Empowerment in Counseling

This article examines the use of empowerment as a central component of counseling and as a criterion for evaluating counseling interventions. Definitions of empowerment across several perspectives are discussed and a definition of empowerment in the context of counseling is proposed. Based on this definition, potentially empowering and disempowering aspects of counseling are presented. Measurement and research issues and recommendations related to empowerment are highlighted.