Online counseling is gradually finding its way into therapy in universities in Ghana. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 accompanied by uncertainties and the fears of physical contact signaled a consideration of complete acceptability of online counseling, in addition to face-to-face counseling. Nonetheless, the level of counselors, counselor educators and counselor trainees' knowledge, attitude, and usage of online counseling in Ghanaian universities is unclear. Thus, this study used an explanatory sequential mixed-method design to assess the perception of sampled respondents' and participants' viewpoints on online counseling available at a public university. Amid findings that counselors, counselor educators and counselor trainees have little awareness of online counseling and share a generally negative attitude towards it, the study concluded that online counseling is a highly unexplored option available on the university campus. Suggestions for augmented online counseling opportunities to assist students to resolve their difficulties on the university campus were also made. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
This study investigated college students' psychological distress within the context of the novel coronavirus disease 2019's (COVID-19). A questionnaire was administered to 209 college students in South Korea. Frequency analysis, one-way analysis of variance, and t-test were conducted to analyze the collected data using the JAMOVI program. The results revealed that nearly 20% participants reported experiencing severe stress, anxiety, and depression due to COVID-19. Further, female students scored higher at all levels. The level of psychological distress of the students who get support for their living expenses was significantly higher than that of students making money through part-time jobs. The depression level of students attending face-to-face classes was significantly higher than those who did not. The grade and housing type were not significant aspects. Based on these results, a discussion was then presented. This study thereby provided foundational data for identifying the psychological impacts of COVID-19 on South Korean college students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
The growth of the Asian diaspora in the United States (Inman et al., 2014), paired with the increase in emphasis on multicultural competency in the counseling profession, informs a widening gap in relevant counseling literature. It is crucial to understand the mental health needs and utilization of counseling services in this community. This content analysis focuses on the current status of research on mental health issues and help-seeking among the Asian diaspora in the United States. Descriptive statistics regarding research and content themes are reported. Implications for counseling and further research are discussed.
Globalization efforts have increased attention on the number of policies dedicated to the significance of international students at higher education institutions in the United States. International students, particularly in graduate and doctoral education, generate more intercultural efforts and cultural exchanges. Despite the past decade of research on international doctoral students in the field of Counselor Education and Supervision, practices to better serve international doctoral students have historically focused on unilateral approaches without understanding the overlap between multiple structural forms of oppression (e.g., racism, nativism). Using intersectionality theory, this article describes three influential areas related to supporting international doctoral students: (a) an overview of research of structural forms of oppression affecting international doctoral students; (b) theoretical underpinnings of intersectionality; and (c) a call to action to incorporate the lens of intersectionality within research, practice, and mentorship in Counselor Education and Supervision programs.
Positive psychology emerged as a movement in professional psychology that emphasizes the positive psychological aspects of the individual instead of focusing on diagnosis and psychopathology. Peterson and Seligman (2004) developed and validated the 240-item Virtues in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) to assess character strengths and virtues that enable optimal human thriving. However, VIA-IS is often considered too long for use by clinicians in their private practices, as well as for researchers interested in conducting positive psychology research. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a 24-item Values in Action Semantic Differential Scale (VIA-SDS) in a sample of 231 Singaporean university students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 4-factor measurement structure (Humanity, Optimism, Leadership, and Creativity) with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from .67 to .88. Three of the four latent variables were positively associated with happiness and negatively related to perceived stress and depression. These findings support the validity of the VIA-SDS for use as a brief clinical assessment instrument by clinicians and researchers to assess character strengths.
Faced with multiple interpersonal (e.g., isolation), and systemic barriers (e.g., biased national policies) due to their intersectional racial and immigrant identities, international students of color (ISC) may particularly stand to benefit from interventions that foster resilience and a sense of agency. Extant research indicates that counselors’ focus on strengths (e.g., strong community ties, resilience) of minoritized clients has several benefits, including increased resilience and empowerment. However, counseling literature fails to offer counselors an explicit strengths-based framework to support ISC. In this article, the author outlines the unique challenges ISC face as a result of their marginalized identities. Next, using Yosso’s theory of Community Cultural Wealth, I offer counselors specific suggestions on ways to explore and leverage ISC’ strengths in mental health settings. Lastly, future directions and limitations are discussed.
