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An Adlerian view on some examples of pastoral care in a clinical setting and with people in old-age The final thesis for the Individual Psychological Counselor provides insights into the diverse application of individual psychological concepts in pastoral practice by looking at encounters in different contexts. The reflections show how individual psychology can help to understand and support people in different life situations by emphasizing the importance of a sense of community, feelings of inferiority and lifestyles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of a genetic counselor is to assist individuals and their families to comprehend and adapt to genetic information. However, a genetic counselor's role in clients' mental well-being is unclear. Mental well-being is an important component of overall health and it can be affected during the adaptation to genetic information. It is, therefore, essential to consider how mental well-being is viewed in genetic counseling practice. Our research aimed to investigate genetic counselors' perceptions of their role in clients' mental well-being. Our objectives were to (1) understand what genetic counselors perceived their role to be in clients' mental well-being and (2) investigate what factors influence genetic counselors' perceptions of practice. We recruited participants via advertisements in the Human Genetics Society of Australasia and the Australasian Society of Genetic Counselors newsletters, and through the Genetic Support Network of Victoria social media. We completed semi-structured in-depth interviews with 12 Australian genetic counselors and analyzed the interviews using inductive thematic analysis. We found that genetic counselors viewed clients' mental well-being as an important and crucial part of their practice. Three key themes were identified, first, all the participants' views of clients' mental well-being were shaped by personal and professional beliefs. Second, all participants noted that there were factors external to them, such as workplace and professional guidelines, which shaped their role in clients' mental well-being. Third, all those interviewed noted the boundaries of their professional role in clients' mental well-being. From these three themes, we determined that genetic counselors see clients' mental well-being as an integral part of their practice. Our findings add to the extant literature and can shape future practice in this field. Furthermore, we identified how future research priorities could further our knowledge in this area., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Genetic Counseling published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Racial trauma has become a common topic of discussion in professional counseling. This concept is also known as race-based traumatic stress, and it addresses how racially motivated incidents impede emotional and mental health for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Research about this topic and strategies to reduce its impact are substantial in the field of psychology. However, little research about racial trauma has been published in the counseling literature. The intent of this paper is to provide an in-depth perspective of racial trauma and its impact on BIPOC to enhance professional counselors' understanding. Strategies for professional counselors to integrate into their clinical practice are provided. In addition, implications for counselor supervisors and educators are also provided.

When organisations make employees redundant, they increasingly offer outplacement counselling to them, either in-house or as a service of specialised companies. Despite outplacement counsellors' importance, their work-related stress has not been studied yet. In this paper we argue that internal (in-house) outplacement counsellors have a particularly demanding job (especially because being employed by firing organisations should increase role conflicts among internal outplacement counsellors) and they should thus be more emotionally exhausted than external outplacement counsellors. Data from 98 German outplacement counsellors supported this argumentation. Mediation analyses showed that these differences were mediated by increased role conflicts, consistent with role theory arguments. The same effect was found for counsellors' job satisfaction. These results help understanding the stress that outplacement counsellors experience.

The fast-changing world of work has justified the need for contemporary, accessible and inclusive models of lifelong guidance, underpinned by principles of social justice and equity, that meet a range of needs, and have the ambition of leaving no one behind. While guidance provision is widely available across most education systems, guidance for the labour force is less accessible and often fragmented, varying in quality, scope, evidence-base and practice. For services to be fully effective adult and employment guidance practice must find ways to transfer knowledge and experiences of the daily practice of guidance, to advance professional learning and development, and ensure its assimilation into practice and policy for the benefit of clients. Drawing on qualitative data, this paper illustrates the role of praxis in informing a new model of employment guidance, the MEEG, and the challenges for adult guidance practice within activation-oriented public employment systems.

Peer-delivered interventions for adolescent mental health can help address poor access to mental health interventions. Questions remain about how interventions can be adapted for peer delivery and whether peers can be trained. In this study, we adapted problem solving therapy (PST) for peer-delivery with adolescents in Kenya and explored whether peer counselors can be trained in PST. We adapted treatment prior to and during training using the Cultural Adaptation and Contextualization for Implementation framework. Nine peer counselors (Ages 20-24) were selected and trained over 10 days. Peer competencies and knowledge were measured pre-post using a written exam, a written case study, and role plays rated using a standardized competency measure. We chose a version of PST used in India with secondary school adolescents originally delivered by teachers. All materials were translated into Kiswahili. Language and format were adapted to Kenyan adolescents as well as for delivery by peers with a focus on understandability and relevance (e.g., noting shared experience). Metaphors, examples, and visual materials were adapted for the context to reflect the culture and vernacular of Kenyan youth. Peer counselors were able to be trained in PST. Pre-post competencies and understanding of content showed improvements with peers minimally meeting patient needs (pre) on average to moderate/fully meeting patient needs (post). Post-training written exam score showed an average 90% correct. There is an adapted version of PST for Kenyan adolescents and peer delivery. Peer counselors can be trained to deliver a 5-session PST in a community context., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Elective genetic testing (EGT) to identify disease risk in individuals who may or may not meet clinical criteria for testing is increasingly being offered in clinical practice. However, little is known about how EGT is currently implemented and how genetics professionals perceive this type of testing. We conducted a mixed-methods survey study to evaluate genetics professionals' perspectives and attitudes about EGT and describe the current landscape of EGT practices in the United States (U.S.) and Canada. Six clinical geneticists and 131 genetic counselors responded to the online survey, among whom 44% reported offering EGT in their practice. Over 84% of survey respondents agreed that EGT may improve health outcomes and understanding of genotype-phenotype correlations, and 85% agreed that potential risks include result misinterpretation and contribution to economic health disparities. Though most respondents felt comfortable providing pretest (77%) and post-test (86%) counseling for EGT, lack of provider resources (such as time and personnel) and prioritization of diagnostic testing were cited most frequently in free-text responses as reasons for not offering EGT. Of those offering EGT, 88% reported positive overall experiences. