Assessment Strategies for the Handicapped

This review of assessment strategies for handicapped populations is intended to provide counselors with assessment perspectives as well as specific suggestions. The review emphasizes the counselor's role as a member of a diagnostic team and the need to consider a variety of information in the formation of meaningful intervention strategies.     

Inclusion of Substance Abuse Training in CACREP‐Accredited Programs

Professional counselors and counselors‐in‐training continue to serve clients who have substance abuse issues, yet systematic training in substance abuse counseling is not available to many counselors. The authors investigated the extent to which students in programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP; 2001) are exposed to clients presenting with substance abuse issues and the relationship between state licensure or certification in substance abuse and the resulting perception of the need for the inclusion of substance abuse training in these programs. Three methods are presented for possibly including substance abuse training in CACREP standards.     

APGA Members in Retirement and Their Advice to the Rest of Us

Retired and emeritus members of APGA answered a survey on their lives in retirement, their recommendations to APGA concerning activities for retired members, their suggestions for training programs in geriatric counseling, and their advice to younger counselors on planning for retirement. The results indicate most retired counselors are financially comfortable and continue to lead happy and productive lives in retirement. In their recommendations the counselors emphasized the need to remain active and stressed the importance of planning well in advance of actual retirement. They had many specific suggestions for APGA programming.     

Training for institutional change

If counselors are going to perform functions different from dyadic therapeutic counseling, institutions preparing counselors must change the context and processes of their programs. Assisting an individual to change is difficult; intervention for institutional change is infinitely complex. Yet many of the concepts and skills are the same for both. Dustin describes the procedures he has used to equip counselors to utilize the basic principles of change with an organization as a target. Other trainers may use other methods in this relatively new extension of counselor functioning; what is clear, however, is the need for new training models if our goals of creating humane environments is to be reached.     

Employment Counseling for the Handicapped Can Be Easier Through Linkages

Employment counseling for handicapped students in transition from the high school setting to the world of work is often ineffective. Developing linkages between service providers in high schools and those in governmental agencies and private industries is necessary. This article focuses on the roles of the four significant actors in this linkage development: vocational teachers, rehabilitation and employment counselors, parents, and special education teachers and school counselors.     

GENERALIZATION AND MAINTENANCE OF COMPLEX SKILLS BY SEVERELY HANDICAPPED ADOLESCENTS FOLLOWING PICTURE PROMPT TRAINING

Three severely handicapped adolescents were trained, using a picture prompt package, to complete three complex vocational or daily living tasks. Results indicated that all students required many training sessions to learn the first training task. Following initial training, however, all students generalized their use of the pictures across settings without additional training. The students also needed substantially reduced amounts of training on the remaining two tasks. During maintenance, two of the students continued to perform at relatively high levels of accuracy with and without the picture prompts, whereas one student continued to need the pictures.     

Counseling the Disabled Older Person for the World of Work

Although work is meaningful to many older persons, numerous barriers exist that prohibit their active participation in the labor force. Employment counselors must possess a variety of attributes to help break down these barriers. This article discusses skills that the counselor needs when working with older adults and in particular with those who are disabled. Specialized approaches to job placement are discussed, including job modification and job restructuring. To become a successful advocate for the disabled elderly wishing to enter or remain in the labor market, the employment counselor is urged to become familiar with characteristics of older persons and federal laws relating to job development and placement for older and handicapped workers.     

Counselor Applications of Research Findings to Practice: Learning To Stay Current

There is evidence that many counselors currently perceive research as irrelevant to their work, possibly because the present model of training counselors to solve problems is inadequate. The authors point out ways in which applied training can be restructured so that counselors will be better able to apply research findings to their practice.     

Relevance and Alliance: Cornerstones in Training Counselors of Men

The need for alliance between women and men is fundamental for fully understanding as well as for effectively countering the negative consequences of gender roles and related strains for both sexes. This article discusses training counselors of men in relation to two questions: Is sexism as relevant an issue for men as it seems to be for women? and What are appropriate goals for training sessions of counselors of men?     

The Coping with Stress Model: A Counseling Approach for Families with a Handicapped Child

The authors describe a cognitive-behavioral model for coping with stress that counselors can use as the basis for family assessment and personalized intervention. The model, assessment procedures, and appropriate counseling strategies are discussed. Translation of the model into clinical practice is examined with families of handicapped young children. A brief case study is provided to illustrate the model's usefulness for 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.     

