Is there a future for school counseling in the United States?

School counseling in the United States is going through a very difficult period. Reasons for the difficulties are discussed. Suggestions are offered for modifications in counseling practice and in counselor education needed to overcome the current problems. Hopefully, the issues raised in the paper will be especially relevant in those countries which have relied heavily on literature and expertise from the United States in developing their counseling services.     

Counseling and Counselor Education in Colombia,South America: A Case for Undergraduate Preparation

It is the purpose of this article to discuss the undergraduate counselor education program at the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia, South America, and the need for the new occupation of school counseling in Colombia. The positive aspects of undergraduate counselor training in the United States are also discussed.     

Grief counseling training in counselor preparation programs in the United States: A preliminary report

A survey of counselor preparation programs was conducted to document the status of grief counseling training in the United States. Respondents gave their opinion about the importance of teaching grief counseling and their reasons for including/not including grief counseling in their curricula. Specific information about the manner in which grief counseling is currently being addressed in counselor preparation programs was also gathered. Results from 135 programs indicated that training in grief counseling is considered important by most respondents, most programs do address grief counseling, and grief counseling is taught primarily by infusing the topic into various courses. Class lecture/discussion was the most frequently reported method for teaching grief counseling. Suggestions for further research on grief counseling training are included.     

Counselor Education Students’ Exposure to Trauma Cases

In the past two decades there has been an increase in the number of studies that have examined the psychological effects on counselors who provide counseling to clients with trauma experiences. However, little is known about the experiences of counselor trainees who provide counseling to their clients seeking counseling because of trauma. This qualitative study explored the experience of eight doctoral students in a counseling program who completed their master’s-level training in the United States. Three themes emerged from the inductive data analysis process, namely: (1) immediate reactions, (2) information processing, and (3) post-exposure development. Implications for counselors, counselor educators, and clinical supervisors are examined and recommendations to enhance counseling and supervision services are offered.     

An Investigation of Training for Sex-Fair Counseling

This article presents the results of a survey of counselor education departments in the United States concerning the availability of coursework on sex-fair counseling, the percentage of females and males on counselor education faculties, the amount of training counselor educators had received on sex-fair counseling techniques, and the use of a handbook on sex equity that was developed by the ACES Commission on Sex Equality Concerns. The article makes recommendations for proactive efforts in the future.     

The Impact of Recent Academic Due Process Decisions on Counselor Education Programs

Although fairly recent to higher education, the broad concept and specifications of due process have had a major impact on the day-to-day operations of educational institutions. The due process concept and its accompanying rights and responsibilities is particularly applicable to counselor education programs in situations where a student is terminated from a degree program. This article discusses a recent United States Supreme Court decision involving a medical student in which the Court established guidelines for academic dismissals and terminations that are now applicable to counselor education programs.     

The Relationship Between the Supervisory Working Alliance and Trainees' Experience of Role Conflict and Role Ambiguity

In a study based on a sample of 123 counselor trainees in the United States, results indicated that a stronger supervisory working alliance was predictive of less trainee role conflict and ambiguity in supervision.     

Human Sexuality Instruction in Counselor Education Curricula

The authors sent a questionnaire assessing curricula on sexual counseling to chairpersons of all counselor education programs in the United States. Results show the current status of sexuality instruction for counselors.     

Advancing Counselor Education in Evidence-Based Practice

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a core priority in counselor education. This paper details one United States’ counselor education program’s self-assessment of its EBP curriculum. Faculty members collaborated to identify challenges and generate solutions to strengthen the EBP emphasis within the program. This paper is intended as a resource for programs working to improve their own training in EBP.     

The School Counselor's Role in Special Education

The purpose of this study was (a) to survey school counselor preparation and perceived and projected role in serving special education students in the southwestern region of the United States; and (b) to determine the status of counselor education programs throughout the nation in preparing counselors to effectively serve exceptional students. The results indicated that 50 percent of the school counselor sample advocated additional involvement with exceptional students, 43 percent felt inadequately prepared to deal effectively with exceptional students, and 60 percent would be more willing to serve exceptional students if their training in special education had been more extensive.     

Counseling Attitudes of American and Welsh Counselor Education Students

The purpose of this study was to look at the attitudes of those students entering a new counselor education program in Wales to see if changes in counselor attitudes took place as a result of a year-long program. Minimal change appeared to have taken place. The second portion of this investigation compared these students with a sample of United States students. There were significant differences between the two groups at both the beginning and the end of the programs.     