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions identified benefits of EGT as expanding access to genetic testing, providing potential health benefits, and providing psychological benefits for patients. Disadvantages included prohibitive costs, limited clinical utility, and strain on resources. Overall, we found that genetics providers perceive both potential benefits and harms of EGT and that those offering this testing had generally positive experiences, although ethical reservations and practical limitations exist., (© 2022 National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Challenges in participant recruitment and retention limit the effectiveness of hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs). This study aimed to determine if an outpatient violence intervention program (VIP) could be integrated into a trauma clinic and increase uptake of violence prevention services. Patients previously hospitalized for intent-to-harm being seen for outpatient follow-up were eligible. VIP counselors met with participants during their clinic visit, administered the survey, and offered violence prevention services (April to June 2019). Patients were followed for 6 months to assess involvement. The primary outcome of interest was long-term participation in the VIP, defined as uptake of services at 6 months, in comparison to inpatient recruitment. Out of 76 patients, 34 (44.7%) did not appear for their appointment. The remainder (n = 42) were offered participation in the study, of which 32 (76.2%) completed the survey. From the group offered VIP services, 57.1% expressed interest, and 5 (20.8%) ultimately took part yielding an overall participation rate of 11.9% at 6 months. The inpatient recruitment rate in 2019 was 2.4%. An outpatient VIP program can be integrated into a clinic setting but suffers from the same challenges faced by inpatient programs resulting in low rates of long-term participation in services. Although a high proportion of participants reported interest, actual engagement at 6 months was low. Reasons behind low participation in VIP services must be investigated., (© 2022. Society for Prevention Research.)

Professionalism in health care is a loosely defined but increasingly studied concept. In genetic counseling, "professional development" expectations for entry-level genetic counselors are described in the "Practice-Based Competencies for Genetic Counselors," but the teaching and evaluation of "professionalism" among genetic counseling students is relatively unexplored. This study investigated program leaders' and clinical supervisors' perceptions of professionalism demonstrated by genetic counseling graduate students to learn about their associated strengths and lapses. Members of program leadership and clinical supervisors at Accreditation Council for Genetic Counseling (ACGC) accredited genetic counseling graduate programs in the United States and Canada were surveyed regarding their observations of genetic counseling students for the years 2017-2019 regarding four domains of professional behavior: integrity, accountability/conscientiousness, teamwork, and patient care, with the Merriam-Webster definition of each behavior provided for each domain. Participants also provided open-text descriptions. Descriptive results showed that the 263 participants found all facets of these professional behaviors to be essential. Patient care had the highest importance and was the domain with the most strengths observed among genetic counseling students. Lapses in professional behavior were identified for self-awareness, time management, and thoroughness. Free responses noted that suggestions or strategies for education about professional behavior from ACGC may improve the professional behavior of genetic counseling students and in turn, genetic counselors. Participants voiced the importance of consideration of diverse professional and cultural backgrounds in setting the expectations for professional behavior among genetic counseling students and genetic counselors so that "professionalism" in genetic counseling is not defined through a White lens. Further investigation into challenges that genetic counseling students face regarding professional behavior during their graduate training and strategies for education about these behaviors will aid in the growth and improvement of the training of genetic counselors. Given the sensitive nature of this topic, portions of this discussion may be triggering for some readers., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Genetic Counseling published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Epilepsy, defined by the occurrence of two or more unprovoked seizures or one unprovoked seizure with a propensity for others, affects 0.64% of the population and can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. A majority of unexplained epilepsy (seizures not attributed to an acquired etiology, such as trauma or infection) is estimated to have an underlying genetic etiology. Despite rapid progress in understanding of the genetic underpinnings of the epilepsies, there are no recent evidence-based guidelines for genetic testing and counseling for this population. This practice guideline provides evidence-based recommendations for approaching genetic testing in the epilepsies using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Evidence to Decision framework. We used evidence from a recent systematic evidence review and meta-analysis of diagnostic yield of genetic tests in patients with epilepsy. We also compiled data from other sources, including recently submitted conference abstracts and peer-reviewed journal articles. We identified and prioritized outcomes of genetic testing as critical, important or not important and based our recommendations on outcomes deemed critical and important. We considered the desirable and undesirable effects, value and acceptability to relevant stakeholders, impact on health equity, cost-effectiveness, certainty of evidence, and feasibility of the interventions in individuals with epilepsy. Taken together, we generated two clinical recommendations: (1) Genetic testing is strongly recommended for all individuals with unexplained epilepsy, without limitation of age, with exome/genome sequencing and/or a multi-gene panel (>25 genes) as first-tier testing followed by chromosomal microarray, with exome/genome sequencing conditionally recommended over multi-gene panel. (2) It is strongly recommended that genetic tests be selected, ordered, and interpreted by a qualified healthcare provider in the setting of appropriate pre-test and post-test genetic counseling. Incorporation of genetic counselors into neurology practices and/or referral to genetics specialists are both useful models for supporting providers without genetics expertise to implement these recommendations., (© 2022 National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Empathy is an important element of genetic counseling. Most genetic counselors acknowledge the significance of empathically engaging clients. However, few empirical studies have focused on the empathy experience of genetic counselors, especially in non-Western countries. This study aimed to investigate Japanese genetic counselors' perspectives on the concept of empathy in clinical practice. