The experience of outsourcing transfer: implications for guidance and counselling

Outsourcing can involve the forced transfer of employees to another organisation. During or after the transfer they may find their jobs have changed or go through a process of downsizing. They also often have to maintain a relationship with their previous employer as they continue to work on joint projects. In this paper we review relevant research literature and identify important psychological and organisational processes involved in this process, which are of specific interest to guidance and counselling. We also present data from a longitudinal research study in which employees undergoing an outsourcing transfer discussed their experiences. A number of these employees required career counselling and some were undergoing psychological counselling to reduce depression and anxiety. In conclusion, we summarise important issues to be considered by the counsellor when advising individuals going through this process.     

Diverse goals for multicultural counselling and therapy

Proponents of multicultural counselling and therapy have emphasized the difficulties of cultural and racial minorities in relation to mainstream cultures. However, multicultural counselling and therapy is an even broader and more complex area than this. Prior to discussing therapeutic goals, this article draws on anthropology, to discuss the terminology of culture, and demography, to present population change statistics for Britain, Australia and the USA. Twelve goals for multicultural counselling and therapy are presented and discussed: reconciliation, support, coping with post-traumatic stress, assisting acculturation and assimilation, avoiding further marginalization, addressing racial and cultural discrimination, assisting clients to manage close cross-cultural relationships, assisting clients to manage intergenerational conflict, assisting long-stay transients and expatriates, assisting with gender role and equality issues, attaining higher levels of development, and the good society. As the world gets more interconnected, addressing each of these areas of multicultural counselling and therapy is going to become increasingly important.     

Experiences and perceptions of multicultural counselling scholars: a qualitative examination

This study explored the experiences and perceptions of 12 multicultural counselling scholars with regard to the field of multicultural counselling. Based on a qualitative analysis, many of our participants noted that aspects of being a multiculturally competent counsellor included open-mindedness, flexibility, a commitment to the field, active listening, knowledge and awareness of cultural issues, skillfulness in making cultural interventions, commitment to social justice issues, self-awareness, and exposure to broad and diverse life experiences. Most of the participants also stated that a challenge associated with being a multicultural psychologist was colleagues’, institutions’, and others’ resistance toward and lack of support for multicultural counselling issues. Moreover, many participants indicated that the multicultural counselling movement has had good to great impact on the larger field of applied psychology. Future research directions for the area of multicultural counselling are discussed.     

Barriers and challenges in the practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia: A qualitative interview study

Counsellors face a lot of problems and stressors in their daily lives. As a person, counsellors may face challenges to deal with their personal expectations and responsibilities in life, work, family and community. As a professional, counsellors may face difficulties in dealing with professional issues and ethical dilemmas in their professional practice such as countertransference and value conflicts. These raise issues concerning their perceived multicultural competence and the adequacy of their training. Informed by a multicultural counselling perspective and drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 professional counsellors in Malaysia, this study discusses the types of barriers and challenges faced by Malaysian counsellors and how these challenges were manifested and addressed in the cross-cultural counselling sessions. Results revealed five emerging themes based on participant counsellors’ responses on the barriers and challenges encountered in their practice of multicultural counselling in Malaysia. These were challenges related to counsellors’, clients’, presenting issues’, third-party and specific contexts’ characteristics. Research implications for the education and training of counsellors in the specific Malaysian socio-political context are also discussed.     

Universes of discourse: implications for counselling and psychotherapy

All individuals can be envisaged as living within a number of parallel universes of discourse, where different meanings and values may apply; these may be characterised by different language 'registers'. The process of counselling and psychotherapy itself constitutes such a universe. The inner and outer worlds of the client also constitute different universes that may themselves each consist of a number of distinct universes. Decisions made with respect to one universe may have different meanings or adverse consequences in another; it therefore beholds the therapist to be aware of, and alert to, these differences.     

Disasters and helpers: Psychological dynamics and implications for counselling

This paper reviews the recent research on those individuals who might be regarded as the ‘hidden victims' of disasters—the ‘Helpers'. It focusses on the complex interaction between disaster events, coping strategies and individual and personality factors as determinants of psychological and emotional problems in helpers. The discussion seeks to heighten the awareness of professional counsellors of the contribution that they can make to the training, debriefing and counselling of individuals fulfilling the role of helper by illustrating the problems that typify the helper's experience and by discussing a technique for dealing with these problems. Being prepared for the type of problems likely to be encountered and how these problems might be tackled is an important determinant of the effectiveness of the service provided. Duckworth's (1986) problem-solving approach to counselling helpers is assessed and subsequently used as a basis for discussing the role of the above information in the design and application of this problem-solving approach to dealing with the difficulties experienced by helpers as a result of their involvement in disasters.     

Preparing our future counselling professionals: Gatekeeping and the implications for research

Social science research specific to the identification and prevalence of unsuitable students within counselling, psychology, and social work training programmes is briefly reviewed in this article. This area of enquiry relates to the gatekeeping responsibilities of professional educational programmes, to ensure that their graduates are competent to provide ethical and effective practice to the public. Key issues which impede the usefulness of this gatekeeping literature to counselling educators are raised. These include: methodological inconsistencies which limit the comparison of findings and hence the drawing of sound conclusions; the lack of definitional clarity relating to the construct of gatekeeping; and the confusing array of nomenclature used to represent students’ failure to meet acceptable professional standards. It is apparent from this overview that there are common factors irrespective of nomenclature that are associated with students at risk of not becoming competent entry‐level practitioners. This suggests that a structured approach to terminology is appropriate. There is also evidence to suggest that encountering such students is a regular occurrence for faculty, with students indicating higher numbers of impaired students than educators. A working definition of gatekeeping is provided and nomenclature suggested.     

