Paid Clients in Counselor Education ‐ An Investigation

Abstract

This investigation follows an earlier attempt to evaluate the use of paid clients in practicum work. Pre‐ and post‐counseling responses of paid and unpaid clients, counselors, and counselor supervisors were tested by Fisher's exact probability tables. Before‐counseling paid clients were found to be different from unpaid clients only in that paid clients did not expect counseling to make them more independent in their relationships with other people. Post‐counseling responses did not reveal any significant differences between paid or unpaid clients. Counselors saw paid clients in the way that paid clients saw themselves. Counselor supervisors did not expect significant differences between paid and unpaid clients. The only significant difference in post‐counseling ratings was that neither counselors or counselor supervisors had anticipated that paid clients did want counselors to offer alternative solutions to problems. Differing pre‐counseling responses of unpaid clients and of counselors and counselor supervisors reflected unfounded expectations that unpaid clients would have greater counseling needs than paid clients. All those involved in the study evaluated paid‐client counseling as being a worthwhile experience. The writers encourage further investigation and evaluation.