Effects of meditation vs professional reading on students' perceptions of paraprofessional counselors' effectiveness.

Abstract

Effects of meditation vs relevant professional reading on students' perceptions of paraprofessional counselors' effectiveness (as measured by the Session Evaluation Questionnaire) were examined in a two-group crossover design. Subjects were 10 undergraduate students in social work (the “counselors”) and 30 students in introductory psychology (the “clients”). “Counselors” either meditated regularly for 3 wk. or read transcripts of therapy sessions for 3 wk., then met with “clients” in unstructured interview sessions. Following the session, the meditators were switched to the reading condition and the readers switched to the meditation condition for another 3 wk. A manipulation check showed a positive effect of meditation on self-actualization of the social work students in the form of preventing a decline in self-actualization scores in the reading condition, a decline which occurred only in the group who read first without prior meditation. However, the positive effects of meditation on self-actualization scores were not reflected in evaluations by the student-“clients.”