Client and counselor characteristics and engagement in counseling.

Examined relations among various client and counselor characteristics and engagement in counseling for more than 1 session with 5 female and 4 male practicum counselors and 203 of their clients (128 women, 75 men) who had come to a university counseling center for the 1st time. After the initial interview, clients rated counselors' interest, helpfulness, competence, warmth, and genuineness; counselors rated clients' verbalness, intelligence, capacity for insight, likability, and the severity of clients' problems. Clients also indicated the extent to which counselors identified concerns for which the clients did not initially seek counseling. Findings show that 71 clients returned for more than 1 counseling session. Counselors' perceptions of clients as more disturbed and counselors' desire to see the clients were positively associated with clients' returning for counseling after intake. Identification of concerns for clients by counselors at intake was also positively related to engagement in counseling. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Session evaluation and recall of important events as a function of counselor experience.

Session evaluation and type of participant-recalled important event were investigated in 25 novice counselor dyads and 9 experienced counselor dyads during 9 sessions of short-term counseling. Counselor experience was the independent variable and session evaluation was the dependent variable. Results based on the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (W. B. Stiles, 1980) showed a significant interaction effect between counselor experience and role of participant (client or counselor) for session depth. Clients also reported an increase in positive affect over the course of counseling. Experienced counselors recalled more important events involving insight, whereas novice counselors recalled more important events involving exploration of feelings or self-critique. The type of important event recalled by clients also changed over the sessions of counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex of client and sex and experience level of counselor.

Examined how sex of client and sex and experience level of the counselor affected behaviors in counseling. 12 male and 12 female counselors, half inexperienced and half experienced, each recorded the 2nd counseling session with 1 male and 1 female client. Satisfaction items, frequency counts of counselor and client verbal behavior, activity levels, and judges' ratings were obtained for each session. Results indicate that same-sex pairings had more discussion of feelings by both counselor and client, and that inexperienced males and experienced female counselors were more active and empathic and elicited more feelings from clients than did their counterparts. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor and client personality as determinants of counselor expectancy effects.

78 students enrolled in summer-session college courses were randomly assigned to serve either as counselors or as clients for a 20-min, role-played peer counseling session. Ss completed a battery of standardized personality measures, including the Personality Research Form. Each counselor interacted with 2 clients. Prior to the sessions, the counselor was led to believe that one of the clients was especially introverted and that the other client was especially extraverted. Dependent measures were based on clients' change scores on a mood adjective rating scale administered before and after the peer counseling sessions. Analyses showed that counselors who were more successful at biasing their clients in the direction of their expectancies (a) scored higher on measures of dogmatism, nurturance, and social recognition; (b) scored lower on impulsivity; and (c) were more likely to be female. Clients who were more susceptible to counselor bias scored higher on the Self-Monitoring Scale, its Other-Directedness subscale, and social recognition. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal influence process in real-life counseling: Investigating client perceptions, counselor experience level, and counselor power over time.

Examined the interpersonal influence process within an actual counseling context over an average of 8 sessions. Counselors were either beginning or advanced practicum students or doctoral interns (n?=?27); clients were 31 students who sought counseling at a university center. Before and after counseling Ss completed the Counselor Rating Form, the Expectations about Counseling measure, and the Counselor Perceptions Questionnaire. Results indicate that (a) the actual counselor experience level did not affect client perceptions of the counselor; (b) perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness changed over time, but not in the same direction across counselors; (c) different levels of client need did not affect clients' perceptions of counselor characteristics; and (d) counselors rated as highly attractive indicated they had more therapeutic power over clients than counselors rated as moderately attractive. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client perception of the counselor and orality.

Since previous research and psychoanalytic theory have demonstrated that orality is related to accurate perception of others, it was predicted that high-oral clients would be more accurate perceivers of their counselors than low-oral clients. A pilot study of 12 clients and graduate-student counselors found a trend in the expected direction; a larger study of 21 Ss using a revised Perception of Counselor Questionnaire confirmed the hypothesis. Accuracy of perceiving the counselor did not improve from the 1st administration of the questionnaire, which followed the 3rd counseling session, to that which followed the termination of counseling. The most accurate perceptions were made by female clients with male counselors. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors related to client return rate following intake.

Examined the relationship of client sex, intake counselor sex and experience level, and the sex of the counselor to whom the client was referred to the percentages of clients returning for counseling following an intake interview. In addition, the effect on return rate of referral to another counselor vs continuation with the counselor seen at intake was examined. Results from 67 male and 74 female counseling center clients and 25 regular counseling staff indicate that clients of both sexes were significantly less likely to return when initially interviewed by male rather than female intake counselors. Further, clients referred by male intake counselors to other male counselors were significantly less likely to return than were clients seen by and/or referred to female counselors. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderating effects of client attachment on the counselor experience–working alliance relationship.

