Challenges in Meeting HIV/AIDS Counselling Needs in Nigeria

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is recognized globally as the greatest health challenge of the present generation. It is widely acknowledged to be the foremost killer disease in Africa. Since the first Aids case was publicly announced in 1986, the astronomical increase in victims has been a matter of concern. The rates of HIV/AIDS infection indicate that Nigeria currently has the third largest rate of HIV/AIDS patients. The UNAIDS (2008) reported that as at 2007, the population of children and adults with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria was 2.6 million. Due to the fact that there is no cure for the virus, HIV/AIDS, counselling is an important aspect of its management. Counsellors in Nigeria have provided pre- and post-test counselling, preventive education seminars, and referrals to other health professionals. However, counsellors’ efforts have only yielded limited success because of a number of major challenges. This paper examines some of the challenges involved in meeting the HIV/AIDS counselling needs of Nigerians. Specifically, it addresses challenges faced by government, potential clients, and the Counselling Association of Nigeria, as well as challenges associated with existing cultural practices (indigenous counselling practices). It concludes with specific recommendations for various stakeholders.     

Counselling the Micronesian client

The Micronesian client comes from a strategically important Western Pacific area that bears its own unique culture. To serve the Micronesian client more than adequately, the therapist needs an awareness and understanding of the culture of the Micronesians. The role their culture plays upon the development of the Micronesian and upon the psyche of the Micronesian is explored.     

Homophobia in Counselling Practice

Current attitudes of counselling practitioners towards sexual and gender differences raise the possibility that minority clients may experience re-traumatisation due to in-session expressions of therapist homophobia. This paper explores these issues through a qualitative study that examines client and counsellor narratives on homophobia in counselling. The results describe specific examples of homophobic behaviour by counsellors. While individual examples might appear mundane on the surface, the frameworks they invoke and their pervasiveness constitutes a considerable threat to the counselling relationship. The paper argues that homophobia in counselling practice is a significant issue that requires sensitive, critical and applied analysis that redirects therapeutic efforts in the future.     

Career Counselling in the Emerging Post-Industrial Society

International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance - What are the major changes that characterise the emerging post-industrial society? More specifically, what are the changes in the...     

South African First-Year Students' Counselling Needs and Preferred Counselling Sources

This study investigated the personal career andlearning skills needs of first-year universitystudents and their preferred counsellingsources. Respondents completed structuredquestionnaires assessing their needs andpreferred counselling sources (n = 1292). Respondents expressed a preference for lecturesand professional help outside the university. They selected only five of forty two items forwhich they desired individual counselling. Knowing the preferred sources of counsellinghelp desired by clients would enable a betterservice and referral system.     

Considering the Challenges of Counselling Practice in Schools

School counselling is developing rapidly in many countries around the World. As with any practice in a secondary setting, challenges and special issues are often identified, discussed, and managed. These can be categorized into four distinct domains: 1) Internal challenges, which include issues related to clientele groups, teachers’ attitudes towards counselling, and students’ willingness to seek counseling; 2) External challenges, which refer to social-economic changes beyond the school. These include popular culture, globalization and societal trends of more families and students moving across borders; 3) Systems challenges, which are those within the guidance programmes implemented by ministries, schools or counselling bodies. These issues may reside in the guidelines for practice in schools, referral procedures, and resource planning; 4) Personal challenges, which relate to the needs as well as the skills of the counsellor. Some examples here are training, supervision, and attitudes towards school systems. The four domains and interactions among them are discussed in this paper.     

Ethnopsychiatry: Counselling immigrants in France

The plight of immigrants in France and the United States bear a striking similarity. This article highlights the struggle of immigrants in the French society and the discrimination they face. A French academic discipline calledethnopsychiatry has arisen to help immigrants in France. It appears to be very similar in purpose to cross-cultural counselling, but draws more heavily in practice from traditional healing techniques used in Africa. The pioneeringstrides of ethnopsychiatry in the cross-cultural counselling paradigm are discussed.     

