Discusses the original dreams of the founders of the American Mental Health Counselors Association; looks at history and comments on the state of mental health counseling as it has struggled to evolve as a profession. Urges those in the counseling profession to consider an acquisitions and mergers corporate mentality to ensure and enhance the…

Radical transformation in the health and mental health care field over the past decade has presented mental health counselors with significant professional changes and challenges. Financial profitability has become top priority while patients and professional appear to be secondary considerations. Presents a hypothetical scenario and sampling of…

This article presents a contextual analysis of present and future trends and challenges in mental health counseling practice and training. Suggestions are offered for responding strategically to challenges that promote the development of the mental health counseling profession. (Author/MKA)

Promotes understanding of the philosophical systems that undergird models of counseling, and the implications of those systems for actions in counseling. Traces the development of 18 major counseling models and speculates on how these models and philosophies began. Considers how philosophies within models can influence mental health counseling…

American Mental Health Counselors Association members (n=288) identified preferences for professional development activities related to counseling modalities, professional concerns, special populations, and presenting problems. Professional development needs most frequently expressed concerned providing marital and family counseling, conducting…

Defines the concept of countertransference and four dimensions of possible countertransference responses toward the older client. Three of these responses are based on Karen Horney's interpersonal styles: moving toward, moving away, and moving against. Discusses strategies for managing countertransference with older clients, with special emphasis…

Reviews material related to American Mental Health Counselors Association Clinical Judgment Project. Recommendations include invoking more sensitive analyses of clinical judgment process, establishing defensible diagnostic and treatment criteria, attending to threats to statistical conclusion validity, and increasing attention to counselor…

Reports on a 33-item questionnaire based on Alexander G. Zaphiris's conceptualization of the terminology of sexual mistreatment. Results indicate that mental health counselors (N=300) who encountered sexual abuse, incest, and sexual exploitation agreed with Zaphiris's conceptualization but did not use this system of classification in actual…

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…

Examines the sex role attributes of American-Indian women as compared to a predominately White normative group using the short form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results indicate a significant difference on the masculine subscale between the two groups with American-Indian women having higher scores. Provides implications for mental health…

Electroconvulsive therapy is the treatment of choice for severe depressive episodes. Although little definitive research exists to explain its effectiveness, since its development in 1938 it has proven effective for the treatment of depression with psychotic features and suicidal ideation. Explains the procedure and discusses implications for the…

Provides suggestions to mental health personnel for improving the delivery of therapeutic staff support in the public schools. Written from the school district's perspective, article provides basic information on how schools function, along with suggestions for improving communication with school personnel. (GCP)

Surveys were sent to counselor education programs (n=618) and licensed professional counselors (n=1,253) asking questions related to the unique competencies of the counseling profession that complement the goals of a managed-care-driven marketplace. The intent was to obtain information and establish some baseline data upon which to build a…

Examines the role of mental health counselors in the evaluation of families for child custody disputes. Suggests that even though child custody evaluation requires specialized knowledge, expertise, and experience, it can become a rewarding aspect of a mental health counselor's practice. (LLL)

Efforts to prevent unintended teen pregnancy seem to have ignored emotional motivations in romantic relationships. Proposes a model that may provide mental-health counselors with a theoretical-research base for interventions and programming designed to enhance teens' romantic relationships while simultaneously preventing unwanted consequences such…