Because of the recent introduction of a licensure law, professional counseling has grown rapidly in Taiwan after decades of slow development. The authors provide a historical review of the development of professional counseling in Taiwan and discuss the current status and future trajectory of professional counseling in Taiwan.

This quantitative study examined professional identity development and orientation for 489 counseling practitioners, educators, and trainees as predicted by participant-identified sex and engagement in professional activities. Differences between male and female participants regarding aspects of professional identity were evaluated. Discriminant…

Although the counseling profession was introduced to South Korea in the 1950s by American delegates of education, counseling has been only lately recognized as a specialized field that requires distinctive knowledge and skills. In this article, the authors describe the history and the current status of counseling in South Korea and then discuss…

A confluence of forces addressing counselor identity occurred with the 20/20: A Vision for the Future of Counseling initiative, the 2009 Standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP), and the quest by the American Association of State Counseling Boards to establish license portability. This…

The impact of CACREP accreditation on counselor competency has received little empirical investigation. Differences in the frequency and type of ethical misconduct between graduates of CACREP-accredited and non-CACREP-accredited counselor education programs were investigated. Results of a multiway frequency analysis indicated that fully licensed…

Researchers and practitioners have been pursuing how to enhance counselors' multicultural counseling competencies (MCC). With a sample of 460 counselors, the author examined whether multicultural training changed the relationship between (a) racial/ethnic identity and MCC and (b) gender-role attitudes and MCC. The author found significant…

The authors present historical and current accounts of the counseling profession in Thailand. In addition to the influences of Buddhism on counselor training and practices, professional issues such as licensure, professional organizations, and the relationship between counselors and other mental health professionals are summarized. The role of…

The authors examined the relationship of perceived stress, specific types of coping resources, the working alliance, and the supervisory working alliance among 232 counselor supervisees. The working alliance and the supervisory working alliance were negatively related to perceived stress and positively related to multiple coping resources. Two…

Professional counseling in Uganda has foundations in traditional cultures of its peoples, guidance offered in schools, and counseling to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Currently, a definitive professional counselor profile in Uganda is being established. The Uganda Counselling Association continues the process of seeking legal authority to regulate…

The mood disorder work group has proposed to eliminate the bereavement exclusion criterion from the diagnosis of major depression in the 5th edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (2012) "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders." The proposal would break tradition with the long-held distinction between…

The state and federal governments, along with private industry, play an important role in the development of a health profession. State governments establish training standards through licensure laws, and state programs dictate employment and payment opportunities. The federal government unifies a profession through recognition in national health…

Counseling studies have shown that increasing experience is not always associated with better judgments. However, in such studies performance is assessed against external criteria, which may lack validity. The authors applied the Cochran-Weiss-Shanteau (CWS) index, which assesses the ability to consistently discriminate. Results showed that novice…

In this article, the authors offer a comprehensive overview of the counseling profession in Denmark. The history and development of counseling is considered, followed by a review of the current state of Danish professional counseling. Finally, impressions of the future of professional counseling in Denmark are presented based on the past and…

This exploratory, qualitative study examined the professional identity of 238 practicing counselors and how they perceived counseling as distinct from psychology and social work. Participants' professional identities seemed to be grounded in a developmental, prevention, and wellness orientation toward helping. Participants also seemed to embrace a…

A sample of 506 professional counselors who were members of the American Counseling Association completed measures of professional quality of life, career-sustaining behaviors (CSBs), and wellness. Significant differences were found both within the sample based on caseload characteristics and between the participants and available norm groups.…