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)     

Counselor-client agreement on session impact.

We propose a new framework for understanding studies of counselor–client agreement about their counseling. The framework includes five factors: the scope of counseling being studied (process, impact, or outcome), the dimension (index) being rated (in this study, session Depth, Smoothness, Positivity, or Arousal), the measure used to assess agreement (correlations or absolute differences), the level at which the analysis is conducted (session, client, or counselor), and the type of agreement—(a) consensus, the similarity of counselors' own ratings to clients' own ratings; (b) counselor awareness, the similarity of counselors' perceptions of their clients to clients' own ratings; (c) client awareness, the similarity of counselors' own ratings to clients' perceptions of their counselors; and (d) matched awareness, the similarity of counselors' perceptions of their clients to clients' perceptions of their counselors. In a study of session impact (scope), degree of agreement was found to vary substantially with each of the other factors—type of agreement, dimension rated, measure of agreement, and level of analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Gender in the context of supportive and challenging religious counseling interventions.

This study explored an interactive framework for understanding how gender influences the counseling process in religious counseling. Participants (N ?=?314) viewed 1 of 16 videotapes in which either a male or female counselor interacted with a male or female client about a religious problem. Counselors either supported or challenged the clients' religious values. It was found that female counselors were perceived as more religious and effective than were their male counterparts. Multiple regression was used to demonstrate that perception of counselors' religiousness partially mediates the influence of gender on perceived effectiveness of the counselor. Results illustrate that the effects of gender on the counseling process can be predicted with an interactive model. Participants' religiousness also interacted with intervention type to influence their perceptions of the counselors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three methods in measuring the therapeutic process: Clients' and counselors' constructions of the therapeutic process versus actual therapeutic events.

Explored 3 methods in examining the therapeutic process that (1) assessed how clients construct and interpret the change process and counselors' behavior over time, (2) assessed the content and valence of clients' and counselors' most memorable thoughts immediately after the session, and (3) compared the clients' and counselors' memorable thoughts with the actual content of the counseling sessions. A single-S design was used to examine 3 counselor–client dyads across 7 counseling sessions. The results provided preliminary but rather encouraging support of 2 methodologies, Guided Inquiry and thought listing, that assess how clients and counselors construct and interpret aspects of the therapeutic process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional influences in counselor decision making.

We investigated the relation between counselors' causal explanations for clients' presenting problems and subsequent treatment assignments. After an intake interview counselors rated presenting problems on four attributional dimensions and on several other variables thought to influence counselor judgment (e.g., severity and duration of problem and treatment urgency). The results demonstrate that ratings of duration of problem and attributions of stability of cause best predicted treatment decisions. Specifically, a linear relationship emerged; as stability of cause and duration of problem increased, assignments to long-term treatment were more likely. We conclude that attributional processes may play a role in counselor decision making not previously acknowledged and discuss implications for practice and further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral cues to counselor expertness.

Two male and 2 female counselors at each of 3 levels of training and experience conducted an initial interview with a female confederate client who presented the same role to all counselors. Videotapes of these interviews were viewed by 120 undergraduates who rated the counselors' expertness, indicated counselor behaviors that contributed to their judgments, and rated their willingness to refer close friends to the observed counselors for various concerns. Only individual counselor performance contributed significantly to rated expertness. Data do not support those of L. D. Schmidt and S. R. Strong (see record 1970-09304-001), which show an inverse relationship between training/experience and rated expertness. Willingness to refer was differentially related to rated expertness, depending on the client concern. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social psychology and counseling psychology: The history, products, and promise of an interface.

For 3 decades, counseling psychologists have drawn ideas from social psychology about the social process of counseling, integrated the ideas into counseling theories, and assessed them in research. This article traces the history of this interface, examines its products, and projects its future. Three propositions have guided and have been supported by much of the research: (1) Successful counseling relationships generate psychological convergence between counselor and client through a systematic developmental process; (2) ideas counselors introduce that are discrepant from clients' understandings stimulate change; and (3) clients' responsiveness to counselors is a function of their dependence on the counselors. These social influence dynamics underlie the processes and outcomes of counseling relationships regardless of the clinical theory that guides the counselors' work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counseling session impact as viewed by novice counselors and their clients.

The Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ) was used to measure the perspectives of 17 graduate-student counselors and their 72 17–39 yr old clients on 942 individual counseling sessions along 2 evaluative dimensions—depth and smoothness—and 2 dimensions of postsession mood—positivity and arousal. A components-of-variance analysis showed that, from both perspectives, SEQ ratings varied greatly from session to session; ratings were only modestly predictable from differences among counselors or among counselor–client dyads. However, averages across 6–20 sessions permitted adequately reliable differentiation among dyads, for example, for comparisons with outcome measures. Correlations between corresponding counselor and client dimensions ranged from moderate to negligible, whether calulated across sessions, across clients, or across counselors, Novice counselors' judgments of session depth and value may have had little relation to their clients' evaluations. On the other hand, counselors' comfort in sessions and postsession positive mood were moderately predictive of client reactions. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gay and bisexual male clients' perceptions of counseling: The role of perceived sexual orientation similarity and counselor universal-diverse orientation.

A recurring question in multicultural counseling is whether client–counselor similarity on sociodemographic characteristics benefits counseling. A related issue is how counselor orientation to diversity relates to counseling process and outcome, both as a main effect and in interaction with counselor–client sociodemographic match. This cross-sectional study investigated these questions in relation to gay and bisexual male clients' counseling experiences by examining clients' perceived similarity to their counselor in sexual orientation, as well as counselors' self-reported orientation to diversity (assessed in terms of level of universal-diverse orientation [UDO]). Data were from 83 male–male client–counselor dyads recruited from lesbian/gay/bisexual-affirming counseling practices, where clients identified as gay or bisexual and counselors identified as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. Counselor UDO was positively and uniquely associated with client ratings of the working alliance, session depth, and session smoothness. Perceived sexual orientation similarity was not directly related to any of the counseling-related criterion variables. Moreover, when counselors reported low levels of UDO, perceived similarity was negatively associated with the client-rated alliance and perceived improvement. Client religious commitment—a control variable in all analyses—was uniquely and negatively associated with client ratings of perceived improvement in counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client-specific counselor self-efficacy in novice counselors: Relation to perceptions of session quality.

Two versions of a counselor self-efficacy (CSE) measure were administered to 110 prepracticum counselors: a general version, assessing perceived capability to perform basic helping skills and manage the session process with clients generally; and a client-specific version, tapping capability to perform the same behaviors with a specific, current client. Client-specific CSE was found to (a) relate moderately to strongly with general CSE over the course of four counseling sessions, (b) increase significantly over sessions, and (c) account for unique variance in counselors' evaluations of the quality of their sessions. Although it was not a useful direct predictor of clients' session ratings, higher client-specific CSE was associated with greater congruence between counselors' and clients' perceptions of session quality. Implications for further research and training are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of self-disclosing versus self-involving counselor statements across counselor–client gender pairings.

60 male and 60 female undergraduates listened to 1 of 8 audiotaped recordings of a counseling interview between either an experienced male or female counselor and a male client, for male Ss, or a female client, for female Ss. One half of the male and female Ss heard a tape containing counselor self-disclosure statements; the other half heard a tape containing counselor self-involving statements. Ss rated counselors' expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness, and generated written responses to each self-disclosing or self-involving counselor statement. Across all counselor–client gender pairings, self-involving counselors were rated as significantly more expert, attractive, and trustworthy than were self-disclosing counselors. Further, client responses to self-disclosing counselor statements contained significantly more questions about the counselors, were significantly longer responses, and were significantly more likely to be phrased in the past or future rather than in the present tense. Finally, client responses to the self-involving counselor statements contained significantly more client self-referents. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Countertransference reactions to lesbian clients: The role of homophobia, counselor gender, and countertransference management.

This study examined (1) male and female counselors' countertransference (CTF) reactions to lesbian and heterosexual client actresses and (2) the role of counselor homophobia and CTF management ability in CTF reactions. 67 counselors viewed a videotaped client actress in 1 of 2 conditions: lesbian or heterosexual. The client discussed sexual problems within a stable relationship. Counselors responded to the taped client at 8 points. CTF, the dependent variable, was assessed at behavioral, affective, and cognitive levels. Contrary to prediction, counselors did not exhibit more CTF with a lesbian client. As hypothesized, (1) counselor homophobia correlated with counselor avoidance behavior in the lesbian condition and (2) female counselors had greater recall problems than did male counselors with the lesbian client, whereas male and female counselors had equivalent recall with the heterosexual client. CTF management ability was uncorrelated with CTF reactions in all but a few instances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselors' feelings toward clients as related to intake judgments and outcome variables.