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with Japanese certified genetic counselors who had approximately 10 years of clinical experience. Fourteen participants were interviewed about their thoughts on empathy and their experiences wherein they had deeply understood clients or felt closer to them. The interview data were analyzed using grounded theory. As a result, 17 categories were extracted, of which 13 were integrated into three themes of empathy: the empathic cycle in the relationships between genetic counselors and clients (cycling), the process of forming a deeper understanding of a client's perspectives (feeling), and the process of developing skills to understand clients with empathy (developing). The remaining four categories were grouped into the theme of "challenges of empathy." The categories included in the first three themes were similar to previous findings in Western countries, whereas some categories of challenges of empathy were unique to this study, which was conducted in a non-Western country. This might be attributed to the influence of Japanese culture, in which people emphasize self-regulation and an interdependent-self model. To our knowledge, this study is the first to report on Japanese certified genetic counselors' experiences of empathy. This study concludes with some suggestions for future research, including focusing on ways to overcome challenges of empathy in countries or healthcare systems., (© 2022 National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Identifying individuals who have Lynch syndrome involves a complex diagnostic workup that includes taking a detailed family history and a combination of various tests such as immunohistochemistry and/or molecular which may be germline and/or somatic. The National Society of Genetic Counselors and the Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer have come together to publish this practice resource for the evaluation of Lynch syndrome. The purpose of this practice resource was to provide guidance and a testing algorithm for Lynch syndrome as well as recommendations on when to offer testing. This practice resource does not replace a consultation with a genetics professional. This practice resource includes explanations in support of this and a summary of background data. While this practice resource is not intended to serve as a review of Lynch syndrome, it includes a discussion of background information and cites a number of key publications which should be reviewed for a more in-depth understanding. This practice resource is intended for genetic counselors, geneticists, gastroenterologists, surgeons, medical oncologists, obstetricians and gynecologists, nurses, and other healthcare providers who evaluate patients for Lynch syndrome., (© 2022 National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Gender imbalance exists in the genetic counseling profession, with approximately 95% of genetic counselors identifying as female. Genetic counseling programs in Australia have increased the proportion of male student enrolments in recent years, although this is yet to have an impact on gender balance in the profession more broadly. While significant resources have been allocated to improving female representation in traditionally male professions, there has not been a reciprocal movement of men into traditionally female professions. The lower status awarded to traditionally female roles creates a disincentive for men to choose non-traditional career paths. Although genetic counselors have expertise in both genetics and counseling, the profession is viewed as a predominantly helping profession and therefore 'women's work'. Men who work in traditionally female roles report role strain and stereotyping, which affect experiences at work and challenge personal identities. Male advantage is also documented, especially with respect to salary. There remains a lack of understanding of the effect of gender imbalance on aspects of patient care, genetic counselor training and education, and genetic counseling research., (© 2021 National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Clinical documentation is an important extension of a genetic counseling encounter. The traditional types of clinical documentation include the clinical visit note (including follow-up visit note), letter to the referring physician, letter to the patient, and result summary to the patient and referring physician. Increasing patient volumes, new genetic counseling service delivery models, transition to electronic medical records (EMR), new specialty clinics in genetics, and advances in genetic testing technologies challenge the practice of writing multiple types of clinical documents. This practice resource (PR) seeks to provide best practices for U.S.-based genetic counselors to write efficient and comprehensive clinical documentation using a hybrid clinical document designed to facilitate communication between individual providers, providers, and patients/families, and providers and payers. The content of the hybrid clinical documentation will vary by genetic specialty but may include a summary of genetic services evaluation, genetic testing options and eligibility information, genetic test results, potential risks for genetic conditions, implications for family members, and medical management recommendations. An outline of a general hybrid document along with examples of hybrid clinic notes for three types of genetic counseling specialties is included in this document., (© 2021 National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Addressing equity issues in science education requires a reorientation to how science students are advised and how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, particularly science, is viewed. STEM education is often figuratively described as a pipeline containing students who "leak" out before reaching the nexus of their STEM education/career journey. The authors of this paper argue that STEM education must be viewed from an ecosystems perspective, where students interact with one another, their physical environment and cultural contexts, and other humans who can support them in becoming STEM professionals. Within this STEM ecosystem, many individuals have a pivotal role in supporting students as they learn and develop within the science field. These individuals, particularly advisors, must possess knowledge, beliefs, skills, and dispositions that help students cultivate a sense of belonging, engage them in critical thinking about their academic and career choices, and aid their identity development in learning as becoming in STEM professions. The authors describe who these individuals are, the roles they play, and also provide practical examples, using vignettes, of how advisors can support students of color pursuing science degrees and careers. Finally, recognizing that students' STEM advising ecosystem operates at any grade level or stage of life, the authors have organized the descriptive portion of this study according to the following levels elementary, secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and career.

In this paper, I address Jacque Lacan's theory of the four discourses, namely, master/slave, university, hysteric and analyst. The four discourses are explored via interviews with five postgraduate business students from a leading Irish business school. Three of the students were prepared to abdicate responsibility for career decision-making to me, thereby suggesting the discourses of the master/slave and university. The remaining two students expected to retain greater control over the career decision-making process which implies a shift in position to the discourse of the analyst. I propose that career counselling should primarily reside in the discourse of analyst, with supporting reference to the discourses of hysteric, university and master/slave. Currently, there is no inclusion of Lacan in career theory.

