Vocational-educational counseling practices: A survey of university counseling centers.

Assessed vocational-educational counseling at 52 university counseling centers. Surveyed were staff resources (level of staff) directed to vocational counseling, the use of innovative procedures in vocational counseling, and the degree to which career counseling services were evaluated. Results show that master's level staff and practicum students did most of the vocational counseling, innovative practices were few, and research and evaluation were limited. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adjustment differences between counseled and noncounseled students at a university counseling center.

Investigated whether college students who seek counseling differ in their psychological adjustment from those who do not seek counseling. The Social and Emotional Adjustment scales of the Opinion, Attitude, and Interest Survey were administered to 1,368 freshmen, 341 of whom elected counseling within a 5-yr period. Students seeking counseling for help with personal problems differed significantly on the Social and Emotional Adjustment scales from those who did not seek counseling. However, no differences were found for students who wished to resolve educational or vocational problems and students who did not seek counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current practice of group therapy at university counseling centers: A national survey.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the current practice of group psychotherapy at university counseling centers. A group usage survey was developed and used to assess the current practice of group psychotherapy. Surveys were distributed to 232 counseling center directors, with 148 responding, yielding a return rate of 64%. The results of the study indicate that the typical group consists of 5–8 members, is co-led for 1.5 hrs, and meets weekly in the late afternoon. Results include information about group screening, preparation, and other group factors. Although group therapy is a widely practiced therapeutic modality, it appears that it is not carrying enough of the burden of treatment delivery despite the widespread administrative constraints on treatment length and the concurrent high level of demand for services in university counseling centers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multigroup evaluation of the models and functions of university counseling centers.

The appropriateness of 4 counseling center models (traditional, consultation, vocational guidance, and psychotherapy) and 15 specific counseling center functions for universities with enrollments of 10,000-plus were evaluated by 28 counselors, 16 student personnel administrators, 84 resident assistants, faculty, 187 students, and 21 university administrators. Ss were drawn from a large public university in the East. The traditional model was evaluated most positively by 5 of the subgroups. The most salient findings were (a) in both the models and functions phases of the study, student personnel subgroups rated consultation-related activities as appreciably more appropriate, both in a relative and absolute sense, than did nonstudent personnel subgroups; (b) while the psychotherapy model consistently received the lowest ratings, certain types of personal adjustment counseling received consistently positive ratings; (c) educational-vocational counseling was seen as highly appropriate by all groups, but counselors and student personnel administrators did not feel enough of it was being done, a finding consistent with earlier research. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A group counseling emphasis at a university counseling center.

Describes a service delivery system with a group personal counseling emphasis, based on the authors' 2 yrs of experience at a university counseling center. The local background and rationale for this system are discussed, and the practical logistics, the operational policies, and the group ground rules are presented. Utilization data are summarized: 36% of all clients and 88% of clients with 8 or more sessions were group members; groups typically grew to 9 clients and had 60% attendance. Results for a self-report outcome survey of 128 students are exemplified by the 95.1% who reported some level of improvement and the 92.2% who rated their psychologist "very" to "exceptionally effective." (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multicultural competencies of doctoral interns at university counseling centers: An exploratory investigation.

In this study the multicultural competencies of 141 doctoral interns at university counseling centers were explored. Results indicated that some educational variables were predictive of multicultural competencies. Interns who had received supervision for a multicultural counseling situation, attended more multicultural workshops, or taken more multicultural course work, reported greater multicultural knowledge and skills than did interns who had no such supervision, fewer workshop hours, or less course work. Only supervision provided to interns in a multicultural setting correlated significantly with multicultural awareness, thus accounting for only 3% of the variability in interns' multicultural awareness. No significant relationships were found between multicultural competencies and demographic variables. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of training for doctoral interns and future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor intake judgments, client characteristics, and number of sessions at a university counseling center.

Conducted a study to investigate the variables used by intake counselors at a university counseling center in estimating the number of interviews a client will attend and to assess the accuracy of those estimates. Data collected from 448 cases indicate that counselors relied most heavily on their judgment of the severity of personal problems in estimating the number of interviews clients would attend. The variables investigated accounted for a relatively small amount of the total variance found in the actual number of counseling sessions held. An unexpected finding was that the judged severity of vocational problem was negatively correlated to both the estimated and actual number of interviews. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing practices in university and college counseling centers in the United States.

The frequency and scope of psychological test usage in a counseling psychology setting were studied by sending questionnaires to 372 college and university counseling center directors. The 284 usable responses indicated usage of a total of 158 tests; 35 were mentioned by 10% or more of the respondents. The median number of tests mentioned by a center was 14. The 3 most frequently used types of tests were career counseling, led by the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory; personality assessment, led by the MMPI; and mental abilities and aptitude tests (e.g., the WAIS and Differential Aptitude Tests). Differences between these results and those of earlier surveys in clinical settings are discussed. The present respondents reported that counseling psychologists in their centers use career assessment instruments more frequently and projective personality instruments less frequently than do the clinicians. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships between counseling centers and academic programs of counseling and clinical psychology.

Outlines 12 characteristics of a strong and positive relationship between the academic departments of clinical and counseling psychology and the university counseling center. It is concluded that (1) for a reciprocally beneficial relationship to exist, each organization must commit itself to the importance of such a relationship; and (2) this commitment entails both the offering and soliciting of assistance in a variety of areas as well as willingness to search actively for ways to strengthen the relationship. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strategies for implementation of the multicultural guidelines in university and college counseling centers.