Counseling-Orientation Preferences: American and Australian Comparative Data

This study investigated counseling-orientation preferences of samples of counselor trainees in the United States and Australia using the Counseling-Orientation Scale. The authors compare the preferences in theoretical orientations and discuss the two major findings primarily in terms of the cultural characteristics of the two nations.     

Ratings by Counselors Without Teaching Experience And Their Principals Regarding Performance of Guidance Functions

This study compared principal and self ratings of performance of guidance functions for practicing counselors who did not have teaching experience. The sample consisted of 43 counselors and their principals from throughout the United States. The ratings indicate better-than-average initial counselor acceptance by administrators, teachers, students, and parents with the degree of acceptance being greater after they had counseled for a while. Principal and self ratings differed significantly on initial acceptance by students and present acceptance by other counselors. Ratings of acceptance by both school psychologists and social workers were below average. There was no significant difference in counselor and principal ratings of counselor understanding of various school procedures and policies or of their ability to perform basic guidance activities. A majority of the principals who had worked with the counselors with non-teaching backgrounds indicated they would recommend the hiring of such a person to their school board.     

Ratings on a Comprehensive Set of Counselor Competencies

The specific objectives of this study were (a) to collect and edit a comprehensive set of counselor competencies, (b) to operationally define the counselor competencies, and (c) to determine the specific competencies for which there is a high level of consensus of importance among counselor-educators. The 98 competencies included in this study were collected through an extensive review of the literature of the past 10 years. Fifty counselor-educators throughout the United States rated each of the 98 competencies for perceived level of importance and for when the competencies are to be acquired. Ninety competencies received a consensual rating ranging from important to critical, indicating that they need be acquired and demonstrated by counselor-trainees before the completion of practicum.     

A Cross-Cultural Study of the Self-Confidence of Counselors-in-Training

In this era of globalization, cross-cultural comparison studies could help counselor training programs enhance educational opportunities that are informative, supportive, and culturally responsive to students. Counselors-in-training in both the United States and South Korea were sampled in this study assessing self-esteem (individual and collective) and counselor activity self-efficacy (CA self-efficacy). Results indicated that American students endorsed higher levels of collective self-esteem and CA self-efficacy compared to Korean students. Age was positively correlated with CA self-efficacy in both the American and Korean samples. Additionally, the variable of supervision hours and internship experience was positively correlated with CA self-efficacy for American students, but showed no relationship with CA self-efficacy for Korea students. Implications for understanding the cultural differences of counseling-trainees’ self-confidence and the need for conducting cross-cultural comparison studies to provide insights about the training and development of trainees in cross-cultural settings are discussed.     

Preparing preservice English teachers and school counselor interns for future collaboration

The authors believe that by working together, teachers and school counselors can better support students and more effectively work for their success. In this article, we present our efforts in creating a collaborative class for preservice English teachers and school counselor interns. While offering an overview of English teachers and school counselors in their daily interactions with adolescents, we focus on the university preparation of both groups, specifically the preparation at our university, a large research institution in the Midwestern United States. We provide a look at the collaborative class created for the preservice English teachers and school counselor interns, offering examples of their interaction and feedback from the students. Lastly, we close with a consideration of the meaning of such collaboration at the university level for both English teachers and school counselors.     

Characteristics of Korean International Students and Their Perceived Preferences for Counselling Style

This study investigated how particular within-group variables (gender, marital status, and duration of stay in the United States) affected Korean international students' perceived preferences for counselling style (directive vs. nondirective). It was found that counselling style and the within-group variables considered interacted to affect differentially Korean international students' perceived preferences for counselling style. Female students showed stronger preference for a directive counselor and a significant interaction was found among marital status, duration of stay, and counselling style.     

Re-Examination of Traditional Admissions Criteria in Predicting Academic Success in a Counselor Education Program

The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate the validity of traditional admissions criteria—UGPA and GRE scores—in predicting academic success for students admitted to a counselor education program in the United States. In contrast to prior research, we also included the newer GRE-Analytical Writing scores in our analyses. In general, we found that both UGPA and GRE scores were useful for predicting both graduate grade point averages (GGPAs) and students’ scores on the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE). We also found that a discriminant model that included all four admission variables was useful for predicting program completion outcomes: successfully graduated, dropped out, or dismissed from the program. Implications for the admissions and screening process are presented.