The Bender-Gestalt Test (BGT) is a psychological assessment used to understand the characteristics of a person by evaluating the drawings of the examinees when asked to copy provided shapes. The evaluation results in numerical scores for each shape, which describe the level of psychological issues. This test has been conducted using a pencil and a paper by a human counsellor traditionally, but the results can be contaminated by unconscious bias or mistakes. This paper proposed a digitalized BGT system which utilizes a stylus pen and a tablet to assist a human counsellor. The proposed system records the responses of examinees, and the responses were evaluated by computer algorithms. The proposed system was evaluated by comparing the scores of the proposed system and human experts, with the BGT responses of 28 participants. Both scores were similar in general, but it was found that the scores of the proposed system were more accurate for the ambiguous drawings. The results indicate that the proposed system can be utilized to assist counsellors for the diagnosis of the abnormalities precisely by accurately detecting small differences in the drawings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper starts with the presumption that the 'act of counseling' must involve the strategic 'method of dialogue', and by doing so, the practitioners/counselors do indeed 'philosophize' with their counselees. Such a strategic method involves "... attending and encouraging, restating and paraphrasing, reflecting content and feeling, clarifying and perception checking, and summarizing." This method may be traced way back in the philosophic dialogues of Socrates (though in a subtle manner), which have been compiled in the dialogues of Plato. In Aristotle, we find that this method of dialogue is relatively less apparent than in Socrates and Plato, but it continues to be applied. It becomes the aporetic method: the solution of the problem results from a discussion of all possible opinions/beliefs: the 'act of midwifery' in the method of dialogue seems a crucial aspect of 'Socratic perspective', and conducive to the act of philosophical counseling. This paper shall focus on a particular piece of work called Aristophanes' Clouds. In modern times, it definitely seems to make sense in the process of philosophical counseling where the counselee is supposed to reach the solution to her/his dilemma (with the assistance of the counselor). This is supposed to be conversational, mimetic, and sometimes rhetoric as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer (Psocodea: Pediculidae) that failed to respond to pyrethroid insecticide-based treatment products were first identified in London and Cambridge, UK, in 1993 after which reports of treatment failure arose throughout the UK. There was a need amongst healthcare workers for a rapid detection method for resistance that could be used at the community level. A laboratory service was set up so that health professionals could send lice by overnight post for bioassay testing for resistance. In addition, test kits were provided so that testing could either be conducted on site or lice could be shipped to the laboratory on pre-treated test papers so that insecticide exposure could proceed while lice were in transit to the laboratory. Between 1994 and 1999, over 350 samples from 145 locations were tested and during this time populations of lice resistant to pyrethroids, malathion, and carbaryl were identified from all parts of the country, both urban and rural. In some areas, lice were only resistant to one of the insecticides available but in other places lice showed tolerance to all three insecticides used at the time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counseling techniques are an important part of genetic counseling, and teaching of the humanistic person-centered philosophy has been central to genetic counselor (GC) training. However, other psychotherapeutic approaches, especially cognitive approaches, may also be beneficial for the GC to have in their toolkit. This paper reports on a co-production workshop with newly qualified GCs where the potential for adopting more cognitive approaches informed by cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was explored. Attendees were taught about the approaches and the rationale for their use in genetic counseling and had a chance to discuss their reactions and ideas for application. The attendees saw great potential for the approaches within their practice, feeling that these short interventions can have a wide impact, including engaging patients who do not want to discuss feelings, helping people to make sense of information (not just gain knowledge), and helping people to change the relationship they have with their thoughts. They were able to identify when they already use some cognitive approaches in their practice, and to see how they could build on this to provide better patient care. The paper advocates for an introduction to CBT and ACT to be incorporated into pre-qualification training, and for more advanced training to be available to post-qualification GCs., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Genetic Counseling published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Society of Genetic Counselors.)

Objectives: Non-normative uncertainty (uncertainty about empirical facts) and normative uncertainty (uncertainty about moral values or beliefs) regarding unsolicited findings (UFs) might play an important role in clinical genetics. Identifying normative uncertainty is of special interest since it might guide towards novel directions for counseling practice. This study aims to gain insight into the role of non-normative and normative uncertainty regarding UFs, as expressed by counselees and counselors., Methods: We performed a secondary qualitative analysis of interviews with counselees (n = 20) and counselors (n = 20) who had been confronted with UFs. Following a deductive approach, we used Han et al.'s existing theoretical framework of uncertainty, in which we additionally incorporated normative uncertainty., Results: Major issues of non-normative uncertainty were practical and personal for counselees, whilst counselors' uncertainty pertained mainly to scientific issues. Normative uncertainty was a major theme throughout the interviews. We encountered the moral conflicts of autonomy vs. beneficence and non-maleficence and of autonomy vs. truthfulness., Conclusion: Non-normative uncertainty regarding UFs highlights the need to gain more insight in their penetrance and clinical utility. This study suggests moral conflicts are a major source of feelings of uncertainty in clinical genetics., Practice Implications: Exploring counselees' non-normative uncertainties and normative conflicts seems a prerequisite to optimize genetic counseling., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The optimal solution is output as the result to the Kmeans algorithm as the initial clustering center, and the proposed linear distance model is used to complete the clustering. Combined with the theory of target management, focusing on the job requirements and responsibilities of the counselors, the counselors' performance appraisal objectives were determined, the counselor performance appraisal system was established, and the first-level indicators and the second-level indicators and their weights were determined by using Del Illegal and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This paper constructs a performance appraisal system for local undergraduate college counselors based on management by objectives, and has carried out a pilot implementation in a college. The behavior anchoring method is used to determine the scoring standards of each index, which solves the problem of inconsistent scoring standards for different assessment subjects in the past. In the assessment results, the assessment results of the three dimensions are independently evaluated by category. This