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?     

Predicting Freshman Grades and Counselors' Prediction Style

This study attempted to assess 2 questions: (1) What cognitive procedures, as suggested by the use of case data, do counselors use to arrive at a specific prediction? (2) Are the cognitive procedures used by counselors related to actual predictive accuracy? The predicted criterion was freshman grades. 66 counselors were classified into 4 groups on the basis of their typical styles of using case data to predict this criterion. The results showed that counselors varied markedly in their approach to this task. Regardless of the amount of case data available, some counselors appeared consistently to apply a prediction equation of some kind to every case while others attempted to develop independent models for each case. However, the style with which data were used was not significantly related to predictive accuracy.     

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: What Are We Talking About?

The term Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) genetic testing refers to many different categories of testing. This editorial addresses the issues related to DTC testing for large effect and small effect variants associated with disease. In particular, there are issues of clinical validity and utility, informativeness and residual risk. Genetic counselors are poised to address these issues because of their training in probability and statistical models. The authors suggest that genetic counselors can impact the general public’s understanding of DTC test results by: including evaluation of DTC concepts in graduate program curricula, holding AEC plenary sessions about emerging DTC concepts, and helping other professionals understand DTC concepts. Importantly, genetic counselors are advised to continue doing and promoting rigorous research on how people access and use DTC genetic testing and results, as well as gathering empirical data so that discussions of harms and benefits can go beyond theory. It is our hope that genetic counselors in practice will continue to critically evaluate claims made about emerging new tests, including those marketed DTC, in order to provide the best possible services to our patients.     

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.     

The effects of a seven day camping experience on volunteer student counselors

An investigation of the effects of a seven-day camp experience with disturbed adolescents on approximately sixty undergraduate "camp counselors" was conducted. Measures of the types of reinforcement preferred and used as well as an overall attitude toward disturbed adolescents were obtained and evaluated. The results indicated that the student counselors did not use the type of reinforcement that they felt was most important and they did not change their attitudes toward disturbed adolescents as a result of experience. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as some suggestions for future research into practicum sites for programs training teachers of the severely disturbed.     

The Roles of Family,Friends, and Romantic/Sexual Partners in the Body Image of Sexual Minority Men

The purpose of this study was to explore the roles of family, friends, and romantic/sexual partners in the body image development of sexual minority men. Data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research methodology. Romantic/sexual partners, family, and friends were all found to play influential roles in body development, with romantic/sexual partners being the most significant and friends being the least significant. Implications for counselors and counselor educators, as well as suggestions for future research, are provided.     

Comparative Effectiveness of Student and Professional Counselors

A sample of 160 beginning freshmen, half males and half females, received six and one-half hours of academic adjustment guidance from same-sex professional counselors. Upperclassman student counselors gave equivalent guidance to all other beginning freshmen at Southwest Texas State College. A matching sample of 80 men and 80 women was subsequently drawn from the 316 freshmen receiving student-to-student counseling. Age, sex, measured scholastic ability, measured study orientation, and high school academic achievement were employed as matching variables. The four professional and eight student counselors completed 50 clock hours of identical pre-counseling training, used identical guidance materials, and followed identical counseling activity sequences. Equivalent counseling facilities were provided for all counselors. Test, questionnaire, and scholarship data were employed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness and acceptability of counseling given the professional counseled and the student counseled groups. Student counselors were found to be as effective as professional counselors on all criteria of counseling effectiveness. Furthermore, freshmen counseled by student counselors made significantly greater use of the information received during counseling, as reflected by first-semester grades and residual study problems. It was concluded that carefully selected, trained, and supervised student counselors provide a practical and productive addition to the college's guidance program.     

Counseling in the Era of AIDS

The AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) crisis is affecting greater numbers of people, and counselors are being called upon to work with this population. Counseling roles have expanded, and counselors have been thrust into the medical, social service, and political spheres. In this article the authors describe the role of the counselor in the era of AIDS; psychological reactions to a chronic, stigmatized, and ultimately fatal illness; and the special needs of specific populations (gay men, families and friends of gay men, gay youth, significant others, people of color, heterosexual women and lesbians, college students, substance abusers, and the “worried well”). The authors also examine the effects of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) illness and AIDS on the care giver. Counseling interventions are described throughout the article.     

The Role of Decision-Making Models and Reflection in Navigating Ethical Dilemmas

The ACA Code of Ethics (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2014) mandates counselor competency in using ethical decision-making models (EDMs) and mandates that counselors use an EDM when confronted with making ethical decisions. Additionally, researchers have highlighted the importance of counselors continually evaluating and reflecting when faced with ethical dilemmas and working through a decision-making model. Using a phenomenological research design, the authors examined how counselors address ethical dilemmas, including how reflection and EDMs are incorporated into the decision-making process. Emergent themes from data analysis include (a) incomplete following of EDMs, (b) varied dilemmas, (c) power, and (d) ethics training.     

