Enhancing Reflective Practice in Multicultural Counseling Through Cultural Auditing

Counselors work in an increasingly complex cultural milieu where every encounter with a client must be considered multicultural in nature. Reflective practice is a central component of professional competence and necessarily involves attention to culture. The cultural auditing model provides an effective and flexible reflective process for enhancing multicultural counseling. The 13 steps in the model are detailed with probes and questions to guide counselor reflection. A case example illuminates the principles involved.     

Perceptual grouping in two visually reliant species: humans (Homo sapiens) and Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea).

Kurylo, van Nest, and Knepper (1997 Journal of Comparative Psychology 111 126-134) have recently shown that hooded rats are able to judge the global orientation of an array of elements if orientation is signalled by the perceptual-grouping principle of proximity, but not if it is signalled by element alignment. Using a procedure designed to overcome some potential problems with the experiment of Kurylo et al, we found the same distinction in the perceptual processing of Australian sea lions. The sea lions were able to judge the orientation of arrays containing strong proximity and similarity information, but performed at chance levels judging arrays in which element alignment signalled global orientation. Human subjects were able to judge all three pattern types quickly and accurately. This is strong evidence of a qualitative distinction in the way in which perceptual grouping operates in humans and the non-human species tested. Whether this distinction is a consequence of evolutionary or experiential factors is a question for future research, but the mere fact of a qualitative difference holds important implications for our understanding of perceptual grouping.     

Cognitive and Emotion‐Regulatory Mediators of the Relationship Between Behavioral Approach System Sensitivity and Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury Frequency

Nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent among late adolescents and predicts the onset of suicidal ideation and behavior. Although research has established an association between the behavioral approach system (BAS) and NSSI, less research has explored mechanisms underlying this relationship. The authors examined negative and positive emotion regulation patterns, as well as the BAS‐relevant cognitive style of self‐criticism, as potential mechanisms through which a hypersensitive BAS might be related to NSSI frequency. Late adolescents (N = 177) with high and moderate BAS levels completed measures of self‐criticism, positive emotion regulation, brooding, and both lifetime and last‐year frequency of NSSI. Results indicated that self‐criticism and positive emotion dampening independently mediated the relationship between BAS and last‐year frequency of NSSI. Self‐criticism also mediated the relationship between BAS and lifetime frequency of NSSI. Results suggest that cognitive and emotion‐regulatory styles may help to explain why high BAS individuals are likely to engage in NSSI.