The authors predicted that client attachment status would moderate the relationship between counselor experience and client-perceived working alliance. Forty clients from 2 university counseling centers completed measures of attachment and the working alliance. Their counselors were classified according to experience level. Client comfort with intimacy was related to a stronger alliance with the counselors. However, counselor experience was unrelated to client-rated working alliance. Client attachment, specifically comfort with intimacy, moderated the relationship between counselor experience and working alliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived counselor characteristics, client expectations, and client satisfaction with counseling.

Examined (a) the relationship between perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and client satisfaction; (b) the relationships between specific client expectations on perceived counselor characteristics and client satisfaction; and (c) the effects of actual counselor experience level on perceived counselor characteristics and client satisfaction. The 55 counselors who participated in the study were either beginning or advancing practicum students, doctoral-level interns, or PhD counselors; clients were 72 students who sought help at a university counseling center. Clients completed an Expectations About Counseling (EAC) questionnaire before entering counseling, as well as the Counseling Evaluation Inventory (CEI) and Counselor Rating Form (CRF) after several weeks of counseling. CRF and CEI were correlated, but EAC scores were not strongly related to the CEI or CRF scores. Actual counselor experience level did not differentially affect CEI or CRF scores. Findings are discussed in terms of several variables (e.g., legitimate power, source variables, and client satisfaction) that may differentially affect the influence process over time. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female counselor–client dyads: Effects of counselor age, client marital status, and intimacy level of presenting problem on perceptions of counselors.

Explored the impact of counselor age, level of intimacy of clients' presenting problems, and client marital status on perception of counselors and the counseling relationship with 48 married females (mean age 21.9 yrs) and 48 unmarried females (mean age 26.3 yrs). Ss viewed a series of 3 videotapes, which were counterbalanced for level of intimacy of client's presenting problems and depicted initial interviews between young female clients and either younger or older female counselors. After viewing each individual vignette, Ss completed a counselor rating form, a client satisfaction form, and manipulation checks for presenting problem intimacy and counselor age. Overall, differences in presenting problems and counselor age were perceived as intended. Ss' marital status was unrelated to any measures. Counselors were judged as most expert, attractive, and trustworthy when dealing with presenting problems that were least intimate. Ss anticipated greater satisfaction with younger rather than older counselors only for the least intimate presenting problem. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of counselor self-talk and hypothesis formulation to performance level.

25 female and 15 male counselors across a range of skill levels (14 students in graduate-level counseling laboratory classes, 13 doctoral or advanced master's degree students who had completed at least 1 practicum experience, and 13 professional counselors working as therapists in community agencies) conducted 25-min counseling interviews with 1 of 4 female undergraduate clients and then completed instruments measuring the frequency of task-facilitative and task-distractive self-talk and the quality of clinical hypothesis formulation. It is hypothesized that these measures of counselor internal dialog would be predictive of counselor performance (clients' and trained raters' evaluations) once the effects of counselor gender, education level, and years of experience were accounted for. Cognitive variables were assessed, using standard multiple regression techniques, for their combined and unique contributions to the overall prediction equation. A positive relationship between higher quality clinical hypothesis formulation and higher levels of facilitative performance during counseling sessions was found. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of perceived etiology attribution similarity on client ratings of counselor credibility.

An experimental design was used to test the hypothesis that clients who perceived their counselors as holding etiology attributions similar to their own would rate their counselors' credibility higher than clients who perceived their counselors as holding dissimilar attributions. 40 undergraduate volunteers participated as clients in counseling role-plays with 11 graduate student counselors. At the end of the 3-session counseling analogue experience, each client was exposed to a mock counselor questionnaire on which the counselor's etiology attributions were manipulated to either agree or disagree with the client's etiology attributions. Results indicated that clients in the similarity of etiology attribution condition rated their counselors to be more credible sources of help than did clients in the dissimilarity of etiology attribution condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor race and counseling approach on Asian Americans' perceptions of counselor credibility and utility.

Conducted 2 studies in which Asian Americans rated a counselor's performance in a simulated counseling session with an Asian American student. Two tape recordings of a contrived counseling session were prepared in which the client responses were identical but the counselor responses differed, 1 depicting a "directive" counseling approach and 1 a "nondirective" approach. Each tape recording was paired with 2 different introductions, 1 in which the counselor was identified as Asian American and 1 in which the counselor was described as Caucasian American. In the 1st study, 52 Asian American university students were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 introduction–approach combinations. In the 2nd study, 48 Japanese Americans who were members of the Young Buddhist Association were randomly assigned to the 4 introduction–approach combinations. In both studies, the counselor was rated as more credible and approachable when employing the directive counseling approach than when using the nondirective counseling approach. Evidence was found that Asian American university students see Asian American counselors as more credible and approachable than Caucasian American counselors, while the association members viewed them as equally credible and approachable. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of client and counselor expectancies regarding the duration of counseling.