Lessons from Freelancing,Lighting Design to Genetic Counseling

Theatrical lighting design and genetic counseling may seem like antipodal career choices. The former was chosen from a belief in the dynamism of the theatrical experience, as well as love of the actual work. As I grew older, the powerful personal experiences of a life encompassing miscarriages, the birth of a child with a genetic disorder, and breast cancer profoundly directed my choice of a new career; one that I also love. Clearly, the day-to-day work is very different. However, people in both professions strive to create a transformative space for their respective public. Rather than being left behind, lessons learned by working as a freelancer have served as a source of inspiration as I have matured into my new career. Three specific strategies, supported by literature on career models, have been paramount. First, keeping an eye on the big picture encourages awareness of where the field of genetics and the genetic counseling job market are headed. That awareness leads to the advocacy necessary to achieve the outcomes genetic counselors want. Second, striving for continual personal growth keeps genetic counselors engaged and personally ready for professional changes. Third, networking provides the connections to make clinical and advocacy efforts successful, in addition to essential social support.     

Religiosity,Gender, and Preferences for Religious Interventions in Counseling: A Preliminary Study

The authors sought to determine whether relationships existed between religiosity, gender, and preferences for a counselor's use of religious interventions in counseling. First, it was hypothesized that students with high religiosity would express stronger preferences for a counselor's use of religious interventions than would students with low religiosity. Second, it was hypothesized that women would express stronger preferences for religious interventions in counseling than would men. Results supported both hypotheses, and the findings may have important implications for counselors working with clients who indicate adherence to religious views or faith.     

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.     

A Relational Approach to Genetic Counseling for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer

Ethical issues arise for genetic counselors when a client fails to disclose a genetic diagnosis of hereditary disease to family: they must consider the rights of the individual client to privacy and confidentiality as well as the rights of the family to know their genetic risk. Although considerable work has addressed issues of non-disclosure from the client’s perspective, there is a lack of qualitative research into how genetic counselors address this issue in practice. In this study, a qualitative approach was taken to investigate whether genetic counselors in Australia use a relational approach to encourage the disclosure of genetic information from hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) clients among family members; and if so, how they use it. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 genetic counselors from selected states across Australia. Data collection and analysis were guided by a basic iterative approach incorporating a hybrid methodology to thematic analysis. The findings provide indicative evidence of genetic counselors employing a relational approach in three escalating stages––covert, overt and authoritative––to encourage the disclosure of genetic information. The findings lend credence to the notion that genetic counselors envision a form of relational autonomy for their clients in the context of sharing genetic information, and they depart from individualistic conceptions of care/solely client-centered counseling when addressing the needs of other family members to know their genetic status.     

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.     

Men in Hiding: A Challenge for the Counselor

Men in our society are culturally conditioned to conceal their emotions and innermost thoughts. This article discusses how men learn to hide, why counselors should bring them out of hiding, and how counselors can do so.     

Counselors,confidences, and the civil liberties of clients

Counselors can and do injure counselees by prying improperly into private matters, by passing information along without the counselees' informed consent, and by using privileged information as a basis for recommendations to others. The danger is especially great where counselors work within organizations, and even greater when their clients are fellow members. Safeguards against this danger would appear to take an uncounselorlike form. Although counselors are not usually sympathetic to a legalistic approach, it is from our constitutional traditions that we can best deduce the kinds of protection that we need.     

Counseling African American Men: A Contextualized Humanistic Perspective

Historically, the humanity of African American men has been attacked in a cruel and vicious manner. African American men have been categorized as animalistic beings without intellectual or moral qualities. In this article, it is argued that a contextualized humanistic approach can offer counselors an important corrective to the typical dehumanized view of African American men so often found in the social science literature and popular media.     

Moving Through Loss: The Spiritual Journey of Gay Men and Lesbian Women

This article describes losses of gay men and lesbian women relative to their relationship with traditional religion and the mental health profession. By helping their clients reframe these losses into opportunities for transformation, counselors can facilitate spiritual integration both within and beyond the context of Judeo-Christian spiritualities.     

From Good to Great: Examining Exemplary Counselor Development

Some counselors excel in the profession. Few do so while maintaining a balance in life. This article examines the life of one such individual, Samuel T. Gladding. He models for counselors an aspirational process of making significant contributions to the profession while staying personally grounded. Qualities that propel professionals like Gladding from being good as a young professional into prominence as a mature counselor are examined.     

Focus Groups: A Practical and Applied Research Approach for Counselors

Focus groups are becoming a popular research approach that counselors can use as an efficient, practical, and applied method of gathering information to better serve clients. In this article, the authors describe focus groups and their potential usefulness to professional counselors and researchers. Practical implications related to the use of focus groups in counseling practice are discussed, and case examples are provided demonstrating how focus groups can be useful to counselors.