Editor’s note: This is the second article in a two-part series examining how counselors can work more effectively with clients who hold strong religious beliefs. The first article, which appeared in the July issue, addressed the historical tension between religion and the mental health professions, reasons counselors avoid bringing up
Category: Features
At the age of 75, Jenny was dealing with more than her fair share of grief. She had recently lost both her son and her husband of 50 years to cancer. She was also terminally ill with cancer herself. “Jenny was dealing with complicated grief — the loss of her
Lonnie Rowell knows all about the benefits of evidence-based counseling practice, a subject that has consumed much of his life for the past 10 years. Not everyone, however, is quite so enthusiastic. “I was told by a counselor educator yesterday that she didn’t want anybody to look too closely at
School counselors and school counseling educators typically agree on three things when it comes to solution-focused counseling. A) The approach makes perfect sense because it works with a student’s strengths and successes. B) It is often more effective in getting challenging students to change than other approaches typically used in
Several years ago, American Counseling Association members expressed their desire to interact over specific issues of mutual interest but without going through the involved process of establishing a formal division. ACA recognized the need, and in 2002, five interest networks opened their virtual doors. Since that time, seven more have
Sharon cares. The 26-year-old counselor cares for the clients she leads in two groups composed of individuals with substance abuse and mental health problems. She cares for the few individuals she has time to see when her groups aren’t meeting three times per week, three hours per session. She even
Clark Kent would famously step into a phone booth and emerge as Superman. Paul Fornell sometimes found a more modest costume change helpful in his line of work as a counselor. When situations grew tense, Fornell would reach into his briefcase or desk drawer for a secret weapon — his
Ooh, ooh, I know the answer!” calls out an African American middle school student. Excited about learning, enthusiastic about participating in class and eager to interact with his teacher, he is a seemingly model student. But in an education system that caters mostly to the norms of white middle class
According to a 2007 study by Howard B. Moss, Chiung M. Chen and Hsiao-ye Yi that appeared in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, less than 10 percent of the 18 million alcoholics living in the United States fit the “falling down drunk” stereotype. In fact, says Sarah Allen Benton,
Kathi Anderson has grown accustomed to the often-involuntary reaction that many people have upon hearing that she works with survivors of torture. “The word torture sticks in people’s minds more so than survivor,” says Anderson, a National Certified Counselor and member of the American Counseling Association. “They step back from