Investigated the relationship of the feelings of intake counselors to other judgments that they made as well as to clients' ratings of their counseling experience. Ss were 332 female and 175 male clients of a university counseling center. Results show that intake counselors' liking of clients was related to their rating of the realism of clients' goals, clients' motivation for counseling, and clients' physical appearance. Sex differences are discussed. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of counselor attire in an initial interview.

Examined the effect of counselor attire on clients' state anxiety, willingness to self-disclose, and preference to be counseled by the counselor seen in the study. Clients were 50 female undergraduates seen at an initial interview, and counselors were 3 male doctoral students in counseling psychology. Counselor attire was fixed at 3 levels: traditional (coat and tie), casual (sport shirt and slacks), and highly casual (sweat shirt and jeans). Clients experienced significantly lower anxiety with counselors in casual vs highly casual attire, although no differences emerged between traditionally and casually attired counselors. Client report of her own typical dress was a crucial moderator. Those whose attire was typically casual manifested the most positive reaction to traditionally attired counselors, whereas those whose dress was typically highly casual exhibited the most positive reaction to casually attired counselors. Contrary to expectation, client dogmatism did not moderate the effects of attire on the dependent variables. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preference for and comfort with male versus female counselors among sexually abused girls in individual treatment.

20 sexually abused girls (aged 7–15 yrs) received 6 sessions of psychoeducationally based individual counseling from either male (n?=?10) or female (n?=?10) counselors. Clients' pretreatment and posttreatment preference for sex of their counselor and the girls' anticipated comfort with male vs female counselors were analyzed, as was clients' posttreatment actual comfort with their counselors. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs), with pretreatment data as the covariate, revealed that participants treated by male counselors expressed significantly greater preference for and anticipated comfort with male counselors following completion of the treatment program than did their counterparts who were treated by female counselors. Girls treated by male counselors were not significantly more or less comfortable with their assigned counselor following completion of treatment than were those treated by female counselors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

American Indian and Caucasian students' preferences for counselors: Effects of counselor dress and sex.

Examined the effects of 2 nonverbal cues, the counselor's dress and sex, on students' preferences for counselors. 140 Native Americans from a reservation high school and 226 students from a primarily Caucasian, urban high school rated their preferences for discussing personal, academic, and vocational concerns with a counselor. The independent variables were race and sex of student, and form of dress and sex of counselor. The results of the 2?×?2?×?6?×?2 MANOVA showed that the Ss' preferences for counselors varied with the counselors' sex and dress, the type of concern, and the race of the S. Same-sex preferences for counselors were not influenced by counselor dress. Preference for a counselor of the same sex was strongest for female Native Americans. Cultural and methodological aspects of these results are discussed. (33 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 counselor gender and gender-role orientation on client career choice traditionality.

The purpose of this study was to test common assumptions about the effects of counselors' gender and gender-role orientation on clients' career choice traditionality. A sample of 240 career counseling clients (120 women and 120 men) were counseled by a male or female counselor, who were further classified as possessing a masculine, feminine, or androgynous gender-role orientation as determined by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory. The clients' career choice traditionality was measured on three occasions: during the counseling sessions, at the conclusion of counseling, and with respect to clients' actual career choices 6 months after completion of the counseling process. Results showed that counselor gender and gender-role orientation had no effects on any of the three measures of client career choice traditionality. Client gender emerged as the only significant determinant of client career choice traditionality. We discuss the implications of these findings for counseling research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cost/benefit analysis of the interpersonal process recall technique.

Examined interpersonal process recall (IPR), a supervisory technique, by a cost-benefit analysis. Cost was defined as the possible inhibitory effects on client self-exploration of the use of IPR; benefit was defined as client satisfaction, increased supervisor ratings, and increased counselor empathy levels. Counselors were 36 master's level trainees, clients were 36 undergraduate psychology students, and supervisors were 6 doctoral students in counseling. The IPR treatment consisted of 3 videotaped interviews followed by client, counselor, or mutual recall. The comparison treatment consisted of 3 audiotaped interviews followed by traditional supervision. Results indicate that IPR, when compared to traditional supervision, did not produce differential effects on counselors' empathy level, client satisfaction, supervisor ratings, or clients' self-reported inhibition. Method of supervision, however, did effect significant change in clients' level of self-exploration over time. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)