Journal of Counseling Psychology

Traditional healing as mental health intervention: Contemporary insights from an American Indian healer.
Contemporary American Indian communities experience a disproportionately high rate of specific mental health concerns, including psychiatric disorders as defined by professional psychology. Although integrating mainstream mental health services and Indigenous traditional healing (ITH) has been presented as a promising approach to addressing these inequities, such integration necessitates in-depth exploration and consideration of ITH. To that effect, this article provides a thematic analysis of an interview with an urban American Indian traditional healer who reflected on more than 4 decades of therapeutic experience. Based on this analysis, we identified two major themes. The first theme, Expansive View of ITH, reflects this healer’s conceptualization and understanding of the therapeutic process while the second theme, Guiding Principles of ITH, explicates the foundational commitments that shape and guide this healer’s application and practice of ITH. These insights reinforce previous observations made by scholars of Indigenous health and well-being that challenge dominant Euro-American perspectives and call for transformative change in psychology research and practice, advocating for professional consideration of a broader range of therapeutic rationales, traditions, and practices than what is common within the field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The meaning of Black history: Development and validation of the Scale of Black History Consciousness.
This article describes the development and validation for a measure designed to assess the importance and meaning of Black history—the Scale of Black History Consciousness (SBHC)—in two independently recruited samples of African descent adults. After iterative exploratory (n = 350) and confirmatory (n = 366) factor analytic procedures, a 12-item measure, with scores of two internally consistent factors (sociopolitical beliefs and empowerment beliefs), emerged as the most parsimonious and psychometrically sound. An assessment of scalar measurement invariance using multiple indicators multiple causes modeling indicated that SBHC factors did not differ across racial–ethnic identification or generational status. Validity evidence was established through an examination of bivariate correlations of the SBHC factors with race centrality and impression management. Additionally, participants who endorsed being in environments where learning about Black history was emphasized reported higher SBHC scores than their counterparts who were not exposed to these environments demonstrating known-groups validity. These results provide initial support for the validity and reliability of the SBHC. Findings from this study advance scholarship about the psychological importance of Black history, and the SBHC can contribute to investigations of African descent adults’ beliefs about the value of Black history in their lives. Recommendations for further scale development research and practice applications of the SBHC are also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Associations between misgendering, invalidation, pride, community connectedness, and trauma among nonbinary adults.
Transgender and nonbinary (TNB) people experience elevated rates of posttraumatic stress (PTS) due to transphobic violence, discrimination, microaggressions, and minority stress. Nonbinary people in particular experience unique chronic minority stressors (e.g., misgendering, interpersonal invalidation) because of the assumption that gender is inherently binary. Such examples of oppression against TNB people could contribute to complex PTS (c-PTS) symptoms, which arise due to exposure to chronic, cumulative, and interpersonal trauma. This study aimed to examine how misgendering and invalidation may be associated with PTS and c-PTS symptoms among nonbinary people and whether this association is moderated by pride and community connectedness. Cross-sectional data from 610 nonbinary people living in the United States and Canada were analyzed using hierarchical linear regressions. Misgendering and invalidation had significant positive associations with PTS and c-PTS symptoms. However, pride and community connectedness were not significant moderators of these associations. Findings from this study contribute to the conceptualizations of traumatic stress among nonbinary people and provide considerations for more affirming trauma-informed care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Korean transgender and nonbinary workers’ development of critical consciousness through interpersonal relationships at work: A grounded theory.
Research on the experiences of transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals in counseling psychology is expanding, but studies focusing on their work experiences remain limited and primarily address workplace discrimination. This study aimed to develop a grounded theory on Korean TNB workers’ interpersonal experiences at work, exploring not only their challenges but also their growth through workplace relationships. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, the authors interviewed 16 Korean TNB workers from diverse professions and industries. The resulting theory demonstrates how TNB workers develop critical consciousness of gender, self, and society through significant changes in workplace social interactions and status. This heightened awareness enables TNB workers to balance their authentic selves with others’ expectations and to engage in social advocacy. The study concludes with implications for strength-based counseling practices, advocacy needs, and directions for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The social microcosm revisited: A replication of Kivlighan et al. (2021) on the reciprocal relationship between in-session and intersession intimate behaviors.
