Can a Course on Sexuality Counseling Increase Empathy when Working with Sex- and Gender-Minoritized Individuals?

This study examined whether a sexuality counseling course could increase self-perceived empathy for working with Sex and Gender minoritized (SGM)individuals. Forty-two students enrolled in a sexuality counseling course completed empathy assessments prior to starting the course and after completing it. Statistically significant increases in empathy towards gay/lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals were found (moderate to a large effect sizes). Results indicate that, at least under some circumstances, empathy levels for SGM individuals in counselors-in-training (CITs) could be increased through coursework. Increases in practitioner empathy for SGM individuals can translate into lower uniliteral termination rates and better counseling and psychotherapy outcomes

What do Canadian Counselling Psychologists Who are Not Affiliated with the Canadian Psychological Association Think? Results from a National Survey of the Profession?

The only previous nation-wide survey of Canadian counselling psychologists (Bedi et al., 2016) was conducted with those affiliated with the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) and its Section for Counselling Psychology (SCP). As most Canadian counselling psychologists do not belong to the CPA and SCP, the previous survey is limited in its generalizability. This paper reports the results of four open-ended questions administered to Canadian counselling psychologists not affiliated with the CPA and its SCP. One hundred and seven participants responded to questions pertaining to training, pressing professional issues, next steps for the field, and recommended focus areas for a future Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference. With respect to training, participants reported that there should be increased training in testing/assessment, increased training in the business side of psychology for private practitioners, and more supervised practice. The most pressing professional issues experienced by the participants were clients’ limited access to services and the need to promote the counselling psychology profession. Participants reported the most important next steps for the field to be increased coverage of services and increased status of counselling psychology. Respondents hoped the next Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference to focus on skill-building, the professional identity of the field, and networking. A comparison with answers provided by CPA SCP affiliated counselling psychologists is provided. The results of this study provide a broader understanding of the views of Canadian counselling psychologists and have implications for the future practice and training of Canadian counselling psychologists

La guérison de la dépendance en tant qu’apprentissage transformateur : le changement identitaire chez des hommes ayant participé à un traitement en établissement

Addiction causes much human suffering and exacts significant social and economic costs. Despite a plethora of theories related to addiction, these harms have not decreased, which suggests that new understandings are needed to make further progress. The purpose of this study was to provide an initial, early-stage evaluation of Addiction Recovery as Transformative Learning, a new model of addiction recovery that draws heavily on education literature, specifically on theorizing and research related to transformative learning. This study examined the narratives of addiction and recovery of seven male clients who had attended residential addiction treatment. Deductive content analysis was employed to see if participant accounts of their recovery experiences were consistent with the assertions of the model and could be captured adequately within its main constructs. Participant accounts strongly supported the aspects of the model tested by the study. Study results have important implications for addiction recovery and counselling, particularly within residential treatment settings.La dépendance cause beaucoup de souffrance humaine et engendre des coûts sociaux et économiques importants. Malgré la profusion de théories sur la dépendance, ces maux n’ont pas diminué, ce qui suggère que de nouvelles connaissances pourraient être nécessaires pour favoriser la poursuite de progrès. Cette étude visait à fournir une évaluation initiale du Addiction Recovery as Transformative Learning, un nouveau modèle de guérison de la dépendance qui s’inspire largement de la littérature sur l’éducation et la pédagogie, et plus particulièrement des théories et recherches liées à l’apprentissage transformateur. L’étude a examiné les histoires de dépendance et de guérison de sept hommes qui ont participé à un traitement de la dépendance en établissement. L’analyse de contenu déductive a été utilisée pour déterminer si les comptes rendus que faisaient les participants de leurs expériences de rétablissement correspondaient aux hypothèses du modèle et pouvaient être reflétés adéquatement dans ses principales constructions mentales. Les récits des participants confortent largement les aspects du modèle analysés dans l’étude. Les résultats de l’étude ont des retombées importantes sur la guérison et le counseling de la dépendance, notamment dans un cadre de traitement en établissement

