This article aims to address issues of culture in counselling, with a particular emphasis on the links between culture, action, and counselling. It also addresses how action can be incorporated into counselling, with contextual action theory as an integrative framework. To this end, the article reviews the notion of culture and a general…

There are different crises in Nigeria ranging from ethnic-religious crisis to agitation for resource control/break-up of the country, but the religious crisis especially the recent Boko Haram insurgency has attracted international attention and concern. The fallouts of these crises are threatening the country's unity and national development.…

Ethical dilemmas from a national purposive sample of Turkish counsellors (N = 172) were collected using critical incidents technique. Content analysis was performed with open coding guided by the classification of American Counseling Association code of ethics. Incidents regarding confidentiality and privacy (56.4%), with 37.1% involving incidents…

Empathy is more important than ever to a national population worried about difficult political and socioeconomic situations. During the last 10 years, an enormous amount of research has been carried out to elucidate the nature, mechanism, and function of empathy. New research from social-cognitive neuroscience and related fields indicates that,…

Based on the core conditions of client-centered counseling and supported by aspects of psychodynamic, cognitive developmental, and behavioral theories, a perspective is introduced that provides a resolution to the dilemma experienced by counselors and counseling students whose personal values and beliefs conflict with the ethical guidelines of the…

In 2003, the American Counseling Association (ACA) adopted the ACA Advocacy Competencies (J. A. Lewis, M. S. Arnold, R. House, & R. L. Toporek, 2002) to provide guidance to counselors and acknowledge advocacy as an ethical aspect of service to clients. This article provides a foundation for this special section by sharing a historical perspective…

There is a rise in calls for counselors to be advocates for social justice. Counselors can meet the growing need to expand their roles to include advocacy by using the ACA (American Counseling Association) Advocacy Competencies (J. A. Lewis, M. S. Arnold, R. House, & R. L. Toporek, 2002). This article operationalizes the client/student level of…

This pilot study explored the experiences and understanding of clinical psychology practices and services of children and adolescents attending clinical psychology outpatient appointments. Fifteen young participants took part in the study. A content analysis indicated that young children and adolescents have an appropriate understanding of the…

Key objectives in Christian counseling are described and the counseling process is reviewed in the light of these objectives. Clients are assumed to be self-directing and responsible for their behavior, including those behavior changes facilitated by counselors. Buddhist and non-sectarian responses are also presented. (Author/BEF)

The discussion presented in this paper is an attempt to bring some issues involving the nature of affective openness, its pitfalls, energy demands and benefits into focus for the counselor dealing with nonpathologic youth manifesting sexual concerns. (Author)

Practicing counselors may interpret ethical obligations differently according to their work settings. This article focuses on one of the problems related to the nature of the client population and the counseling setting: What rights of confidentiality do minors have against disclosure to their parents? (Author)

Clients transferring from one counselor to another were compared with nontransferring clients over the same length of treatment. In 3 12-week blocks, clients with the same counselor, and clients who would be transferred, made greatest progress in the first block. Some progress was lost on transfer. No significant differences were found. (JBJ)

Presents the metaphor of counseling as a spiritual empowerment, an explanation of spiritual empowerment as a metaphor, and a theoretical framework for counselors. In the use of this metaphor, counselors initiate a spiritual experience with clients, and clients often experience a spiritual awakening in which they discover or rediscover their own…

In mental health practice, no explicit provisions have been made for existing law and codes of ethics to protect freedom and confidences of clients who rationally desire to end their lives. Makes a case for permitting suicide by providing an analysis of permitted suicide, the legal background for applying this concept, and ten model rules for…

The counseling profession has increasingly embraced a medicalized vision of counseling processes. The latest manifestation of this vision is the best practices (BP) movement. This movement is critically examined to determine if it is consistent with the traditional values of the counseling profession. The author concludes that BP ideology is…