Students’ Perceptions of Mental Health Counseling in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Counseling services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have focused on counseling in the elementary and secondary schools. To date, the idea of the private practitioner of mental health counseling has been virtually nonexistent. However, education officials at the University of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been exploring the option of following the international trends of preparing students for mental health counseling services, with special emphasis in marriage and family. A counselor education degree would allow individuals to operate private practices to address various concerns that impact individuals within the society at large. No instruments that measure perceptions of counseling from an international perspective were found for the purposes of this study. Therefore, it was necessary for the authors to devise and test a new tool. Surveys were completed by a sample of 141 undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of the importance of counseling in UAE society and the role of the counselor in society and other general questions regarding perceptions of counseling. With this initial effort, psychometric properties of the ‘Perceptions about Counseling Survey’ appeared promising. Results revealed that students had a favorable view toward the role of the counselor in UAE society. Results further revealed that students perceived the counseling profession as favorable. Given that the participants were predominately female, the results were analyzed from the social and cultural perspective of women in Arab society and the social psychological theory of ‘attitude’ is considered as a contextual backdrop.     

Community Consultation and Intervention: Supporting Students Who Do Not Access Counseling Services

Although the severity of psychological problems among college students and the demand for campus counseling services has increased, many students who could benefit from mental health services still do not access them. This article describes Community Consultation and Intervention, a program designed to support students who are unlikely to access professional help despite the best efforts of traditional counseling center outreach. Community Consultation and Intervention reaches into the campus community to intervene by advising faculty and staff who may be the only contact for a distressed student, taking on a nontraditional “student support” role in direct interactions with students, offering advocacy when university systems or other environmental stressors precipitate psychological problems, and providing case management and crisis intervention services on behalf of the university when troubled students are especially concerning and disruptive to their communities. The most novel element of the program—the student support role—is distinct from conventional counseling in that it privileges problem solving, support, advice, and advocacy over focusing on emotions and other traditional mental health interventions. Case studies and programmatic challenges are described.     

We Are Therefore I Am: A Psycho-Cosmos Counseling Model for Black Africans

This article explores the concepts of corporate personality, rituals and religion as they impact counseling indigenous black African people in their home settings or in Western contexts. It discusses the predominantly “I” focus of Western methods of counseling and psychotherapies and regards it as ineffective when compared to the “we” concept of indigenous African cultures. The authors examine the roles of healers, diviners, and counselors, and the influence of culture, religion, and rituals in the healing (therapeutic) process. A psycho-cosmos model of counseling is proposed that places counseling involvement in a larger context and includes some suggestions for practitioners.     

Career counseling centers in higher education: A study of cross-cultural applications from the United States to Korea

Interest in career development and career counseling is growing in Korea. Nevertheless, neither the research nor the literature adequately address the question as to what applications can be cross-culturally transferred from career counseling centers in the United States to Korea. This study qualitatively examines the practice of career counseling in seven university career counseling centers in the United States in a search for concepts and methods that may be cross-culturally applied to Korean universities. Nine categories of data emerged in our qualitative analysis of information gathered: (a) types of systems; (b) staff; (c) services provided; (d) career assessments; (e) alumni networks; (f) workshops and outreach; (g) publicity; (h) information technology; and (i) facilities. Applications and ideas for the Korean context, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Happiness as a Goal of Counseling: Cross-cultural Implications

The article examines the construct of happiness within the context of counseling and holistic health (body, mind and spirit). It discusses happiness as a goal of counseling as reflected in selected counseling theories that focus on humanistic principles, holistic health, positive psychology, personal growth and the client’s intentional choice-making in life. Moreover, the article considers within-cultural and cross-cultural implications of happiness, and presents recommendations for counseling professionals who counsel clients or train future counselors.     

