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This study examined unit and item nonresponse rates and ancillary information provided for Web- and paper-based versions of a questionnaire administered to school counselors. Results indicate that the unit nonresponse rate was higher for the Web-based version but that the patterns of item nonresponse found generally did not differ between the media. Implications for counselors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attending personal therapy sessions is a requirement in many counselling and psychotherapy trainings worldwide. More research is needed to establish why the requirement is essential and what it is intended to achieve. This study focused on the question, what is the rationale for mandated self-development requirements in therapy trainings? From a selective literature search, 19 highly relevant papers were found which formed a sampling frame. The papers included qualitative studies, mixed method reports, review and opinion papers. Research participants across all reports included therapy and psychiatry trainees (N = 1134), and current therapy practitioners (N = 194) totalling 1328 participants. The papers were analysed using Critical Interpretive Synthesis method to devise a synthesising statement. The analysis resulted in a synthesising statement about the rationale for personal psychotherapy during training, and the stated risks of this requirement as reflected in the materials consulted. A strong coherent rationale exists for the recommendation that trainee therapists undertake personal psychotherapy. However, the risks of mandating this requirement present multiple challenges, and the evidence for the intended outcomes of personal psychotherapy undertaken during training is weak. [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]

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.)

In the field of counselling, an increasing number of counsellors are trying to incorporate Buddhist ideas and practices into their practice, but few pragmatic resources from the Buddhist framework are available. In response to this need, this paper focuses on the foundational Buddhist text on meditation, namely the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. Original Buddhist scriptures are not easily understood without guidance; thus, this paper provides a commentary for counsellors by explaining the relevant Buddhist concepts and practices, proposing a note, know and choose model based on the sutta, and providing a case study to illustrate the application of the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta for counselling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following from the previous two articles in this series, in previous issues of this journal, this article will complete the journey through guidance writing for publication. In 2009 and 2010 Taylor & Francis funded two workshops on this topic for members of the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy. Using some of the exercises and feedback from these workshops these linked articles will consider the structure, tone and content of academic writing. After that, the current article will go through the process of submitting for publication, the review process and revising written work. The article will encourage readers to come up with a definite plan for a piece of written work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper is an attempt to understand various theories that explain mental health issues of Asian Indian immigrant women. It further explores depression as a threat to mental health and also examines the various supports to mental health. The literature will delve into the ways in which systems deter or promote members of the chosen population in the maintenance of optimal health and well-being, implication for the Human Behavior in the Social Environment (HBSE) curriculum, and future research needs are also explored. The paper looks specifically at middle-class women from first and second generations. It would also make an effort to understand the concept of mental health, women and mental health, the immigration history, and the Asian Indian immigrant family. This is imperative, as it would provide a better understanding of these issues among Asian Indian immigrant women. Knowledge of these issues will help the social work practitioners and counselors to deal effectively with the Indian women. It will also help in providing a different perspective in understanding human behavior. The term Asian Indian immigrant women has been abbreviated as AIIW throughout the paper to focus on women who have their roots in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present and discuss partial findings of a thematic analysis on the experiences of 13 licensed clinicians who integrate Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in couple therapy. We cover five of the seven themes that emerged from the data. These themes refer to practical factors of implementation, such as identifying and assessing the conditions necessary for effective integration, risks of integrating, and timing of integration in couple therapy. One additional theme refers to the institutional and training factors that might hinder model integration. After presenting the findings, we contrast them with available literature. We conclude by discussing clinical and research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

This paper examines the unique challenges faced by the 2023 Leaving Certificate cohort in Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) in Ireland due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on the significant impact of the pandemic on students who will be sitting their first-ever state examination at the age of 18. These students, often from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, have had to navigate unprecedented disruptions and adjustments to their education, presenting distinct obstacles to their academic success and overall well-being. Fourteen interviews were carried out, involving guidance counsellors, subject teachers and Principals. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted and the identified themes that emerged from the analysis include lack of motivation, naivety around the Leaving Certificate Examination, poor well-being and skewed expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Kleinian tradition for psychotherapists and counsellors" by David Smart is a well-written book that provides a coherent and accessible account of concepts such as projective identification, perversion, and countertransference in the context of their historical development. The book demonstrates how Kleinian thinking evolves in relation to other strands of psychoanalytic thinking and presents key papers that mark the key points of development in Kleinian thinking. It is intended as a handbook or introductory text for trainees in psychoanalytic/psychodynamic ways of working and is well-suited for this purpose. However, the chapter on 'Sexuality' strays into controversial territory and presents a partisan rehashing of standard criticisms, which may not be helpful in this highly sensitive area. The chapter on 'Difference' is brief but interesting, although it may not adequately consider the psychosocial context. Overall, the book is a helpful presentation of developments in Kleinian thinking and is recommended for those interested in the subject. [Extracted from the article]

The article reviews several articles including "Acknowledging and understanding complexity when providing therapy in prisons," by Joel Harvey, "Therapeutics of despair in the prison setting," by Joanna Gee, Del Loewenthal and Julia Cayne, and "Delivering therapy in prison: An IPA study researching the lived experience of psychotherapists and counsellors," by Betty Bertrand- Godfrey and Del Loewenthal.

