Teaching counselor trainees how to respond consistently to client negative affect.

Discusses the problem of teaching counselor trainees to respond consistently to client negative affect. A means of measuring the consistency of affective responding is described. 30 counselor trainees at the prepracticum level were randomly divided into 3 groups. The 1st 2 groups were taught how to respond consistently to client negative affect, and the 3rd group served as a control. Modeling and didactic teaching procedures were employed with the 1st 2 groups. When all the Ss counseled an angry role-playing client, the Ss in the 1st 2 groups responded more consistently to the negative affect than those in the control group. There was no difference in the consistency of responding between the modeling and didactic groups. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determining the effects of three counselor verbal responses on client verbal behavior.

Determined the effects of 4 counselor stimulus conditions on 3 measures of client verbal behavior, using 20 female college sophomore clients. The counselor stimulus conditions were reflection of feeling, probe, confrontation, and unspecified responses. The 3 dependent variables were client affect words, self-referent pronouns, and present verb tense. 20 subjects were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 trained Es (2 male and 2 female counselors) for a 42-min session. The 1st 2 min were a preliminary orientation period. The remaining 40 min were divided into 4 10-min counselor stimulus conditions. The sequence of stimulus conditions was randomized for each session. A 2 * 2 factorial analysis with repeated measures on the 2nd factor indicated no significant differences for each dependent variable. The implications for indiscriminate use of these 4 counselor stimulus conditions are discussed with respect to counselor training and research. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

CLIENT 1: A computer program which simulates client behavior in an initial interview.

Presents details of CLIENT 1 in which, through interaction with the counselor, a programed client progresses toward the goal of verbalizing a specific problem statement. Client movement is a function of the simulated variables: threat value of counselor and client statements, strength of the relationship, and an index of counselor competence. The simulation project is valuable as a means of training and evaluation in counselor education and in studying counselor cognitive processes. The program, written in FORTRAN IV, also provides an opportunity to test the sufficiency of an explicit set of theoretical constructs for explaining client behavior. (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)     

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)     

Helping counselor trainees learn to respond consistently to anger and depression.

50 graduate students were randomly divided into 5 groups that were exposed to different kinds of videotaped counselor training procedures. The group of main interest was exposed to a training procedure that enabled the Ss 1st to verbally practice responding to client negative affect and then to observe a model counselor's response. When these Ss counseled either angry or depressed role-playing clients, they responded more consistently to client feelings than did Ss exposed to other training procedures. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal behaviors of "good" and "poor" counselors.

Determined whether skills involved in decoding of nonverbal behaviors are related to the clinical skills of the beginning counselor. Two groups of master's level counselor-trainees (N?=?24) served as Ss. One group was judged by the practicum supervisor as "good" (top 20%) and the other was judged as "poor" (bottom 20%) in interviewing skills. Each counselor conducted a 21-min videotaped interview with a client. The counselor's nonverbal behaviors were rated by the client (using the Behavior Rating Form) and were analyzed by 2 training judges on 4 dimensions of nonverbal behaviors. Decoding skills, as measured by a film test (the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity), were compared between good and poor groups. Also, client- and judge-rated counselor nonverbal behaviors were compared with decoding skills. Results show no significant difference between good and poor counselors in nonverbal decoding abilities. Counselor nonverbal behaviors, as rated by judges, showed no significant correlations with decoding skills; however, client ratings were inversely related to nonverbal decoding skills. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching counselor trainees to respond consistently to different aspects of anger.

Examined the effects of verbal practice training procedures in teaching counselor trainees to consistently respond to 2 aspects of client anger: form (passive or aggressive manner) and direction (toward or away from the counselor). 48 graduate students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 videotaped counselor training procedures. After training, each S was assigned to 2 of the 4 anger conditions and was asked to conduct 2 10-min counseling sessions. Ss in either of the 2 experimental conditions, verbal practice with modeling or verbal practice without modeling, were significantly more consistent in responding to the confederate clients' anger than were those in the control group. The treatment effects were maintained 1 wk later. Significant differences were also found for direction of client anger and the interaction between treatments and direction. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive style and counselor–client compatibility on client growth.

Tests of 2 cognitive style dimensions (serialism–holism and field dependence–independence; measured by the Gandlemuller Test and the Group Embedded Figures Test, respectively) were administered to 60 counselor trainees in graduate clinical and counseling psychology programs and 60 volunteer clients drawn from a university-level applied psychology course. 32 counselor–client pairs matched or mismatched on the 2 dimensions were formed. Counselor and client pairs engaged in 2 50-min therapy sessions that focused on client self-enhancement. In independent rating sessions, matching effects for field dependence–independence were obtained in clients' subjective ratings of improvement in self-exploration skills and in clients' and counselors' subjective ratings of the ease of relating with each other. Implications and applications for achieving maximum counselor–client compatibility in a person–environment interaction model are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor statements on rater judgments of client self-exploration.

