Beyond Knowledge and Awareness: Enhancing Counselor Skills for Work With Gay,Lesbian, and Bisexual Clients

Whereas multicultural advances in the area of gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues have been made for increased knowledge and awareness, little development has been made regarding counselor skill building. This article outlines a model of training using role‐playing to enhance counselor skill when working with gay male, lesbian, and bisexual male and female clients. Mientras que avances multiculturales en el campo de cuestiones homosexuales, lesbianas y bisexuales han resultado en un aumento en el conocimiento y la conciencia, poco desarrollo ha resultado en cuanto a la habilitación de consejeros. Este artículo traza las líneas generales de un modelo de entrenamiento que utiliza el juego de roles para mejorar las tácticas del consejero cuando trabaja con clientes homosexuales, lesbianas, y bisexuales.     

Maternal Sensitivity and the Visual Attentiveness of Children Who Are Deaf

Maternal sensitivity may be even more important for the development of deaf infants' social and cognitive competence than previous research has shown it to be for hearing children. We report ratings of mothers' sensitivity and infants' time in coordinated joint attention (CJA) during play interactions video-taped in a laboratory at 9,12 and 18 months. Participants include 80 dyads in four groups: two matched for hearing status (Deaf or Hearing mothers with deaf or hearing babies), two unmatched for hearing status (Deaf mothers/hearing babies and Hearing mothers/deaf babies). Mothers in matched dyads were rated more sensitive than mothers in unmatched dyads. Deaf infants with Deaf mothers showed more time in CJA compared to infants in unmatched dyads. However, significant correlations of sensitivity and attention were found only for the two unmatched hearing status groups at 18 months. These results are discussed in terms of dyadic hearing status differences, intuitive parenting and developmental stage. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Counselor Ethnicity,Counselor Nonverbal Behavior,and Session Outcome With Asian American Clients: Initial Findings

Five Asian American and 5 European American female counselors each saw 3 Asian American volunteer clients for 1 session of career‐focused individual counseling. Examination of counselor nonverbal behaviors revealed that European American counselors displayed significantly greater frequency of adaptors, postural shifts, and smiles than did Asian American counselors. The frequency of smiles was significantly positively correlated with client‐rated session positivity and session arousal, and the frequency of postural shifts was significantly positively correlated with client‐rated session arousal. Limitations and implications of the findings are described.     

Counselor Competence With Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Clients: Differences Among Practice Settings

Counselors from school and community practice, counseling students, and counselor educators (N= 468) participated in this study of competence to serve lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients. Participants reported high LGB‐affirmative attitudes but lower knowledge and skills. School counselors reported significantly lower LGB competence than did counselors in other settings. Implications include the importance of graduate and postgraduate training to improve LGB knowledge and skills and the hope that LGB‐affirmative attitudes suggest receptivity toward such growth. Consejeros que trabajan en prácticas escolares y de comunidad, estudiantes de consejería y educadores de consejería (N= 468) participaron en este estudio sobre la competencia para servir a clientes lesbianas, gays y bisexuales (LGB). Los participantes comunicaron un nivel elevado de actitudes afirmativas hacia LGB, pero menores conocimientos y habilidades. Los consejeros escolares indicaron niveles de competencia en LGB significativamente menores que los consejeros en otros escenarios. Las implicaciones incluyen la importancia de la formación de estudiantes de grado y posgrado para mejorar sus conocimientos y habilidades sobre LGB y la esperanza de que las actitudes afirmativas hacia LGB sugieren receptividad hacia dicha formación.     

The Structure of Attitudes Toward Persons Who Are Deaf: Emotions,Values, and Stereotypes

The relative effects of affect, cognition, and stereotyping on attitudes toward persons who are deaf were studied. Respondents (N = 175) were initially asked to list terms or phrases that described (a) a typical person who is deaf, (b) the feelings the respondent experienced when thinking of a typical person who is deaf, and (c) beliefs about how a typical person who is deaf either facilitates or blocks cherished values held by the respondent. Then, each respondent evaluated as positive or negative each of the terms or phrases he or she wrote down. The relative effects of personality variables and structural variables on prejudicial attitudes were also assessed. Affect and past experience figured prominently in respondents' attitudes toward people who are deaf. Explanations for these findings and the implications of these results for prejudice formation and reduction were explored, especially in light of the passage, implementation, and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act.     