By examining the specific emotional phenomena of self-narratives and how they are expressed in normal counselling interactions, this paper highlights the importance of taking emotional information into account within a career-counselling context. Based on three cases taken from a corpus of 64 interviews and on a protocol identifying the essentially verbal expression of emotions and emotion management, the focus in the paper is on how emotions can erupt when the client is recounting biographical episodes and how counsellors handle the situation. The results highlight the discourse procedures used by clients (e.g. preliminary phrases, seeking ratification, hesitations, repetitions, reference to self) and by counsellors (e.g. reformulations, questions) and show that counsellors can transform the client’s emotional reactions, which can have a decisive impact on the outcome of counselling interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The category of community health worker applied within the context of health intervention trials has been promoted as a cost-effective approach to meeting study objectives across large populations, relying on the promotion of the concept of ‘com-munity belonging’ to encourage altruistic volunteerism from community members to promote health. This community-based category of individuals is recruited to facilitate externally driven priorities defined by large research teams, outside of the target research environment. An externally defined intervention is then ‘brought to’ the community through locally recruited community volunteers who form a bridge between the researchers and participants. The specific role of these workers is context-driven and responsive to the needs of the intervention. This paper is based on the findings from an annual evaluation of community health worker performance employed as community counsellors to deliver semi-supervised HIV self-testing (HIVST) at community level of a large HIV/TB intervention trial conducted in urban Blantyre, Malawi. A performance evaluation was conducted to appraise individual service delivery and assess achievements in meeting pre-defined targets for uptake of HIVST with the aim of improving overall uptake of HIVST. Through an empirical ‘evaluation of the evaluation’ this paper critically reflects on the position of the community volunteer through the analytical lens of ‘failure’, exploring the tensions in communication and interpretation of intervention delivery between researchers and community volunteers and the differing perspectives on defining failure. It is concluded that community interventions should be developed in collaboration with the population and that information guiding success should be clearly defined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the COVID-19 outbreak, Social Workers across Borders (SWAB) was invited to organise crisis intervention training and supervisions for volunteer counselling teams. By reviewing the supervision records this paper found that the steps of 'Sensitisation, Education, Scanning, Choice of Opting Out, and Recovery Facilitation' (S-E-S-C-R) are useful to structure Trauma-Informed Supervision. Analysis indicated that volunteer counsellors have gone through three different stages, namely confusion, coordination and adaptation to changing crisis situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses collaborative research between academics and practitioners to enhance the level of play engagement in nine groups of toddlers in The Netherlands. Researchers and pedagogic counsellors designed a structured experiment to test the effects of four pedagogical strategies: confronting the children with a rearranged activity corner; free play, with the teacher available at a distance; entrance of the teacher into the rearranged corner; free play, with the teacher nearby. Videos of the experiments were quantitatively and qualitatively analysed by the researchers. The level of play engagement was high with the teacher at a distance and with the teacher nearby. When the teacher was nearby, the role of onlooker enhanced play engagement. The role of player and play leader only enhanced play engagement when there were two-sided interactions. The counsellors and teachers discussed results and continued to experiment. They presented their results at a symposium for teachers, counsellors, managers and academics. The counsellors produced manuals to integrate practitioner research into their coaching of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the perspectives of youth workers on an experimental social-business initiative programme designed to bring about the inclusion of 'at-risk' youth in community centres. The programme was implemented in three community centres that are part of a nationwide organization of community centres which provide social-educational-cultural activities for the general population within the community. The uniqueness of the programme lies in its effort to integrate 'at-risk' youth into universal and unstigmatized, structured leisure activities. The sample included all the youth counsellors implementing the programme. The paper describes the inclusion of the youth from their selection and recruitment to the programme, through their introduction into the community centres, and during the processes associated with the implementation of the programme. The findings indicate the challenges and difficulties that arise in implementing an inclusive programme, the importance of the counsellors in implementing