ISSN : 1229-0688
This study explored the counseling experiences of lesbian clients. Unstructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven individuals who identify as lesbians. Using Van Kaam’s phenomenological qualitative approach, 4 categories, 11 themes, and 25 sub-themes were identified. The four categories were counselors’ bias and prejudice toward lesbian and gay individuals, coming out to counselors, the counseling process, and expectations of counselors. The participants perceived their sexual orientation to be an integral part of their identities and reported that coming out to a counselor was a requisite component of the counseling process. Participants indicated that they had specific expectations of counselors when seeking counseling services. Some common expectations included a counselor’s affirmative attitude toward sexual minority individuals, and an understanding of the experiences the individuals who are part of a sexual minority. Based on the findings, recommendations to help counselors provide effective services to lesbian and gay clients are made, including counselors’ attitude and counseling competencies for lesbian and gay clients.
Parentification is a concept referring to the role reversal in which a child acts as a parent’s guardian. In this study, the Van Manen’s (1994) hermeneutic phenomenological method was applied to the parentified life of unmarried women in their 20s. Seven single women in their 20s were selected through the use of the Parentification Questionnaire (PQ) and then participated in in-depth interviews. Five major themes and 25 sub-themes were derived from the data. One negative aspect of the unmarried women’s parentified life in her 20s was feeling like an orphan, while a positive aspect was living one’s life on her own independently. The five major themes characterizing the experiences of the participants included: “life without a protector,” “I can’t live as me,” “characteristics of self-governing,” “regrets in life,” and “meeting without closeness and comfort.” The academic and clinical implications of this study are discussed.
The present study explored self-critical experience(e.g. when, what, how, why) of individuals with high levels of self-criticism. Participants included seven individuals with high scores on the K-FSCRS(Korean version of the Forms of Self-Criticizing/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale). Participants were interviewed about a self-critical experience based on five open-ended questions. In-depth interviews were conducted twice to meet the standards of adequacy for qualitative research. The results were analyzed using phenomenological methods. Meaningful categories and sub-categories emerged through phenomenological reduction based on the subject of the study. The researchers read raw data repeatedly to avoid bias associated with researchers’ perception of self-criticism and used the hermeneutic circle methodology. Analysis of the process of self-criticism resulted in 12 categories. The limitations of the study and implications of the results are discussed.
This study examined the effect of interpersonal stress on emotional experiences and object representations in individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) tendencies. A total of 1,054 undergraduate students completed a survey to identify BPD tendencies. Participants with BPD tendencies (n=27) and a control group (n=28) were selected. The TAT was administered under both neutral and interpersonally stressful situations and the SCORS-G was used to assess the quality of object representations. The group with BPD tendencies displayed more prominent deficits in cognitive aspects than affective aspects of object representations than the control group. The cognitive aspects of object representations in individuals with BPD tendencies were more significantly affected in interpersonally stressful situations than in neutral situations, whereas the emotional aspects did not differ across situations. The results suggest that BPD patients experiencing interpersonal stress may have a reduced ability to understand the internal states of self and others, and social interactions, which may contribute to psychological instability.
The purpose of this study was to identify the needs of novice supervisors and educational factors impacting the effectiveness of supervisor training. To this end, we extracted the contents of supervisor education methods by reviewing relevant publications in Korea and abroad, and gathered input from expert supervisors. The results of the review indicated that key educational content included: the supervision relationship; supervisor’s self-reflection; teaching according to the supervisee’s development level; understanding of supervision ethics; and the supervisory role. Supervisors identified the need for educational content including: understanding and evaluating the level of supervisory development; the supervisor’s role; and coping with supervisory ethics and legal issues. Implications for supervisory education and limitations of the study are presented.
The present study examined the dual mediation effects of coping strategies and satisfaction of basic psychological needs on the relationship between adult attachment and psychological well-being. Participants were 252 individuals. Structural equation modeling was used to verify the hypothesized model. Psychological well-being was defined as satisfaction with life. Based on previous empirical research, only problem focused coping (among four stress coping methods) was proposed as the first mediator in the model. The hypothesis model showed satisfactory fits to the data. Bootstrapping results supported the dual mediation effects. Specifically, problem focused coping and satisfaction of basic psychological needs partially mediated the relationship between adult attachment and psychological well-being. Secure adult attachment seemed to foster satisfaction with life by boosting problem focused coping and satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The implications of the current findings for counseling practice are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to confirm the mediation effect of entrapment in the relationship between stress and depression, and examine how catastrophizing and self-blame moderate this process in job seekers. A moderated mediation model was applied to a sample of 342 job seekers in Korea. Results revealed that entrapment partially mediated the relationship between stress and depression, where the direct and indirect path were both positively significant. Furthermore, catastrophizing moderated the path between stress and entrapment as well as between stress and depression. This indicated that increases in catastrophizing strengthened the impact of stress on entrapment and depression. Similarly, self-blame moderated the entrapment-depression path, indicating that increases in self-blame resulted in higher levels of depression due to entrapment. Finally, the moderated mediation effect of catastrophizing and self-blame was significant in the relationship between stress and depression via entrapment. Limitations, implications for practice, and future research are discussed.