Valuing Diversity in the Schools: Learning from Multicultural Counseling for Teachers in the Greek Educational Setting

This paper explores the challenge of diversity in an increasingly multicultural world, and adopts the position that the valuing of diversity can be taught – especially within the context of teacher training and education in general. It gives an overview of major components of diversity training within the context of multicultural counseling, and stresses what counseling can offer teacher training in regard to diversity issues and competencies for the Greek educational setting. Finally, it examines key notions of difference and ‘otherness’ in Greek thought, which can inform contemporary discourse on diversity and multicultural counseling theory and practice.     

Identifying Best Practice Principles in Working with the Inupiat Eskimo: Building Trust and Beyond

The authors present an examination of established models on trust building issues in multicultural counseling and apply them with the Inupiat Eskimo population. Drawing on the cultural strengths of the Inupiat communities, counselors traverse challenging cultural barriers and develop positive working relationships with families and individual clients within the communities of Alaska. Cultural competence is discussed and guidelines for multicultural counseling are provided. The principles outlined in this paper, whilst developed in this instance in a particular location and cultural context, have relevance for other situations where counseling involving a minority is concerned. The overriding element is working at and maintaining trust, with this being the essential foundation upon which other counseling strategies are implemented.     

网络教育发展中的现存问题及对策探讨

当前,网络教育存在着诸如思想观念、经济发展与大众化高等教育、资源建设、支持服务与质量保证、生源条件等方面的问题;应该相应采取多种媒体并用、合作开发教学资源、加强个别化辅导、改革考试模式和为新生补课等改进措施。     

Reflections on the History of South African Student Counseling Services: Achievements,Challenges, and a Way Forward

Student counseling services are a recognizable feature of higher education institutions locally and abroad. This article reviews the sociohistorical development and evolution of student counseling services in South African institutions of higher learning, with an emphasis on systemic influences, achievements, and contemporary challenges. This article considers the progress that has been made thus far with respect to the development of the service within higher education, while also attending to issues that require continued reflection and investigation. These include the current status and position of the service in South African higher education, the evolving roles of student counselors, as well as their relationship with institutional stakeholders and the broader South African community. In so doing, this article hopes to augment existing historical perspectives on student counseling by encouraging a critical reappraisal of student counseling’s past, its present, and its future in a dynamic South African and global context.     

网络心理咨询的应用探究

随着网络的快速发展,传统的学生心理咨询方式受到挑战,网络心理咨询已逐渐成为学生心理咨询的一种重要形式。论文从心理咨询的定义出发,融合网络这一载体的性质以及优势,阐析了网络心理咨询的发展状况和特点。     

Counseling as a Critique of Gender: On the Ethics of Counseling Transgendered Clients

This paper examines the responsibilities of mental health professionals, particularly counselors, to those who identify or might be identifiable as “transgendered.” There are two main objectives. The first is to describe the critical reflection necessary to deal with gender-variant clients in an ethical and effective manner. The second is to discuss a psychotherapeutic model that is likely to be effective in integrating such reflection into the clinical process, and to make counseling recommendations on that basis.     

Counseling in Nigeria and the United States of America: Contrasts and Similarities

This paper compares the profession of counseling in Nigeria and the United States of America (USA). Many differences exist in the practice of counseling in these two countries, including a greater emphasis on specialization, credentialing and licensing in the USA. Issues such as lack of insurance coverage and general economic disadvantage affect the utilization of counseling services in Nigeria. Although both countries are dealing with similar societal concerns, training standards remain localized. The authors recommend that given the global nature of counseling's reach and potential impact across the world, efforts should be made to implement international credentialing standards.     

Benefits of Required Counseling for Counseling Students

Graduate students experience mental health distress. The authors investigated the benefits of required counseling services at a training clinic for students enrolled in counseling courses. Results indicated that after receiving services, students (N = 55) reported decreases in overall problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Implications for counselor educators are discussed.     