paper has a certain practical significance and reference value for the optimization research of the counselor's performance appraisal scheme under the background of institutional reform in a university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data mining technology can analyze and mine university management data, provide more data support for university management, and play an important role in optimizing teaching quality, but these technologies are rarely applied to the work of university counselors. Based on this, this paper studies the construction and research of college counselors' innovative work mode based on data mining technology. Based on the simple analysis of the impact of big data on the traditional working mode of counselors, this paper introduces the application of data mining commonly used in colleges and universities and puts forward the existing shortcomings. The innovative working mode of college counselors is designed. In the analysis of students' daily behavior, the advantages of cluster analysis and support vector machine are used to analyze students' consumption behavior. The Apriori algorithm is applied to the student achievement early warning management to improve the Apriori algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can shorten the running time, reduce the number of frequent item sets, and improve the classification accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: South Africa presents one of the riskiest patterns of alcohol consumption, with per capita consumption above the African regional average. Globally, there has been an increased focus on the potential of appointing lay counsellors to administer alcohol intervention strategies in resource-limited contexts. Given the increasing need for relevant and efficient intervention strategies in response to high-risk alcohol consumption, screening instruments such as the AUDIT-C have gained increased attention., Methods: This paper explores the experiences of 15 lay counsellors in response to the training received on how to administer the AUDIT-C instrument, as well as provide interventions such as brief advice or an appropriate referral, in the resource-limited South African township of Alexandra, Johannesburg. A focus group was facilitated for this purpose and, thereafter, a thematic content analysis was applied to identify the themes most central to the lay counsellors' experiences., Results: The research findings suggest that the lay counsellors perceived the training to be adequate in preparing them for administrating the AUDIT-C and for providing any relevant interventions, and that their confidence in administering the instrument developed as the project progressed. However, recruitment and administration challenges were experienced in primary healthcare and community settings, and lay counsellors perceived home visits to be more appropriate with respect to issues related to confidentiality and stigmatisation., Conclusion: Overall, while lay counsellors feel that the training they received on the tool and the tool itself is useful for effectively implementing the AUDIT-C in low-resource communities, the availability and efficiency of alcohol treatment services in Alexandra Township need to be improved., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This article seeks to highlight the most recent trends and themes in genetic counseling that are of broad interest. A total of 3505 documents were published between 1952 and 2021, with a trend toward increase in paper/year. The most common documents are original articles (2515, 71.8%), followed by review articles (341, 9.7%). Journal of Genetic Counseling publishes the highest number of genetic counseling articles (587, 16.7%), followed by Clinical Genetics (103, 2.9%) and the South American Journal of Medical Genetics (95, 2.7%). Co-occurrence analysis revealed five research themes: genetic testing, cancer, genetic counselor, prenatal diagnosis, and psychiatry. The genetic counselor theme contained most of the recent keywords, including "covid-19," "underrepresented population," "service delivery models," "workforce," "disparities," "service delivery," "professional development," "cultural competence," "access," "diversity," "telemedicine," and "health literacy." Genetic counseling researchers may use these keywords to find topics pertinent to their future research and practice., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Society of Human Genetics.)

This study delves into the role of psychiatric social workers in treating children facing social, mental, and environmental challenges, commonly addressed in child guidance. These professionals are trained to address a diverse array of issues stemming from children's various backgrounds. The study explores the expansive scope of responsibilities within child guidance, spanning mental hospitals and local health sectors. In India, numerous child guidance clinics cater to children's mental health needs, where psychiatric social workers engage in both theoretical and clinical practices. This research-based paper investigates the problem-solving approaches of psychiatric social workers in hospital settings concerning children's behavioral and mental health issues, which often pose challenges for parents, families, and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on counselors-in-training is necessary to improve the success of the counseling process. The counseling skills used by counselors are critical to managing this process. This paper aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge in counseling pedagogy by examining the role of counselor characteristics as a mediator in the relationship between counselors-in-training values and counseling skills. In this study, we had 524 counselors-in-training from various universities in Turkey. The results showed that the values of counselors-in-training significantly predict their counselor characteristics. Specifically, the values of the counselors-in-training predict their counseling skills, with the mediating role of the counselor characteristics. Additionally, the counselor characteristics of the counselors-in-training significantly predicted their counseling skills. Various practices and methods can be applied to improve counseling skills. Given that the development of values allows counselors-in-training to acquire important counselor characteristics, value education is essential in the training of counselors. Individuals who acquire essential counselor characteristics can use their counseling skills effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Therapeutic boundaries are limits to appropriate behaviours within a therapist–client relationship (e.g. related to accepting gifts, self‐disclosures, therapist neutrality and advocacy). Therapeutic boundary considerations are fundamental in the care of refugees and asylum seekers. Research on the experiences of therapists navigating such boundaries is sparse and warrants further exploration. The aim of this qualitative systematic review was to thematically synthesise literature regarding therapists' (psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors) experiences of implementing flexible therapeutic boundaries with refugee and asylum seeker clients and determine how such applications have been helpful for therapeutic interventions. Method: Six databases were searched. Following full‐text screening, 21 papers were included in the analysis. Boundary theory underpinned the analysis. Results: Three major themes were developed: (i) Changes to Therapeutic Practice & Therapeutic Intervention, (ii) Re‐Conceptualisation of Therapy as 'Clinical Political' and Re‐Conceptualisation of Therapist Identity and (iii) Careful Monitoring of Personal Boundaries—Not becoming 'Hardened' or 'Haunted'. Papers described how, when used in a reflective, considerate way, flexible therapeutic boundaries can strengthen the therapist–client alliance and positively