This study identified the socio-demographic factors and level of risk that Asian American (AA) high school students experienced which shaped their help-seeking behaviors regarding meeting with a school counselor. Using a nationally representative sample of 937 AA high school students, multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that specific socio-demographic factors (e.g., Asian ethnicity, immigration, first generation) and level of risk students experience (e.g., moderate level of risk, high level of risk) were significantly associated with student-counselor contact for academic, social/emotional, and college/career counseling. Implications for school counselors as empowering institutional agents are discussed.
This study investigated the relationship between perceived discrimination, perceptions about occupation, social connectedness to mainstream society, anxiety toward the future, and life satisfaction for first-generation Korean Americans. The data (N = 107) of the first-generation Korean American participants were analyzed using path analysis, focusing on mediating effects of social connectedness and anxiety about the relationship between perceived discrimination, perceptions about occupation, and life satisfaction. Our study results showed that perceived discrimination and perceptions about occupation are positively correlated to anxiety about the future but negatively correlated with a connectedness to mainstream society. In addition, demands of occupation, discrimination, and concern about the future were all negatively associated with life satisfaction. At the same time, first-generation Korean Americans’ social connectedness to mainstream society was positively associated with life satisfaction. According to the path analysis results, only perceptions about occupation were indirectly associated with life satisfaction via anxiety about the future. However, discrimination was not indirectly associated with life satisfaction via social connectedness to mainstream society and worry about the future.
International counseling students enrolled in American counseling programs have received limited attention. This study examined the lived experiences of five international counseling students in an American counseling program regarding their experience of leadership and advocacy. The study identified fourteen themes under three categories and provided recommendations to counselor educators, administrators, and international counseling students.
Researchers have focused on how to effectively incorporate disability knowledge into the core counselor curriculum in counseling and counselor education programs. Currently, little is known about disability content in counseling programs. This study investigates the competencies of master’s students with regards to disability knowledge and disability content within master’s counseling programs. The findings of this study offer a broad perspective on graduate students’ learning in the counseling profession. Implications on disability content areas in counseling programs are suggested.
This article highlights the importance of incorporating Transactional Analysis (TA; Berne, 1961) as a counseling intervention into the clinical work with Bhutanese-Nepali refugees. The authors of this article explored the existing literature on the experience of transitioning to a new country and the mental health challenges experienced by Bhutanese-Nepali refugees during their transition. An overview of the effectiveness of TA is provided using a theoretical case vignette with an 18-year-old Bhutanese-Nepali male. The vignette demonstrates conceptualization through ego state contamination and counseling intervention through co-creative TA. The article concludes with limitations, directions for future research, and implications.
Conduct disorder has become an increasing burden on families, communities, and school systems (Barry et al., 2013; Baker, 2009). Often associated with an increase in rates of injury, vehicular accidents, poor educational outcomes, and interpersonal aggression, conduct disorder is a predictor of future violent behavior (Henggeler, Cunningham, Pickrel, Schoenwald, & Brondino, 1996; Potter, 2014; Barry, Golmaryami, Rivera-Hudson, & Frick, 2013). Therefore, the availability and utilization of valid, reliable, and consistent screening and interventions for conduct disorder is imperative. This article addresses the systemic nature of the symptomology and interventions most effective with conduct disorder through an ecological systems lens. A case illustration is utilized to highlight Bronfenbrenner’s (1981, 1994) Ecological Model and offers ways in which the model can be used as a tool to conceptualize the systematic nature of conduct disorder.
School counseling as a profession is in its embryonic stage in Vietnam. National education reform initiatives have focused on curricula, standardized tests and textbooks, yet have essentially ignored problems of violence and students’ mental health. The American School Counseling Association model can serve as a guide for a culturally appropriate school counseling model for Vietnam. We explore the Vietnam education context and the existing practice of school counseling and make recommendations for professional school counseling in Vietnam.
