Attitudes toward career counseling: The role of public and self-stigma.

Although many students struggle with career-related issues in college, comparatively few engage the career services offered by their academic institutions for help with their difficulties. In addition, there is little research on the factors influencing students’ decisions to engage in counseling for career-related issues, making it difficult to develop programs to enhance students’ use of career counseling services. The present study examines the relationships between the stigma associated with help seeking and attitudes toward engaging in career counseling. Participants were 509 college students who completed measures of stigma and attitudes toward career counseling. Structural equation modeling results indicated that public and personal stigmas were linked to self-stigma, which in turn was linked to attitudes toward seeking career counseling. Sixty percent of the variance in self-stigma and 42% of the variance in attitudes was accounted for in the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Guiding assumptions, data, and minor pestilence: Reply to Tracey (1992) and Tinsley (1992).

In response to concerns raised by T. J. Tracey and H. E. Tinsley (see PA, Vol 79:17955 annd 17954, respectively), several issues are discussed. Research in a new area should incorporate a variety of methods and philosophies including those that are more empirical or discovery-oriented in focus rather than being driven solely by borrowed theory. Failure to acknowledge the differences between personal and career counseling has hampered expectations research in career counseling. No empirical basis currently exists for selecting the best assessment format for instruments measuring expectations in counseling. Both preference and anticipations rather than a single, global expectations construct need to be assessed in career counseling, and a reliable and valid assessment instrument is currently not available for that purpose. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Making career decisions: A sequential elimination approach.

Presents a model for career decision making based on the elimination of occupational alternatives, which is an adaptation for career decisions of A. Tversky's (see record 1973-00249-001) elimination-by-aspects theory of choice. Each occupational alternative is viewed as a set of aspects, and at each stage an aspect is selected according to its importance; alternatives lacking the selected aspect are eliminated. This process continues until only a few alternatives, or a single alternative, remain. The expected utility approach is reviewed as a representative compensatory model for career decisions. The advantages and the disadvantages of the sequential elimination and the expected utility approaches are examined. The possible combination of the 2 approaches is explored, and the implications for career counseling, computerized career decision-making systems, and research issues are discussed. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling and psychotherapy with Asian-Americans: Review of the literature.

Reviews the existing literature on counseling and psychotherapy with Asian-Americans and discusses research needs and recommendations for future research. Diagnosis and assessment issues include symptom expression, therapist bias, problems with the use of interpreters, and problems with the use of clinical and personality tests. Client variables in counseling and psychotherapy involve the personality of Asian-Americans, language problems, the acculturation process, and counseling expectations. Therapist variables involve therapist bias, training bias, lack of intercultural skills, and culture-specific knowledge. In a discussion of process and outcome, the author reviews empirical studies, clinical case studies, and articles with treatment strategies and recommendations. Research recommendations for each of the areas reviewed are identified. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor gender and gender-role orientation on client career choice traditionality.

The purpose of this study was to test common assumptions about the effects of counselors' gender and gender-role orientation on clients' career choice traditionality. A sample of 240 career counseling clients (120 women and 120 men) were counseled by a male or female counselor, who were further classified as possessing a masculine, feminine, or androgynous gender-role orientation as determined by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. The clients' career choice traditionality was measured on three occasions: during the counseling sessions, at the conclusion of counseling, and with respect to clients' actual career choices 6 months after completion of the counseling process. Results showed that counselor gender and gender-role orientation had no effects on any of the three measures of client career choice traditionality. Client gender emerged as the only significant determinant of client career choice traditionality. We discuss the implications of these findings for counseling research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paul B. Pedersen: Award for distinguished contributions to the international advancement of psychology.

The American Psychological Association 2010 Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology was awarded to Paul B. Pedersen, for his distinguished career as a counselor educator specializing in intercultural and multicultural issues and his significant influence on the growth and direction of multicultural counseling. Paul B. Pedersen is a pioneering researcher in cross-cultural psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of trainee self-efficacy to the process and outcome of career counseling.

