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Counselors pride themselves on their developmental focus: however, they have generally only applied phasic theories to counseling practice and have not incorporated constructive "stage" theories unto clinical work. This article begins to rectify that lack by explicating the relevance of Kegan's subject-object theory for counseling practice, by reviewing Kegan's "'imperial" stage, and by applying the theory to cases in which at least one of the clients operates primarily out of the imperial stage, cases that include families and/or couples in some way. This is the third in a series of articles on Kegan's theory, begun in The Family Journal in July 2006 with an interview of Kegan and an overview of his theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiritual or religious conflicts in couples can challenge the for- ward progress of couples counseling. The statistics on the number of clients and therapists who believe in God and of clients who would like to address spiritual issues in both secular and religious counseling must persuade all counselors to become familiar with the ways to address such issues. This article adds to the literature that educates family counselors on strategies for approaching spiritual differences and conflicts in families. A case is offered as an illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the values, assumptions, and philosophies inherent in the DSM diagnostic system conflict with those of the mental health counseling profession. This article describes these conflicts; provides clinical practice suggestions for addressing these issues when using the DSM system; and offers strategies for bridging the divide between mental health counseling's professional identity, and the DSM system of conceptualization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counselors who work with conservative Christians may ask how to respect a client's values when "God" seems to be saying something contrary to what the counselor believes is in the client's best interests. In a managed care era of decreasing choice about one's counselor, referral of such clients to a conservative Christian counselor is not always an option. "Working with God" when counseling conservative Christian clients requires counselors to understand conservative Christian beliefs. This article portrays conservative Christianity as a culture and articulares conservative Christian beliefs that may challenge the counseling process, suggesting options within the framework of these beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]