impact therapeutic interventions. Many therapists acknowledged making conscious efforts to re‐conceptualise therapeutic work with refugee and asylum seeker clients from advocacy standpoints. However, systemic constraints, and lack of guidance, made this difficult to navigate and contributed to therapist burn‐out. Conclusions: Boundary considerations manifested as interpersonal, structural and cultural changes to practice. These have implications for clinical practice and developing guidelines on boundary practices with refugees and asylum seekers. Future research should explore promoting therapist well‐being and training needs for therapists supporting this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the changing trends in ideological and political teaching methodologies in colleges and higher institutes, the previous political and ideological teaching mode of blackboard and power point-enabled face-to-face instruction is in danger of being phased out. As a result, college counselors' work in political and ideological education is an essential component of college-level instruction. The reform's focal points, i.e., integral platforms, are wireless communication and big data video streaming. These platforms provide a sense of situation, immersion, and involvement that traditional ideological and political education lacks. Using big data concepts for wireless-enabled video streaming, this paper assesses the effectiveness of college counselors' ideological and moral instructions. We provide data-driven insights to improve the efficacy of education by analyzing a large quantity of video data, which include teaching content, student behavior, and interaction status. We present a big data-enabled evaluation approach that blends ideological and moral education aspects, employing least squares fitting analysis for indicator distribution control, fuzzy support vector machine and fuzzy clustering models for assessment. The study conducts quantitative analysis, dynamic monitoring, and feature extraction of efficacy indicators by assessing college counselors' advice based on parameters and benefits. The experiment shows that the proposed method has a high degree of confidence in evaluating the effectiveness of college counselors' ideological and moral education and can dynamically adjust their approach to improve data interaction ability and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reflect Fischer's ideas on vocational orientation and vocational choice as fundamental prerequisites for vocational education in the current German system of vocational guidance in general and vocational education schools. A special focus is placed on Fischer's view on the relevance of informed choice when choosing an occupation. In a first step, the reader will be introduced to the philosophical basis of German vocational guidance, namely, Beruf and self‐knowledge, as it is the foundation for understanding Aloys Fischer's thinking on vocational guidance. In a second step, key points of Aloys Fischer's paper 'Vocational Guidance and Vocational Counsellors' (1920) that relate to the issue of informed choice will be presented. Finally, as Aloys Fischer's ideas are reflected in vocational guidance in general and vocational education schools in Germany, the paper provides a brief discussion of informed choice—Fischer's central topic—from the author's German and contemporary perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work of school counsellors has become complex with the increasing technological advances and adolescents' dependency on them. There is a surprising lack of study in the Indian context, aimed at school counsellor's challenges in dealing with adolescents' digital use. This paper provides better understanding of the challenges of school counsellors involving adolescents' digital use in Indian schools. Three significant themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) negative aspects of digital use among Indian adolescents, (b) the need to effectively teach how to navigate the digital world and (c) the challenge of integrating technology with traditional counselling approaches to educate adolescents about their digital use. Furthermore, this paper presents implications for school counselling practice and research within Indian context. Practitioner points: School counsellors address challenging situations involving adolescents' use of digital media.School counsellors play a crucial role in teaching and modelling how to navigate the digital world.Little research has been conducted in the Indian context; hence this study is a good step forward to understand and acknowledge the challenges of school counsellors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper reviews three philosophical counseling traditions that became significant in the author's philosophical counseling practice. The paper begins with (i) an introduction of the topic, (ii) a review of possible definitions of philosophical counseling, (iii) defines the aim of such counseling, (iv) provides methods and techniques used to address various issues, (v) discusses some concerns and solutions found in the philosophies of the Bhagavad-Gita, Saint Kabir, and Gurudev Ranade, and Nimbargi Sampradaya, before (vi) a conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pandemic took the whole world by surprise and has caused considerable havoc in every area of human endeavour. The paper traced the origin of COVID-19 from Wuhan province in China to Nigeria. The pandemic generated a lot of adverse effects in the country by bringing untold hardships on the educational, economic, social, and psychological lives of the people. However, the emphasis of this paper is on the effects of the pandemic on education. This paper presents a review of the impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria's education. To this end, the author explored the educational and learning concepts with recommendations for future adjustments. The study noted that since the Federal Government of Nigeria announced the closure of its 104 Unity Schools on 26th March 2020, to check the spread of the coronavirus, all other schools, including higher institutions of learning, were also shut down. This closure order, coupled with poverty, negatively affects students' learning. School counsellors in Nigeria must reach out to students to assist in managing their emotional maladjustment and develop the resilience to cope with their studies despite the challenges of the pandemic in the education space. Additionally, access to virtual learning opportunities ought to be provided by the state and other stakeholders in education to support academic activities during the pandemic. Also, the government must ensure adequate post-lockdown plans to assist students in returning to everyday life gradually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for the use-value to the growing field of philosophical counseling of a basic, teachable model for the practice of philosophical counseling. The paper proposes three basic assumptions as best undergirding such a model: first, that philosophical counseling helps people to deepen their understanding of issues through the development of their autonomous reasoning processes; second, that these reasoning processes stand to gain from the right inputs and challenges from the counselor; and, third, that beyond its practical use, philosophical counseling aids in the attainment of 'philosophical health', which has value in itself and over time demonstrates its priority over the attainment of external goods. The paper finally presents a basic model of philosophical counseling that reflects the author's own developed practice, and consists in a sequence of seven steps: 1) the use of pointed clarifying questions, 2) the performance of values reflection, 3) the posing of fear-facing questions, 4) the sharing of relevant experiences, 5) the registering and sharing of impressions, 6) the discernment of the crucial