Asked 594 college students seeking counseling at a university counseling center to indicate duration expectancies in the form of estimates of the number of sessions needed to resolve the problem(s) they were presenting. Following the initial interview, 40 counselors who saw the clients gave their own duration expectancies for 434 of the clients. The results of a comparison of estimates showed that clients consistently gave significantly lower mean estimates than counselors. No significant correlations were obtained between client or counselor duration expectancies and the number of weeks remaining in the school term or year. Clients with career development concerns and counselors of clients with these concerns gave the smallest mean estimates. Large mean and modal discrepancies occurred between client and counselor estimates for personal/social problems. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor sex and sex role and client sex on clients' perceptions and self-disclosure in a counseling analogue study.

Studied the effects of client sex and counselor sex and sex role on the counseling relationship, using an analogue format in which 35 male and 39 female undergraduate students participated in simulated counseling interviews. Ss were stratified by sex and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatment conditions: (a) masculine male counselor, (b) feminine male counselor, (c) masculine female counselor, and (d) feminine female counselor. At the conclusion of the interview, the S completed the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (Form OS-M-64) and a questionnaire assessing the S's satisfaction with the counseling session. The audiotapes of the sessions were rated by trained judges for (a) positive affective self-references, (b) negative affective self-references, and (c) total non-affective self-references of the Ss. Male Ss were more satisfied with the counseling process than female Ss. Male Ss indicated greater satisfaction and a higher level of counselor regard with feminine counselors than with masculine counselors, regardless of counselor sex, but female Ss indicated greater satisfaction and a higher level of counselor regard with masculine counselors than with feminine counselors, regardless of counselor sex. Male Ss talked most about themselves with feminine female counselors and least about themselves with masculine female counselors, while female Ss talked most about themselves with feminine male counselors and least about themselves with masculine male counselors. These findings are related to the feminist pleas for same-sex pairing in the counseling relationship. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative perceptions of counselor behavior: A replication and extension.

Investigated comparative perceptions of counselor behavior. 40 counseling interviews were rated by 40 16–50 yr old participating clients, 9 counselors (professional staff members), and 5 observers (staff psychologists) along social influence and client-centered dimensions at a Midwestern community mental health center. The Counselor Rating Form (CRF) and Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory ere used to yield measures of these dimensions. Results support the hypothesis that clients would rate their counselors highest on each variable relative to counselor self-ratings and observers' ratings of counselors. Correlational analyses revealed a high degree of relationship among the social influence and client-centered dimensions for client and observer ratings. There was greater agreement between clients and observers than between clients and counselors or counselors and observers on 4 dimensions. Data suggest the existence of a common factor of perceived counselor behavior. The utility of the social influence constructs as measured by the CRF was supported, and this area of study appears to have direct relevance to research in applied professional settings. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Black students' counselor preference and attitudes toward counseling center use.

Surveyed 42 female and 33 male Black college students to determine factors related to Black student use of the university counseling center. Counselor preference, sex of client, sex of counselor, race of counselor, and type of problem were analyzed as to their effects on counseling center use. Results indicate that Black clients preferred Black counselors and that the likelihood of taking a problem to the counseling center increased as counselor preference increased. Also, the likelihood of taking a problem to the center was significantly greater if the counselor to be seen was Black rather than White. Client and counselor sex, and type of problem (personal or educational-vocational) had no effect on potential counseling center usage. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential helpfulness of counselor verbal response modes.

28 counselor–client dyads (analog sample consisting of 15 graduate students and faculty and 28 undergraduates) and 16 client–counselor dyads (counseling sample) rated the helpfulness of particular counselor responses in just-completed counseling sessions, using Interpersonal Process Recall. In the counseling sample, counselors also rated the helpfulness of the same responses. The responses were measured for type of response made by objective raters, clients, and counselors. Interpretations received the highest helpfulness ratings from both client and counselor. Advisements were rated as slightly more helpful than nonadvisements, and questions were rated as slightly less helpful than nonquestions. However, counselor response modes account for only a small proportion of the variance in helpfulness ratings, which points out the need for research on contextual variables and response mode subtypes. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Duration, satisfaction, and perceived effectiveness of cross-cultural counseling.

The relationship between cultural dissimilarity and the duration, satisfaction, and perceived effectiveness of counseling was studied in the context of 70 actual treatment dyads that varied as to the race of the counselor and the client (White or non-White). White counselors provided fewer sessions than non-White counselors, and non-White clients expressed lower levels of overall satisfaction with counseling, regardless of counselor race. No differences in counseling effectiveness were observed as measured by counselor and client ratings of perceived relief, understanding, and coping. Relative to other treatment dyads, however, White clients seeing White counselors attributed their change more to counseling than to other, outside factors. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential perceptions of counselor behavior: Replication and extension.

Conducted 2 studies with 141 undergraduates in an attempt to replicate and extend the 1976 findings of M. B. LaCrosse and A. Barak (1976). In both studies the Counselor Rating Form was shown to be sensitive to perceived differences among and within counselors of moderate and minimal levels of training/experience. In both studies a significant positive relationship was noted between perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness and willingness to refer oneself to the observed counselor for a variety of counseling problems. The provision of a common baseline for S judgment (Study 2) resulted in expertness ratings more consistent with actual counselor training/experience than those of Study 1. The implications of this latter finding for methodological improvements in counseling analog studies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)