Interpersonal Forgiveness Within the Helping Professions: An Attempt to Resolve Differences of Opinion

Lakatos's (1978) philosophy of science is used as a guide for resolving published authors' differences of opinion about interpersonal forgiveness. We first review the ancient writings and current philosophical works regarding interpersonal forgiveness. With these ideas as a foundation we then critique six published papers on forgiveness, all of which have counseling implications. It is suggested that the works are not yet grounded in the foundational writings on forgiveness. The works, thus, may need some refinement in the area of definition, or proposed consequences for a forgiver, or in the processes used to bring about forgiveness in clients. A process model of interpersonal forgiveness then is described. Implications for the use of interpersonal forgiveness within counseling are drawn.     

The Potential Contribution of the Behavioral Scientist to World Peace

In this brief statement, Carl Rogers, with assistance from David Malcolm, presents his view of the state of the world today. His hope is to disengage the world from a precarious entanglement that threatens human survival. He seeks alternatives that would reduce psychological barriers that impinge on rational communication.     

Marriage and Family Counseling in Counselor Education: National Trends and Implications

The authors report the results of a survey of 274 counselor education chairpersons asked to respond to a series of questions concerning the current status of marriage and family counseling in counselor education. Respondents indicated that marriage and family programs in counselor education are continuing to grow in popularity, identified courses most frequently employed in the training of such counselors, provided information about support that AACD could give to enhance the development of marriage and family counseling, and gave their opinions about how marriage and family counseling programs should be accredited.     

Attitudes Toward Counselors and Counseling Processes: A Comparison of Chinese and American Graduate Students

Graduate students socialized in separate cultural settings, Taiwan and the United States, but studying at the same large university were surveyed about their (a) preferences for counselor's characteristics, (b) images of a counselor, and (c) attitudes toward counseling and counseling services. Results show that Chinese and American students have different preferences for and images of a counselor. Although both groups have positive attitudes toward seeking counseling, they know very little about the counseling resources and locations available. The groups also differ in their expectations of the counseling process. Some sex differences were indicated, but no clear pattern emerged.     

Patients’ Characteristics Affecting Physician-Patient Nonverbal Communication

Previous research has reported that nonverbal elements of physician-patient communication influence medical outcomes such as patients’ understanding, compliance, and saris/action with health care delivery. This investigation examined the impact of various patients’ characteristics (age, sex, education, anxiety, and relational history with the physician) on patterns of nonverbal communication exhibited in 41 physician-patient interactions at a family practice clinic. Several findings were noteworthy. First, although they were relatively consistent in their nonverbal responses to different patients, physicians generally reciprocated patient's adjustments in response latency, pauses during speaking turns, body orientation, and interruptions and compensated patient's modifications in turn duration and gestural rates. Second, physicians nonverbally interacted with patients over 30 years of age in a less domineering and more responsive fashion (e.g., comparable turn durations, more vocal back-channels, and more nonverbal behavior reciprocity) than they did when conversing with patients under 30. Third, physicians appeared responsive to patients experiencing various degrees of anxiety. Specifically, relative to their interactions with less worried patients, physicians used less task touch with anxious patients and to a greater degree compensated the worried patients nonverbal responses. Finally, the patients sex, education, and visit (i.e., first versus repeat) had little impact on the structure of physician-patient nonverbal exchanges.     

The Role of Applicant Nonverbal Communication in the Employment Interview

This research examined the effects that the nonverbal behavior of job applicants had on subsequent hiring evaluations. Interviewees (n = 32) were instructed to use one of four styles of nonverbal behavior during the recording of short job interviews with a standard content. The videotaped interviews were watched by behavior raters (n = 22), who assessed nonverbal-cue usage, and by judges (n = 50), who evaluated the applicants as prospective employees. The applicants were also rated by judges (n = 30) for physical attractiveness. Results supported the hypothesis that nonverbal behavior in the job interview operates as subtle reinforcement. Implications for job-counseling programs are discussed.