Counselling for New Careers

Flemish post-secondary students(N = 2,880) were profiled for favouring orrejecting three new work arrangements. Threestepwise discriminant function analyses wereperformed to separate the groups that were forand against telehomework, agency work, andfreelance work. Predictors were demographicvariables (anticipated graduation year,academic area), attributes (willingness toengage in new careers, proactive personalityand work values), and expectations aboutemployers. The classification results werecross-validated. Findings indicated thattomorrow's workforce wanted to meet therequirements of new careers (mobility, lifelongretooling, work-family balance). Four groups ofwork values differentiated thosefavouring/rejecting telehomework, agency work,and freelance work. Anticipated graduationyear, academic area and proactive personality,characterised further respondents for andagainst agency work and freelance work.Expectations about employers did not split thegroups with respect to their preference for thethree new work arrangements. Implications forcontemporary and future roles for careercounsellors were discussed.     

Counselling approaches in Nigerian traditional communities

Guidance and counselling services, which were introduced to Nigeria in 1959, have recently undergone rapid growth. While the approaches of the formalized guidance services have been largely Western, traditional means of approaching an individual's problems have always existed within Nigerian communities. This article identifies areas of traditional counselling that might be used alongside those of the Western system. The special areas examined were those of mural guidance, vocational counselling, marriage counselling and emotional counselling. Findings include the following:

1. Every adult in the society who possesses relevant experience in any problem area is capable of playing the role of a counsellor at least for that particular problem.
2. An individual who is considered in need of guidance is invited into counselling.
3. The early knowledge that work is essential for every adult provides individuals with appropriate skills of choosing satisfying vocations.
4. Individuals proposing marriage undergo counselling.
5. Divination offers a reassuring approach to counselling situation.

     

Using Qualitative Assessment in Career Counselling

Advancements in conceptualisations about career and career development and irreversible changes in the world of work have necessitated that career counsellors reflect on their practice in order that it keeps pace and maintains relevancy.Fundamental to these reflections isconsideration of the place and nature of career assessment in career counselling.Traditionally, emphasis has been given toquantitative assessment. More recently, theprofile of qualitative assessment has beenraised, and its place in career counselling hasbeen strengthened relative to but not to theexclusion of quantitative assessment. However,there is little to guide the use of qualitativeassessment. This paper presents a theoreticaloverview of qualitative assessment in careercounselling and proposes guidelines for usingqualitative assessment.     

Gifted Education and Counselling in Canada

Education in Canada is determined at the provincial level of jurisdiction. Each province and territory has a unique system of legislation and policy, although most provinces view the education of gifted students as a category of service provision under special education. The first section of this paper provides a brief, general overview of key themes that emerge from an analysis of the relevant Education Ministry documents and literature concerning gifted education and counselling within the Canadian context. Where appropriate, the particular province(s) and/or territory(s) associated with the themes is noted. The second section highlights the work of Canadian scholars most relevant to counsellors working with gifted students. A brief review of recommended counselling needs, goals, and practices for the gifted is presented in the conclusion.     

Simulations for the Assessment of Counselling Skills

Assessment of students’ communication skills after a course in counselling, in which the students are prepared for work practice, requires another assessment method than the traditional written examination. In this paper we describe the construction and evaluation of simulations. The results of an investigation into the quality of the simulations show that they enable objective assessment of students’ mastery of skills in the situation which is simulated. In order to achieve generalisable scores, i.e. scores which indicate how well a student will perform in counselling interviews in general, more than one simulation has to be administered. Although the simulation is not an efficient instrument, its benefits are high: weaknesses in students’ performances will be detected so that remedial teaching can be offered, and clinical practice can be preserved for counsellors with a less than sufficient ability in counselling skills     

Counselling families of psychiatric patients

This paper reports on a study of client families of a counselling service in Vienna, Austria, which serves relatives of persons suffering from a major mental illness, e.g. schizophrenia or manic-depressive conditions. The service is operated by the Austrian Association of Relatives and Friends of the Mentally Ill (Hilfe fuer psychisch Erkrankte — Vereinigung der Angehoerigen und Freunde.), HPE for short.