Journal of Counseling Psychology

Among psychotherapy patients, unstable early distress scores are known to predict substantial intersession improvement later in treatment. The evidence has been ambiguous as to whether early distress instability also predicts outcome. We investigated the links among early distress instability, later intersession improvement, and outcome. In a sample of 1,796 students treated with brief psychotherapy at university counseling centers, we sought to predict intersession improvement and treatment outcome from an index of distress instability, as assessed during the first four treatment sessions...

Culturally relevant stressors and protective factors are vital to understanding and effectively supporting Native American/Alaska Native (NA/AN) college students' mental health and well-being. This study examined the theorized pathways among historical loss, well-being, psychological distress, and the proposed cultural buffer of ethnic identity in the indigenist stress-coping model (ISCM). Cross-sectional data were collected via online survey and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Participants were a national sample of 242 NA/AN college students...

The present study explored the relationship between intersectional microaggressions (racism and heterosexism) and psychological distress outcomes among a sample of 370 Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults. Additionally, social support from family, friends, and significant others was examined as potential moderators. Results showed that intersectional microaggressions were associated with greater depression, anxiety, and stress. Also, a significant moderating effect for family social support was found, suggesting that Black LGB adults with higher family social support reported greater levels of depression and stress as their microaggression experiences increased compared to those with less family social support...

Indigenous Canadians suffer disproportionately from mental health concerns tied to histories of colonization, including exposure to Indian Residential Schools. Previous research has indicated that preferred therapies for Indigenous populations fuse traditional cultural practices with mainstream treatment. The present study comprised 32 interviews conducted with Indigenous administrators, staff, and clients at a reserve-based addiction treatment center to identify community-driven and practical therapeutic solutions for remedying histories of coercive colonial assimilation...

The negative impact of racism on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color's (BIPOC's) mental and physical health is well-documented. Research supports the critical role of personal hope as a buffer against despair and adverse health outcomes among BIPOC. However, there is a dearth of empirical research exploring the experiences of BIPOC's sense of collective hope. This study aimed to help fill this gap in the literature by extending Mosley et al.'s (2020) multidimensional psychological framework of radical hope via a qualitative study...

Asian Americans are situated in a triangulated role in a black-white racial hierarchy designed to legitimize white supremacy (Kim, 1999). However, little is known about the lived experiences of Asian American triangulation and even less so in the context of anti-Asian racism. The present study was initially designed to examine anti-Asian racism at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, in a sociopolitical climate described as a "racial reckoning," our study evolved to capture the process of racial triangulation and the interplay of anti-Asian racism and antiblackness...

Research has consistently shown the importance of affirmative practice when therapists work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer/questioning (LGBQ) clients. However, less is known about factors that may influence the extent to which clients benefit from affirmative practice. The present study intends to address this gap by examining whether LGBQ affirmative practice would be positively associated with psychological well-being, and whether individuals factors including internalized homophobia (IH), reciprocal filial piety (RFP; providing care and support for parents based on affective bonding), and authoritarian filial piety (AFP; showing unconditional obedience to parents based on parental authority) would moderate this relationship...

The occurrence and impact of antiatheist stigma appear to differ based on the geography and religiousness of the communities in which atheists live (Frazer et al., 2020; Frost et al., 2022). However, few studies have examined the potentially unique experiences of atheists living in parts of the United States (U.S.) designated as rural. Using a critical, grounded theory approach, the present study interviewed 18 rural-residing atheists about their experiences including antiatheist discrimination, outness, and their psychological well-being...

This study used qualitative methods to explore psychotherapists' experiences conducting at-home psychotherapy with older adults (60 + years) with long-term care needs and depression. We conducted semistructured interviews with 16 female psychotherapists (26-70 years old) who delivered at-home cognitive behavioral therapy to home-living older adults with long-term care needs and depression. We additionally conducted 10 patient case studies. Using an adaption of the methodology of grounded theory, we iteratively developed a hierarchical model...

Sense of belonging is theorized to be a fundamental human need and has been shown to have important implications in many domains of life, including academic achievement. The Sense of Social Fit scale (SSF; Walton & Cohen, 2007) is widely used to assess college belongingness, particularly to study differences in academic experiences along lines of gender and race. Despite its wide use, the instrument's latent factor structure and measurement invariance properties have not been reported in the published literature to date...

