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Oppression is defined and identified as the basis of a considerable range of psychopathology. An exploratory transcultural model of counseling based on oppression is introduced with the goal of serving both oppressed and oppressive clients. Perception, as perspicacity, is the key to this exploratory model. The authors suggest that oppressed persons generally possess a considerable degree of perception of their oppressors even though they may be unaware of it. Research from the literature on depressive realism is used to infer support. Counseling approaches to oppressed persons are introduced including a new approach to cognitive therapy and an emphasis on liberation rather than adjustment. Counseling approaches to oppressors are also discussed based on the rehabilitation of empathy and perception.

The isolation of active ingredients that initiate change may be able to shed light on process and outcome in counseling and psychotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate 20 significant or second-order change experiences that took place within and outside of therapy. The study used a Likert scale designed to disclose perceived necessary and sufficient conditions of change. Both the context of the experiences and theoretical constructs distilled from the literature were examined for their perceived potency for change. Constructs often rated as sufficient conditions were gaining insight, gaining a new perspective, confronting the problem, and becoming aware of the problem. Consistently rated as necessary conditions were a sense of necessity and the willingness to experience anxiety or difficulty. Implications for therapy are discussed, along with variables that may regulate the rate and magnitude of change.The nature of therapeutic change and what brings it about are among the primary concerns of counseling and psychotherapy (Strupp, 1988b). Stiles, Shapiro, and Elliott (1986) noted that we simply do not know what exactly makes psychotherapy effective (also see Kottler, 1991). Prochaska, DiClemente, and Norcross (1992) noted that, although outcome studies have clearly demonstrated that psychotherapy is effective, such "outcome studies have taught us relatively little, however, about how people change" (p. 1102), both within and outside of the context of therapy. Client-Specific ChangeMany persons manage to solve their psychological and behavioral problems without the help of psychotherapy (Goldfried, 1988;Hanna & Puhakka, 1991;Norcross & Prochaska, 1986a). Thus, it may be useful to understand personal change as a general category not limited to the context of therapy. The present research was therefore concerned with the variables of change within the individual, as they appear to be the most crucial elements of therapy (

The construct of wisdom may have the capacity to shed some light on psychotherapy process and outcome across the wide variety of schools. Wisdom is defined, contrasted with intelligence, and explored with regard to meaning, context, its function in practice, and its implications for training and research. The topic of metacognitive processes in therapy is also discussed from both the therapist and client's perspectives. The authors suggest that wisdom may play an important role in effective therapy. Wisdom is also pointed to as a valuable outcome acquired by the client when therapy is successful. The authors conclude that considering therapy in the context of wisdom may provide new avenues for practice, research, and training.

Many counselors are aware that synchronicity-unpredictable instances of meaningful coincidence-can play a significant role in career opportunities, yet the phenomenon of synchronicity in the career literature is underrepresented. The purpose of this article is to discuss the occurrence of synchronicity in the career development process. A philosophical context is presented and provides a framework for understanding synchronicity. Through the presentation of 3 case studies, synchronistic themes are explored. Using various career counseling processes, each client developed an authentic identity and found meaningful work through an experience with synchronicity. Implications for counselors are discussed.Historically, professional counseling, and specifically career counseling, has its roots in the work of Parsons (1909). His trait-factor, three-step approach to making vocational choices assumed that knowledge of self and knowledge about the world of work lead to a wise vocational choice through the process of "true reasoning." Influences on his work and on subsequent career development theory in the United States were formed out of the western European worldview of the last century, which was grounded in scientific reasoning. This modernist tradition emphasized fixed reality, universal truths, and linear causality (Rosen, 1996).One tenet that shaped the direction of career counseling is the view that career development is linear, progressive, and rational (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 1998). The trait-factor approach developed in a deterministic system that assumed all factors were measurable and knowable. However, many counselors are aware that unknowable instances of coincidence, happenstance, and chance factors can play a significant role in career opportunities (Betsworth & Hansen, 1996). We propose that these factors point to the nonlinear and acausal phenomenon of synchronicity.