Examined the influence of counselor statements on rater judgements of client self-exploration. Audiotaped segments of counseling interviews that included both counselor and client statements and identical autiotaped segments, but with the counselors' statements deleted, were rated on client self-exploration by separate groups of raters (totaling 20 counseling graduate students). A significantly positive correlation was found between the 2 sets of ratings. With 1 exception, no significant differences were found for each segment. Finally, no differences were found between ratings for segments, unedited and edited, in which counselors were functioning at high levels of accurate empathy and ratings in which counselors were functioning at low levels of accurate empathy. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of counselor and client racial similarity on the counselor's response patterns and skills.

To test the hypothesis that factors of racial differences may mediate counselor–client interactions in terms of the counselor's attending and expressive response style and the delivery and type appropriateness of responses, 60 graduate level Black and White counselor trainees were asked to counsel both Black and White clients. As hypothesized, Ss' delivery scores and the type appropriateness of responses were significantly better under conditions of racial similarity with the clients. Both Black and White Ss were rated as being more expressive than attending in their response patterns toward Black clients. Findings have implications for counselor–client relationships and professional training programs for psychological counseling in multiracial settings. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor and client sex pairing: The effects of counseling problem and counselor sex role orientation.

291 male and 246 female undergraduates viewed a videotape of a client of the same sex with either a vocational or personal social problem, counseled by either a masculine or feminine male or female counselor. Three times during the videotape, Ss predicted the client's next response by selecting 1 of 4 affective self-reference statements. At the conclusion of the videotapes, Ss rated the counselors using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (BLRI) and the Counselor Rating Form (CRF). Results indicate significant main effects and interactions of counselor sex and sex role and client sex and presenting problem for the BLRI, the CRF, and S affective self-references. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The language of motivational interviewing and feedback: Counselor language, client language, and client drinking outcomes.

Previous research has suggested that motivational interviewing (MI) may affect client language, which in turn predicts client drinking outcome. In this study, we examined the relationship between counselor language and client language, personalized feedback and client language, and client language and client drinking outcome, in a sample of heavy-drinking college students. MI was delivered in a single session with or without a personalized feedback report (MI with feedback [MIF]; MI only). Sessions were coded using the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code 2.1. A composite drinking outcome score was used, consisting of drinks per week, peak blood alcohol concentration, and protective drinking strategies. We found three main results. First, in the MIF group, MI consistent counselor language was positively associated with client change talk. Second, after receiving feedback, MIF clients showed lower levels of sustain talk, relative to MI only clients. Finally, in the MIF group, clients with greater change talk showed improved drinking outcomes at 3 months, while clients with greater sustain talk showed poorer drinking outcomes. These results highlight the relationship between counselor MI skill and client change talk, and suggest an important role for feedback in the change process. (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)     

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)     

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)     

Differential client attractiveness in a counseling analogue.

Investigated the effects of variations in conceptual complexity level of counselor and client on counselor attraction to the client. 40 counselor trainees (characterized as having either high or low conceptual level—Paragraph Completion Test) in 2 groups rated the attractiveness of clients following each of 2 counseling analog tasks in which the client was depicted as exhibiting high or low conceptual level. Results of a 2?×?2 analysis of variance (Counseling Complexity?×?Analog Complexity) indicated only that the more complex clients were more attractive across both levels of counselor complexity. Results are discussed in terms of 2 models of interpersonal attraction and the implication for socioeconomic status, as it relates to conceptual level, as a factor in counselor–client role constraints. (19 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)     

Assertion training for mental health paraprofessionals.

Provided 10 wks of assertion training to 8 mental hospital paraprofessionals who, in turn, served as either counselor or counselee in a microcounseling session with 8 paraprofessionals untrained in assertion training. The data were analyzed by a 2 * 2 completely randomized multivariate analysis of variance. Trained counselors were superior to untrained counselors on a set of counselor-effectiveness measures. Trained counselees differed from untrained counselees on a set of client behaviors. This effect was mediated by the training of the counselor. The problems of conducting scientifically valid research within an institution are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Male and female counselor and client perceptions of four levels of counselor touch.

60 male and 60 female counselors (aged 20–63 yrs) and 60 male and 60 female clients (aged 19–65 yrs) from the outpatient mental health clinic of a military hospital each evaluated a videotaped vignette of a counselor–client interaction with 1 of 4 counselor touch conditions depicted: no touch, touch of client's hand, touch of client's shoulder, semi-embrace. Dependent measures were a counselor rating form and a personal attribute inventory. Three-way multivariate analyses of variance (treatment?×?S gender?×?S's client vs counselor status) yielded no significant interactions. However, significance was obtained for the main effects of treatment and S's client vs counselor status. Subsequent analyses revealed that the counselor in the semi-embrace condition was perceived as less trustworthy than those in any of the other conditions. Also, clients perceived the videotaped counselor as more expert, attractive, and trustworthy than did counselors. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)