An Investigation of Genetic Counselors' Discussions of Genetic Discrimination with Cancer Risk Patients

Twenty-five genetic counselors who see familial cancer risk patients were interviewed about their definitions of genetic discrimination, perceptions of patient risk for discrimination, frequency and type of discrimination experienced by their patients, sources of information about discrimination, and what they tell patients about genetic discrimination. There was variability in participant definitions and content of discussions of genetic discrimination. Although 82% regarded risk to be low to theoretical, 40% reported possible instances of genetic discrimination, including insurance companies requiring results to cover procedures, denial of life/health insurance, social discrimination, and employment discrimination. Ninety-six percent of the sample reported always or almost always discussing genetic discrimination, and one or more of the following: insurance discrimination risks, protective legislation, no known cases positively documenting discrimination, strategies to avoid discrimination, and uncertainty of protective measures. The majority use current literature and research as information sources. Practice, policy, and research implications are discussed.     

The Impact of Wellness‐Focused Supervision on Mental Health Counseling Practicum Students

Professional counseling organizations tout the importance of wellness for counselors and counselors‐in‐training. The authors used a wellness‐focused supervision model with mental health practicum students to assess the model's degree of treatment effect at improving students' wellness over the course of the semester. Participants' demographics included three women, one man, three European Americans, and one Latino/a. Single‐case design results revealed that ongoing wellness‐focused interventions are helpful in improving participants' level of wellness; implications for practice are provided.     

Loving‐Kindness Meditation and Empathy: A Wellness Group Intervention for Counseling Students

The effect of a 6‐week loving‐kindness meditation (LKM) on the multidimensional empathy of 103 master's‐level counseling students was evaluated, in addition to the correlation between reported levels of time spent meditating and empathy. Statistical analyses indicated that participants who received the LKM intervention experienced gains in dimensions of empathy. A significant relationship between quantity of meditation and perspective taking was noted. Implications and suggestions for future research are explored.     

Measuring Professional Ethics in Coaching: Development of the PISC-Q

Sport is commonly lauded as the ideal place for participants to learn life skills. However, concerns related to the “win-centered” sport culture has spurred research into ethical behaviors in sport. The purpose of the present study was to create a measure of professional ethics in coaching. Students enrolled in a collegiate coaching education course (N = 766) responded to a series of vignettes related to common situations in the coaching profession. Results indicate the Professional Issues in Sport Coaching Questionnaire is an acceptable measure of situation specific professional ethics. Conclusions and directions for future research are discussed.     

Audio Feedback with Reduced Self-focus as an Intervention for Social Anxiety: An Experimental Study

Background and Objectives: Socially anxious individuals tend to underestimate their performance largely due to attentional bias. Video and audio feedback (AF) with cognitive preparation (CP) have shown to improve socially anxious individuals′ evaluation of their performance in previous studies. In the present study, it was hypothesized that one of the three steps in CP, reduced self-focus (RS), is sufficient to cause an improved voice evaluation after AF. This was tested in a single-session randomized controlled experiment. Method: Forty-one socially anxious participants were asked to give a speech, then to listen to and evaluate a taped recording of their performance. Half of the sample were instructed to reduce their self-focus prior to AF, the rest received AF only. RS involved asking participants to listen to the audio recording as though they were listening to a stranger. Generalization effects were assessed by a second speech. Results: AF with RS led to more improved voice evaluations than AF-only after the first speech, and the effects remained in the evaluation of the second speech. More positive speech evaluations were associated with corresponding reductions of performance anxiety.Limitations: small sample, analogue study. Conclusion: One component of cognitive preparation—(RS)—appears to be sufficient to cause significant effects on voice evaluation in socially anxious individuals. If the results are replicated in clinical samples, AF with RS may be a promising intervention in the treatment of social anxiety.     

Counselor Trainees' Interprofessional Self-Efficacy After a Career Development Intervention

Career development is a lifelong process of learning, working, and transitions that move a person closer to their preferred future. This study investigated the use of a career development intervention to help counselor trainees in a master's program and allied health students with integrating new perspectives in their future careers. This qualitative study with a diverse group of 12 participants provides important insight into career thoughts, career self-efficacy, and potential career development opportunities through interprofessional engagement career interventions. The findings are novel and have never been addressed in an empirical study for counselor trainees.     

“We Are Still Here”: Learning From Native American Perspectives

Counselors’ multicultural competence is often cultivated through 1 graduate-level diversity course. Therefore, it is important to regularly assess multicultural counseling textbook content to ensure accurate representation of the perspectives of members of diverse populations. To this end, the authors interviewed 14 Native Americans to explore their perspectives on subjects related to counseling to inform clinical practice and training. Using consensual qualitative research, the authors identified 10 domains in the data. Cross analysis of the domains revealed 1 general and 29 typical categories. The identified categories have implications for the development of culturally competent clinicians. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Carrying the Burden: Counselors of Color’s Experiences of Microaggressions in Counseling

In this secondary analysis using a previous dataset, the authors explored, via a phenomenological research tradition, how 8 counselors of color responded to clients’ microaggressive behaviors. Researchers identified 3 major themes in the data: (a) buffering and bracing for racial microaggressions, (b) experiencing the intrusions of racial microaggressions, and (c) strategizing and responding in session. The authors apply the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (Ratts, Singh, Nassar-McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015) to their findings as a framework for considering practice and training implications.