Therapeutic work with refugees living in exile: Observations on clinical practice

Asylum seekers and refugees fleeing to Britain or other host countries face a range of dilemmas, which are qualitatively different from those facing any other client group. Refugees find themselves in an entirely different country, having often fled at short notice without making preparations. They may have suffered multiple practical and psychological losses. Significant numbers of refugees will have been subject to organised violence in their country of origin. Responding clinically to the needs of some of those becoming refugees has many implications and challenges for existing models of therapeutic intervention. This paper draws upon the author's clinical work in Britain and abroad, it details some observations on therapeutic practice and highlights the challenges and rewards of working with this client group.     

Compatibility of Adlerian Theory and Practice With the Philosophy and Practices of Alcoholics Anonymous

Tenets of Adlerian theory and practice are compatible with the philosophy and practices of Alcoholics Anonymous. Counselors can expect treatment approaches based on Adlerian counseling theory to be congruent with 12-Step practices of individuals who are in recovery from alcohol dependence.     

Counseling Women in Midlife: An Integrative Approach to Menopause

Menopause is a normative life transition that is experienced by virtually all women, yet remains poorly understood. The dominance of the biomedical model results in a unidimensional definition of menopause as a biological event, ignoring the influence of cultural and psychosocial factors. Counselors who use an integrative approach can not only provide accurate biomedical information but also conceptualize menopause as a normative midlife transition. The purpose of this article is to provide a foundation in biomedical issues and to consider how these independently, and in interaction with cultural and psychosocial factors, influence the experience of menopause.     

Encouraging counsellor reflection

The evolution of an 'attributes checklist' tool for assisting counsellor development is described. The attributes relate to characteristics of case-notes that indicate evidence of counsellor reflection and consideration of the counselling process. The checklist was initially tested among a sample of 19 counsellors employed by an organisational EAP and was subsequently refined. The final checklist tool was found to be both usable and useful in differentiating 'process' from 'content' notes. The purpose of the checklist tool is not to enable quantitative assessment of counsellor notes, but rather to facilitate counsellor development within a professional supervisory relationship. The findings of the study are discussed, and suggestions for future research in this area are made.     

Alcohol Consumption and the Theory of Planned Behavior: An Examination of the Cognitive Mediation of Past Behaviorid

This study examined the predictive power of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in explaining alcohol consumption in 3 prospective samples of students ( Ns = 178. 176. and 159). Generally, the TPB performed well. with attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control (PBC) explaining between 28% and 46% of the variability in intentions. Intentions and PBC explained between 12% and 50% of the variability in behavior. Measures of self-identity as a "drinker" and past behavior contributed to predictions of intentions over and above the contribution of attitudes. subjective norms. and PBC. Measures of past behavior but not self-identity consistently contributed to predictions of behavior over and above the contributions from intentions and PBC. The direct relationship between past behavior and intention and between past behavior and behavior (independent of the TPB variables or self-identity) could not be attributed to common method variance.     

Development and Validation of the Female Muscularity Scale

Socially promoted physical appearance ideals for women place increasing importance on muscularity, resulting in growing muscularity concerns among traditional college-age women. To date, however, instruments for assessing the type of muscularity concerns reported by women are lacking. The aim of the present study was therefore to develop such a scale and examine its psychometric properties among a sample of young women. Findings from an exploratory factor analysis (n = 235) and a confirmatory factor analysis (n = 130) revealed a two-factor structure, including a five-item Attitudes subscale (α = .89) and a five-item Behaviors subscale (α = .90), which were moderately correlated, r = .50. In addition, the scale demonstrated good 2-week test-retest reliability (r = .76), and the subscales revealed moderate-to-large associations with body image concerns, drive for thinness, and exercise engagement, indicating concurrent validity. Thus the new Female Muscularity Scale is a useful and promising tool for assessing muscularity concerns among young women, and it may help toward understanding the role of pressures to achieve a toned body in the development of body image, eating, and exercise disorders.     

Peer Toy Play as a Gateway to Children’s Gender Flexibility: The Effect of (Counter)Stereotypic Portrayals of Peers in Children’s Magazines

Extensive evidence has documented the gender stereotypic content of children’s media, and media is recognized as an important socializing agent for young children. Yet, the precise impact of children’s media on the endorsement of gender-typed attitudes and behaviors has received less scholarly attention. We investigated the impact of stereotypic and counter-stereotypic peers pictured in children’s magazines on children’s gender flexibility around toy play and preferences, playmate choice, and social exclusion behavior (n?=?82, age 4–7 years-old). British children were randomly assigned to view a picture of a peer-age boy and girl in a magazine playing with either a gender stereotypic or counter-stereotypic toy. In the stereotypic condition, the pictured girl was shown with a toy pony and the pictured boy was shown with a toy car; these toys were reversed in the counter-stereotypic condition. Results revealed significantly greater gender flexibility around toy play and playmate choices among children in the counter-stereotypic condition compared to the stereotypic condition, and boys in the stereotypic condition were more accepting of gender-based exclusion than were girls. However, there was no difference in children’s own toy preferences between the stereotypic and counter-stereotypic condition, with children preferring more gender-typed toys overall. Implications of the findings for media, education, and parenting practices are discussed, and the potential for counter-stereotypic media portrayals of toy play to shape the gender socialization of young children is explored.