In its history, professional social work has long given at least lip service to the idea of building on client strengths as a part of the helping enterprise. This article provides an overview of the strengths approach to practice as it has evolved in social work and how that method and style might be applied by school counselors in their work with…

Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's article entitled "Empowerment Theory for the Professional School Counselor: A Manifesto for What Really Matters" represents an important contribution to the school counseling literature for two reasons: (1) It helps to expand a growing knowledge base related to the work school counselors can do to foster the individual…

The author comments on several aspects of an article by Hipolito-Delgado and Lee entitled "Empowerment Theory for the Professional School Counselor: A Manifesto for What Really Matters" (Professional School Counseling, v10 n4 p327-332 Apr 2007; see EJ767346). Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's article highlights a critical need for a comprehensive,…

In this article, the authors comment on Hipolito-Delgado and Lee's paper regarding empowerment theory. In their article in this issue, Hipolito-Delgado and Lee contend that empowering students from marginalized communities is a fundamental role of school counselors and consistent with both the Education Trust (2003) and the American School…

The author critiques an article by Hipolito-Delgado and Lee ("Empowerment Theory for the Professional School Counselor: A Manifesto for What Really Matters," Professional School Counseling, v10 n4 p327-332 Apr 2007) in which they use empowerment theory as a springboard to determining "what really matters" in professional school counseling. He…

In this article, the authors provide their reactions to the commentaries of Mitcham-Smith and Schmidt on their study. As Mitcham-Smith and Schmidt in their responses both suggest, it is evident that if professional school counselors are to be successful in facilitating the empowerment of students, they must engage in a self-reflective process…

The article comments on the article "How Collaboration and Research Can Affect School Counseling Practices: The Minnesota Story," by Dean Miller. It describes the role of guidance supervisors in a sustained effort to improve school guidance and counseling practices. It also highlights the role that state supervisors of guidance and counseling can…

In this brief article, the author responds to Brown and Trusty's assertion that based on the deficiencies of existing comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) research, school counselors need not focus their time and effort on showing causal connections between their programs and measures of student academic achievement. Rather than…

In "Comprehensive School Counseling Programs and Academic Achievement--A Rejoinder to Brown and Trusty," Sink raises some interesting issues regarding the article "School Counselors, Comprehensive School Counseling Programs, and Academic Achievement: Are School Counselors Promising More Than They Can Deliver?" First, he raises the issue of whether…

Although the author wanted to read Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo's article in an objective sense, her response to their article is most likely influenced by her own experiences as an African American female and mother of an African American daughter. To her, the paramount issue facing African American females is the double and sometimes triple…

Much has been written in recent years about the concept of empowerment, particularly as it relates to urban youth of color. The author agrees with Bemak et al.'s underlying premise that much of what is written about and practiced with respect to the empowerment of African American youth makes the assumption that counselors somehow empower young…

Children come to school with a variety of factors impinging on their academic success (Rose, 1998). The impact of these factors varies in degree. Furthermore, children from high-risk urban areas may experience barriers that not only hinder academic success, but also support their disengagement from educational institutions. Therefore, working with…

The author commends Drs. Bemak, Chung, and Siroskey-Sabdo on their efforts to connect with and empower African American adolescent females. However, he does have some concerns regarding their Empowerment Groups for Academic Success (EGAS) approach to empowering this particular group of students. While he agrees with the authors about the…

This article highlights the effectiveness and importance of group counseling in efforts to reach all students in public high schools. The article also identifies the need for a paradigm shift in the delivery methods used with inner-city youth. This is an important addition to the professional literature because it encourages the use of data to…

Writing the article entitled "Empowerment Groups for Academic Success: An Innovative Approach to Prevent High School Failure for At-Risk, Urban African American Girls," Fred Bemak anticipated that there would be mixed reactions, given the unique and non traditional approach to working with a difficult and typically underserved population. The…