Differences in Mental Health Counselors' Diagnoses Based on Client Race: An Investigation of Adjustment, Childhood, and Substance-Related Disorders

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Feisthamel ◽  
Robert Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Disruptive Behavior ◽  
Behavior Disorders ◽  
Health Professions ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Adjustment Disorders ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Substance Related Disorders

This study of mental health counselors' diagnoses of African-American and Euro-American clients (N=899) found that African-Americans were diagnosed disproportionately more often with disruptive behavior disorders whereas Euro-Americans were diagnosed more often with less severe adjustment disorders. These findings mirror those of researchers from other mental health professions considering different mental disorders. Implications for mental health counseling practice and future research are discussed, and pathways to account for the phenomenon are proposed.

More Than a Vacation: Exploring the Impact of Reentry for International Sojourners

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Kostohryz ◽  
Pamela Wells ◽  
Cristen Wathen ◽  
David Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Grief And Loss ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Global Society ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
The Impact

As our population becomes increasingly internationalized in today's global society, a need emerges for awareness, research, and support for the mental health needs of clients who have returned from sojourns abroad. This article describes how mental health counselors can become more aware of the reentry experience. It also explores such factors as expectations, transition, advocacy, and grief and loss. It diminishes the perception of sojourning as simply a vacation and discusses adjustments clients often have to make upon returning home. The article offers recommendations for working with clients who are finding reentry difficult, explores implications for the mental health counseling profession, and offers ideas for future research.

Counseling in Developing Countries: Turkey and India as Examples

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shonali Raney ◽  
Deniz Canel Çinarba s
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
Cultural Characteristics ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Current State

Turkey and India are developing countries with unique cultural characteristics. The current state of mental health counseling in Turkey and India necessitates new laws, indigenous approaches, adaptations of culture-sensitive approaches, and research projects to validate such approaches. It is the job of mental health counselors to accomplish such complicated and trying tasks in the absence of social and financial resources.

Young Adults’ Attitudes About Corporal Punishment: Implications for Mental Health Counseling

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-264
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Smith ◽  
Michael T. Kalkbrenner
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Corporal Punishment ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Parenting Strategies ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Effective Parenting

Corporal punishment, defined as the application of physical pain (e.g., spanking, slapping, or grabbing) to decrease a child’s undesirable behavior, is associated with negative mental health outcomes. Clients may present to mental health counselors with concerns that stem from their experience of corporal punishment. Mental health counselors work to prevent deleterious consequences of corporal punishment through the provision of psychoeducation on effective parenting strategies. Given that young adults are the largest group of prospective parents in the United States, the present investigators examined attitudes about the utility of corporal punishment as a disciplinary strategy among young adults who do not have children. Results revealed differences in the rates of endorsement of corporal punishment as a disciplinary strategy by gender and ethnicity. Higher rates were found among young adults who identified as male and those who identified as White relative to those who identified as female and those who identified as Latinx, respectively. These findings have a number of implications for challenging stereotypes (e.g., that Latinx clients endorse corporal punishment at higher rates than clients who identify as White) and enhancing mental health counselors’ prevention efforts (e.g., targeting attitudes about corporal punishment among those likely to become parents).

Comprehensive Program Development in Mental Health Counseling: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Calley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Program Development ◽  
Program Design ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Clinical Program ◽  
Business Principles

With increasing emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices and efficient clinical operations, mental health counselors must be competent in comprehensive clinical program development that covers program design, implementation, and sustainability. To address this need, a practice model here presented integrates scientific knowledge and business principles by emphasizing research-based program design and due diligence in program development. The model consists of 12 sequential, interrelated phases to guide the professional in creating comprehensive mental health counseling programs.

Searching for a Good Night's Sleep: What Mental Health Counselors Can Do About the Epidemic of Poor Sleep

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 312-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dolores Puterbaugh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Poor Sleep ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Behavioral Counseling

Sleep problems are epidemic in the United States. Many adults complain of poor sleep yet engage in behaviors that are counterproductive to sleep. This article briefly reviews recent research on the treatment of insomnia and discusses application of mental health counseling strategies for treatment. Case studies illustrate the application of current research within counselor areas of expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral counseling.

The Significance of Spirituality for Individuals with Chronic Illness: Implications for Mental Health Counseling

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey Nichols ◽  
Brandon Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Emotional Challenges ◽  
Meaning And Purpose

Understanding the significance of spirituality for individuals with chronic illness is advantageous to mental health counselors because it combines knowledge from multiple disciplines to find approaches useful to help individuals create meaning and purpose in their lives. Chronic illness is defined by not only the physical but also the mental and spiritual effects of the disease. This review of the literature addresses ways spirituality can help people with chronic illness and what it means to individuals undergoing physical and emotional challenges as a result of their illness. Recommendations are provided for how mental health counselors can help clients with chronic illness explore spirituality.

