The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development 

About: The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Counselor education & Mental health. It has an ISSN identifier of 1931-0293. Over the lifetime, 223 publications have been published receiving 4517 citations.

Social Justice Counseling: Toward the Development of a Fifth Force Among Counseling Paradigms

Abstract: A case is made to consider social justice as a fifth force complementary to the psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, existential-humanistic, and multicultural forces in counseling This article explores how social justice is shifting the counseling paradigm and how the ACA (American Counseling Association) Advocacy Competencies (J A Lewis, M S Arnold, R House, & R L Toporek, 2002) complement this movement Implications are also discussed ********** The counseling profession is in the midst of a transformation Specifically, there is a growing movement within the profession calling on counselors to return to their roots by infusing a social justice perspective into counseling theories, paradigms, and practices (Toporek, Gerstein, Fouad, Roysircar, & Israel, 2006) A social justice perspective in counseling acknowledges issues of power, privilege, and oppression (Fouad, Gerstein, & Toporek, 2006) Moreover, a social justice counseling approach uses social advocacy and activism as a means to address inequitable social, political, and economic conditions that impede on the academic, career, and personal/social development of individuals, families, and communities The belief is that social advocacy is a necessary step to address issues of equity for those who have been marginalized in society This is a position that aligns with the American Counseling Association's (ACA; 2005) ACA Code of Ethics, which states in Section A6a, "when appropriate, counselors advocate at the individual, group, institutional, and societal levels to examine potential barriers and obstacles that inhibit access and/or the growth and development of clients" (p 5) The need to make social justice a clearer presence in the field is primarily fueled by forces such as the continued marginalization of those who live on the fringes of society (L Smith, Baluch, Bernabei, Robohm, & Sheehy, 2003); the growing awareness that well-intentioned counselors are not adequately drawing the connection between oppression and mental health issues (Jacobs, 1994); and the increasing realization that counseling paradigms, which focus solely on the individual without regard for environmental factors, may be limiting (Prilleltensky, 1994) These concerns have led to calls to expand the counselor role to include social justice advocacy (Fouad et al, 2006; Lee & Hipolito-Delgado, 2007) The resurgence of a social justice counseling perspective led Ratts, D'Andrea, and Arredondo (2004) to refer to the profession's attempt to return to its roots as a fifth force in the field Based on this perspective, social justice counseling follows the psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, existential-humanistic, and multicultural counseling forces that exist in the profession Other scholars have also followed suit indicating that social justice counseling is a reemerging force that is shaping how human behavior is explained and the ways in which counseling is currently being practiced (Fouad et al, 2006; Goodman et al, 2004; Lee, 2007) Labeling social justice as a fifth force is not a position shared by everyone For example, S D Smith, Reynolds, and Rovnak (2009) suggested that the social justice counseling movement should be viewed as a "recurring wave" (p 484) because the concepts are not new S D Smith et al further added that this movement needs to be grounded in more research if it is to gain credibility in the field I concur Social justice has been a part of the counseling profession since its inception, and more research needs to be conducted to determine best practices However, classifying social justice as a fifth force is not suggesting that it is a new concept Rather, it has more to do with acknowledging how the social justice perspective has matured since its infancy in the early 1900s Moreover, it is about recognizing the depth, breadth, and widespread impact the social justice perspective is currently having on the counseling profession …

Counselor Wellness and Impairment: A National Survey

Abstract: Counselor wellness has a direct impact on the quality of services clients receive, but little is known about the overall wellness of counselors This study begins the process of better understanding counselor wellness by examining responses to a national survey that assessed both counselor wellness and impairment variables

The African American Student Network: Creating Sanctuaries and Counterspaces for Coping With Racial Microaggressions in Higher Education Settings