Prevalence of Counselling Alliance Type Preferences Across Two Samples

A cross-sectional survey was conducted across two samples of counselling clients to estimate the prevalence of two sets of counselling alliance type preferences: (a) nurturant, insight-oriented, or collaborative alliance (Bachelor, 1995); and (b) personal or professional alliance (Mohr & Woodhouse, 2000, 2001). Results indicated that participants generally preferred an insight-oriented alliance type over a nurturant one, and in one sample, a collaborative type over a nurturant one. In addition, participants in both samples preferred a personal or professional alliance about equally. These findings support the existence of tangible alliance type preferences across clients.Une enquête croisée a été menée sur deux échantillons de clients de counseling pour estimer la prévalence de deux ensembles de préférences quant au type d’alliance de counseling : (a) alliance nourricière, axée sur la compréhension, ou alliance participative; (b) alliance personnelle ou professionnelle. Les résultats indiquent que les participants préféraient en général une alliance de type axée sur la compréhension à une alliance de type nourricière, et dans un échantillon, un type d’alliance participative à un type nourricier. De plus, les participants des deux échantillons ont préféré à peu près également une alliance personnelle ou professionnelle. Ces résultats appuient le concept de l’existence de préférences tangibles dans le type d’alliance chez les clients

L’alliance thérapeutique : catégorisation par les clients des facteurs identifiés par les clients

Clients’ perspectives on the therapeutic alliance were examined using written descriptions of factors that clients believed to be helpful in developing a strong alliance. Fifty participants sorted previously collected statements into thematically similar piles and then gave each set of statements a title. Multivariate concept mapping statistical methods were used to obtain the most representative sort across participants. The resulting 14 categories (Emotional Support, Ability to Relate, Sharing the Counsellor’s Personal Experience, Good Boundaries, Interpersonal Demeanour, Body Language, Provided Resources and Homework, Availability, Planning and Approach, Directed Process Appropriately, Attentiveness, Approachable, Nonjudgemental, and Effective Listening ) provide a conceptual foundation useful for counsellor training and clinician development.On a examiné les points de vue des clients au sujet de l’alliance thérapeutique à partir de descriptions écrites des facteurs que les clients jugeaient les plus utiles à l’établissement d’une solide alliance. Cinquante participants ont classé des énoncés préalablement choisis dans des piles de thématiques similaires, puis ils ont attribué un titre à chacune de ces piles. On a utilisé des méthodes statistiques de schématisation conceptuelle multidimensionnelle pour obtenir l’échantillon le plus représentatif parmi les participants. Les 14 catégories obtenues (i.e., le soutien émotionnel, l’aptitude à entrer en relation, le partage de l’expérience du conseiller, les limites claires, l’attitude interpersonnelle, le langage corporel, les ressources offertes et les devoirs, la disponibilité, la planification et l’approche, l’orientation appropriée offerte, l’attention, l’accessibilité, l’absence de jugement, et l’écoute active efficace) fournissent un fondement conceptuel utile à la formation et au développement clinique des conseillers

Integrating Traditional Healing Methods into Counselling and Psychotherapy with Punjabi and Sikh Individuals

Evidence-based practice goes well beyond merely matching client disorder to theoretical approach and instead entails the integration of research evidence with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences. For clients who are less acculturated to Canadian society or for those who still strongly identify with their cultural roots, incorporation of traditional healing methods into counselling and psychotherapy appears highly beneficial. Based on a review of the literature, this paper offers a discussion of frameworks which can guide the incorporation of traditional healing practices into counselling and psychotherapy and outlines model/theory-embedded strategies and interventions that have been reported to be effective with some Punjabi Sikh clients in peer-reviewed published outlets. This information will be useful for professionals who have limited experience with Punjabi Sikh individuals, clinical supervisors overseeing trainees providing mental health services to Punjabi Sikhs, instructors teaching cross/multicultural counselling or psychotherapy classes, and those wishing to further develop or refine existing competence. These proposed strategies and interventions should be subject to research investigations and clinically tested by practitioners to further increase confidence in their application

Using Multivariate Concept-Mapping for Examining Client Understandings of Counselling

