Counseling and Psychotherapy

Pamela G. Riley, PhD, NCC, LBS, LPC,received her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where she also completed her undergraduate degree with a major in sociology and a double minor in criminal justice and history. She completed her PhD in counselor education and supervision at Walden University. She is a licensed behavior specialist and licensed professional counselor in the state of Pennsylvania. She also has a certification in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. Dr. Riley has previous experience with children’s mental health service delivery in homes, schools, and the community. She works with others in a private practice and does outpatient therapy as well as medical-necessity psychological evaluations and psychological assessments. She also supervises master’s-level clinicians working toward licensure in Pennsylvania. Dr. Riley is just starting her own counseling practice, Empowerment With Grace, LLC. She has a passion for advocacy and for coaching and empowering others to self-advocate. She has presented at national and regional counseling conferences, and she has published in scholarly journals. Her research interests include Asperger’s syndrome, autism, trauma, and social justice issues.

Sidney L. Shaw, EdD,is a clinical professional counselor and core faculty at Walden University in the School of Counseling. He has been a mental health counselor since 2002, working with adults, adolescents, and families. His clinical experience includes working in rural community mental health in Alaska, school counseling, adventure-based counseling, medical clinic settings for Native peoples, private practice, and as a mental health consultant for Job Corps. He has conducted trainings and presentations at national, regional, state, and local levels. His research interests include feedback-informed counseling, common factors, multicultural counseling, suicide assessment, and counselor self-efficacy and self-assessment. He is a published author in peer-reviewed journals, including The Family Journal, Journal of Mental Health Counseling, Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, and Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development . He has also published several articles in Counseling Today and codeveloped a professional training video on the topic of multicultural orientation in counseling.

Ann Vernon, PhD,is a professor emerita at the University of Northern Iowa, where she served as coordinator of the school and mental health counseling programs for many years. She also had a private practice, specializing in counseling children and adolescents. Dr. Vernon has published 23 books, as well as numerous chapters and articles. She is past president of the Albert Ellis Institute and is considered a leading expert on applications of rational emotive behavior therapy with youth. Currently, she is an international consultant, offering rational emotive behavior therapy trainings in various parts of the world. Dr. Vernon received the Distinguished Professional Service Award from ACES in 2019.

Cirecie A. West-Olatunji, PhD,is the Melba Fortuné Martinez Endowed Professor in the counselor education program and director of the Center for Traumatic Stress Research at Xavier University of Louisiana. She has received numerous awards from national organizations and has been recognized as an ACA Fellow. Nationally, Dr. West-Olatunji has initiated several clinical research projects that focus on traumatic stress and systemic oppression. Her publications include three coauthored books, numerous book chapters, and over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. West-Olatunji has delivered research papers throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

Robert E. Wubbolding, EdD,presents workshops of practical demonstrations on how to counsel a wide variety of clients. He is director of the Center for Reality Therapy in Cincinnati, Ohio; professor emeritus at Xavier University; and director of training for the William Glasser Institute (1987–2011). Dr. Wubbolding has taught reality therapy in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. A counselor and psychologist, he has been a high school counselor, elementary school counselor, a halfway house counselor for ex-offenders, and a consultant to the drug and alcohol abuse programs of the U.S. Army and Air Force. He is a qualified trauma therapist. Dr. Wubbolding is author of 18 books, including Reality Therapy and Self-Evaluation , published by ACA in 2017, as well as author of 40 chapters in textbooks. In October 2005, he was awarded Outstanding Graduate for the 1970s decade by the University of Cincinnati Counseling Department. He received the “Legend of Counseling” award at the ACA Annual Conference in Hawaii in 2014, and the “Friend of Singapore” award in 2016. He has introduced reality therapy in Romania, Malta, and South Korea, among other countries.

Mark Young, PhD,is an associate professor at Gonzaga University, where he serves as director of the marriage and family counseling program in the Department of Counselor Education. His research interests are healthy couple relationships and live supervision. He has written several articles and book chapters in the areas of couples counseling and supervision.

Anthony Zazzarino, PhD,is an assistant professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions, where he is core faculty in the master’s program in rehabilitation counseling and the doctoral program in psychiatric rehabilitation. Dr. Zazzarino is the field experience coordinator for the counselor education and supervision track. Dr. Zazzarino is actively presenting at local, state, national, and international conferences related to sexual, affectional, and gender identity; multiculturalism; psychiatric rehabilitation methods; counseling services; substance use disorders; housing; and supervision practices. Furthermore, he has an extensive clinical history providing supportive services to adults with a serious mental illness living in supported housing agencies and continues to conduct clinical work today. Dr. Zazzarino provides group therapy for adolescents and adults at an intensive outpatient program, outpatient counseling services at his private practice, and clinical supervision for counselors who need supervised clinical hours in New Jersey.

David Capuzzi, Mark D. Stauffer, and Rhemma D. Payne

Studying theories of individual counseling and psychotherapy is simultaneously challenging and enlightening and usually marks the beginning of a long-term journey to develop one’s personal theory of counseling. The process is challenging as there are so many options from which to choose to guide one’s practice because theories, though different conceptually, all have one thing in common—the importance of developing a therapeutic alliance with a client. Through the counseling relationship and the therapeutic alliance that develops, client change occurs. Although the creation of this relationship is not the end goal of the process, it certainly is the means by which goals are met. It serves as the framework within which effective helping takes place. In addition, even though use of each theory is dependent on the helping relationship, each theory presents a different model for case conceptualization and treatment planning and uses a variation of aligned techniques and interventions.

Most beginning counselors experience doubts and insecurities about how theories help counselors navigate their work with clients, and more specifically, how they will use theories in their own practice. What are they nervous about in their study and application of counseling theories? Some counselors have an overwhelming sense that they must quickly or eventually choose one theory to work from and then faithfully hold to it (in a limited and an uncreative way). Others worry that working from any theory will box in or limit their view of the client. How can one theory capture a person’s lived experience? How can one theory be used across multiple clients with diverse cultural intersectionalities? Intersectionality means that “different aspects of one’s identity are not exclusive of each other, but rather inform the construction of each other in reciprocal ways” (Brinkman & Donahue, 2020, p. 109). These questions and others like them must be kept alive by counselors in their living practice. At the same time, use of theory is intended not to limit who a client is but rather to help a client change through a specific path or lens. This is one path among possible helpful paths.