I'm a doctoral student and in the early stages of exploring research on counselor competencies. I'm especially interested in learning about how competency can be measured in specialty areas such as grief counseling and end-of-life counseling.
Grief Counseling is an attitude also acquired by having done the same path in the past, but personal family members passed away. Acquired grief is the typical acquisition of competence. There is more situation by which, even though counsellors meet death is challenging to develop competencies—for example, the case of problematic attachment. So better to assess the group of counselling with a relationship questionnaire. Suppose the labelling is "Dismissing, Preoccupied or Fearful". In that case, that's the point of improvement, confronting Counsellors with personal stories of griefs or not elaborated griefs in the mind of their mothers (the "ghost in the nursery" problems).
Usually Professional Bodies have some list of recommended counselling competencies at different levels of professional training. These will vary from country to country.
Our training at University of Zululand emphasized multicultural counselling, firstly at general and then specialized competency levels. We found the following texts especially useful.
Ivey, A.E.; Ivey, M.B., & Simek-Morgan, L. (1996). Counselling and psychotherapy: A multicultural perspective. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Ivey, A.E., D’ Andrea, M., Ivey, M.B. and Simek Morgan, L. (2002). Theories of counselling and psychotherapy: a multicultural perspective. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Qualitative evaluation via mentor supervision and peer group co-vison were regarded as more relevant than measurement per se as dialogical and contextual variables are constantly changing in the counselling situation.
Cultural factors as concerns death and grieving include individualism and collectivism. For example, different approaches are required in modern Western orientated nuclear family context as distinct from traditional African collective context.
Some articles are attached.
· Edwards, S.D. (2003). The cultural context of counseling. University of Zululand Journal of Psychology, 19, 21-35
· Selepe, C & Edwards, S.D. (2008). Grief counselling: A case of the Zionist Apostolic Church in Venda. Indilinga -African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems 7(1), 1-6.
· Ngcobo, H.S.B. &Edwards, S.D. (2008). Self-perceived multicultural counselling competencies in South African psychologists: a basis for practice guidelines. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 18(4), 647-654.
· Edwards, S.D. & Buscombe, R. (2011). Evaluation of workshops on healing through multicultural counselling: sport psychological implications. African Journal for Physical Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 7 (4), 903-916.
Hopefully this helps.
The published paper is on research gate.
Selepe, C & Edwards, S.D. (2008). Grief counselling: A case of the Zionist Apostolic Church in Venda. Indilinga -African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems 7(1), 1-6.
Article Grief counselling: A case of the Zionist Apostolic Church in Venda
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