Playing for time: A psychotherapist's experience of counselling young people

This article describes the experience of a psychotherapist working for several years with adolescents and young adults at a centre offering weekly psychoanalytic psychotherapy. It describes some of the pressures placed on the therapist by young people engaging in considerable degrees of acting out and the difficulties in holding on to a sense of valuable work in the face of different attacks.     

The experience of counselling for UK egg providers

Objective

The aim of this study was to address current gaps in knowledge regarding the appropriateness and quality of counselling provided to egg donors in the UK.

Methods

The present study used a cross-sectional, qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 29 UK egg donors to explore their experiences of egg donation and the counselling received.

Results

Of the 29 participants, 24 had received counselling. The remaining five did not receive counselling because they were either not accepted as a donor (n = 4) or were offered, but chose not to take up the session (n = 1). The findings are presented in relation to five themes: feeling supported via counselling; feeling well-informed; welcoming an individualised approach; the counselling setting; and thinking about the future.

Conclusion

Egg donors in this study had varying experiences of counselling offered to them as part of the egg donation process in the UK.

Implications

The findings indicate that there are some aspects of counselling in the UK that could be improved, including the routine offering of counselling throughout the egg donation process and the tailoring of counselling to meet egg donors' individual needs.     

'Mid-Life crisis' and its implications in counselling

The term 'mid-life crisis' is increasingly used both in everyday speech and in the professional literature as an explanation of certain disturbing psychological symptoms and uncharacteristic behaviour in middle age. This paper outlines the symptoms and the causes presumed by a wide range o f literature (mainly American) to underlie them. It then examines empirical research for evidence of the existence and nature of the phenomenon labelled 'mid-life crisis' and, finding little, proposes alternative explanations for its symptoms and for the emergence and use of the concept in recent years. It concludes with an examination of implications for guidance and counselling.     

Possible antecedents and developmental implications of shame in young girls

The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of parenting style and child emotionality on the development of proneness to shame in young girls, and the mediating effect of shame on the development of adjustment problems. Eighty‐eight girls were assessed twice, at 3 and 5 years of age, along with their mothers and fathers. Shame was assessed by observations (reactions to failure and criticism); parenting style and child emotions (fearfulness, sadness, anger) were measured using parent reports; and adjustment problems were assessed by parent and teacher reports. Girls were more likely to show shame at age 5 when both their mothers and fathers had been relatively authoritarian at age 3; their emotional dispositions did not have any direct longitudinal effects on shame. Authoritarian parenting predicted subsequent internalizing problems as assessed by teachers, but there was no evidence for a mediational effect of shame. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Matrices in black and white: Implications of cultural multiplicity for research in counselling and psychotherapy

There is a lack of resarch into the relationship between culture and ethnicity, and the processes and outcomes of counselling and psychotherapy. This paper explores current and historical approaches to defining ethnicity and cultural identity, and makes suggestions for how these constructs might be more usefully understood.     

Being forgotten: implications for the experience of meaning in life

Two studies investigated the effects of being forgotten on the target of memory. In Study 1, undergraduate women (N = 96) who had completed a lab session two days prior, were randomly assigned to be remembered, forgotten, complimented, or to a control group. In the absence of effects on mood or social self-esteem, being forgotten resulted in lower meaning in life. In Study 2, participants (N = 47) who had completed a group exercise were informed two days later that no one remembered them, that everyone remembered them, or that no one wanted to work with them. Being forgotten led to lower meaning in life than being remembered but did not differ from being excluded. Being forgotten may be considered a type of incipient ostracism that influences meaning in life but not mood or state social self-esteem.     

Some legal implications of CBT stress counselling in the workplace

One tends to think of stress counselling in the workplace as providing a useful, therapeutic aid to enhancing the psychological well-being of the employee. However recent, successful litigation in the UK against 'stress-inducing' employers suggests that therapists need to be aware of the possible pitfalls of providing such a service. Employers and insurers facing large compensation claims are likely to try and reduce their liability by apportioning some 'blame' to the employee. Some therapeutic approaches, for example, cognitive therapy, may be efficacious but provide a perspective that can be given a different interpretation in court. For example, developing 'insight' into one's own contribution to stress may, legally, be construed as contributing to culpability or blame. Recommendations for reducing that likelihood are provided.     

Inadequacy of sex knowledge of adolescents: implications for counselling and sex education

There is abundant evidence relating to the paucity of sex-oriented knowledge by the average adolescent across cultures. Investigations have demonstrated that such sex learning, generally colored with misconceptions and misinformation, is obtained almost entirely from the peer group since cultural inhibitions and puritan attitudes often prevent open discussions of the subject of sex with teachers, parents or other adults. There is also every indication that adolescents' natural interest in and preoccupation with human sexuality is on the increase, aided by the current massive circulation of pornographic literature, adult examples of sexual irresponsibility and the strong desire to conform with peer norms. This paper therefore suggests that if premature teenage pregnancy as well as social, emotional and psychological consequences of teenage genital exploration is to be avoided or controlled, then a comprehensive program of sex education and sex counselling for boys and girls in the second decade of the life cycle is overdue.