Conceptualizing and measuring counselors' theoretical orientation.

Abstract

This review discusses issues in conceptualizi ng and measuring counselors' theoretical orientations to practice. Two dimensions of counselor theoretical orientation seem to emerge in several studies: an Analytical-Ex periential dimension and an Objective-Sub jective dimension. Fifteen instruments previously proposed as measures of counselors' and therapists' theoretical orientations are evaluated. Psychometric properties and the utility of each instrument are critically examined. Few instruments show evidence of reliability and even fewer have been shown to have evidence of validity. Over the past 40 years, researchers have devoted considerable attention to counselors', or psychotherapi sts', theoretical orientation and how this influences therapeutic practice. The first to give systematic attention to the topic was Fiedler (1950a). Fiedler viewed the therapeutic relationship as a factor of paramount importance in positive client change. In his classic study, he questioned whether the ideal therapeutic relationship was a function of a therapist's theoretical orientation and training or whether it was derived from a therapist's personal experience and expertness in therapeutic practice. Fiedler found that expert therapists who self-ascribed to differing theoretical schools did not differ in their descriptions of the ideal therapeutic relationship. Similarly, in a follow-up study involving the Q-sort technique and ratings of audio recordings of 10 therapy interviews, Fiedler (1950b) concluded that therapist-client relationships created by experts of differing theoretical orientations resembled each other more closely than relationships created by nonexperts within the same theoretical school. Fiedler's conclusion subsequently became generalized into a widely held belief that experienced psychotherapists from differing theoretical schools did not differ greatly in their actual therapeutic practice (Wogan & Norcross, 1985).