Climate changes threaten to exacerbate problems of mental health and social inequality. As the effects of climate change intensify, counseling professionals must come together to address it as an international concern. In this article, I discuss ways counselors can respond to climate change through counseling, advocacy, and scholarship. Specifically, I address how counseling professionals can be effective clinicians of clients with climate-related concerns, advocate for ecological sustainability and climate justice, and study the impacts of climate change on mental health.
International counseling students, who are unfamiliar with the U.S. mainstream culture, suffer from unique challenges posed to their daily lives. Moreover, counselor educators traditionally neglect this population. As a result, international counseling students may discover that their training at American university counseling supervision programs fails to provide applicability to their countries of origin and experience dissatisfaction of the learning process. To address the special needs of international students in supervision, this paper introduces a culturally responsive supervision model of culture shock using the Integrated Developmental Model (IDM) of supervision. This paper discussed the rationale for creating this new model and includes a detailed description of this model.
By interviewing 13 Korean female counselor educators, this phenomenological study explored the role of family in the career decision making process of Korean female counselor educators. The purpose of this study is to understand the unique lived experiences of Korean female counselor educators who have decided on the location of their career upon graduation and explore how they made their decisions. The common themes of the participants’ career decision making process were: parental expectation, filial piety, traditional gender role, and sense of belonging. Findings from this study will contribute to counselor educators’ cultural awareness and understanding of the role of family in Korean female counselor educators’ career decision making process.
Using Stern et al.’s (1999) Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory as a model of understanding, we examined 75 Asian American adults with an emphasis on internalized values and their attitudes towards seeking mental health services. The sample was primarily Indian and Chinese Americans with no significant differences found between groups. Enculturation and acculturation values emerged as full and partial mediating effects of attitudes towards seeking mental health services, respectively. The study’s results deepen the understanding and add to the limited research regarding Asian Americans’ attitudes towards seeking mental health services and additionally provide insight into where Asian American mental health stigmatization may stem from. Implications of the study’s findings are directed towards mental health practitioners, community centers, and other counseling centers to include more of a focus on Asian Americans’ internalized values when conducting research and attempting to provide community support.
This study examined the factor structure of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and the gender differences in masculinity and femininity among high school students (N = 379) in a Midwestern state in the U.S. Principal component analyses suggested a three-factor model (Femininity, Personal Masculinity, and Social Masculinity). Findings also showed that females in this study rated their femininity and masculinity significantly higher than males. When compared to the means reported in existing studies, males in this study had significantly lower ratings of their masculinity, while females had a significantly higher means on masculinity than the female sample in Bem’s 1974 study. Implications for school counselors and counseling researchers are discussed.
Investigating how counselors perceive technology as a tool for delivering counseling services is crucial to understand the usage and challenges that may have implications for training programs, policymaking, and allocation of resources. With the COVID-19 crisis and accompanying shelter-in-place and self-distancing guidelines, telemental health, including distance counseling, has become a satisfactory primary delivery system and is now expected to be part of routine counseling care. The present pre-COVID-19 study explored practicing counselors' perceptions of distance counseling regarding advantages and challenges. While noting benefits, results indicate continuing barriers to widespread telemental health use encompassing licensure, training, safety, privacy, evaluation, and regulatory policies. Also, attention is needed for therapeutic relationships and culturally alert digital interventions. In addition, counselors can take advantage of rapidly changing technologies to provide numerous innovative counseling services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) has somewhat affected the survivors’ mental health status, such as their psychological adjustment, and their personal, interpersonal, and social functioning. Novice counselors may face greater challenges when dealing with a client with CSA history as compared to experienced counselors. This case study aimed to understand the challenges faced by Malaysian counselors as they work with their clients with CSA and to comprehend the CSA clients’ narrative description regarding their lived experiences and challenges. Four themes emerged for challenges experienced by the counselor, namely: in-session counseling process skills, cognitive and emotional journey, diversity issues, and awareness of personal values. Themes that emerged from the lived experiences of CSA clients included counseling therapy, negative body image, fear of interpersonal relationships and thought and emotional distortion. The findings provided professional counselors a glimpse of such a process, including the competencies relied upon as well as the barriers identified by the counselors.
