Naomi M. Meara

Principles and Virtues A Foundation for Ethical Decisions, Policies, and Character

Principle ethics can be described as a set of prima facie obligations one considers when confronted with an ethical dilemma. Virtue ethics focuses on character traits and nonobligatory ideals that facilitate the development of ethical individuals. Within the context of the assumption that the major responsibilities or primary goals of professionals are to be competent and to serve the common good, we suggest that integrating these complementary ethical perspectives provides a coherent structure for enhancing the ethical competence of psychologists and counselors and the level of public trust in the character and actions of these professions and their members. Virtue ethics, rooted in the narratives and aspirations of specific communities, can be particularly helpful to professionals in discerning appropriate ethical conduct in multicultural settings and interactions. We propose that future directions for research and instruction be expanded from quandary ethics to encompass issues of character

Crystal Ball Gazing: Training and Accreditation in 2000 A.D.

Recommendations and proposals related to training and accreditation from various conferences as well as the Task Force on the Scope and Criteria of Accreditation and the Joint Council on Professional Education in Psychology are reviewed. This review focuses on the potential effects of these recommendations on counseling psychology students, trainers, and programs. Finally, implications for counseling psychology training based on the possible implementation of the recommendations are suggested.

So you think it is a secret

Abstract Group confidentiality is difficult to enforce. A hypothetical situation is presented to illustrate how members might violate confidentiality. Group cohesiveness and certain leader skills can help to maintain confidentiality norms.

Different Voices: Constructing and Recording an Applied Specialty.

For 30 years,The Counseling Psychologist (TCP) has endeavored to translate into print the visions, ambitions, and innovative ideas from the discipline and the profession of counseling psychology. The journal also has served as the official record of Division 17 activities. In addition, through its editorial policies and responsiveness, it has provided a crucial forum for the concerns of special populations, controversial issues, professional advocacy interests, and some less well-known ideas and perspectives that otherwise most probably would have been ignored. For the most part, the editors of TCP have been successful in this multipurpose endeavor. They have produced a blend of scholarship, timeliness, and accessibility seldom achieved in the psychological literature. While the journal was presenting and reflecting on current substantive matters in the field and recording contemporary events of its organizational governance and policy, it was also constructing and defining counseling psychology. The advances we have made as a scientific applied specialty would not be nearly as great without this publication. I would argue that there are high-status science journals and high-status practice journals, but that TCP has achieved high status as a scientist-practitioner journal and that what it publishes is useful to scientist-practitioner counseling psychologists and to scholars and professionals in related areas. The Flores, Rooney, Heppner, Douglas, and Wei (1999) citation analyses and the 89% 1996 rejection rate (the latest date for which the figures are available; American Psychological Association (APA), 1997), I believe, support this view. I would argue as well, and try to provide examples below to support that argument, that the positive influence ofTCPgoes well beyond what can be captured in citation counts, editors’ reflections, or most systematic measures we can use to take stock of the past 30 years. The accomplishments of TCP rest on the collaborative efforts and commitments of many. Of course, the four editors, Whitely, Fretz, Stone, and Heppner are chiefly responsible for the journal’s success, but others also played roles in its achievements. These others include Editorial Board members; ad hoc reviewers; and the home institutions, professional colleagues,

The Houston 2001 National Counseling Psychology Conference Making a Difference for the Specialty

The authors briefly note the accomplishments of the Houston 2001 National Counseling Psychology Conference and focus on several questions raised that, in their judgment, have implications for how counseling psychology will continue to develop as a specialty. Noteworthy accomplishments are the following: (a) inclusiveness in content and participation, (b) better linkages to the American Psychological Association (APA) and among counseling psychology organizations, (c) spotlighting the importance of political advocacy, and (d) concretizing counseling psychology’s social advocacy mission to focus on social justice. The questions raised include (a) preparation of students for entry-level positions in science and practice, (b) ratio of potential earnings as an autonomous professional to the educational investment required, and (c) appropriate balance of breadth and depth in training professional psychologists.