Experiences of HIV/AIDS Counselors in Zimbabwe and Their Perceptions on the State of HIV/AIDS Counseling in Zimbabwe

This study investigated Zimbabwean counselors' experiences of providing HIV/AIDS counseling and their perceptions about the state of HIV/AIDS counseling in Zimbabwe. The participants were a diverse group of counselors, 30 through 59 years of age, who provided counseling services to HIV/AIDS clients. Participants thought HIV/AIDS counselors in Zimbabwe received minimal support and supervision and were undertrained. They identified that the first sessions with clients were the most difficult. They also found it problematic to work with couples who were serodiscordant (one partner who is HIV positive and the other HIV negative) and couples wanting children. The later stages of the counseling process were also found to be challenging. Though the participants acknowledged they had negative psychological experiences when counseling HIV/AIDS clients, they also expressed feelings of satisfaction and fulfillment in their work.     

Take Two Pills and Call Me in December

Students utilize university counseling center services to address distress related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since counseling centers services such as group work or general psychotherapy may not address specific PTSD-symptom reduction, centers often give community referrals in such cases. Evidence-based therapies (EBTs), including Prolonged Exposure Therapy, have the potential to be offered within counseling center services, however. Prolonged exposure consistently provides significant symptom relief to patients with the most severe PTSD symptoms within 10–12 sessions. This article presents and examines two case examples of students who participated in a full prolonged exposure protocol within a counseling center clinic.     

Estimating the Efficiency of Therapy Groups in a College Counseling Center

College counseling centers are facing rapidly increasing demands for services and are tasked to find efficient ways of providing adequate services while managing limited space. The use of therapy groups has been proposed as a method of managing demand. This brief report examines the clinical time savings of a traditional group therapy program in a college counseling center. The savings were mixed from semester to semester, ranging from 5 individual therapy spots lost to 10 individual therapy spots gained depending on the estimation. Considerations are offered for the use of therapy groups to manage clinical demand based on this report.     

Key Concepts From Health Promotion Evaluations: What Psychology Needs to Know

Competing perspectives and debates about the meaning of health promotion and the best ways to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives that focus on enhancing wellness pervade the literature. Given the emergence of health promotion, the impetus for outcomes-based practice in psychology, and the push for evidence-based care in the health system (Thorogood & Coombes, 2000), demonstrations of value and effectiveness are fundamental to the sustainability of mental health promotion activities. Psychology (and counseling as a sub-set field) needs to place itself as a profession vital to the sustainability of wellness initiatives. This paper proposes that psychologists’ awareness and understanding of six key concepts from health promotion evaluation are essential for advancing psychology as a profession and enhancing applied practice for wellness initiatives. The key concepts include: formative, process and outcome evaluations, the qualitative/quantitative debate, the ecological nature, the participatory approach, the focus on community and the underlying philosophies of empowerment and utilization. The use of key concepts from health promotion evaluation strategies support psychologists to a) deal with issues of major public health importance and b) collaborate with other disciplines for the benefit of the public (Sartorius, 1999). Finally, this paper makes recommendations to secure psychology’s place as a vital contributor to future research directions in health promotion, in part because of adherence to the scientist-practitioner model.Whilst Psychology is the generic term used here to represent the broad field, counseling as a sub-set in the discipline is particularly relevant for the ideas and issues discussed. Rather than adding the sub-set qualifier each time the broad field is referred to, the reader in this context is encouraged to hold this perspective of the place of counseling in regard to psychology as they work through the materials presented.     

College Counseling Today: Contemporary Students and How Counseling Centers Meet Their Needs

There is evidence that today’s college and university students are struggling with emotional and behavioral health problems at higher rates than in past generations. This article explores the various ways, utilizing a range of models, that college and university counseling centers have mobilized to respond to these challenges. We examine literature about the characteristics and concerns of the current student generation along with what counseling centers are doing to respond to the challenge of student needs. We describe a survey (N = 408) of members of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD) and American College Counseling Association (ACCA) that elicited the kinds of services, functions, structures, and organizational relationships found in today’s counseling centers. In addition to confirming the core mission of providing counseling and psychotherapy, the survey revealed widespread counseling center collaboration and consultation activities beyond the counseling room. The survey also indicated a variety of administrative and structural arrangements in the way counseling centers are placed on their individual campuses. Finally, we suggest a framework for planning, executing, and evaluating counseling center and campus initiatives.