Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development Publication Patterns From 1994 to 2009

The authors reviewed publication patterns of articles in the Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development (JHCEAD) from 1994 to 2009. Author demographic characteristics and article content for trends over time were analyzed, as well as research articles published in JHCEAD specifically for design, sampling, and statistical analyses used. ********** The Counseling Association for Humanistic Education and Development (C-AHEAD) has a long and proud tradition of contributing quality publications to the counseling literature through its Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development (JHCEAD). (Note. In 2010 the association's name changed to Association for Humanistic Counseling [AHC] and the journal became The Journal of Humanistic Counseling.) C-AHEAD, formerly known as the Student Personnel Association for Teacher Education, was one of the original counseling associations that merged to form the American Counseling Association (ACA), called the American Personnel and Guidance Association in 1951. Editors of JHCEAD over the past 2 decades have included the following: Richard J. Hazler (September 1991-June 1994); A. Scott McGowan (September 1994-June 1998); Roger D. Herring (September 1998-Spring 2002); Karen Ferguson (Fall 2002-Fall 2003); and Mark B. Scholl (Spring 2004-Fall 2009). The current editor is Colette T. Dollarhide. JHCEAD publishes creative, humanistically focused practice and research articles on important issues of interest to humanistic educators, counselors, and counselors-in-training. Constructs important to the paradigm of humanistic counseling include personal growth and development, a focus on the humanistic counseling process/theories, the importance of multicultural issues and applications, and the application to counselor education and supervision. Just as the counseling profession, in general, and C-AHEAD, specifically, have evolved over the past few decades, so too has the focus of JHCEAD. The present article reviews the content and article and author characteristics of JHCEAD publications over the past 16 years in order to identify trends and timely issues related to the discipline of humanistic counseling, education, and development. Erford, Miller, Duncan, and Erford (2010) reported three processes by which a journal's evolution can be documented. First, special issues/sections published in the journal often indicate essential, timely issues of critical importance to the discipline and thus, by extension, within society. Since 1994, the following 10 special issues/sections were published in JHCEAD: Case Studies in Social Action (March 1995); Professional Counselor Impairment and Renewal (March 1996); Humanistic Counseling and Education in a Multicultural Society (September 1996); Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy--A Humanistic Approach (December 1996); The Creative and Expressive Arts as Counseling Tools for Wellness Throughout the Lifespan (December 1997); Educational Preparation and Practical Professional Practice (September 1998); Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling (Spring 2001); Toward a Culture of Counselor Wellness (Spring 2007); Strength-Based Counseling (Fall 2008); and Social Justice Counseling, Education, and Advocacy (Fall 2011). A second approach proposed by Erford et al. (2010) requires a systematic, qualitative content review and trend analysis by skilled and knowledgeable scholars. No recent, comprehensive, qualitative review of JHCEAD has been undertaken. A third investigative method is a quantitative, descriptive approach, called a metastudy, which is the approach taken in the current study. Like qualitative reviews, metastudies frequently reveal specific article and author characteristics, but often focus on the characteristics of research articles and statistical methods. Metastudies present these characteristics statistically, sometimes combined into convenient time intervals to facilitate trend analyses. …