Shared language comprises a precondition to authentic relationships, including career counselling. Drawing on constructivist theory, this article highlights career counsellors' charge to be sensitive to the unique meanings that clients ascribe to common career-oriented terminology, such as "working with people," "success," or…

This article presents and discusses findings from a qualitative study of Swedish adult education, with focus on meetings between counsellors and students and how counsellors translate and enact different expectations from policies and ethical guidelines, as well as from adult students. The results show that counsellors have an important role in…

In this study, we apply a theoretical framework that combines the life-course perspective and the concept of temporality to explore the career agency of immigrants participating in employment interventions in Norway. Findings suggest that immigrants' career agency is influenced by several factors, including the management of family duties and…

Impaired ability to develop trusting relationships, self-dysregulation, poor emotional regulation, poor self valuation, and relational sensitivity are key challenges for survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse. These increase the risk of ruptures in the therapeutic relationship and dropouts. Nevertheless, there is little evidence of the role of…

In this paper, we present our development of a previously articulated approach to counselling education of transformational learning through a relational dynamic approach (Macaskie et al., 2013). We replace the idea of integration with a values-based approach and supplement the notion of transformational relational learning with a not-knowing…

This article aims to address issues of culture in counselling, with a particular emphasis on the links between culture, action, and counselling. It also addresses how action can be incorporated into counselling, with contextual action theory as an integrative framework. To this end, the article reviews the notion of culture and a general…

In this study we explored helpful and unhelpful processes in psychological therapy for women with a diagnosis of substance use disorder (SUD). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women, seven of whom were white; and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes emerged: "What words can't…

The literature on critical thinking (CT) in counselling and therapy generally posits higher quality outcomes when CT is applied in therapeutic treatment. We critically examine support for the claim that CT improves clinical outcomes. The purported effects of CT are first identified by arguments in favour of using CT in therapeutic treatment, both…

This article contributes a social justice perspective to the ongoing discussions about the concepts that inform career guidance theory and practice. Due to the field's psychological tradition, career guidance practices often adopt highly individualised notions of agency that fail to grasp the contextual factors and societal structures from which…

This study explored counsellors' experiences with online therapy during the COVID-19 crisis, which presented an opportunity to examine how counsellors evaluated the drawbacks, benefits, and appropriateness of online therapy. Data collected through surveys from 114 professional counsellors, school counsellors, addiction counsellors, clinical social…

The aim was to investigate the association between experiencing a therapeutic relationship and subsequent authenticity. Forty-six clients completed the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (B-LRI), Relational Depth Inventory (RDI), a measure of the therapeutic alliance (ARM-5) and the Authenticity Scale (AS) at intervals over 10 therapy…

Processes of identity formation have long been a consideration for the field of counselling. Undertaking counselling education can be a fraught time for student counsellors, with increased anxiety and stress, and educators and researchers need to better grasp the complexities inherent in the development of new counsellors. This paper reviews…

Creative methods in counselling are generally regarded as adjunctive techniques and procedures. In this paper I advocate for a deeper integration of creative methods within counselling and propose that one way forward would be to develop more inclusive frameworks for this practice. To this end, I consider some of the ways clinicians and theorists,…

This article examines how client expectations about psychological therapy compare with subjective experiences of undertaking therapy. We interviewed 10 clients who had recently completed therapy about their expectations and experiences, and thematically analysed data in the template style. Three themes are presented ([1]"I didn't know what I…

Research suggests that bullying is one of the most common presenting issues for young people accessing counselling. In this study, we explored helpful aspects of counselling for young people who have experienced bullying. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participantsand analysed using thematic analysis. Participants identified…