Gay Identity Issues Among Black Americans: Racism,Homophobia, and the Need for Validation

There is little available literature on gay and lesbian identity among Black Americans. This exploratory study involved interviewing a total of six Black-American gay men and lesbian women regarding gay identity development issues. Data pertaining to the interviewees' experiences of gay identity development were obtained through a questionnaire of six open-ended questions and an interview with each participant lasting 1 to 2 hours. This article presents some of the significant challenges faced by those who were interviewed regarding their sense of self-acceptance, both as Blacks in the predominantly White gay and lesbian community and as gay men and lesbian women in the predominantly heterosexual Black community. The implications of these issues for future research and counseling intervention are discussed. In this article the term gay identity is generally used in reference to both men and women. When women are being discussed exclusively, however, the term lesbian identity is used.     

Understanding and Counseling Narcissistic Clients

This article is intended to provide counselors with an overview of narcissism and its treatment. In the first section, dysfunctional narcissism is described, drawing on the diagnostic indicators presented in the DSM-III and the contemporary object relations theories of Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg. The second section focuses on counseling narcissistic clients.     

Jungian Psychology, the Body, and the Future

Impressive reaffirmation of Jung's archetypal hypothesis has come from developments in behavioural biology (Tinbergen 1951; Cosmides 1985), psycholinguistics (Chomsky 1965), structural anthropology (Lévi-Strauss 1967), developmental psychology (Bowlby 1969), dream research (Jouvet 1975). neuroscience (MacLean 1976), sociobiology (Wilson 1978), and evolutionary psychiatry (Gardner 1988; Gilbert 1989). A close correspondence exists between Jungian theories of dreaming in human beings and modern biological theories of dreaming in animals. A paradigm shift is under way in the direction of a growing cross-disciplinary awareness that all human sciences are about archetypal manifestations and that these apply as much to the body as to the mind. Jungian psychology must keep abreast of these developments if it is not to be sidelined and superseded by less humane therapeutic philosophies.     

The Relation Between Masculine Role Conflict and Psychological Distress in Male University Counseling Center Clients

This is the first study to examine the relations between components of masculine gender role conflict and specific symptoms of psychological distress in a sample of men seeking counseling services. One hundred and thirty male clients from 2 university counseling centers completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. Participants reported moderate to high levels of psychological symptoms, which were correlated with components of masculine role conflict. Results of simultaneous multiple regressions supported previous findings in nonclinical samples of relations between masculine role conflict and depression and interpersonal issues. In addition, masculine role conflict significantly predicted paranoia, psychoticism, and obsessive compulsivity. Implications for counseling and future research are discussed.     

RELATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF VERBAL, ARTICULATIVE, AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION TO EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS IN THE JOB INTERVIEW SETTING

Recruiter ratings of 338 on-campus interviews were used in a discriminant analysis procedure to determine the relative importance of the verbal, articulative, and nonverbal dimensions of communication during the job interview. Correlation of seven variables with the discriminant function indicated that appropriateness of content, fluency of speech, and composure were of greatest importance in contributing to a favorable employment decision. These findings were contrary to the recent literature which has emphasized the importance of nonverbal behavior. Implications for job-interview skills training are discussed, and suggestions for a comprehensive workshop model are presented.     

The Effects of a Job-Interview Skills Workshop on Drug-Abuse Clients

By performing a field experiment, we tested the hypothesis that a job-interview skills workshop would improve the employment status of subjects with drug-abuse problems. Subjects from a drug-abuse treatment program were randomly assigned either to an experimental situation that included a workshop that stressed behavioral interview skills, such as preparing for an interview, application completion, grooming, nonverbal communication, and phrasing of answers to interviewer questions, or to a control group that received no treatment. A 6-months follow-up of subjects showed no significant attitudinal differences between the two groups. All three behavioral measures of employment status showed either significant differences or strong trends in favor of the experimental group, however. Possible alternative explanations of results were discussed and future research suggested.