the programme and the relationship between the youth and the centre's staff members. Finally, operational conclusions are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is theoretical: to suggest ways in which Bloch and Parry's theory of mortuary rites as an occasion for the creation of the social order, can be linked to certain Foucauldian insights into government, and the combination used to analyse certain mortuary rites in contemporary Western societies. This paper will take as an example some of the practices and ideas encountered among bereavement counsellors in Britain during fieldwork in the mid- to late-1990s. The analysis will touch on the notion of personhood implicated in bereavement counsellors' understanding of grief. The paper suggests that bereavement counselling can be understood as a process through which the client is encouraged to reconstitute themselves as an autonomous being. The paper concludes by attempting to link this analysis of bereavement counselling as a process of subjectification to Bloch and Parry's (1982) general theory of mortuary rites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Comments on the training of counsellors in psychodynamic practice. Value of innate or trainable qualities; Use of training after graduation; Review of the modes of therapeutic relationships to demonstrate incompatibilities in therapeutic efficacy.

This paper explores the application of a Western, psychologically-based model of counselling and counselling training in contexts where the social and cultural conditions differ from mainstream Western societies. A group of Kenyan trainee counsellors following such a course are interviewed about their experience of training. The interview data are analysed to provide a tentative answer to the question of the appropriateness in a Kenyan cultural milieu of a humanistic counselling training model developed in the UK. It is concluded that such application is possible and desirable, if it is undertaken as shared and respectful learning between trainers and trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trauma counselors are vulnerable to negative impacts such as secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization. This study investigated Mindfulness Training as a self-care strategy for counselors in South Africa, examining the effect of MT on negative and positive secondary trauma impacts (STI), and employing a quasi-experimental embedded mixed methods research model to investigate the impact of MT and areas of greatest post-intervention change. The study compared pre- and posttest scores across an MT intervention group and an active control group. A mixed Between-Within Subjects ANOVA was tested for mean differences between the two independent groups, while simultaneously subjecting participants to repeated measures, to establish whether mean changes in the outcome scores on the dependent variables from pretest to posttest differed significantly for individuals over time within the groups. Results indicated that MT was effective in reducing negative STI and in increasing trait mindfulness. Benefits were sustained three months post-intervention. MT was associated with variable rates of change on each outcome measure. The evidence supports the role of MT in reducing negative STIs in trauma counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on mental health in Cambodia is increasing, yet there is limited focus on experiences of counsellors within this developing profession. This paper reports an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis conducted with thirteen practicing counsellors in Cambodia. Our specific interest was to gain an idiographic understanding of the meanings participants made of the changes they experienced in becoming counsellors, while also considering the unique context of Cambodia. Our findings are presented through an integration of description and interpretation, which grounds our participants' experiences of change, tension, and meaning-making in the socio-historical context of Cambodia and mental health development. Implications recommend ways to improve support needed to assist counsellors in this developing field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to gain an insight into counselling supervision experiences of Singapore school counsellors (SCs). In-depth, semi-structured interview sessions with 14 SCs were conducted. Their taped interviews were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Positive and negative aspects of their experiences included feeling more connected with other counsellors, experiencing a safe environment for sharing, and having supervision as a source of support and help; and feeling nervous about being judged or assessed, lacking in structure, and not having enough time in supervision. The Integrated Developmental Model (IDM) and Discrimination Model (DM) are discussed here to provide a framework for understanding the experiences of the SCs in group supervision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between symbolic expression and affect tends to be investigated from the perspective of recipients in contexts like media, politics, and advertising. A more producer-centric context is picture-based counseling (PBC) where clients are prompted by counselors to interpret pictures creatively as part of the treatment process. Nevertheless, the affective and discursive outcomes of these interpretations remain poorly understood. This paper reports a combined experimental and discourse