Contributions of Multicultural Counseling to Counselor Competence With Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Clients

This article outlines the contributions of multicultural counseling to 3 areas of counselor competence with lesbian, gay male, and bisexual male and female (LGB) clients: conceptualization of competence, counselor education, and assessment of counselor competence. The authors describe the foundations of multicultural counseling and extend the concepts to counselor competence with LGB clients. Este artículo resume las contribuciones de la consejería multicultural a tres campos de habilidad consejera con clientes homosexuales y hombres y mujeres bisexuales: la conceptualización de la competencia, educación del consejero, y evaluación de competencia para consejería. Los autores describen los fundamentos de la consejería multicultural y extienden estos conceptos a la competencia consejera con clientes homosexuales, lesbianas, y bisexuales.     

Working With Clients Who Self‐Injure: A Grounded Theory Approach

This article presents the findings of a qualitative study examining the experiences of counselors in their work with clients who self‐injure. Using grounded theory methodology, the authors established 6 categories to explain the counselors’ conceptualization of self‐injury and their process of working with these clients: (a) external factors to self‐injury, (b) defining self‐injury, (c) potential for harm, (d) conditions for treatment, (e) counselors’ reactions to working with clients who self‐injure, and (f) clients’ response to treatment.     

Using Prayer as an Intervention With Clients Who Are Substance Abusing and Addicted and Who Self‐Identify Personal Faith in God and Prayer as Recovery Resources

This article describes how the authors use prayer with clients who self‐identify their personal faith in God and who have used prayer as a helpful recovery agent or who believe prayer would be helpful to their personal recovery.     

Aging and Alcohol Abuse: Increasing Counselor Awareness

Alcohol abuse in older adulthood is a rapidly growing but often hidden problem. The authors provide an overview of the issues related to older adult alcohol abuse through a discussion of physiological, psychological, and social risk factors; an examination of appropriate assessment procedures; and an overview of factors related to treatment.     

Reentry Needs: Men Who Are Young,Hispanic, Older,or With Mental Illness

Perceptions of the needs for successful reentry among incarcerated men from diverse backgrounds were investigated using phenomenological qualitative methods. Twenty‐nine men serving time in a northeastern U.S. correctional facility, which concentrated on treatment of substance use, participated in four focus groups. Young men found it most important to make personal changes, Hispanic men to maintain personal identity, older men to receive structural support, and men with mental illness to connect with family.     

Communication Styles,Cultural Values,and Counseling Effectiveness With Asian Americans

This study examined counseling intervention designed for Asian Americans. Participants (N = 158) rated session effectiveness after viewing a videotape of a counselor using a culturally congruent or incongruent communication style. Analyses of variance showed that the incongruent style was viewed as more satisfying and credible than the congruent style. Factor analysis showed that participants perceived “being direct” and “maintaining harmony” styles, and multiple regression analyses revealed that these perceptions had a positive relationship with effectiveness.     

Confidentiality Limits With Clients Who Have HIV: A Review of Ethical and Legal Guidelines and Professional Policies

The publication of the first counseling articles addressing confidentiality limits of clients who have HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and continue to be sexually active with an uninformed partner occurred 4 years ago. Since that time, dialogue about whether a helping professional may ethically and legally breach confidentiality has not resolved the dilemma but instead has created more questions and controversy for counselors. In this article the authors highlight the barrage of ethical issues regarding HIV and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AlDS), review ethical and legal guidelines pertaining to HIV and AIDS and confidentiality, summarize HIV and AIDS confidentiality policies of the major helping professional organizations, articulate questions that contribute to the confidentiality dilemmas, and challenge the American Counseling Association (ACA), formerly the American Association for Counseling and Development (AACD), to develop specific guidelines for counselors.     