This study examined the mediating effects of forgivingness of self and others on the relationships between insecure attachment and depression, and between insecure attachment and life satisfaction. A total of 265 college students (143 males and 122 females) participated in a survey. Results indicated that two dimensions of insecure attachment, anxious attachment and avoidant attachment, negatively predicted forgivingness of self and others. Self-forgivingness negatively predicted depression, and positively predicted life satisfaction. However, forgivingness of others did not significantly predict depression or life satisfaction. In addition, self-forgivingness mediated the relationships between insecure attachment and depression, and between insecure attachment and life satisfaction. The results imply that those with insecure attachments are less likely to forgive themselves, which could contribute to higher levels of depression and lower levels of life satisfaction. As such, therapeutic interventions for those with insecure attachments to enhance self-forgivingness may be beneficial.
The purpose of this study was to classify adults’ self-injurious behavior using latent classification analysis, to identify risk factors affecting latent class, and to examine the relationship between latent class and psychological and behavioral problems. Data from 188 participants were analyzed. First, the latent class of adults’ non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors was identified as mild, moderate, or severe. Further analysis revealed that risk factors affecting self-injury latent class type included the experience of child abuse, lower levels of pain tolerance, younger age, and exposure to self-injury within interpersonal relationships. Levels of depression were highest in the severe class followed by the moderate and then mild classes. The severe class also displayed higher levels of anxiety and binge eating than the moderate and mild classes. The implications and limitations of these results are discussed.
Mental imagery refers to the ability to activate and manipulate representations from memory without external sensory stimuli or physical activity. Empathy is the ability to understand and accept another person’s perspective, feelings, or thoughts. Empathy requires the ability to imagine the perspectives or situations of others. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that mental imagery effects empathy. Forty-eight college students were presented with information about five emotions. The experimental group was instructed to draw a picture while listening to a story intended to evoke empathy and the control group was instructed to recall the text of the story once it had ended. While subjects listened to the story, their facial muscle movements were measured by EMG. The results indicated a significant difference in total empathic score between the experimental and control groups. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in the five emotional sub-domains. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.
Few studies have explored the longitudinal relationship between academic emotions and academic burnout. The present study investigated the longitudinal relationship between academic emotions, including hatred and anxiety, and academic burnout using parallel latent growth modeling. The respondents were late adolescents (age 19), taking Korean college entrance examinations within a four month period from eight schools in Seoul, Inchon, and Kyeonggi province. Latent growth modeling indicated a U type quadratic growth trajectory between academic emotions and academic burnout. The initial value of academic anxiety positively affected changes in academic burnout, which consisted of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Additionally, changes in academic hatred accelerated changes in academic burnout. The current study informs our understanding of the relationship between academic emotions and academic burnout in Korean adolescents. Implications, recommendations for future research and limitations are discussed.
The present study examined the mediation effect of the attribution of blame on the link between belief in a just world for others (BJW-O) and attitudes toward racial/ethnic minorities by analyzing responses from 208 counselors. Results indicated that counselors with higher levels of BJW-O were more likely to attribute blame to racial/ethnic minorities for their difficulties in South Korea. This led to counselors’ negative thoughts about racial/ethnic minorities, which in turn influenced their negative feelings and behavioral intentions toward them. The association between BJW-O and thoughts about racial/ethnic minorities was fully mediated by attribution of blame. The association between attribution of blame and negative feelings toward racial/ethnic minorities was fully mediated by thoughts about them. The association between thoughts about racial/ethnic minorities and behavioral intentions toward racial/ethnic minorities was partially mediated by negative feelings toward them. Implications for future research and counselor education are discussed.
Given that Korea has become a multicultural society, we developed a graduate-level multicultural counseling course curriculum using the Tyler model (1949). First, we conducted a needs assessment through online surveys and focus groups with professional counselors and graduate students in counseling programs. Second, we searched and analyzed multicultural counseling courses in counseling psychology, and combined clinical and counseling psychology programs accredited by the American Psychological Association. Third, we analyzed and integrated the results of stages one and two using interpretive content analysis. Finally, based on feedback from three content experts, we modified and finalized the curriculum. The primary objective of the resulting 14-class course is to enhance students’ cultural competence. Sub-topics include cultural identity and biases, privilege, microaggression, cross-cultural studies, immigrants, multicultural families, North Korean defectors, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic status, seniors, physical and mental illness, and regional differences. Features, limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.
The Korean Counseling Psychological Association (KCPA) has strived to the promote academic development and professionalism of its members throughout the past half century. This study explored future development directions for the KCPA to promote efficient operation and growth amid social and environmental changes. To this end, a survey questionnaire encompassing nine areas was developed, following examination of research on the current status and development of academic societies within and outside of counseling, and to the current major activities of the KCPA. The survey was provided to members with KCPA certificates, with data collected from 926 individuals, representing 15.82 percent of the 5,779 eligible members. Using the Scientist-Practitioner-Advocate model, the findings were classified into four categories (academic activities as scientific societies, education and training activities, social justice/advocacy activities, and organizational operation). Based on the problem consciousness of the members revealed through the results, short-term and mid- to long-term development measures are discussed.
This is part of the study entitled “Members’ perceptions of the Korean Counseling Psychological Association’s current status and development plan,” which was conducted with the support of the 2019 KCPA Mid/Long-term Development Task Force Team. The researchers conducted focus group interviews with first- and second-degree certificated counseling psychologists. Through SWOT analysis we identified internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats potentially affecting the development of the association, and proposed mid/long-term development plans of the society. The results showed that 6 categories of internal strengths, 10 categories of weaknesses, 5 categories of external opportunities, and 5 categories of threats were derived. To prepare future development measures for the society to cope with changing internal and external environments, we developed SO (strengths-opportunities), ST (strengths-threats), WO (weaknesses-opportunities), and WT (weaknesses-threats) strategies, then reorganized the 16 strategies into implementation stages. Implications for the society and future research directions were discussed.
