The global burden of disease related to mental health is astronomical and growing, with underprivileged countries being disproportionately affected. The Mental Health Facilitator (MHF) program was designed by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) to address the need for greater mental health support within international communities…

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the relationship between vicarious trauma (VT) symptoms and subthreshold post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among practicing counselors. The researchers determined the frequency of VT symptoms and subthreshold PTSD symptoms experienced among practicing counselors and common…

This interpretative phenomenological analysis explored licensed professional counselors' experiences of turning away Medicare beneficiaries because of the current Medicare mental health policy. Researchers used semi-structured interviews to explore the client-level barriers created by federal legislation that determines professional counselors as…

Based on archival data from an urban school district, this retrospective correlational study examined the extent to which certain types of student-school counselor contacts, based on a student-report high school exit survey, could predict high school students' postsecondary enrollment in 2- and 4-year colleges within 5 years of graduating from…

The purpose of this paper is to explain how humanistic learning theory is applicable to current counselor education practices. A review of humanistic learning theory and the rationale for the application of the learning theory to counselor education provide a framework for application of these concepts to counselor education classrooms.…

In recent decades, professional counselors have increasingly focused on neuroscience to inform their case conceptualization and treatment planning with clients. With the additional lens of neuroscience, both the counselor and client can gain new understandings of the client's issues and improve the quality of the therapeutic relationship. The…

Explanations of compassion fatigue generally consider the client--counselor relationship as the primary source of challenges to wellness. Because of the nature of the current sociopolitical climate and the increased exposure through media, the counseling profession should consider expanding the influences on compassion fatigue related to current…

Scholars have described compassion fatigue as the result of chronic exposure to clients' suffering and traumatic stories. Counselors can struggle when they experience compassion fatigue because of various reasons. As such, an exploration of factors predictive of compassion fatigue may help counselors and supervisors buffer adverse effects.…

Conceptualizing doctoral training programs as research training environments (RTEs) allows for the exploration of theory to help counselor educators facilitate doctoral students' development from practitioners toward counseling researchers. Researchers have proposed self-concept theory as a way to understand identity development. In this article,…

In this phenomenological study, the authors explored the lived experiences of 19 African American mothers raising boys and young men to understand how media exposure to community and state violence connects to the physical and mental health of these mothers. Analysis of semi-structured individual interviews revealed six themes: psychological…

This article proposes a model for an intervention designed to mitigate cultural trauma in African American children and adolescents using trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based practice for treating post-traumatic stress in children and adolescents. There is a paucity of approaches to treat cultural trauma in…

A gap exists in the counseling profession between research and practice. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is one approach that could reduce this gap. The CBPR framework can serve as an additional tool for translating research findings into practical interventions for communities and counseling practitioners. Stronger community…

About one in four women will experience miscarriage of pregnancy, which can be the impetus for significant and persistent psychological distress. Because of cultural norms of silence and minimization around pregnancy loss, as well as a notable lack of scholarship on the topic, counselors may neglect this area in their clinical work. This article…

This phenomenological study explored the experiences of 15 professional counselors who work with clients living in impoverished communities in rural America. Researchers used individual semi-structured interviews to gather data and identified four themes that represented the counselors' experiences using the Multicultural and Social Justice…

As the number of older adults increases, it is important to understand how attitudes toward aging influence society, the aging process, and the counseling profession. Ageism--defined as social stigma associated with old age or older people--has deleterious effects on older adults' physical health, psychological well-being, and self-perception. In…