This investigation examined the role of counselor trainees' self-efficacy on measures of career counseling process, "small o" outcome, and outcome with actual clients. Twenty-four counselor trainees saw 55 clients in 3 to 12 individual sessions. Results indicated that (a) career counseling self-efficacy increased by a standard deviation from prepracticum to postpracticum; (b) client scores significantly improved from pretest to posttest across multiple career outcome measures; (c) clients' working alliance, goal attainment, and decidedness indicated significant growth; (d) the significant growth on the process variable and small o outcome variables did not appear to be related to career counseling self-efficacy; and (e) career counseling self-efficacy apparently related to certain career counseling outcome measures in a manner suggesting much greater complexity than the "more self-efficacy is better" philosophy would imply. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the effectiveness of career interventions.

Presents empirically based recommendations to facilitate the effectiveness of career counseling and career development interventions. Previous evaluations of career interventions are reviewed. The majority of such evaluations focused on only one type of intervention, often not including a control group and only rarely attending to client attributes that might differentially affect the results of the intervention. The present review focuses on all of those evaluations that examined (a) the influence of client attributes on outcomes and/or (b) the differential effects of 2 or more interventions. Reviews of the literature evaluating the effectiveness of educational instruction and psychotherapy provide the empirical bases for specifying contrasting parameters of interventions, and demographic and psychosocial characteristics of participants that may moderate the effectiveness of diverse types of interventions. Recommendations are provided for designing evaluation studies incorporating cost–benefit analyses and for determining the effects of client attributes and differential treatment parameters. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career counseling as a mental health intervention.

Discusses career counseling aimed at work adjustment or job change as a potential intervention for many individuals suffering from job stress and argues that, in certain instances, career counseling should be used instead of traditional psychotherapy and/or as an alternative to stress management. Assessment strategies for determining the appropriate intervention for individuals suffering from job stress are generated from work adjustment theory. The implications of utilizing career counseling as a mental health intervention are also presented. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career patterns in counseling centers: Counseling psychologists review their past, present, and future.

Surveyed 381 psychologists working in college or university counseling centers to gain insight into career patterns of counseling center psychologists. Included were reasons for seeking, staying with, or leaving a particular position; satisfaction with past and current work activities; and future career planning. An analysis of the survey responses led to identification of distinct career patterns for counseling center psychologists as well as unique drawbacks and advantages associated with counseling center work, including flexibility of job functions, the opportunity to work with students in an academic setting and the low pay scale. Results suggest that the college counseling center is a satisfying employment setting characterized by early entry and a minimal number of job changes over the span of a career. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student and faculty perceptions of student needs and the services of a university counseling center: Differences that make a difference.

800 university students and 400 faculty members were telephoned and asked to estimate how common 14 areas of concern were in the student body and to indicate how likely they would be to refer students to the university counseling service for assistance with those same concerns. Analyses revealed significant differences between the 2 groups on 8 of the 14 items. The 2 groups also differed significantly in their reasons for referring students to counseling. Students were more likely to refer on the basis of a pragmatic need such as finances and career planning. Faculty would refer for personal–social issues. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating career counseling and psychotherapy: A comprehensive treatment strategy.

Presents a conceptual foundation and clinical illustration for the systematic integration of career counseling and psychotherapy. To illustrate the utility of such an integration, a group intervention from a substance abuse treatment facility is described that provides a model for the synthesis of vocationally oriented issues with other related psychological concerns. Case vignettes are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client preferences and anticipations in career counseling: A preliminary investigation.

Client expectations have been studied infrequently in career counseling. This study provides preliminary data about precounseling expectations, which were conceptualized as preferences and anticipations. 92 university students (22 men and 70 women) who sought career counseling completed an open-ended questionnaire. Results suggested the following conclusions: (1) Clients have fairly clear ideas about what they want (preferences) from career counseling and about what the experience should be like; (2) clients are somewhat less certain about what the career counseling experience will actually be like (anticipations) and less optimistic about it; (3) a number of mismatches exist between clients' preferences and anticipations; (4) clients do not have well-developed expectations about their dislikes in career counseling; and (5) few differences are evident between clients who have had previous counseling and those who have not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Content analysis and methodological critique of articles concerning lesbian and gay male issues in counseling journals.

