Empathy is more important than ever to a national population worried about difficult political and socioeconomic situations. During the last 10 years, an enormous amount of research has been carried out to elucidate the nature, mechanism, and function of empathy. New research from social-cognitive neuroscience and related fields indicates that,…

Research indicates that many social work practitioners are interested in using spiritual interventions in clinical settings. Unfortunately, studies also indicate that practitioners have frequently received minimal training on the topic during their graduate education. Drawing from the evidence-based practice movement, this article develops some…

Although they may be reflected in professional guidelines, formal standards, or law, ethics are not static codes. They are an active process by which the individual therapist or counselor struggles with the sometimes bewildering, always unique constellation of questions, responsibilities, contexts, and competing demands of helping another person.…

Counseling is a professional field that requires as much or more courage than virtually any non-life-threatening occupation. In a fashion analogous to both the fire fighter or the police officer who is in direct physical danger, effective counselors must fortify themselves and prepare themselves as well as possible when they enter the unknown and…

This chapter presents counseling ideas and strategies to promote family trust and confidence. These steps include getting the family into the office, the role of proper attire, displaying of credentials, seating arrangements, and the acquisition of informed consent. Also presented is the author's approach to a first family counseling session, with…

This book examines multicultural awareness training through a three-stage developmental sequence as a primary prevention strategy in counseling. It attempts to lead readers to find examples of how multicultural awareness can make their counseling task easier rather than harder and can increase their satisfaction in working with clients from other…

Many different strategies and skills for anger management intervention have been tried and tested. Some of the most empirically supported interventions are cognitive-behavioral interventions including relaxation coping skills, cognitive interventions, behavioral coping and social skills training, and problem-solving skills training. This digest…

Numerous structured programs exist for helping clients learn to manage their anger more effectively. These programs vary in intended audience, theoretical basis, teaching method, and actual skills and techniques used. A review of several structured programs follows. It is important to remember that prior to selecting an intervention, one must…

The literature on cybercounseling is primarily theoretical and contains numerous recommendations for research. This indicates an urgent need for empirical investigations to inform practice and guide policy development in cybercounseling. It has been emphasized that developing guidelines for this treatment modality is an immediate necessity. This…

If counselors are to meet the needs of adolescent clients they must understand the unique perspective of this population. This includes understanding of not only the presenting problem that the client brings, but how adolescents experience the counseling process and counselor/client relationship. The primary interest of the author was what…

This paper reviews a selection of the recent literature on issues pertaining to multicultural clients in counseling, focusing on the current demographics of such populations, the prevalence of mental illness and utilization of mental health services, and particular cultural concerns in working with such populations, including aspects of…

Intended to benefit the entire counseling community, this guidebook demonstrates current multicultural competencies and successful delivery of services across the various professional counseling disciplines. Leading authorities offer concrete direction for effective multicultural counseling and reflect on what they have found to be the best…

This digest provides an overview of basic family counseling concepts for counselors whose specialty is in an area other than marriage and family counseling. The author notes that there are two pivotal areas the counselor and client must address upon deciding to involve a family in the client's counseling sessions: how to get the family to come…

This journal of the California Association for Counseling and Development attempts to identify the current issues of concern in the counseling field and share research to help improve the professional learning community. The articles in this issue include: "The Editor's Message" (Pat Nellor Wickwire); "The CACD President's…

Counselor responses in 24 one-session helping interviews provide the basis for an empirical taxonomy of change events in counseling. Cluster analyses identified eight kinds of helpful events grouped into two "superclusters" corresponding to task and interpersonal aspects of helping. Six kinds of nonhelpful events were identified.…