analytic study which compares prompting strategies in terms of affective engagement, contrasts the discourse characteristics of interpretations following "topic-present" and "topic-absent" prompting strategies, and offers potential implications for PBC practice. Analysis of skin conductance levels suggests that the two prompting strategies which invite symbolic interpretation are more affectively engaging than the literal control (F(2,32) = 6.356, p =.005), but not significantly different from each other. A follow-up discourse analysis revealed the prominence of metaphors in symbolic interpretations, as well as nuanced differences between the discourse outcomes of prompting strategies. Topic-present interpretations tended to produce more systematic ensembles of metaphorical expressions, while topic-absent interpretations were less systematic. The combined findings suggest that orienting clients towards symbolic interpretation is affectively engaging, but the ideal prompting strategy is best determined by context-specific circumstances to be judged by counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the cultural preparedness approach to analyse the interface between the aspirations of immigrants and their engagement with systems of the host country. It draws upon interviews with 84 immigrants from 35 developing countries living in 9 high-income countries. Based upon Edmund Husserl's hermeneutical phenomenology, two studies are presented to understand the disturbance of equilibrium in cultural preparation status experienced by immigrants as they try to find their way in a host country. Aspiration-Engagement themes and responses to the challenges of integration are discussed. A model of aspiration and engagement based on the cultural preparedness approach is proposed as a framework that guidance and counselling workers could use to help immigrants optimise their engagement with the systems of the host country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mental health needs of college students are steadily on the rise, which compels mental health service providers and educators to explore innovative ways to provide more collaborative, supportive, and interdisciplinary service models of practice and professional training. Graduate programs in social work and counseling are at the crux of producing internship training programs to help accommodate the influx of students with persistent mental health concerns across a variety of needs and cultures. This article describes an interprofessional internship program structured and designed to meet the clinical training needs of master's level students matriculating in social work and counseling who aspire to provide mental health services in higher education settings. The interprofessional internship training model proposes an innovative interdisciplinary approach to field education which may result in positive training outcomes and learning experiences for social work and counseling students. This paper discusses the model's emphasis on individual and interdisciplinary group supervision, objectives of the internship experience, internship site criteria, and professional and personal benefits to pre-service social workers and counselors. Recommendations for training and limitations of the model are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

This paper examines the space between familiar and new storying of professional identity in the author’s migration from counsellor/psychologist to lecturer/researcher. Value is given to reflecting on the complexities and multiplicities which exist in this in-between space, particularly at points of difference and discomfort. Reflective practices of writing as inquiry and autoethnography are used to examine this migration of professional identity and are suggested as useful processes for undertaking socially responsive research. In this context, writing as inquiry and subsequent meaning-making/deconstruction leads me to places not yet known, and gives per(form)ance to the complex and multiple possibilities that open up in this process. The benefit of autoethnographic writing and meaning-making as a pre-cursor to participant-observation research is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To ensure close adherence to the contents of a family-based cognitive-behavioural programme, and maintain a high standard of quality in its implementation, it is important that practitioners’ attitudes and beliefs regarding family skills coincide with those of the programme. This paper describes and analyses (observed) potential changes in these beliefs, after training courses held prior to the application of a prevention programme for families: the Family Competence Programme. A questionnaire was devised to examine practitioners’ beliefs regarding family skills; and completed both before and after the training course. The results point to significant changes in family dynamics, realistic expectations and active listening. Thus, it can be demonstrated that preliminary training courses promote practitioner attitudes and beliefs which are more coherent with a subsequent programme’s approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In recent years, self-care has become the topic of much discussion within the helping professions. The goal of this article is to examine the issue of counselor burnout prevention through the practice of self-care. Mindfulness is recommended as one of the most well-studied and effective forms of counselor self-care, providing relief