Values in Counseling and Psychotherapy

The purpose of this article is to consider the various ways that values enter into counseling or psychotherapy, with particular attention to the goals of the process and the methods or procedures by which the counselor or therapist implements the process.     

Values and Social Justice in Counseling

The construct of social justice in counseling is defined and operationalized in this article. This is followed by a discussion about the intersection between social justice in counseling and philosophy, ethics, and spirituality. A call to action for counseling professionals is offered.     

The Evolutionary Nature of Counseling and Values

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to discover the evolutionary nature of Counseling and Values, the professional journal of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling. The authors used 4 recorded telephone interviews conducted with previous editors of the journal over the last 25 years as the principal source of data. Findings suggest that the evolutionary nature of the journal is characterized by a dynamic tension among 6 interrelated categories of influence. Implications of this research suggest the need for increased collaborative participation in support of professional journals between institutions and sponsoring associations and between diversity in readership and the professional forces that influence publication decision, as well as an increased openness between professional associations and the society that they serve.     

Neopragmatic Thought and Counseling Values: Reconsidering the Role of Values in Counseling From an Alternative Epistemological Foundation

The history of Western philosophical thought has been dominated by the search for transcendent truth. As a consequence of this history, various epistemological dualisms (such as fact/value and appearance/reality) have come to structure modes of inquiry. Reliance on such dualisms has resulted in a degradation of values discourse, which, along with other “soft” forms of inquiry, is often viewed as epistemologically inferior to the “hard” sciences. However, particularly within the last century, philosophers have proposed compelling challenges to these dualisms, which, in turn, have massive implications for values discourse. These challenges are overviewed, and implications for values discourse within the counseling profession are discussed.     

Using Values Clarification in Counseling Settings

Values clarification began as a counseling tool. Raths's famous seven questions about values have their origin in Socratic questioning and also owe a debt to Emerson and Dewey. Numerous strategies have been developed for the learning of values awareness. Counselors have found the clarifying question helpful in individual counseling, and they discovered clarifying strategies useful in individual and group counseling. Furthermore, values clarification has been used successfully to personalize instruction. Finally, the counselor can take advantage of values clarification for personal and professional growth. The question of research in values clarification is addressed. Leona Tyler , in reaction to this article, recalls other techniques for values discrimination.