Previous research has reported that a pervasive individualism undermines social commitment in American life. This research also found evidence of a counseling attitude which reinforces individualism contrary to social commitment. This study examined counseling and individualism from three perspectives: the philosophical foundations of counseling,…

The expanded role of the school counselor as "mainstreaming facilitator" is discussed in the context of the needs and characteristics of mainstreamed handicapped students. Topics addressed include the following: (1) counselor attitudes toward handicapped students and their parents; (2) the learning problems and behavioral characteristics of…

During the past 15 years, a variety of studies conducted mostly in the industrial North and Far West, have sought to determine the attitudes and feelings of various populations toward homosexual men, lesbians, and homosexuality. These studies often reported the relationships between attitudes and personality traits or demographic variables. During…

One set of counselor behaviors that has been highly investigated over recent years has been the social influence behaviors. Despite the considerable research interest in social influence theory as it relates to counseling, there has been little attention to the demonstration of the presence or absence of such behavioral skills as expertness,…

Elderly clients resistant to help present an ethical dilemma for professionals. This dilemma may climax when assumption of authority over the client for his safety is necessary. Social workers need to work for decisions closest to the wishes of the client. The at-risk client should be informed about changes that will occur and how these changes…

Because most counselors have experienced a significant amount of success, they often have difficulty understanding the impact of test scores on persons who do not perform well. Counselor educators must develop experiential awareness in an area normally outside the realm of their students. To provide such an experience, 25 counselor trainees took…

This paper focuses on burnout in the helping professions and outlines steps that can be taken during counselor training to eliminate or reduce burnout. A discussion of the way in which the internal system of the counselor trainee can provoke burnout concentrates on issues of needs, expectations, and professional philosophy. Three burnout…

Job satisfaction levels and attitudes of 47 administrators and outpatient staff working in two comprehensive community mental health centers were compared using multivariate analysis. No significant differences were found between administrators and staff, nor were any inter-agency job satisfaction differences noted. However, the agencies were…

Empathy has been defined as the single most important dimension in establishing a counseling relationship. This paper describes a study that compares counselor trainees' and a general population of African American males' empathy ratings of racially mixed videotaped counseling sessions. The report addresses the following questions: "Do…

A structural equation model was proposed to explore influencing factors that may contribute to school psychologists' role inhibition versus progressive pursuits towards the delivery of child sex abuse services. Three work-related variables (attitude, locus of control, work-setting demands) were examined to assess their impact on the initiatives…

The National Inclusive Camp Practices (NICP) project was a national study of inclusive outdoor programs that examined outcomes for youth with and without disabilities. This paper reports qualitative findings that were gathered using case study methodology across 14 inclusive programs: 12 resident camp programs and 2 outdoor schools. At each site,…

To test a previous study on therapist bias and to investigate whether gender-role stereotypes continue to influence judgments of mental health workers, 55 Master's-level counselors-in-training, from 2 different programs, were administered questionnaires. Each item in the questionnaire was rated on a seven-point scale, with one pole being typically…

This study assessed the influence of gender and sex-role orientation on counselor effectiveness. Participants (56 female, 24 male) consisted of advanced level Master's degree counselor trainees and their clients. The counselors' sex orientation was based on their responses on the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. Sex orientation was divided into…

School counselors perform a variety of tasks and are expected to assume a variety of roles. In an effort to determine school counselor and administrator perceptions of counselor responsibilities, 404 counselors and 315 administrators in Iowa completed a questionnaire by ranking their perceptions of actual and ideal counselor roles in each of 13…

Principals, teachers, and counselors in 15 Indiana high schools were interviewed to determine what procedures they believed were required in various disciplinary actions, and what authority they believed had sanctioned these procedures. The interviewees came from small, medium, and large schools in rural and urban settings. Nearly 71 percent of…