Abstract: African American college students face a number of race-related stressors on predominantly White campuses. The African American Student Network is described as a potential humanistic counterspace to provide a sanctuary for these students when coping with racial microaggressions. The development and study of future humanistic interventions in this area is recommended. ********** Black undergraduates at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) face a number of obstacles and challenges on campus. First, Blacks are still underrepresented in higher education (Thompson, Gorin, Obeidat, & Chen, 2006). According to the American Council on Education, at the turn of the century, only 40% of eligible Black students went to college, with only 46% of the 40% graduating within 6 years (see Astin & Oseguera, 2005). An examination of the Black student experience on a predominantly White campus indicated that these students faced stress related to acceptance or fitting in, cultural conflict, help seeking, coping, lack of resources, mistrust of the institution, racism, social support, and stigma (Watkins, Green, Goodson, Guidry, & Stanley, 2007). Ancis, Sedlacek, and Mohr (2000) reported that these students experienced more racial conflict, more pressure to conform to stereotypes, and less equitable treatment by faculty, staff, and teaching assistants than their White counterparts. Moreover, Black students tended to experience poorer health and energy and overall lower satisfaction with their universities than White students (D'Augelli & Hershberger, 1993). Hence, creating sanctuaries or safe spaces to help Black students make sense of and cope with their experiences at PWIs is important. In this article, I describe the African American Student Network (or AFAM, as students call it). The AFAM network is a humanistic intervention because it emphasizes addressing the socioemotional needs of students and the development of healthy supportive relationships to provide a people-responsive and growth-promoting college environment. More specifically, AFAM accomplishes these objectives through the creation of counterspaces or sanctuaries where Black students can develop relationships and support for coping with racial microaggressions at a PWI. A FOCUS ON RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS Several authors have argued that attending to socioemotional as well as intellectual needs is important to the success of Black college students (Ancis et al., 2000; Cabrera, Nora, Terenzini, Pascarella, & Hagedorn, 1999; Davis et al., 2004; Myers, 2003; Sedlacek, 1983; Solorzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Swim, Hyers, Cohen, Fitzgerald, & Bylsma, 2003; Watkins et al., 2007). Those authors placed particular emphasis on the development of strong trusting relationships in which students receive encouragement and support that may counter hostility, unfairness, and race-related stress. In fact, these strong, trusting relationships may be viewed as safe spaces for coping with racial microaggressions. For example, in a study by Powell and Jacob Arriola (2003), researchers found that African American students who talked to others about being treated unfairly tended to have a higher grade point average than did those who did not talk with others. In addition, Zea, Jarama, and Trotta Bianchi (1995) identified social support and active coping as significant predictors of college adjustment, and Utsey, Ponterotto, Reynolds, and Cancelli (2000) linked social support to the best potential outcomes for Blacks experiencing race-related stress. Racial microaggressions create race-related stress and can be described as the everyday, commonplace, and often ambiguous forms of racism faced by people of color. Three examples of racial microaggressions are microinvalidations, microinsults, and microassaults (Sue et al., 2007). Microinvalidations "exclude, negate, and nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of" people of color (Sue et al. …

Mentoring and Relational Mutuality: Protégés' Perspectives

Abstract: This article discusses the concept of mentoring as a mutually beneficial relationship in which both the mentor and the protege grow as a result of their relational connection. It identifies the characteristics of mentoring from the perspective of diverse college students. Results suggested that mentoring is perceived as important for success and that neither race nor gender were perceived as critical influences on the mentoring process but that friendship, nurturance, open-mindedness, and trustworthiness are key to mentoring relationships. ********** Interest in the role of mentoring in education, business, and career development has served to define the activity and generate empirical research (Russell & Adams, 1997). More recent research has focused on the place of adult women (e.g., Burke & McKeen, 1997) and young people (e.g., Mullen, 1997) in the mentoring process. General themes in the research seem to focus on five major aspects of mentoring. This present study adds a different perspective to this extensive and developing literature. The five themes in the mentoring literature are definitions, functions, influential structural and organizational aspects, alternative forms of mentoring, and the relationship between the mentor and the protege (Russell & Adams, 1997). Definitions of mentoring range from the simple and romantic images of Greek mythology's Mentor (Hardcastle, 1988; Russell & Adams, 1997; Shandley, 1989) to the complex, multivariate processes of structured human interaction within institutional contexts (Chao, 1997; Kalbfleisch & Davies, 1991; McManus & Russell, 1997; Parkay, 1988; Ragins, 1997). The functions of mentoring have been explored within the areas of career development, psychosocial dimensions, and role modeling (Chao, 1997; Kram, 1985; Russell & Adams, 1997). The mentoring literature also includes studies on the structural and organizational characteristics that promote or limit positive mentoring (Allen, Poteet, & Burroughs, 1997; Ragins, 1997; Scandura, 1997; Serlen, 1989; Wilson, 1988). For example, this theme within the literature is reflected in Ragins's discussion of differential access to power within organizations, particularly for traditionally nondominant groups, and Scandura's distributive and procedural justice. Another theme within the literature is forms of mentoring that are alternatives to formal, one-to-one mentoring relationships. Several studies have identified various forms through which guiding and supportive human interaction occurs, including peer and group mentoring (Mullen, 1997; Russell & Adams, 1997) and informal as well as natural supports (Mullen, 1997; Redmond, 1990). The theme of mentoring relationships has been widely discussed in the literature from the perspectives of the developmental sequence or phases of mentoring (Chao, 1997; Gehrke, 1988a, 1988b; Kram, 1983, 1985); differences between formal and informal mentoring (Chao, Walz, & Gardner, 1992; Fagenson-Eland, Marks, & Amendola, 1997; Gerstein, 1985; Noe, 1988; Redmond, 1990), mentoring with nondominant groups (Burke & McKeen, 1997; Dreher & Dougherty, 1997; Kalbfleisch & Davies, 1991; Mullen, 1997, 1998; Ragins, 1997; Wilson, 1988), and characteristics in both the mentor and the protege that promote positive mentoring (Allen et al., 1997; Noe, 1988; Parkay, 1988). This mentoring relationship theme also includes a few articles that have identified interactive qualities of relationships. These promising works have explored the qualities of altruism and "other-oriented empathy" (Allen, et al., 1997); listening to, caring about, and cooperating with one another (Redmond, 1990); friendship, modeling, acceptance, confirmation, and counseling (Chao, 1997); and authenticity and mutual gain (Gehrke, 1988a, 1988b). Although the literature demonstrates many fruitful directions of investigation, our critical reading of it fails to locate an investigation of mentoring as it is firmly grounded within a complex and mutual relational process. …

