Corinne V. Koehn

Women's Perceptions of Power and Control in Sexual Abuse Counseling

ABSTRACT Fifty women who were sexually abused as children were interviewed regarding their perceptions of helpful and hindering counseling behaviors. The critical incident technique was the methodology used. One major category that emerged from the data was Approach to Power and Control. This category comprised eight subcategories: (1) flexibility with agenda; (2) willingness to offer choices; (3) response to criticism; (4) response to client as an equal or with honor; (5) sexual interest; (6) approach to clients suggestions; (7) expectations regarding forgiveness; and (8) consultation with alter identities. Implications for counseling practice, research, and counselor education are discussed.

Informal and formal mental health: preliminary qualitative findings

Background Northern-based research on mental health support, no matter the specific profession, helps to inform instruction of new practitioners and practitioners already working in rural or isolated conditions. Understanding the complexities of northern mental health support not only benefits clients and practitioners living in the North, but also helps prepare psychologists and counsellors preparing to work in other countries with large rural and isolated populations. The qualitative phase is part of a multi-year research study on informal and formal mental health support in northern Canada involving the use of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis methods. Objective The main objective of the qualitative phase interviews was to document in-depth the situation of formal and informal helpers in providing mental health support in isolated northern communities in northern British Columbia, northern Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories (NWT). The intent of in-depth interviews was to collect descriptive information on the unique working conditions of northern helping practitioners for the development of a survey and subsequent community action plans for helping practitioner support. Design Twenty participants in northern BC, Yukon and NWT participated in narrative interviews. Consensual qualitative research (CQR) was used in the analysis completed by 7 researchers. The principal researcher and research associate then worked through all 7 analyses, defining common categories and themes, and using selections from each researcher in order to ensure that everyones analysis was represented in the final consensual summary. Results The preliminary results include 7 main categories consisting of various themes. Defining elements of northern practice included the need for generalist knowledge and cultural sensitivity. The task of working with and negotiating membership in community was identified as essential for northern mental health support. The need for revised codes of ethics relevant to the reality of northern work was a major category, as was insight on how to best sustain northern practice. Conclusion Many of the practitioners who participated in this study have found ways to overcome the biggest challenges of northern practice, yet the limitations of small populations and lack of resources in small communities to adequately address mental health support were identified as existing. Empowering communities by building community capacity to educate, supervise and support formal and informal mental health workers may be the best approach to overcoming the lack of external resources.

Hope-Focused Interventions in Substance Abuse Counselling

Hope is a vital component of psychological healing and plays a critical role in counselling. With despair so prominent for individuals with serious substance abuse problems, the question arises as to how to foster hope in such clients. There are recent suggestions in the general counselling literature that some of the work in counselling involve moving the topic of hope to the forefront and openly approaching the concept of hope with clients. This article describes several hope-focused interventions that can be used to explicitly explore hope in substance abuse counselling.

A Relational Approach to Counseling Women with Alcohol and Other Drug Problems

This article discusses the application of a relational approach to counseling women who misuse alcohol and other drugs (AOD). Relational-Cultural Therapy (RCT) that emphasizes the centrality of connection and relationship in womens lives and in their mental health treatment is described. The author applies RCT key concepts of relational awareness, relational competence, relational confidence, relational resilience, and transformation to counseling women who misuse AOD.

Experiential Work in Group Treatment for Alcohol and Other Drug Problems

Abstract The use of experiential methods is a viable intervention in group counseling for clients experiencing alcohol/other drug (AOD) problems. One such experiential technique, the relationship sculpture, can assist clients in exploring the interpersonal dynamics of their intimate relationships. Proposed steps in the sculpting process include: introducing the exercise, creating the sculpture, experiencing the impact, experiencing the solution, and debriefing the exercise. There is particular value for the client in both viewing the sculpture from the sidelines and experientially participating in the sculpture as oneself. Particular emphasis is placed on exploring the role of AOD in the relationship dynamics. An illustrative example is provided.

Erratum to: Mental Health Provision in Northern Canada: Practitioners’ Views on Negotiations and Opportunities in Remote Practice

The focus of this article is on the final expanded qualitative findings and meta-analysis of a northern Canada study involving a four-phase, 3-year research design. The qualitative findings from interviews with twenty informal and formal mental health practitioners focus on the broader themes found within the meta-analysis in an attempt to answer a recent call for more proactive literature emphasizing opportunities for counselling and mental health support. The results explored included helping professional and paraprofessional development within remote settings, visions for the provision of community supports to assist them in providing services, and components of a conceptual model of mental health practice in the Canadian North.

The body-mind experiences of eight midlife women elicited through the holistic practice of Neuromuscular Integrative Action (NIA)

This study explored the body-mind experiences of eight midlife women who had integrated the movement of NIA (Neuromuscular Integrative Action) into their lives. NIA is a holistic fitness programme that combines the physicality of movement with an inner focus of awareness that is ever-present, self-monitoring, and nonjudgmental. A hermeneutic phenomenological methodology guided the research and conversational interviews were used to retrieve a narrative view of experience. The findings focus on the womens descriptions and explanations of the reflexive nature of NIA, which support interpretations of its possible uses within psychotherapy. Due to a reflexive cycle present in the practice itself and a feedback process that occurred during the study, understanding of NIAs overall effects on the participants’ lives were revealed as discovering the wisdom of the body and becoming aware of the bodys movement. The practice of NIA offers midlife women an opportunity to reconstruct notions of the self and to give voice to reflective interpretations that could result in deeper self-discovery and healing.