While today's girls are learning that they can achieve at the highest educational and professional levels, they also receive strong cultural messages that portray girls and women according to limiting sexual stereotypes. The trend toward the sexualization of girls is increasing in contemporary culture and can negatively impact girls' academic,…

This manuscript describes how counselors can facilitate self-awareness in clients and counselors-in-training through the use of metaphors. The use of metaphors and others symbols provide a creative, non-intrusive, and non-confrontational approach to counseling. Examples of stories and fables used during counseling sessions and instructional…

A unique application of the Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM) is introduced as the preferred method for evaluating the psychometric properties of a measure of therapist adherence to Contingency Management (CM) treatment of adolescent substance use. The utility of psychometric methods based in Classical Test Theory was limited by complexities of the…

The author discusses the adherence of culturally sensitive treatment (CST) to evidence-based practice. CST is distinguished from empirically supported treatment. Therapists are advancing CST by designing and evaluating interventions and evolving their understanding of what makes CST work. (Contains 2 tables.)

During and following natural or man-made disasters, relief efforts have a long history of initially focusing on basic survival needs, then restoring community stability. Disaster mental health is a relatively new aspect of relief efforts, particularly in regard to children's needs. After reviewing objectives of major relief organizations and…

This article explores the existence of humor in counseling from the perspectives of several leaders in the field. Specifically, the last 5 authors describe some of their thoughts and experiences regarding the emergence of humor in counseling.

The 2004 authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act affords an opportunity to shift the classification of Learning Disabilities (LD) from a "refer-test-place" to a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) service delivery model. As a result, there are implications for the professional activities of school…

This interview highlights the career and rich professional influence of Samuel T. Gladding, a prolific writer and educator who was listed in the top 1% of contributors to the Journal of Counseling & Development between 1978 and 1993. This interview was conducted shortly after he began his 2004-2005 term as president of the American Counseling…

Counselor educators can utilize the ideas of philosopher Michel Foucault in preparing preservice school counselors for their work with K-12 students in public schools. The Foucaultian ideas of "governmentality," "technologies of domination," "received truths," "power/knowledge," "discontinuity," and "archaeology" can contribute to students'…

Two versions of a counselor self-efficacy (CSE) measure were administered to 110 prepracticum counselors: a general version, assessing perceived capability to perform basic helping skills and manage the session process with clients generally; and a client-specific version, tapping capability to perform the same behaviors with a specific, current…

School counselors acknowledge the need for supervision but rarely receive it. This article describes the counselor performance improvement system in one school district. Supervision is embedded in a process that assesses counselors' levels of professionalism on a matrix of competence and commitment. Administrative and clinical supervisors…

In 1996, the US Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, changing the culture of welfare from a system of dependency to one of personal responsibility and economic self-sufficiency through workplace participation. Through the expert views of case managers and area employers of Wisconsin, this research…

This paper contends that, in a psychotherapeutic relationship, the client must experience himself or herself as deeply understood and unconditionally accepted by the therapist. This subjective experience of the client is seen as the quintessential dimension in successful psychotherapy. The paper goes on to state that the client's experience of…

Appalachians have been referred to as the forgotten people and are often overlooked in multicultural counseling. A case study is presented using the extended case method to enhance counselor awareness and demonstrate how counselors can apply knowledge of the Appalachian culture in the provision of best practices for this population.

Using review, peer supervision, and introspection, the authors researched their reactions to elderly patients while leading a newcomers' group in retirement home. The reactions, or countertransference, to the elderly in this situation encompassed sexual feelings, as well as lack of these feelings, being "boys" to very elderly women, and…