issue, and 7) the use of breakthrough questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellbeing at work can be achieved through different strategies; designing for a positive user experience (UX) is one way. However, the relationship between wellbeing and professionally used technology is rather unexplored, especially in work areas that are far from desktop work such as worker guidance systems (WGSs) used in assembly processes. In this paper, we first described a qualitative evaluation (using the valence method) of a prototype WGS designed for a positive UX. The evaluation showed that it elicited far more positive than negative feelings. Based on the results, we improved and redesigned the prototype. We then implemented it in a realistic setting and quantitatively compared it with an established WGS. It was shown that the prototype elicited more positive feelings than the established system, whereas there were no differences in the number of negative markers. Thus, one can assume that the improvement of UX in the redesigned system was due to the positive UX design concepts. However, there were no significant differences in the mood questionnaires. The paper showed that positive experiences at work can be achieved when the design of professional technology is focused on a positive UX. Long-term studies should further investigate whether these experiences lead to a generally elevated mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this systematic review and thematic synthesis was to identify and consolidate research on the support needs of impacted Higher Education (HE) counselors that have experienced a student suicide death. When exposed to a student suicide death, counselors are often extensively involved in a postvention response. This systematic review synthesized four qualitative papers that explored the experiences of staff impacted by student suicide. Thematic synthesis revealed three core themes: The unknown, responding, and the known, and six subthemes: Gaps in knowledge of individual experience, gaps in knowledge of organizational impact, extrospective responding, introspective responding, the needs of impacted counselors, the degree of impact, and the support processes that arise from needs. The results provide a summary of the current supports available to impacted HE counselors and considerations relevant to their postvention needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The professional identity of the 'genetic counsellor' first took shape in the UK in the early 1990s, when the University of Manchester established the country's first masters-level training course. Postwar, genetic counselling had been carried out by (male) clinical geneticists, who, alongside their research, clinical and field-building activities, met patients and families to discuss inherited conditions and risk estimates, and who sometimes advised parents whether to attempt or continue pregnancies. By contrast, the new cohort of students in Manchester in the 1990s were not medically trained, were mostly women, and were schooled in the psychological and social consequences of genetic testing and diagnosis, as well as methods for the care, support and emotional management of patients and families. This was a significant change both in the practices of 'genetic counselling' and who was expected to practise it. Focusing on a small section of this history, between 1980 and 1995, this paper describes some of the historical threads that contributed to this change. It charts the early work of genetic nurses and social workers, who in the 1980s carved out distinctive roles within National Health Service genetics centres. It describes the separate, specialist provision developed by sickle cell and thalassaemia counsellors, who developed new approaches in dialogue with racialised and underserved patient communities. It examines growing interest in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the tacit social and cultural conditions of genetic counselling encounters, and how this cohered with attention from disability scholars, psychologists and social scientists. By describing these historical contributions, this paper explores how the intersecting gendered, racialised and disciplinary politics of clinical genetics shaped the new professional role of the 'genetic counsellor'., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.)

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counselling and testing plays a significant role in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. HIV counselling and testing during pregnancy is an essential gateway for HIV prevention, timely treatment, and care services. Lack of proper counselling could jeopardise the quality of services. This paper aims to understand the relationship between the government employed hospital healthcare workers and the Non-Governmental Organisation based counsellors while providing HIV counselling and testing services to pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in one of the main hospitals in Suva, Fiji. Data were collected via individual, in-depth, interviews held in a single hospital and an associated reproductive health centre in Suva in April-May 2013. A total of 15 healthcare providers including doctors (n = 4), midwives (n = 5), nurses (n = 4), and counsellors (n = 2) were interviewed. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Ethical approvals were obtained. We found that there was tension between the government employed hospital healthcare workers and the Non-Governmental Organisation based counsellors involved in the provision of HIV counselling and testing services to pregnant women. The predominant causes of tension were poor referral for HIV test counselling, long counselling time, lack of cooperation and conflict due to the differences in counselling approaches. Tension between the government employed hospital healthcare workers and the Non- Governmental Organisation based HIV counsellors appear to be the main challenge to effective provision of HIV test counselling services in the hospital. Ongoing tension between both groups could restrict healthcare workers abilities to provide quality HIV counselling services. Our findings would be useful in developing strategies to overcome tension amongst healthcare workers as it would be an imperative step in providing streamlined HIV counselling services to women attending antenatal clinic in Fiji., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While self-compassion and mental help-seeking are two important aspects emphasized in mental health literature and counseling practice, very little research has focused on how these two are associated particularly among counseling professionals–individuals providing mental health support to others but whose mental health are often overlooked. This cross-sectional study investigated a moderated mediation model examining the role of age and attitudes in the positive influence of self-compassion on mental help-seeking intention. Using a paper-and-pencil survey, data were collected from a total of 158 Filipino counseling professionals. Results revealed that mental help-seeking attitudes significantly and partially mediated the positive association between self-compassion and mental help-seeking intention. Additionally, age significantly moderated the positive relationship between self-compassion and mental help-seeking attitudes. The significant positive influence of self-compassion on mental help-seeking attitudes was strong among older participants, weak among middle-age, and diminished among younger participants. The findings provided insights on the importance of a self-compassion-based approach to counselor training. The implications of preserving counselors' mental health in counseling practice were discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate support services for common breastfeeding problems are major reasons why many nursing mothers quit exclusive breastfeeding