Skill using the American Psychiatric Association's 2000 "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Text Revision" is essential for increased professional credibility, career marketability, and third-party reimbursement of professional counselors. This article focuses on how to improve counselors' skill with the manual, by…

Surveys American Mental Health Counselors Association members' perceptions regarding obtaining independent and dependent prescriptive privileges for psychopharmacological agents and requisite training needs. Forty-one percent agreed that independent prescription privilege should be attained; 64 percent agreed that dependent prescription privilege…

Study examines the public's confidence in clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, master's and doctoral-level counselors, and social workers by ranking confidence levels across five case vignettes of varying severity. Results indicate that the doctoral-level counselors were perceived similarly to clinical psychologists across all cases and were…

States importance of multicultural perspective in providing more diverse and complex mental health counseling perspective. Argues that counselor understanding of group differences (ethnographic, demographic, status, and affiliation) is important for accurate interpretation of behaviors. Concludes pervasive influence of culture through underlying…

Reviews development of standardized case simulations and treatment planning criteria by two nationwide panels of interdisciplinary mental health experts. Notes that simulations show promise as performance-based assessments of clinical judgment across profession, theoretical orientation, and other therapist variables. Discusses application of…

Notes that studies of clinical judgment provide some important findings about how specific cognitive processes influence these decisions. Reviews research on understanding of clinical judgment, with implications for training and credentializing of mental health counselors. Examines potential of this research to respond empirically to questions of…

Examines on a state-by-state basis the degree of support for counselor legislative efforts offered by other mental health professionals. Looks at three dimensions: collaboration in creating counselor licensing or certification, collaboration in passing a counselor licensing or certifying bill, and legislative support for including counselors in…

Examined psychometric properties of four clinical treatment planning simulations (CTPS) developed by interdisciplinary mental health experts to examine clinical judgment in treatment planning processes of practitioners. Found that scoring reliability was high and simulations demonstrated adequate content, discriminant, and predictive validity.…

Studied undergraduate student (N=96) perceptions of counselor characteristics during audiotaped counseling sessions in which counselor used either paradoxical intervention combining symptom prescription and restraining directives or cognitive-behavior directive with a client describing severe anxiety reactions. Found perceptions of counselor using…

Mental health counselors (n=90) rated 24 items as particularly important in working with clients with mental retardation or psychiatric disturbances. Knowledge and skills rated as significant included areas such as counseling relationship, dealing with specific psychiatric disorders, training clients in specific behavioral skills, and dual…

Directors (N=203) of mental-health agencies responded to a survey designed to examine their level of acceptance and satisfaction with licensed professional counselors (LPC) in Ohio. Responses suggest a preference for hiring social workers over counselors; starting salaries were similar for both groups with comparable educational levels.…