Courage: Its Nature and Development.

Abstract: Courage is presented as the energizing catalyst for choosing growth over safety needs. A content analysis of the literature reveals 3 dimensions of courage: fear, appropriate action, and a higher purpose. Guidelines and strategies for developing courage are described. ********** Several schools of psychology point to a basic tendency underlying all growth. Maslow (1968, 1971) called it the self-actualizing tendency; Jung (1968) called it individuation; Homey (1950) called it a drive toward self-realization. Carl Rogers (1961, 1980) described this force accordingly, Whether one calls it a growth tendency, a drive toward self-actualization, or a forward-moving directional tendency, it is the mainspring of life ... it is the urge which is evident in all organic and human life--to expand, extend, become autonomous, develop, mature--the tendency to express and activate all the capacities of the organism. (1961, p. 35) The actualizing tendency can be thwarted or warped, but it cannot be destroyed without destroying the organism. (1980, p. 118) According to these theorists, there is an inherent force directing growth. Why, then, is there so much difficulty in achieving full growth, wholeness, or self-realization? Rogers (1961) contended that the growth tendency will not flourish without unconditional positive regard, empathy, and authenticity from significant others. Maslow (1970, 1971) proposed that there are prerequisites to self-actualization in the form of basic need gratification and a firm values framework. In addition, Maslow (1968) maintained that the growth tendency is counteracted by the safety impulse: Every human being has both sets of forces within him. One set clings to safety and defensiveness out of fear, tending to regress backward, hanging on to the past ... afraid to take chances, afraid to jeopardize what he already has, afraid of independence, freedom and separateness. The other set of forces impels him forward toward wholeness of Self and uniqueness of Self, toward full functioning of all his capacities, toward confidence in the face of the external world. (p. 46) A gap is created whenever growth forces encounter equally powerful safety forces (fears). If growth is to proceed, then this gap must be leaped. The energizing catalyst for choosing growth over safety is courage. Courage allows one to effectively act under conditions of danger, fear, and risk. Without courage, the individual or group remains stuck in existing patterns or immobilized in fear. Rogers (see Rogers & Stevens, 1971) stated it in this manner, It is the quality of courage which enables a person to step into the uncertainty of the unknown as he chooses himself.... It is not an easy thing to have the courage to be, and clients shrink from it at the same time as they move toward it. (pp. 42, 46) Maslow (1991) said, The difference between the diminished individual, wistfully yearning toward full humanness but never quite daring to make it, versus the unleashed individual, growing well toward his or her destiny, is simply the difference between fear and courage. (p. 120) Because courage is given a pivotal role in growth, it is of great significance to understand its nature. The purpose of this investigation is twofold: (a) to present a conceptual model of the dimensions of courage and (b) to describe guidelines for developing courage. A variety of disciplines were examined for their views on courage: military history and research (W. Miller, 2000; Rachman, 1978), schools of psychology (Ellis, 1995, 1998; Frankl, 1984; Maslow 1968, 1970, 1971, 1991; Rogers, 1961, 1980; Rogers & Stevens, 1971), literature (Hemingway, 1932/1960, 1939/1969; Tolstoy, 1999), and philosophy (Aristotle, trans. 1987; MacIntyre, 1984; May, 1976; Thomson & Missner, 2000; Tillich, 1952/2000). …