Many qualitative research methods inadvertently examine the client’s perspective through the lens of researcher- or counsellor-derived constructs and categories, thereby blurring practitioner and client perspectives. This article provides a step-by-step guide for conducting multivariate concept-mapping (MVCM), a mixed-methods research design that can be used to provide more trustworthy accounts of the client’s experience. Until there is a greater accumulation of counselling research using methods that allow clients to categorize the content they provide, this article can serve as an impetus for counsellors to carefully scrutinize the categorization-based research on the client’s perspective that they use to inform their practice.Plusieurs méthodes de recherche qualitative étudient par inadvertance la perspective du client par l’intermédiaire de la lentille des structures et catégories issues du chercheur ou du conseiller—ce qui brouille les perspectives du praticien et du client. Le présent article fournit un guide par étapes pour la schématisation conceptuelle multivariée (MVCM), un plan de recherche par méthode mixte qui peut être utilisé pour obtenir des comptes rendus plus dignes de confiance sur l’expérience du client. Jusqu’à ce qu’on ait accumulé plus de recherches sur le counseling qui utilisent des méthodes permettant aux clients de classer le contenu qu’ils fournissent, le présent article peut servir d’incitatif aux conseillers pour scruter avec soin la recherche axée sur le classement des perspectives du client qu’ils utilisent pour renseigner leur pratique

Prevalence of Counselling Alliance Type Preferences Across Two Samples

A cross-sectional survey of two sets of counselling alliance type preferences (that were derived through past research on the client’s perspective) was conducted across two independent samples in an attempt to reliably estimate the prevalence of these client preferences and differences in their perceived importance. In particular, questionnaires were administered to determine the frequency of preferences for either a nurturant, insight-oriented, or collaborative alliance (Bachelor, 1995) and for either a personal or professional alliance (Mohr & Woodhouse, 2000; 2001). Results indicated that, depending on the sample, participants either preferred both a collaborative or insight-oriented alliance type over a nurturant one or just an insight-oriented type over a nurturant one. In addition, participants in both samples preferred a personal or professional alliance about equally. Moreover, participants believed that either Bachelor’s classification system was superior or both systems were equivalent (i.e., Mohr and Woodhouse’s system was not seen as the better system across both samples). These findings further support the existence of tangible alliance type preferences across clients. The implications of these findings for research, training and practice are discussed

Integrating Traditional Healing Methods into Counselling and Psychotherapy with Punjabi and Sikh Individuals

Evidence-based practice goes well beyond merely matching client disorder to theoretical approach and instead entails the integration of research evidence with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences. For clients who are less acculturated to Canadian society or for those who still strongly identify with their cultural roots, incorporation of traditional healing methods into counselling and psychotherapy appears highly beneficial. Based on a review of the literature, this paper offers a discussion of frameworks which can guide the incorporation of traditional healing practices into counselling and psychotherapy and outlines model/theory-embedded strategies and interventions that have been reported to be effective with some Punjabi Sikh clients in peer-reviewed published outlets. This information will be useful for professionals who have limited experience with Punjabi Sikh individuals, clinical supervisors overseeing trainees providing mental health services to Punjabi Sikhs, instructors teaching cross/multicultural counselling or psychotherapy classes, and those wishing to further develop or refine existing competence. These proposed strategies and interventions should be subject to research investigations and clinically tested by practitioners to further increase confidence in their application

Using Multivariate Concept-Mapping for Examining Client Understandings of Counselling

Many qualitative research methods inadvertently examine the client’s perspective through the lens of researcher- or counsellor-derived constructs and categories, thereby blurring practitioner and client perspectives. This article provides a step-by-step guide for conducting multivariate concept-mapping (MVCM), a mixed-methods research design that can be used to provide more trustworthy accounts of the client’s experience. Until there is a greater accumulation of counselling research using methods that allow clients to categorize the content they provide, this article can serve as an impetus for counsellors to carefully scrutinize the categorization-based research on the client’s perspective that they use to inform their practice.Plusieurs méthodes de recherche qualitative étudient par inadvertance la perspective du client par l’intermédiaire de la lentille des structures et catégories issues du chercheur ou du conseiller—ce qui brouille les perspectives du praticien et du client. Le présent article fournit un guide par étapes pour la schématisation conceptuelle multivariée (MVCM), un plan de recherche par méthode mixte qui peut être utilisé pour obtenir des comptes rendus plus dignes de confiance sur l’expérience du client. Jusqu’à ce qu’on ait accumulé plus de recherches sur le counseling qui utilisent des méthodes permettant aux clients de classer le contenu qu’ils fournissent, le présent article peut servir d’incitatif aux conseillers pour scruter avec soin la recherche axée sur le classement des perspectives du client qu’ils utilisent pour renseigner leur pratique