from the risk factors associated with burnout and enhancing protective factors. While counselor burnout, compassion fatigue, self-care, and mindfulness have all been well represented in the literature, this is the first paper to use the latest research to discuss all of these concepts as interrelated. This review is meant to be a call to counselors to practice self-care in the form of mindfulness, both for their own well-being and that of their clients. Suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion in this journal about counsellors' experiences of vicarious traumatisation (Sexton, 1999; Dunkley & Whelan, 2006a, b). It builds on my previous paper (Etherington, 2000a) that focused on the role of supervision in moderating the potential impact on helpers, and on the helping relationship, of working with survivors of sexual abuse. It examines the role of unconscious empathy and counter-transference in the development of vicarious traumatisation, and uses psychodynamic, narrative, neuroscience, and resilience literature, woven together with the author's reflexive engagement as a counsellor, supervisor, and researcher. The paper suggests that supervision, at its most useful for people working in this field, might best be focussed on the inter-relationship between the trauma itself, the person of the counsellor, the helping relationship, and the context in which the work is offered. It suggests ways that supervisors might support helpers to sustain themselves whilst working in the difficult field of abuse and trauma [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on my experience working as part of an innovative project that made it possible for a team of black therapists to work therapeutically in schools, in a community centre and at the Tavistock Clinic with black adolescents and their carers. It also draws on other experiences of being a black counsellor working in schools with black adolescents. I try to show that there are similarities between a child joining a school, this team of black counsellors joining the big school of provisions or services, and a black adolescent boy joining an adult world in which his loyalties, how he is perceived and his self-perception seem to offer him a ready-made place and way of being. This paper is about the power of pressures to conform, something that is intimately connected with or part of education, joining a culture, coming to know what is what and who belongs where and with whom, and who should be obeyed. It is also about the ability to resist conformity, and how terms such as 'freedom', 'choice' and 'agency' become applicable and warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the shifts in rhetorical footing between a professional counselor (the author), clients, and bishops who all belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The paper presents three domains in which switches in footing, or the orientation from which the counselor speaks, are necessary to balance potential conflicts between commitments of faith and commitments to professional values and ethics. These are the rhetorical discourses of doctrine versus profession, absolutism versus relativism, and biological versus spiritual treatment. The author provides examples of strategies and shifts in footing, or discursive orientation, used to maintain integrity and fidelity in his potentially contradictory roles when working with LDS clients and bishops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a research study of therapists' unconscious motivations for their choice of profession. The rationale arose from the author's observation of a substantial increase in recent years both in the number of counselling courses on offer and in the number of people wishing to become counsellors and psychotherapists. While many of the newer courses are university based with an emphasis on academic achievement, the practice of therapy continues to take place within a boundaried setting and is based on a relationship between therapist and client. Applicants for training commonly express a desire to 'help' and 'understand' others, often with minimal awareness of the origins of that desire. What are the unconscious motivations and gratifications for the would-be therapist? What is the shadow side of altruism and how might that affect what happens in the consulting room? The paper looks at initial attitudes and reasons for choosing to work in the field of psychotherapy/counselling, examines whether these may change over time and with experience, and considers the importance of personal therapy for both the trainee and the qualified therapist. The author interviewed nine experienced psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapists about their professional and personal histories. Two major themes of early loss and narcissistic needs emerged and these are discussed in conjunction with relevant literature and the concept of the 'wounded healer'. The importance of the relationship between therapist and client is highlighted and the desirability of personal therapy for safe and effective practice is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terms secondary traumatic stress (STS), vicarious traumatization (VT), and compassion fatigue (CF) have all been used, sometimes interchangeably, to refer to the observation that those who provide clinical services to trauma survivors may themselves experience considerable emotional disruption, becoming indirect victims of the trauma. Consequently, such reactions are becoming viewed as an occupational hazard of providing clinical services to traumatized populations. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the conceptual and empirical literature on secondary traumatic stress, as well as recommendations for its prevention. It is hoped that this article will serve to increase the awareness of this potential occupational hazard of counseling traumatized substance abusers among substance abuse treatment counselors, administrators, and educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a creative approach for training counselor and counselor educators that provides collaborative interactions among students and faculty in several university training pro- grams. Structured around a problem-solving activity and self-reflection questionnaires, undergraduate teachers-in-training were given an opportunity to receive one-to-one consultative counseling from the master's level counselors-in-training, who in turn received structured problem- solving supervision from the doctoral level students. Finally, the doctoral level students received faculty support to facilitate the development of their supervisory skills. The goal of this training approach is to provide students at all three levels with experiences similar to those they will encounter as professionals following graduation from the university, but within the context of scaffolding from faculty and more advanced students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the arguments related to contemporary notions of multiculturalism, including the ethical dilemmas involved in multicultural counselling. The paper argues that the present proliferation of untried, untested, and unreliable counselling theories in Western countries is inimical to the construction of genuine multicultural counselling bridges. It advocates the abandonment of such theories. It offers a model, which combines Eastern (mainly Indian) and Western approaches, and with judicious use it would enable counsellors and psychotherapists to cross cultural boundaries, construct more multicultural counselling bridges, and work in tandem. However, for the counselling theories to have substance, meaning, and validity, it is indispensable that the theories subscribe to an objectivist epistemology, instead of the subjectivist epistemologies into which most of them have lain so far. The differences and distinctions between subjectivist and objectivist epistemologies are clearly articulated. Finally, it is argued that counsellors and therapists must keep searching for valid multicultural counselling theories in the hope of discovering the Holy Grail of multicultural counselling and discard the poisoned chalice, by which many of the present theories appear to be contaminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being able to work effectively with clients from diverse backrounds has become a necessity in goodcounseling practice. Professional associations have acknowledged this in recent years by identifying and articulating multicultural competencies that inform both the practice of counseling, but also the training of counselors. Specific attention to competencies in working with LGBT clients has been identified as a sub-set of these overall cultural competencies. In this paper, leaders within the Association for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Issues in Counseling present specific ways in which counselors can provide culturally sensitive counseling to sexual minority clients and their families that are in line with the counselor training guidelines established by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic counsellors or tutors are engaged as a link between learners and distance teaching institutions. They perform various roles such as facilitating learning of subject matter content, assessing assignments, providing motivation and encouragement, and supervising research/term papers/project work. Each of these roles requires specific competencies to enable them to perform satisfactorily. This paper identifies the roles performed by academic counsellors at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the competencies required for each role. It also provides a generic list of competencies required to perform as an academic counsellor. Based on self-rating of the competency of a group of academic counsellors, the paper recommends the training of academic counsellors and the development of distance teaching materials for use in competence-building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoral counseling is a significant function for pastors not only in the context of the church in the U.S. but internationally as well. This paper provides details about positive and negative factors related to training pastoral counselors in Russia. There has been little programmatic counselor training for pastors in Russia. The sting of the Soviet era, cultural influences, the church as a social force, and training resources, are among the issues influencing training. Directions for research and resource development are offered to encourage Russian nationals as well as Westerners to continue efforts to strengthen pastoral counselor training. The purpose of this paper is to inform educators and trainers teaching in the field of pastoral counseling about the state of Russian pastoral counselor education today. This paper is intended to stimulate a dialogue among individuals working in the field, in order to promote progress in the development of pastoral counseling in the Russian church.