University and college counseling centers (CCs) can play an important role in the implementation of the American Psychological Association's "Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists." CCs are major providers of psychological services within institutional settings. In addition, CCs offer professional training programs, conduct research, and advocate for institutional change. Implementing the Multicultural Guidelines requires CCs to infuse multicultural perspectives into all CC functions and to become multiculturally competent organizations. Strategies for implementation of the Guidelines are presented regarding beginning the process, ongoing issues, and anticipated challenges. Examples of applications are provided. Implementation of the Guidelines calls for commitment to a long-term process to promote multiculturalism within both the CC and its home institution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervision of interns and postdoctoral applicants for licensure in university counseling centers.

34 predoctoral interns and 25 postdoctoral psychologists who were applicants for licensure and were employed at university centers rated the supervision they received. Effective supervision was characterized by support, teaching, direct monitoring of the supervisee, and appropriate confrontation. Interns received more supervision and less evaluation than did postdoctoral psychologists. Licensure status of supervisors made little difference in supervision. Results are weakly congruent with theories and research on counselor development. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing severity of psychopathology at counseling centers: A new look.

University counseling center staff and directors have argued that there has been an increase in severity of psychological concerns among university counseling center clients (R. P. Gallagher, B. Zhang, & R. Taylor, 2004; G. L. Stone, K. M. Vespia, & J. E. Kanz, (see record 2000-02442-010)). A body of literature exists to support this perception; however, this research has been criticized for focusing solely on therapist or client perceptions of psychopathology, rather than on objective data (B. S. Sharkin & L. P. Coulter (see record 2005-14332-008)). In this investigation, the authors explored changes in severity among a random sample of 827 university counseling center clients over the course of 7 years (1999-2005) by concurrently measuring client self-report on the Outcome Questionnaire-45, number of prior treatments, and urgency of concern, as well as psychologist reports of Axis I diagnosis, diagnosis severity rating, and Global Assessment of Functioning score. No meaningful trend increases in severity of psychopathology were found over time. Practice implications of these findings are presented, and possible explanations for the impression that severity is increasing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Current perceptions and practices of charging fees in college and university counseling centers.

Mailed a questionnaire that assessed the practice of charging special fees for counseling, testing, and outreach programs, as well as the perceptions of counseling center directors on the fee issue, to 281 directors of college and university counseling centers. Results indicate that 36% of the agencies receive partial funding from student fees; only 3% receive compensation from student or faculty insurance programs. Charging fees for counseling services to students is a practice of only 4% of the respondents, a proportion which has remained stable over the past 10 yrs. In contrast, the proportion of agencies that charge fees for testing has increased from 11 to 34% over the 10-yr period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial similarity of client and counselor and client satisfaction with counseling.

Client evaluations of a precollege counseling interview were obtained for 13 black and 13 white students counseled by 3 experienced black counselors and 8 experienced white counselors. Black students tended to react more favorably to black and to white counselors than did white students. In general, racial similarity of client and counselor was not an important factor in these counseling interviews. The hypothesis that counselors are differentially effective in counseling students of a different racial background than their own lacks support. (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)     

Role of supervision in assuring quality mental health services in university counseling centers.

Conducted a survey to explore the relation between the role of supervision and practitioners' experience, training, and certification and to determine how these factors affect quality assurance in university counseling centers. Ss were 185 counselors. Findings indicate that time spent in supervision was not significantly related to the dependent variables of educational level, experience, or licensure, and that unlicensed practitioners were less likely to seek supervision. The lack of supervision and licensed practitioners may be inconsistent with the value placed on supervision as a quality control procedure. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improved detection of the early defecting counseling client.

Research into the factors predisposing clients to terminate prematurely from counseling often requires the ability to measure and predict defection or continuation, the readiness variable. This study attempted to improve upon the Counseling Readiness Scales by the empirical development of correction keys using the remaining items from the Adjective Check List. Ss were 186 female and 243 male undergraduate counseling clients. This effort was successful as far as improved discrimination between both male and female true negatives (clients predicted to drop who actually drop) and false negatives (clients predicted to drop who actually stay). However, similar efforts to improve the discrimination between true positives (clients predicted to stay who actually stay) and false positives (clients predicted to stay who actually drop) were unsuccessful. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of students' attitudes toward counseling at a predominantly Black university.

A questionnaire survey of 377 students' attitudes toward counseling at a predominantly Black university produced results similar to those reported for predominantly White campuses. The predisposition to seek out counseling services depended on the type of problem. Most Ss were willing to discuss with the counselor matters related to vocational and educational concerns; however, for personal adjustment problems there was significant decline in the frequency with which the counselor's help was sought. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A metalanguage analysis of counselor and client verb usage in counseling.

Examined the verb type and noun case role usages of a counselor and client from the 1st, 11th, and 25th interviews in a single counseling case, using the rationale from a computer-assisted language analysis system and a case grammar approach. The analysis indicated that the participants were remarkably similar in the frequency with which they used (a) specific verb types and (b) case roles of particular noun phrases within each interview. Moreover, Ss were similar in their changes to higher or lower frequencies of these units of linguistic structure over the 3 interviews. The counselor and client appear to be "tracking" each other in their use of given verb types as methods for relating named things to each other. In the beginning of the series, the majority of verbs that both participants used identified the client member of the pair as the agent of some action. By the end of the series, a majority of verbs that both participants were using identified the client as the object of some inner state, or as the experiencer of a psychological process of feeling, sensing, or knowing. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The forum: Half-time doctoral psychology internship programs in university counseling centers: Advantages and disadvantages.

Many psychologists consider half-time doctoral internships to be inferior to full-time 1-yr programs (J. Kohout & B. Cooney, 1993). Do experiences with such internships support these perceptions? Here, the authors review the history of half-time internships, summarize advantages and disadvantages of half-time programs, and describe three such programs accredited by the American Psychological Association. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)