Group (nonadaptive attributional style participants who received treatment involving attribution retraining). Results indicated that participants in the Treatment Group made relatively more adaptive attributions (similar to the adaptive Group) for an experimentally induced uncontrollable failure and reported lower levels of depressive mood than the Nonadaptive Group. Results are discussed as providing partial support for the efficacy of attribution retraining as a structured group counseling intervention.     

A Religiously Oriented Group Counseling Intervention for Self-Defeating Perfectionism: A Pilot Study

This article briefly describes a group counseling intervention we used with devout Mormon college students who were struggling with issues of perfectionism. The treatment package contained several religious and spiritual interventions including religious imagery, religious bibliotherapy assignments, and discussions about religious concepts of perfection. Group participants scored lower on depression and perfectionism, and higher on self-esteem, existential well-being, and religious well-being at the conclusion of the group. The favorable results of this pilot study will hopefully provide incentive for researchers to further evaluate religiously oriented treatment approaches for perfectionism.     

Group Counseling for Aged Women

Because of the benefits of group-counseling experiences, the lack of psychological services for older adults, and the unique concerns of aged women, a group-counseling program for aged women was conducted. The results of these efforts are presented for the purposes of sharing the proposed program sequence, describing what actually took place during the group sessions, conveying the comments and reactions offered by the group participants, and summarizing what we learned about facilitating groups for aged women.     

Loving‐Kindness Meditation and Empathy: A Wellness Group Intervention for Counseling Students

The effect of a 6‐week loving‐kindness meditation (LKM) on the multidimensional empathy of 103 master's‐level counseling students was evaluated, in addition to the correlation between reported levels of time spent meditating and empathy. Statistical analyses indicated that participants who received the LKM intervention experienced gains in dimensions of empathy. A significant relationship between quantity of meditation and perspective taking was noted. Implications and suggestions for future research are explored.     

Job Link: An Employment Counseling Program for Immigrants

A group employment counseling program for counseling immigrants is described. Evaluation results from the project are also presented.     

Evaluation of Group Vocational Counseling for Women

Single mothers on income assistance participated in a vocational counseling group to facilitate job reentry. Although no statistical changes in participants were recorded, patterns of change are discussed.     

对心理咨询中价值干预问题的理性思考

对价值问题的处理是心理咨询中的重要哲学命题。人本主义心理学所遵循的“价值中立”原则,是心理咨询中回避价值干预的根源所在。通过对心理咨询理论的整体审视,提出不能简单地把价值中立原则拓展到整个心理咨询之中,不能忽视心理咨询的教育功能和社会责任,纯粹的“价值中立”是无法实现的。     

抑郁的团体心理治疗

本文研究了团体心理咨询在治疗大学生的抑郁症方面的效果。我们采用的治疗形式是团体心理咨询 ,治疗方法是认知行为疗法 (包括理性情绪疗法 ) ,被试是四名大学生。我们对团体活动的效果采用了多种方法进行评估 ,结果发现 ,团体心理治疗可以有效地减轻大学生的抑郁程度。活动中我们取得了一定的经验 ,但同时也发现了一些问题 ,值得我们做进一步的研究     

Developing a Career Counseling Intervention Program for Foster Youth

Former foster youth often experience difficulty finding and maintaining employment as they emancipate from state care. Research highlights this fact by consistently reporting on the bleak employment outcomes of former foster youth; however, virtually no studies have given practical guidance to practitioners on how to develop interventions. This article addresses this gap in the literature by providing practitioners with a detailed outline of a career counseling group intervention program for foster youth. A brief review of the literature informing this intervention program is also presented.     

Systematic Counseling: The T-F-A Model for Counselor Intervention

Counselors in educational settings are usually not free to select the kinds of clients and problems with which they may work most effectively. Therefore, counselors must select counseling strategies that maximize the probability of helping all clients achieve personal goals. These strategies may focus primarily on changing how clients think, feel, or act (T-F-A). Combinations of thinking, feeling, and acting strategies are illustrated along with relationships to different counseling theories. Effective counselors need to systematically use varying combinations of T-F-A strategies that will be of maximum value in helping individual clients to change their behavior.     

Letter Therapy: A Model for Enhancing Counseling Intervention

Based on 15 letters between a counselor and a female client, this article outlines and discusses a unique letter therapy process, which is loosely adapted from the Morita Therapy approach to counseling. The five-step Letter therapy approach consists of 1) opening up, 2) focusing on life themes, 3) redirecting toward strengths, 4) reinforcing actions, and 5) affirming a positive attitude toward life. Letter writing has the potential of being used by counselors either in conjunction with face-to-face counseling or as a separate therapeutic method.     

Intentional Forgiving as a Counseling Intervention

Forgiveness has been represented in counseling literature as an effective means of promoting personal and relational development. Despite this, a concise set of guidelines to direct counselors in the use of forgiveness has yet to be proposed. The author presents theological and counseling understandings of forgiveness and delineates contexts in which counselors have promoted forgiveness in clients. Drawing on the increasing base of counseling-related literature concerning the importance of forgiveness, the author defines and proposes guidelines for a counseling approach called “intentional forgiving,” an intervention in which clients are directed to forgive someone who has wounded them.