Guidelines and Strategies for Cross‐Cultural Counseling With Korean American Clients

The 3 major topics discussed begin with a recommendation of family counseling as the primary therapeutic modality for Korean Americans. Second, the article recommends various culturally congruent joining strategies, presented in 5 general groups. The 3rd major section of the article offers the cross‐cultural counselor strategies for therapeutic changes, discussed under 7 categories. Los 3 temas mayores discutidos empiezan con una recomendación de aconsejos de familia que aconseja como la modalidad terapéutica primaria para Americanos Coreanos. Segundo, el artículo recomienda varias estrategias culturalmente congruentes de la unión, presentado en 5 grupos generales. La sección mayor tercera del artículo ofrece las estrategias transculturales de consejero para cambios terapéuticos discutidos bajo 7 categorías.     

Comparing Multicultural With General Counseling Knowledge and Skill Competency for Students Who Completed Counselor Training

This study evaluates the effectiveness of a counselor education program in teaching multicultural counseling knowledge and skills. Standardized examination scores and rater evaluations compare multicultural with general counseling knowledge and skill competency for students who completed a counseling master's program. The relationship between multicultural knowledge and multicultural and general skills is examined. Este estudio evalúa la efectividad de un programa educativo para consejeros a la hora de enseñar conocimientos y habilidades multiculturales en consejería. Se emplean tanto resultados estandarizados de exámenes como evaluaciones docentes para comparar los conocimientos de consejeria y la competencia en habilidades de tipo general con los multiculturales en estudiantes que han completado un Máster en Consejería. Se examina la relación entre conocimientos multiculturales y habilidades generales y multiculturales.     

Measuring Counseling Effectiveness: The Role of Client,Counselor, and Agency

To measure counseling effectiveness in general, and employment and training agencies in particular, the evaluator must include client, counselor, and agency factors in the evaluation scheme. A model measuring counseling effectiveness discusses representative client, agency, and counselor factors, identifies subfactors, and gives suggestions for measuring each. Many of the client-oriented factors can be assessed through self-report, data for which can be elicited via a detailed questionnaire similar to the one in the appendix.     

Psychological Openness and Counselor Effectiveness: A Further Investigation

The purpose of this study was to crossvalidate previous findings which lend credence to the widely hypothesized positive relationship between a student's psychological openness and his effectiveness as a counselor. Rorschach indicators of psychological openness were compared with supervisor ratings of competence and scores obtained from the application of the Truax Scales of accurate empathy, genuineness, and nonpossessive warmth to tapes of actual counseling sessions. The data offer further support for the hypothesis that psychological openness is an important predictor of success in counselor training.     

The Counselor Who Is: A Critique and a Modest Proposal

In light of the essential nature of counseling as it is reflected in current theory and texts, it is submitted that a discrepancy exists between the idea of the counseling process on the one hand, and the teaching and practice of counseling on the other hand. The absolute necessity for the counselor's having a body of substantive information relating to the discipline of counseling psychology is asserted but the sufficient condition is that the counselor be (or become) the kind of person who can facilitate the therapeutic happening. Two proposals are made. A rationale for the exposure of counselors and aspirants to group-encounter experiences is given, and possible outcomes suggested. Further, in response to a basic need in our educational structure, the staffing of each large high school with a relatively independent counseling center is recommended. The function and possible ameliorative effects of such centers are described.     

Counselor Trainees' Self-Statement Responses to Sexually and Physically Abused Clients,and Client Role Conflict

Because sexual abuse issues present a threat to counselor trainees, the authors predicted that trainees who expected to counsel a sexually abused client would respond with an increase in anxiety and negative self-statements. A total of 63 female trainees were assessed after viewing a videotape of a client reporting sexual abuse, physical abuse, or role conflict. Results indicated that, counter to predictions, the trainees who expected to counsel the sexually abused client increased their positive self-statements. Schwartz's (1986) States-of-Mind model was applied to the self-statement ratios, and, according to the model, trainees were unrealistically optimistic with respect to their counseling.