The present study represents a replication and extension of Kivlighan et al.’s (2021) study, focusing on the social microcosm hypothesis, which posits that group members’ interpersonal relationships, operationalized by intimate behaviors such as expressing anger or caring, inside the group, mirror their interpersonal relationships outside of the group. We examined the reciprocal associations between a group member’s (e.g., actors) and the other group members’ (e.g., partners) in-session and intersession intimate behaviors. The participants were 122 Italian graduate students (89.3% identifying as women) participating in eight-session interpersonal growth groups led by six experienced group therapists. Before each session group members completed the Interpersonal Relations Scale Checklist (Shadish, 1984) indicating their intersession intimate behaviors in the previous week. After each session group members completed the Interpersonal Relations Scale Checklist indicating their own in-session intimate behaviors. We used dynamic structural equation modeling to examine the reciprocal, temporal associations among group members’ intersession and in-session intimate behaviors. The replication hypotheses were not confirmed. However, when partners engaged in higher than average intersession intimate behaviors in the previous week, then actors engaged in more in-session intimate behaviors in the current session. In addition, when actors and partners engaged in higher than average in-session intimate behaviors in the previous session, then actors engaged in significantly more intersession intimate behaviors in the current week. The results provide partial support for social microcosm theory, which predicts a reciprocal relationship for in-session and intersession intimate behaviors. As described above, there was a reciprocal relationship for partners’ but not for actors’ intimate behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Examination of the psychometric properties of the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS) and Multicultural Identity Integration Scale (MULTIIS) in a multiracial population in the United States.
Ethnic identity is theorized to be a critical aspect of human development and is shown to be associated with health and well-being. The Ethnic Identity Scale is a widely used measure that assesses key aspects of ethnic identity development (Umaña-Taylor et al., 2004). The Multicultural Identity Integration Scale (MULTIIS) is a measure that has been more recently developed to assess key aspects of identity integration for individuals with multicultural identities (Yampolsky et al., 2016). Despite the ongoing utilization of these instruments, a comprehensive psychometric evaluation within Multiracial populations has yet to be established in extant literature. Addressing this gap, the present study aims to examine the internal consistency, factor structure, and other psychometric characteristics of the Ethnic Identity Scale and MULTIIS within a sample of 1,012 Multiracial adults in the United States. The majority of the sample identified as female (67.5%, n = 683), straight (80.1%, n = 798), having attained less than a college degree (62.3%, n = 627), and having a household income less than $60,000 (57.4%, n = 552). The majority of participants (55%, n = 557) were classified as having White and non-White racial/ethnic backgrounds, 45.0% (n = 455) as non-White. Findings suggest the Ethnic Identity Scale fits the data poorly by all measures, despite supporting the three-factor structure recommended in the original study; the MULTIIS fits the data acceptably by all measures and supports both a three-factor first-order and eight-factor second-order structure recommended in the original study. Analyses of the MULTIIS three-factor first-order model’s measurement invariance across race, gender, educational attainment, and household income identified variance for specific latent factors. Overall, the MULTIIS performed acceptably; however, studies relying on the MULTIIS should account for differential measurement. Implications for clinical, scientific, and public health practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Development and initial validation of the Career Wisdom Scale: A resource in handling uncertainty in contemporary career development.
Wisdom is often recognized as a great resource in resolving complex problems, including challenges in one’s career. However, current conversations on handling ambiguity in career development are disconnected from the wisdom literature, and a psychometrically sound measure of career wisdom is lacking. This article presents two studies that aimed to develop such a tool and evaluate its psychometric performance. Study 1 utilized a sample of workers (n = 349) from the United States to create and explore the factor structure of a measure called the Career Wisdom Scale. In Study 2, a sample of U.S. workers (n = 387) was tracked over 8 months to validate the Career Wisdom Scale by assessing its structural, convergent, predictive, and incremental validities. The results supported the psychometric soundness of the newly developed Career Wisdom Scale. Structurally, the results revealed a three-factor structure of career wisdom, which encompasses embracing ignorance, embracing intuition, and embracing vulnerability. Furthermore, the results indicated that career wisdom predicted various outcomes, including career satisfaction, life satisfaction, organizational career growth, psychological well-being, career adaptability, and work–life balance over and beyond personality traits and career decision anxiety. In conclusion, the present studies offer a valuable measure of career wisdom for both future research and practical application. Additionally, it underscores the importance of career wisdom in effectively managing career challenges that may lack clear solutions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Perceived parental career expectation and adolescent career development: The mediating role of adolescent career-planning and goal-setting self-efficacy and the moderating role of perceived parent–adolescent career congruence.