A great deal of time, effort and money is involved in the training of counsellors; hence it is most important that the selection process discriminates between those candidates who are likely to achieve the standard required at the end of the training and those who are not. This paper discusses some of the issues pertinent to the selection of candidates for training as counsellors. It considers the question of whether counsellors are born or made, in other words whether anyone can be a good counsellor given the right training or whether they have to be suitable before they start. The paper uses Kohutian concepts to address issues of narcissism, as well as considering equal opportunities and personal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nature of a counselling interview. It concerns itself with the first interview between the counsellor and the client, when both, the client and the counsellor are attempting to form their first impressions of one another. The paper discusses three major problems that arise in the process of forming impressions, viz., 1) maintaining neutrality and objectivity, 2) exercising cognitive control, and 3) expressing empathy. It is the contention of this paper that the above problems have not been clearly understood from their historical, philosophical, and psychological perspectives, and as a result, they have not been satisfactorily resolved. As a result, they have not been given sufficient consideration by counsellors and psychotherapists. The article considers the three problems and discusses ways and means by which they can be clearly understood and hopefully 'taken on board' by professionals working in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although four conventional criteria are used for sexuality -natal sex, sexual identity, gender role, and sexual orientation, issues of sexual diversity primarily center around the later. Diversity in sexual orientation is conventionally conceptualized as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender. After given definitions of a number of types of transgendered persons, the paper addresses the incidence and issue of heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality. A comparative analysis is made of social learningtheories, neopsychoanalytic theory, and biological factors in their ability to explain sexual orientation. The paper presents an interactive developmental model in which biological and socio-cultural factors are conceptualized as havingan interactive effect upon the development of a person's sexual orientation over time. Finally, human agency is introduced as an important aspect of counselingindividuals about their sexual behavior. We conclude that, whereas bio-psycho-social deficiencies presents certain challenges and struggles for individuals as they seek sexual congruence and authenticity, everyone must come to grips with the deeper moral and spiritual meaning involved in sexual decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper presents an introduction of a newly developed, avatar-based virtual reality therapy, as an addition to the therapeutic programme, within a therapeutic community prison in the UK. The participants had six group sessions facilitated by a counsellor. The aim of the project was to investigate whether this approach would improve mental health outcomes for the prisoners, interpersonal relationships within the prison and facilitate the achievement of personal goals for the prisoners. The sample size (n = 4) was insufficient to make firm conclusions about the mental health outcomes. However, the qualitative analysis showed a strong engagement with the programme in addressing personal issues, the development of insight and empathy, and improvements in relationships within the participants and with the counsellor. Further research with a larger sample is needed to establish efficacy of this type of therapy with the prison population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on the evaluation of the therapeutic use of photocards by prisoners and facilitators in a counselling psychology led European project, based on responses to open-ended questionnaires. It is part of a wider project, involving seven partner organisations in six European countries (England, Finland, Greece, Italy, Malta and Romania), which developed and trialled four different approaches to using photography in the context of counselling in prisons. Of the 51 inmates that participated in the project, 48 (94%) completed the questionnaires; of those, 39 (77%) were available for individual analysis due to prison restrictions in one partner organisation only allowing group data. Of those 39, who returned their completed questionnaires, over 92% found the therapeutic use of photographs either very helpful (56.4%) or helpful (35.9%), and the remaining 7.7% described it as average. From the thematic analysis, main themes emerging regarding inmates’ experiences of working with photocards were that it: facilitates emotional expression and sharing; unlocks memories and reconnects with life outside; fosters insight, reflection and self-growth; breaks the monotony of prison life and, overall aids emotional learning. A thematic analysis of 11 psychological therapists/facilitators’ perspectives showed that the use of photocards: gives clients a voice; provides a safe and collaborative frame and a therapeutic relationship; and, provides a useful icebreaker, helpfully overcoming anxieties of both client and psychotherapist/facilitator. Overall, photocards were considered useful as their projective nature can help facilitate prisoners’ strong need for expression in a context where there are limited opportunities and trust is fragile. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective Taking Beswick, Rothblum, and Mann's seminal paper on academic procrastination as a starting point, we provide an updated review of academic procrastination and consolidate this knowledge with a procrastination typology. The goal of our study was to show that while the degree of procrastination is largely contingent on the trait of conscientiousness, the other four major personality traits determine how procrastination manifests. According to implications of need theory, we operationalised these four traits by the reasons students gave and the activities students pursued while procrastinating. Method Participants were 167 students of an undergraduate introductory psychology course. It was designed as a self-directed computerised course enabled considerable amounts of procrastination. Students filled out a Big Five Inventory and wrote a short essay detailing: (a) what reason they saw as causing them to procrastinate, and (b) what activities they pursued while procrastinating. The reasons and activities were coded according to their fit to the personality traits. Results Conscientiousness and its facets were the strongest correlates with procrastination. Moreover, in regression analyses, the other personality traits did not incrementally predict procrastination. However, the reasons ascribed to procrastination and the off-task activities pursued reflected the other personality traits. Conclusion While conscientiousness is the core for all procrastination types, the other personality traits determine its phenomenology. Thus, the prominent understanding of a neurotic procrastinator might be misleading for research and practice. In fact, counsellors need to first address the conscientiousness core of procrastination and then match the subsequent interventions to the specific procrastination type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous cognitive behavioural therapy ( CBT) training studies have suggested that therapists who practice CBT strategies on themselves during training may experience professional and personal benefits. However, it has also been reported that some CBT trainees are reluctant to engage in self-practice. The present study reports an incidental finding from a CBT training study with Aboriginal counsellors: all five counsellors reported that they practiced CBT techniques on themselves without specific encouragement by the trainers to do so. This paper therefore posed three questions: (a) Why-in contrast to some other trainees-did this group choose to apply CBT to themselves? (b) How did they apply it-with what purpose, in what contexts, and which skills? (c) What was the impact of CBT self-practice? Data from the group's reflections were qualitatively analysed by two of the researchers, and 'member checked' by the remainder. Results indicated that the counsellors were motivated to practice CBT on themselves for two principal reasons: the value they placed on CBT, and their personal need resulting from the high number of crises experienced while living and working in their communities. The counsellors reported practicing CBT in a wide variety of contexts as part of their learning. As in previous studies, the impact of CBT self-practice was that it increased their confidence and competence as therapists. It also appeared to be a valuable burnout prevention strategy. If the results are generalisable, they suggest that self-experiential training in CBT may be a culturally responsive and adaptive way for Aboriginal counsellors to enhance their learning of CBT skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article raises the question of whether the practice of HIV/AIDS counselling in Ghana can be linked to the wisdom that older people are said to have and use when they give advice to younger family members. Older people believe they have wisdom and life experience that young people should listen to; counsellors hold an opposite view about their work, insisting that it is they who listen to people with HIV/AIDS to help them make their own decisions. In actual practice, however, HIV/AIDS counsellors predominantly give information and advice, for at least three reasons. Firstly, clients urgently need a substantial amount of medical information about the causes and prevention of HIV in order to assess their situation and make decisions. Secondly, the traditional hierarchy between nurse and patient is difficult to reverse when the two meet during counselling. Thirdly, encouraging the client not to lose hope often takes the form of a pep-talk, which leaves little room for listening by the counsellor. This paper pleads for peer counselling, as a format that combines a relative equality between counselling partners with the authoritative knowledge of the counsellor. This article is based on anthropological fieldwork among older people in a rural community and counsellors in a hospital in the Kwahu region of southern Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among White1licensed psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, research has documented a severe lack of awareness of unconscious stereotyping, systemic racism, white privilege, and white racial identity. This article introduces a privilege awareness pedagogical model as a framework for White students in clinical training programs learning about white privilege, enhancing multicultural competencies, and developing as effective allies in the therapeutic relationship, ortherapeutic ally-ance. The model emphasizes intersectional privilege studies to address white privilege along with a wide variety of oppressions often neglected in the curriculum, involves personal reflection on biases and assumptions to enhance multicultural competencies, and promotes student learning through social action to dismantle privilege. The pedagogical benefits of the following activities and assignments are described: 1) group analysis of therapeutic scenarios, 2) photo-voice identity assignment, 3) white privilege reflection paper, and 4) identities education project. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]