Examined research of lesbian and gay male issues in counseling psychology journals. Of the 6,661 studies reviewed from 6 major counseling psychology journals over a 12-yr period, 43 (.65%) focused on variables related to lesbian or gay male sexual orientation. The content of the articles demonstrates a perspective of gay male and lesbian acceptance or affirmation. Study samples were composed mostly of university-affiliated, White, East-coast, urban persons. Sexual orientation of study participants was more often assumed than directly ascertained by self-report. The results of content analyses, a methodological critique of the empirical studies, and 12 recommendations for conducting research on issues concerning lesbian women and gay men are presented and discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Career Counseling Self-Efficiency Scale: Instrument development and training applications.

This article reports on 4 studies that addressed the development of the Career Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale (CCSES). The instrument evidenced moderate to high internal consistency across the studies and strong test-retest reliability over a 2-week period. Convergent validity was supported by correlations with years of career counseling experience and several scales of an emotional-social counseling self-efficacy measure. Discriminant validity was evidenced through an absence of relations between the CCSES total score and years of emotional-social counseling experience, emotional social counseling self-efficacy, and research self-efficacy. In addition to the evidence just mentioned, construct validity was supported by increases on the CCSES after a career course and varying levels of efficacy commensurate with status in the field. The use of this instrument for training and evaluating therapists who provide career counseling is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Passages: Career ladders for college counseling center psychologists.

Uses the stages of adult development set forth by G. Sheehy (1976) as a model for analyzing the careers of counseling psychologists. The careers of counseling center personnel are traced from graduate school days to the period Sheehy refers to as resignation or renewal, and the following conclusions are made: (a) The counseling center career ladder is short, forcing many psychologists in their early 30's into other job avenues; (b) the flexibility provided by counseling center positions is a 2-edged sword, producing disadvantages in later career stages; (c) reward systems should be developed to keep competent therapists in the counseling center; (d) administrative training should be provided during graduate school for future counseling psychologists; and (e) renewal alternatives need to be developed for burned-out counselors and counseling center directors in the midlife transition. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Overcoming opposition and resistance: Differential functions of expertness and attractiveness in career counseling.

Hypothesized that counselor expertness would be effective in overcoming opposition to the content of counseling, whereas counselor attractiveness would be effective in overcoming resistance to the counseling process. Two studies of career counseling were conducted: a laboratory analog with 36 vocationally undecided undergraduates and a field study with 45 high school sophomores taking a career planning course. In both studies, counselor role (expert or attractive) was crossed with Ss' initial level of resistance in a repeated measures design. Pre- and postmeasures of Ss' attitudes toward vocational exploration (the content of counseling) and attitudes toward counseling were used to assess change in opposition and resistance, respectively. A behavioral compliance measure of opposition was added in Study 2. Study 1 supported only the resistance hypothesis. Study 2 supported both the opposition and resistance hypotheses and thus demonstrated the differential functioning of expertness and attractiveness. Implications for interpersonal influence research and for the practice of career counseling are discussed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Case study of the process and outcome of career counseling.

The process and outcome of a career counseling case was studied. Across the course of the 7 sessions, the 43-yr-old client attained her career goals and increased both her career exploration and her exploration stress. She decreased exploration stress, maintained other changes, and crystallized her career goals by the 18-mo follow-up. Compared with her behavior in personal counseling, this counselor mostly used intentions of support, insight, and feelings but gave more information and set limits in career counseling. On the basis of 5 analyses, the most helpful counselor intentions were give information, support, clarify, feelings, insight, change, reinforce change, challenge, and relationship. The helpful ingredients of career counseling are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)