The underlying mechanisms (i.e., linking and conditioning mechanisms) in the association between perceived parental career expectation and adolescents’ career development remain understudied. Under the guidance of the social cognitive career theory, this study used three-wave longitudinal data from 3,196 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 15.55 years old, SD = .44; 52.8% girls at Wave 1) to fill such gaps. Results indicate conditional indirect effects. Specifically, the indirect association of perceived parental career expectation with adolescents’ career adaptability and ambivalence via adolescents’ career-planning and goal-setting self-efficacy was stronger when perceived parent–adolescent career congruence was higher than that when perceived parent–adolescent career congruence was lower. Such effects were identified even after various career-related parenting practices were controlled for. Implications for theory, future research and interventions were also discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Exploring therapist effectiveness across multiple domains over time.
Despite the common assumption that increased therapist experience correlates with improved client outcomes, studies reveal inconsistent relationships between therapist experience and therapy effectiveness. Some studies have demonstrated a slight worsening of client outcomes as therapists gain more experience. Yet, there are few studies that have examined how therapists change in their client outcomes over time, especially across different outcomes (e.g., depression, life functioning, anxiety). The present study used the Behavioral Health Measure-17 to investigate therapist effectiveness over time on multiple treatment outcomes (e.g., general distress, life functioning, anxiety, alcohol/drug use) using a large naturalistic sample of 613 professional therapists and 42,690 clients over approximately 12 years of psychotherapy data. Our results show a significant decrease in client outcomes over time in three domains: general distress, life functioning, and anxiety, albeit small-sized effects. Our findings also indicate that therapist caseload and baseline severity were not associated with predicting client outcomes and that, unexpectedly, the severity of therapist caseloads decreased over time. These findings underscore the importance of a nuanced understanding of therapist effectiveness, challenging the assumption of universal improvement with experience. Furthermore, we believe that these findings may offer preliminary support for matching therapists with clients based on domain-specific strengths. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Psychotherapists’ outcome expectations: How are they established?
Therapists’ outcome expectations influence the psychotherapy process and outcomes, but little is known about the factors influencing their development. This study explored therapists’ experiences with establishing outcome expectations for their patients. The participants were 35 therapists from a public mental health setting, who were interviewed in five different focus groups. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes and 10 subthemes were identified. In Theme 1 (understanding the problem), participants’ expectations were influenced by (a) their patients’ diagnoses and the diagnostic process, (b) their perceptions of the complexity of the presenting problem, (c) how stable the patients’ symptoms and situations were, and (d) whether they experienced familiarity with the patient or the patients’ situation. In Theme 2 (the patient’s openness to change), participants’ expectations were influenced by (a) the patient’s stated reason for seeking treatment, (b) the patient’s conceptualization of their problem/situation, and (c) their perception of the patient’s willingness to invest in the treatment. In Theme 3 (the fit between the therapist and patient), the participants discussed the factors that influenced whether they felt they were a good fit for working with an individual patient and how this perception of personal and professional fit influenced their expectations. We identify several ways that therapists’ situational factors and their recognition of the patient through their own past experiences can influence their expectations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Critical social media literacy buffers the impact of online racism on internalized racism among racially minoritized emerging adults.
Critical social media literacy—the ability to critically evaluate and interpret racist social media content (critical consumption) and to produce and disseminate antiracist social media content (critical prosumption)—may help counter the negative psychological consequences of online racism, including internalized racism. We examined whether critical social media literacy (critical consumption and prosumption) buffered the association between online racism and internalized racism. We conducted latent moderated structural equation modeling to analyze online convenience data from 338 racially minoritized emerging adults (Mage = 23.28; Asian, n = 96; Black, n = 108; Latine, n = 118). Greater exposure to online racism was associated with significantly higher levels of internalized racism; critical consumption weakened this association, while critical prosumption did not. Results suggested that critical social media literacy, particularly consumption—the intellectual basis and analytical skills to apprehend racist digital content—can be effective in mitigating the internalized racism linked to online racism among racially minoritized emerging adults. Implications include translating these findings into antiracist interventions to counter online racism and its deleterious behavioral health consequences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal of Counseling Psychology - Vol 71, Iss 6