Examination of Family Counseling Coursework and Scope of Practice for Professional Mental Health Counselors

2020 ◽  
pp. 106648072097853
Author(s):  
Amy E. Williams ◽  
Olivia L. Weinzatl ◽  
B. L. Varga
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Family Counseling ◽  
Scope Of Practice ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Professional Mental Health ◽  
Training Opportunities ◽  
And Training

This study examined couple and family counseling coursework in the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)–accredited clinical mental health counseling (CMHC) programs and scope of practice related to couple and family counseling based on each state’s licensure regulations for mental health counselors (MHCs). Required and offered courses in couple/family-related content areas for 331 CACREP-accredited CMHC programs were analyzed. In addition, state licensure regulations for all 50 states and Washington, DC, were examined to determine whether MHCs can conduct couple and family counseling based upon licensure regulations. The results of this study indicated a mean of 1.1 couple/family-related courses required and a mean of 2.3 of these courses offered within CMHC programs. All but one of the 51 licensure regulations analyzed either permits or does not specify whether couple/family counseling falls within the scope of practice of MHCs; these 50 state/territory regulations also lack concrete guidelines related to required training or supervised experience in couple and family counseling to provide this service competently as an MHC. Limitations and areas for future research and training opportunities are discussed in light of these results.

Gender and Diagnosis of Mental Disorders: Implications for Mental Health Counseling

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Schwartz ◽  
Jonathan Lent ◽  
Jonathan Geihsler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Substance Related Disorders ◽  
Gender Specific

The DSM-IV-TR and epidemiological studies have documented disproportionate gender-related prevalence rates for various mental disorders. However, mental health counselors have largely been omitted from the research base. This study investigated whether gender-specific prevalence rates differ in terms of counselor diagnoses of certain mood, psychotic, adjustment, childhood, and substance-related disorders, and whether these diagnoses exhibit the same gender-related differences as those reported in the DSM-IV-TR and by researchers who are not counselors (N =1,583). Chi square analyses revealed that all disorders studied were disproportionately diagnosed at rates consistent with previously published gender-specific statistics. Clinical and research implications are discussed as they relate to mental health counseling.

Evidence-Based Relationship Factors: A New Focus for Mental Health Counseling Research, Practice, and Training

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly K. Parrow ◽  
John Sommers-Flanagan ◽  
J. Sky Cova ◽  
Hugo Lungu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Counselor Training ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Warm Up ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Counseling Practice ◽  
Relationship Factors ◽  
Counseling Practices

Counselor educators and mental health counselors often have a lukewarm attitude toward counseling research and evidence-based practice. This attitude may be because of a perceived mismatch between evidence-based technical procedures and the relational orientation that most counselors value. To warm up mental health counselors' attitudes toward evidence-based research and practice, we propose a relationally oriented research agenda that focuses on integrating evidence-based relationship factors (EBRFs) into counselor training and practice. Eight EBRFs are defined and operationalized, and specific counselor behaviors are described. Reframing and refocusing counseling research on relational variables has the potential to support current counseling practices and inspire development of a counseling-specific research base. Recommendations for a rapprochement between counselor education research and mental health counseling practice are offered, including a list of brief measures that mental health counselors could introduce into their counseling practice.

The Role of Psychedelics and Counseling in Mental Health Treatment

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 323-338
Author(s):  
Russ Curtis ◽  
Lisen Roberts ◽  
Elizabeth Graves ◽  
Heather Thompson Rainey ◽  
David Wynn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Treatment ◽  
Mental Health Counseling ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Treatment Resistant ◽  
Health Treatment ◽  
Federal Drug Administration ◽  
Health Counseling ◽  
Number Of Factors

Psychedelics (i.e., ketamine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, psilocybin) have been effectively used globally for centuries to treat mental health and addiction issues. However, in the 1950s–1970s, a number of factors, including misuse, abuse, and poorly conceptualized and conducted clinical trials, caused the Federal Drug Administration to classify most of the psychedelic substances as having no medical value. Now, however, recent research is indicating that psychedelic-assisted therapy can significantly reduce depression and suicidal ideation in treatment-resistant clients, and it may be efficacious in treating other mental health and addiction issues as well. Researchers have also identified the critical therapeutic components that ensure effective psychedelic-assisted therapy, not least the need for mental health counseling before, during, and after treatment. The purpose of this manuscript is to share the latest psychedelic therapy research and to discuss how mental health counselors can contribute to this reemerging therapeutic trend.

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