In the present study, we used a large, national data set to examine psychotherapy outcomes from 9,515 Latinx clients seeking treatment in 71 college or university counseling centers in the United States, 13 of which were in Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) and 58 in predominantly White institutions (PWIs). We examined the hypothesis that Latinx clients in HSIs, compared to Latinx clients in PWIs, would experience greater relief in symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety, and academic distress over the course of psychotherapy...

Reports an error in "The shape of knowledge: Situational analysis in counseling psychology research" by Patrick R. Grzanka ( Journal of Counseling Psychology , 2021[Apr], Vol 68[3], 316-330). The article included a production error. An incorrect Figure 3 was published. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2020-51960-001.) Situational analysis (SA) is a powerful method for visually mapping qualitative data. As an extension of constructivist grounded theory developed by Charmaz and others, Clarke's situational analysis encourages researchers to transform qualitative data into various visual maps that can illuminate dynamics that may be obscured by more traditional analytic approaches...

Anti-Black racism (ABR) contributes to racial trauma and to the disproportionate negative mental, physical, and social outcomes faced by Black populations (Hargons et al., 2017; Wun, 2016a). The previous literature demonstrates that storytelling and other narrative interventions are often used to promote collective healing among Black people (Banks-Wallace, 2002; Moors, 2019). Storying survival (i.e., the utilization of stories to promote liberation from racial trauma) is one such narrative intervention (Mosley et al...

In this article, the authors explain systemic racism through a racial-spatial framework wherein anti-Blackness, white supremacy, and racial capitalism interlock to create and recreate white space and time. Through the creation of private property, institutional inequities become embedded and structured for the benefit of white people. The framework provides a way to conceptualize how our geographies are racialized and how time is often used against Black and non-Black people of Color. In contrast to white experiences of feeling "in-place" almost everywhere, Black and non-Black people of Color continually experience displacement and dispossession of both their place and their time...

Anti-Blackness and systemic racism are long-standing pressing social issues that have received increasing attention in the counseling psychology literature. However, the past few years have demonstrated what can only be described as an emboldening of anti-Blackness-the brutal individual and systemic threats of emotional and physical violence and loss of life that Black individuals and communities face on a daily basis-and a harsh reminder of the systemic racism that continues to threaten the well-being of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color...

Universities and colleges in the United States implemented remote learning and restrictions on in-person social events during the Fall 2020 academic semester. These changes and restrictions, in addition to the other numerous negative impacts of COVID-19, can exacerbate the already stressful transition from high school to college. This transition is a key developmental period during which the complexity of interpersonal relationships and the risk of internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression increase...

Therapist and client hope have both been conceptualized and empirically examined as factors that contribute to the reduction of clients' distress in treatment. That is, clients may come to therapy demoralized and without hope per Frank and Frank's contextual model of psychotherapy. Therapy can serve to increase their hope and thereby contribute to the reduction of distress; however, therapists also bring their own individual hope to the therapeutic process. Despite both parties contributing their hope as treatment factors, no research has yet simultaneously examined therapist and client hope...

The Cooper-Norcross Inventory of Preferences (C-NIP) is one of the most widely used measures of psychotherapy preferences. However, its psychometric properties have not been examined in non-Western samples. Research on disparities between the preferences of mental health professionals and their clients is also limited. We evaluated the C-NIP's psychometric properties and measurement invariance in Chinese lay clients and mental health professionals and evaluated the latent mean differences between clients' and professionals' scores on the C-NIP's four scales (preference for therapist vs...

A body of research has been dedicated to demonstrating the relationship of perfectionism with a range of mental health indicators. Self-critical perfectionism, a component of perfectionism, has been framed primarily in a negative light within the mental health context. Given that research informs educational and clinical practices, it is important to explore the degree to which such findings generalize across cultures and subcultures. The current meta-analytic research systemically collated studies conducted with Asian college students with a particular attention to exploring whether orientation to Asian culture and cultural values correspondingly moderates the relationship between self-critical perfectionism and depressive symptoms...

While rich with opportunities for self-exploration, the transition to and through college is stressful, often associated with the onset or exacerbation of mental illness. Attending to these characteristics, this preregistered study asked whether derailment-or difficulties reconciling perceived identity change-in freshman year predicts senior depressive symptoms, and how individual risks for depression relate to this association. Derailment and depressive symptoms evidenced significant 3-year stability, and these constructs had positive cross-sectional associations in both freshman and senior year...