Next Generation Sequencing is the Impetus for the Next Generation of Laboratory-Based Genetic Counselors

Next generation sequencing (NGS) is dramatically increasing the number of clinically available genetic tests and thus the number of patients in which such testing may be indicated. The complex nature and volume of the reported results requires professional interpretation of the testing in order to translate and synthesize the meaning and potential benefit to patients, and genetic counselors are uniquely suited to provide this service. The increased need for genetic counselors in this role, coupled with the time required and a limited number of trained and available counselors presents a challenge to current models for making genetic testing available to patients and their healthcare providers effectively and efficiently. The employment of genetic counselors at genetic/genomic laboratories is one model to expand the resources for providing this service. In this article, we briefly review the advent of NGS and its clinical applications, examine the core skills of genetic counselors and delineate the expanding roles and responsibilities of laboratory-based genetic counselors. We also propose changes to the genetic counseling training program curriculum to account for the increasing opportunities for genetic counselors to contribute and thrive within genetic testing laboratories.     

Teaching Genomic Counseling: Preparing the Genetic Counseling Workforce for the Genomic Era

Genetic counselors have a long-standing history of working on the clinical forefront of implementing new genetic technology. Genomic sequencing is no exception. The rapid advancement of genomic sequencing technologies, including but not limited to next generation sequencing approaches, across all subspecialties of genetic counseling mandates attention to genetic counselor training at both the graduate and continuing education levels. The current era provides a tremendous opportunity for counselors to become actively involved in making genomics more accessible, engaging the population in decisions to undergo sequencing and effectively translating genomic information to promote health and well-being. In this commentary, we explore reasons why genomic sequencing warrants particular consideration and put forward strategies for training program curricula and continuing education programs to meet this need.     

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.     

The Adolescent with Diabetes and the Public Schools—A Misunderstanding

The academic aptitudes and school achievement of the children with diabetes in 58 junior and senior high schools have been explored. Teachers and school counselors were queried concerning their understanding of diabetes, and its management and nature of interaction with the child and his parents. Implications for public school education of the chronically handicapped child were presented.     

Primary Prevention and Assessment

Prevention is related to the need for a comprehensive assessment technology. The failure of training programs to prepare counselors for assessment is viewed as one of the major problems.     

Training the Millennial Learner Through Experiential Evolutionary Scaffolding: Implications for Clinical Supervision in Graduate Education Programs

They are the Millennials – Generation Y. Over the next few decades, they will be entering genetic counseling graduate training programs and the workforce. As a group, they are unlike previous youth generations in many ways, including the way they learn. Therefore, genetic counselors who teach and supervise need to understand the Millennials and explore new ways of teaching to ensure that the next cohort of genetic counselors has both skills and knowledge to represent our profession well. This paper will summarize the distinguishing traits of the Millennial generation as well as authentic learning and evolutionary scaffolding theories of learning that can enhance teaching and supervision. We will then use specific aspects of case preparation during clinical rotations to demonstrate how incorporating authentic learning theory into evolutionary scaffolding results in experiential evolutionary scaffolding, a method that potentially offers a more effective approach when teaching Millennials. We conclude with suggestions for future research.     

The Future Is Now: Promoting Professionalism Among Counselors-in-Training

The authors address the need for promoting professionalism among graduate students and new counselors and outline specific, practical suggestions for incorporating professional development activities into training, supervision, professional, and organizational practice.     

Training Counselors for Special Education

Through a one-year internship, counselors develop attitudes and competencies needed to promote the career development of handicapped high school students. This new specialty in the counseling field, although it incorporates elements of rehabilitation, school, and vocational counseling, occurs within the framework of special education classes in regular high schools, and therefore is markedly different from any existing specialty. The role model developed in this project, now in its fifth year, stresses outreach, planning, and an active part for the counselor. This approach has been found effective both with handicapped and with learning disabled students in several urban schools.     

Lighting Fires in Burned-Out Counselors

The authors conducted workshops for the development of leisure awareness in counselors. These experiences resulted in the authors' awareness that many counselors were not feeling fulfilled in their work and in fact, if given the option, would prefer spending their time in leisure activities. This article describes the development (and provides examples) of workshop exercises designed to fuse work and leisure. It presumes that most counselors prefer to remain in the counseling field but need some method to recapture their initial enthusiasm for their work.