Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients use counseling services at higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts, yet current training for counselors may be inadequate. In this online study, 234 graduate counselor education and counseling psychology students completed the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale (Bidell, 2005) and provided information about their training in working with LGB clients. Participants viewed themselves as more competent on the Awareness and Knowledge subscales than on the Skills subscale. Increased level of training (doctoral vs. master's), number of LGB clients seen in practica, and attendance at LGB‐focused workshops and conferences were associated with increased competence. Implications for programmatic development are discussed.

Relations among and between religion, spirituality, and the ability to cope with stress were examined using a sample of 1 15 graduate students in counseling. Religion and spirituality positively correlated with coping with stress. Counseling students who expressed spirituality through religious beliefs had greater spiritual health and immunity to stressful situations than counseling students who identified themselves as spiritual but not religious. Counseling students with a religious/spiritual affiliation indicated more discomfort counseling clients hostile to religion compared with counseling students with a spiritual-only affiliation. The results have implications for preparing counseling students to work with clients with religious/spiritual issues. ndividuals striving to understand the meaning of and purpose for their struggles often look for guidance in the spiritual or religious realms. For

No abstract

There is consensus that sexual relationships with clients are unethical; however, there is ongoing debate regarding nonsexual multiple relationships. Rural psychologists report especially high incidences of multiple relationships, and several authors have suggested that lesbian and bisexual psychologists may be faced with similarly frequent and complicated multiple relationships due to the small size of those communities. Fifty-two lesbian and bisexual psychotherapists (45 of them psychologists) described 109 critical incidents involving either multiple relationships or decisions involving potential relationships. From these responses, we documented multiple relationships encountered by lesbian and bisexual women psychotherapists, considerations these clinicians used in deciding whether to take on multiple roles, and strategies they used to either prevent or cope with nonsexual multiple relationships.