practice in Nigeria. The recent exodus of doctors and other health-care workers has made the situation worse. Community-based interventions are urgently needed to avoid a relapse of the marginal increase of the exclusive breastfeeding rate in the country. Therefore, this study reviewed the feasibility and effectiveness of training and deploying pastors' wives as breastfeeding peer counselors along with leaders of women's Bible study classes as co-counselors in a church-based support service to boost exclusive breastfeeding practice in the country. Searches were conducted using appropriate keywords in journals and databases such as Google Scholar, Christian Journal of Global Health, and PubMed. Relevant papers were selected and read thoroughly. Ideas, phrases, and clauses that answered the research questions were synthesized into themes. Previous partnerships with the church to provide support for specific health problems such as HIV/AIDS had been fruitful. The adoption of the Community Infant and Young Child Feeding Counseling Package in small priority areas by the government and its development partners yielded positive results. However, partnerships are necessary to make the service available nationwide. The use of existing opportunities such as the network of pastors' will be an economical and rational form of the volunteer community mobilizers. Community-based breastfeeding peer counseling has effectively increased the initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding and provided an opportunity to address other problems related to breastfeeding. However, the allocation of matching grants to local government areas will be necessary to increase nutrition interventions and to motivate peer counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assistance systems utilize a broad range of technologies to provide information and guidance to workers in manufacturing. The use of light projectors, as of today, has seldom been catalogued in the relevant literature, and the implementation of such is yet to be found in production environments. However, light projectors may offer a cost effective enhancement for production processes, especially within the context of large-scale workpieces. Of the pertaining literature, only one calibration algorithm is currently considered applicable, thus acting as a framework of motivation for this paper. A novel calibration algorithm based on Newton's method is presented and validated in conjunction with a proof-of-concept demonstration of the resulting accuracy, as well as the integration of such into an interface based on Node-RED, with MQTT as the main protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of augmented reality (AR) technology is growing in the maintenance industry because it can improve efficiency and reduce costs by providing real-time guidance and instruction to workers during repairs and maintenance tasks. AR can also assist with equipment training and visualization, allowing users to explore the equipment's internal structure and size. The adoption of AR in maintenance is expected to increase as hardware options expand and development costs decrease. To implement AR for job aids in mobile applications, 3D spatial information and equipment details must be addressed, and calibrated using image-based or object-based tracking, which is essential for integrating 3D models with physical components. The present paper suggests a system using AR-assisted deep reinforcement learning (RL)-based model for NanoDrop Spectrophotometer training and maintenance purposes that can be used for rapid repair procedures in the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) setting. The system uses a camera to detect the target asset via feature matching, tracking techniques, and 3D modeling. Once the detection is completed, AR technologies generate clear and easily understandable instructions for the maintenance operator's device. According to the research findings, the model's target technique resulted in a mean reward of 1.000 and a standard deviation of 0.000 . This means that all the rewards that were obtained in the given task or environment were exactly the same. The fact that the reward standard deviation is 0.000 shows that there is no variability in the outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical activity (PA) counselling research has mainly focused on identifying which behaviour change techniques (BCTs) are delivered by a counsellor. Less is known about how BCTs are received by clients. State Space Grids (SSGs) is a dynamic system method that can be used to study counsellor-client interactions by examining frequencies, durations and sequences of BCT delivery and receipt. In this methods paper, we show how SSG methods can be pragmatically used to characterize counsellor-client interactions during a PA behavioural support intervention for adults with disabilities., Methods: Methods were demonstrated through a secondary analysis of data from adults with spinal cord injury (age: 45.79 ± 13.63; females: n = 5; males: n = 9) who received PA counselling. Transcripts of 30 audio-recorded counselling sessions (total duration: ∼8.3 h) were double-coded for BCT delivery and receipt statements using a reliable coding method (>84% agreement) and analyzed in two different ways using SSGs methods., Results: Applying the SSG analyses to our data demonstrated that frequencies, durations, and sequences of BCT delivery and receipt varied largely within and between dyads. Across all sessions, the counsellor and client spent on average 32-34% of their time on talking about BCTs related to goals and planning, ∼29% of their time talking about other BCTs (e.g., self-belief, support strategies), and the remaining 27-29% of their time talking about other topics (not BCT-specific)., Conclusion: This paper showed how dynamic system methods can be pragmatically used to characterize counsellor-client interactions and illustrate the variability of how BCTs are delivered by a counsellor and received by clients in a PA behavioural support intervention. We demonstrated that SSGs methods can facilitate the examination of frequencies, durations and sequences of BCT delivery and receipt can help advance our understanding of PA behavioural support for adults with and without disabilities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Introduction. Information behaviour in grief, bereavement, death, dying and its influence on the development of information interventions is understudied. Although pragmatic and evidence-based practices work well, theoretical and conceptual models, research findings and theories should inform grief and bereavement information interventions developed by specialist counsellors. Extensive literature on death, dying, grief and bereavement counselling/therapy and information behaviour per se, does not address this need. This paper reports on work in progress exploring existing theories and models that might guide research. Method. Scoping review of literature from applicable disciplines (health, social work, religion, psychology, library/information science) for theories/models reported in grief and bereavement counselling and bereavement information intervention design. The focus is on information behaviour and all related information activities. Analysis. Two tables based on a content analysis that show theories/models that hold value for information interventions and studies of information behaviour. Results. The analysis reveals a spectrum of theories including grief theory, grief stage theory, theory of motivated information management. Models for consideration include bereavement model, transtheoretical model (narratives), social interaction model. Conclusion. Information behaviour research should continue to strive in conceptually and theoretically informing grief and bereavement information interventions, practices and work in grief and bereavement counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]