Substantial controversy has surrounded the concept of best practices (BPs) in counseling; in particular, the consequences of deriving practice guidelines from empirically supported treatments (ESTs). Criticisms of EST methodology, assumptions, and findings are summarized, and implications for core counseling values, including multiculturalism, are…

Several fields within psychology, including counseling psychology, are struggling to promote a social justice agenda. Most efforts concentrate on a critique of existing values, assumptions, and practices. Whereas the level of critique is quite sophisticated, the level of social justice practice is rather embryonic. Critical psychologists have been…

Chwalisz's (2003) [this issue]) call to adopt the evidence-based practice model provides an opportunity for counseling psychologists to reexamine both their commitment to the scientist-practitioner model and their unique professional identity. In this reaction, the author offers her critique of several assumptions underlying the evidence-based…

The construct of multicultural competence has gained much currency in the counseling psychology literature. This article provides a critique of the multicultural counseling competencies and argues that counseling psychology's operationalization of multicultural competence must be grounded in a commitment to social justice. Such a commitment…

Contrary to societal stereotypes about adoption, this integrative review of published empirical research on adoptive families noted several positive and few negative out-comes with regard to satisfaction with the adoption, familial functioning, and parent-child communication. The critical analysis of 38 studies on adoptive families revealed a…