Multicultural Counseling Competencies: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

The author examined the underlying factors of the Association of Multicultural Counseling and Development's (AMCD) Multicultural Competencies. One hundred fifty‐one professional counselors who are members of the American Counseling Association responded to a survey that included items reflecting AMCD's multicultural competencies and Explanatory Statements. An exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 multicultural competencies factors: Awareness, Knowledge, Definitions of Terms, Racial Identity Development, and Skills.     

The growth and development of an infant mental health program: An integrated perspective

This article details the development of the Infant Mental Health Clinical and Training Program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine from 1976 to the present. The article discusses the clinical sites where the program takes place, which include the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, outpatient child psychiatry clinic, and day treatment programs. Trainees from several mental health disciplines participate in the program, including predoctoral psychology externs, interns from the Clinical Psychology Internship, residents from the Child Psychiatry Training Program, and postdoctoral research fellows in developmental psychopathology. Recently, the Infant Mental Health Program has also been able to offer its own training positions. The philosophical models of clinical service and training are outlined. The article concludes by looking at future directions and challenges for the Infant Mental Health Program. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

“We Deal With Symptoms Rather Than Causes”: Antipoverty Policy Making in Occupied Palestinian Territories

Since the Palestinian National Authority assumed governance, antipoverty reforms implemented to combat social problems and traumatic stressors have had limited success. Few empirical studies have investigated policy-making obstacles in this context. Using a social protection framework, this study examined the policy-making environment in Occupied Palestinian Territories. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with Palestinian ministry officials and archival records. Findings revealed a restrictive, obstacle-ridden environment that severely constrains development of high-quality policies for meeting needs of Palestinian citizens. Some limitations were similar to those in other emerging nations; others were unique to the case of Palestine. Policy and research implications are discussed.     

Follower moral reasoning influences perceptions of transformational leadership behavior

Transformational leadership reflects charismatic, but ethical, influence on followers. However, leadership ultimately occurs through the perceptual and attribution processes within followers. Accordingly, the perception and evaluation of transformational leadership is likely to be influenced by followers' moral reasoning, which is the ability that allows individuals to identify and interpret ethically‐salient issues in social environments. As predicted by social‐cognitive principles of self‐schemas, observers' moral reasoning positively related to the perception and positive evaluation of transformational leadership behavior, but not to positive affective reactions towards that behavior. These same relationships did not occur for the perception and evaluation of transactional leadership behavior. Implications for whistle‐blowing behavior, organizational ethics, and the measurement of transformational leadership are discussed.     

Forging a Collaborative Relationship Between the Black Church and the Counseling Profession

In the field of counseling, there has been a growing awareness of the important role the Black church plays in African American communities. Although counseling professionals have begun recognizing the influence the Black church has in the lives of African Americans, there seems to be little information on how counselors can collaborate with African American congregations to meet the mental health needs of African American clients. The authors examine how counselors can use the psychological and social strengths of the Black church. Strategies and implications for collaborating with this institution are also discussed.     

School Counselors as Social Capital: The Effects of High School College Counseling on College Application Rates

Using social capital theory as a framework, the authors examined data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (Ingels, Pratt, Rogers, Siegel, & Stutts, 2004) to investigate how student contact with high school counselors about college information and other college‐related variables influence students' college application rates. In addition to some college‐related variables, the number of school counselors and student contacts were significant predictors of college application rates. Implications for school counselors and counselor training are included.     

Implementing Adlerian Sand Tray Therapy With Adult Male Substance Abuse Offenders: A Phenomenological Inquiry

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the perceptions of adult male substance offenders who experienced sand tray therapy as an adjunct to their cognitive behavioral rehabilitative treatment. Results indicate a positive experience for participants. Implications for counselors are discussed.     

A developmental typology of adolescent personality

The purpose of the current study is to examine whether Block's personality types (i.e. Resilients, Undercontrollers and Overcontrollers) are replicable as developmental trajectories. We applied a Latent Class Growth Analysis (LCGA) framework to five‐ annual‐wave data on a sample of early to middle adolescents (n = 923). Our results showed that Block's Resilients, Undercontrollers and Overcontrollers are indeed replicable as developmental trajectories across adolescence. These developmental types were related to problem behaviour in a similar way as types found in studies using cross‐sectional data. As such, Resilients reflected low levels of problem behaviour, Undercontrollers had high levels of delinquency and Overcontrollers had high levels of depression. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.