| Abstract: | Counselor technical activity in counseling dyads was examined with working alliances that were client-rated as improving (8 dyads) or as continuing poor (7 dyads). Ss were 15 volunteer clients paired with 15 counselor trainees for 4 counseling sessions. Clients rated the strength of the working alliance for each session, and raters scored counselor technical activity on the dimensions of supportive vs challenging, distant vs involved, permissive vs controlling, thematically oriented vs concretely oriented, and here-and-now oriented vs there-and-then oriented. Counselors were relatively more challenging, thematically focused, and here-and-now oriented in the improving dyads than in the continuing-poor alliance dyads. The implications of these findings for theoretical formulations and counseling practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
