Themes in Counseling Journals: A Decade of Changes Affecting 21st Century Counselor Education

A content analysis of 1799 articles published during the period of 1996-2006 in four counseling journals confirmed three major themes and four emerging themes that are likely to become trends in 21st century counseling. The major themes included Research, Multiculturalism, and Pedagogy. Research represents the top-ranked stable theme in the counseling literature. The coverage of Multiculturalism has dramatically increased, while attention to Pedagogy has declined. Emerging trends, in descending order, were Advocacy, Spirituality, Technology, and Globalization. The counseling profession has responded to momentous societal changes in the last decade. The results of the content analysis were discussed, highlighting some limitations and offering some recommendations for 21st century counselor education. (Contains 3 tables.)