Internationalisation of Counseling Psychology: Constructing Cross-National Consensus and Collaboration

Vocational rehabilitation resources from the perspective of people with spinal cord injury and service providers

BACKGROUND: Vocational rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Iran as one of the countries in the Middle East and North Africa region is under-studied. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the perspective of people with SCI and service providers about vocational rehabilitation challenges. METHODS: We used an ethnographic methodology to collect data. Observation (2018 –2020) and semi-structured interviews with 21 persons with SCI and 11 service providers were the data collection methods, and a thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Results demonstrate that career self-knowledge (knowledge about capabilities, aspirations, and interests) and career knowledge (the importance of career exploration, vocational support and job characteristics) were the main two vocational rehabilitation resources. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge (about the self and careers) is the main resource mentioned by the participants regarding the vocational rehabilitation. Implications for professionals and policy makers are presented.

Connecting What We Know Consciously with What We Are Aware of Subconsciously: Orientation of and Rationale for the Book

In this chapter, I first dwell briefly on important events in the field of career counseling over the past few decades and explain why innovation in the field is needed. I draw on one of my earliest recollections to set the scene for what is to follow in later chapters and elaborate on my own personal Damascene moment—a moment that convinced me forever of the need for as well as the power and value of an integrative QUALITATIVE-quantitative approach to career counseling, particularly at a time when many speculate that work itself is at risk. I conclude by outlining the contents of the book and explaining its aims—to help people connect what they know about themselves consciously with what they are aware of subconsciously (elicited by activities such as asking clients for their most hurtful experiences or for their earliest recollections).

A Social Network Analysis of International Collaboration in Counseling Psychology

Over the past two decades, counseling psychology has emerged as an international discipline. Despite efforts to internationalize counseling psychology and increase cross-cultural relationships, few studies have considered international collaboration on scientific scholarship as a metric or factor of internationalization. Therefore, using social network analyses, we tested the occurrence and patterns of collaborations between authors from different countries on published studies in the Journal of Counseling Psychology and The Counseling Psychologist from 2005 to 2015. Results indicated that a small proportion of possible international collaborations existed, as measured by network density, and the majority of collaborations involved authors affiliated with institutions in the United States. However, international collaboration significantly increased over time, as measured by the density of the network. Our findings are consistent with previous research suggesting a lack of cross-national scholarship in counseling psychology and identify global areas for further cross-cultural development.

Paternal and maternal support and Taiwanese college students’ indecision: Gender differences

Regression analysis using 633 Taiwanese college students revealed that only maternal support had a significant predictive effect on the developmental indecision of male and female college students; furthermore, neither paternal nor maternal support had a significant predictive effect on the indecisiveness of male and female college students. For male college students, maternal tangible assistance predicted a lower level of developmental indecision due to the lack of information on decisions, whereas maternal information support predicted a higher level of developmental indecision due to the lack of information on decisions. For female college students, maternal emotional support predicted a lower level of developmental indecision arising from unreliable information.

Mediating Effect of Career Decision Self-Efficacy on the Relationship Between Parental Support and Indecision in Taiwan

This study used a hierarchical regression model to investigate the mediating effect of career decision self-efficacy on the relationship between parental support and career indecision and indecisiveness. The participants of this study were 633 university students in Taiwan. The results revealed that only accurate self-appraisal significantly mediated the relationship between parental emotional support and career indecision regarding unreliable information. The career decision self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship between parental support and career indecision and indecisiveness in most cases.

Latest developments in career counselling in South Africa: towards a positive approach

Fundamental changes in the workplace across all countries in recent times call for a contemporary response from career counselling theorists and practitioners as well as researchers and clients. An approach is needed that will enable career counsellors to equip clients with the necessary skills to respond to these changes – a positive career counselling approach. The article focuses briefly on global developments in the field and, more particularly, on the role of different economic waves in these developments. It then discusses the main theoretical approaches that have guided the career counselling profession over the past 120 years. It is argued that 20th-century approaches to career counselling no longer adequately serve the needs of 21st century and that a combined quantitative+qualitative approach may be the answer. Next, career construction principles and life designing are discussed – the first-ever ‘true’ career counselling theory – and an explanation of the need for a new approach in South Africa is provided. The article then goes into the contextual influences on career counselling in South Africa and the challenges facing institutions of education and training in this regard. It ends by proposing how career counsellors can exploit change to advance positive career counselling – the ultimate aim of theory and praxis in the field.

South African counselling psychology at the crossroads: lessons to be learned from around the world

Despite a four-decade history, the professional identity of counselling psychology in South Africa remains nebulous. Recent debates surrounding the revised scope of practice for counselling psychology bring the unresolved issue of professional identity back into focus. Rather than developing an idiosyncratic definition of counselling psychology, it is instructive to look at the ways in which the profession is conceptualised internationally. This article analyses the national definitions of counselling psychology in countries in North America, Europe, Australasia, and Asia, where the profession is both formally recognised and established. A thematic analysis reveals two superordinate themes: the different domains of practice that are considered to fall within the ambit of counselling psychology and the values of counselling psychology that are meant to inform this practice. Common domains of practice are development, prevention, and remediation. Prominent values of counselling psychology emphasise strengths, well-being, and the therapeutic relationship, recognise sociocultural and developmental contexts, value diversity and multiculturalism, and promote social justice. While there is an inevitable overlap with other specialities within psychology, counselling psychology is best distinguished not by the clients that are seen but rather by the values that inform practice. Implications for the practice of counselling psychology and mental health service delivery in South Africa are briefly discussed.

Counseling Psychology in Chinese Communities in Asia

This article examines the need to develop an indigenous counseling psychology in Chinese communities in Asia. The cross-cultural limitations and applications of counseling psychology are discussed, using the literature on multicultural counseling and competence as illustrations. The authors elaborate on the scope and nature of indigenous counseling psychology and discuss how indigenization of counseling psychology could be carried out in Chinese communities in Asia at the local, national, and application levels. Meanwhile, several multicultural themes in Chinese communities in Asia were identified as possible focus of indigenous research and practice efforts.

Understanding Distress

To explore the cultural mechanisms underlying the distress experience among Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese, Chinese Americans, and European Americans, this investigation examined the role of face concern in psychological distress through a series of studies in both college students and community samples. Face concern refers to one's concern over maintaining or enhancing one's social position and worth that are earned through the fulfillment of specific social roles. Study 1 confirmed the single-factor structure of face concern among Chinese Americans and European Americans. Face concern was significantly and positively related to distress above and beyond age, gender, and ethnicity. Study 2 deconstructed face concern into a two-factor model among Hong Kong Chinese and Mainland Chinese university students (self-face and other-face) with discriminant predictive power. In Study 3, the two-factor model of face concern was further supported in the community samples of Hong Kong Chinese and Mainland Chinese. Self-face was found to be positively associated with distress. These findings highlighted the importance of attending to specific cultural dynamic of face concern in counseling services.