Perceived counseling effectiveness as a function of counselor's self-disclosure asnd client's prompting.

Abstract

The use of a counselor's self-disclosure as a constructive technique in the counseling interview has long been debated. Some counselors using self-disclosure were evaluated by subjects significantly more favorably than those who did not (2) though there is evidence to the contrary (I), i.e., no clear preference by subjects for self-disclosing intcrviewers. Further, a counselor's self-disclosure may, in certain instances, be detrimental to the effectiveness of the counseling process. The present study attempted to provide additional evidence concerning the effectiveness of self-disclosure as a counseling technique. The scudy also investigated the effects of a client's prompting of a counselor's self-disclosure on the perceived effectiveness of the counseling interview. The 40 undergraduates were randomly divided into four experimental groups. Thus, there were 10 subjects within each cell of a 2 X 2 (disclosure X prompting) factorial design. One-half of the subjects received brief written dialogs of a counseling session which included the counselor's self-disclosure. The other 20 subjects received dialogs containing a standard paraphrased response substituted for the self-disclosing statement. Also, within each level of the disclosure variable, one-half of the subjects received dialogs in which the client requested personal information from the counselor. The dependent measure was a questionnaire containing eight questions answered on a seven-point scale measuring subjects' dissatisfaction with the counselor's levels of understanding, activeness, caring, promotion of communication, and professionalism. One question involved the subject's willingness to recommend the counselor in the dialog to a friend. An analysis of variance of the total scores of dissatisfaction showed a main effect for disclosure (P = 10.21, p < .01). Self-disclosing counselors were seen more favorably over-all. A main effect for prompting was also found (P = 6.92, p < .05). Counselors conducting interviews in which there was prompting by a client were rated as less effective, regardless of the counselor's subsequent response. No interaction berween variables was found. Analyses of each of eight measures yielded four significant main effects for disclosure and two main effects for prompting. No interactions were found. The question involving subjects' willingness to recommend the counselor to a friend showed main effects for disclosure (p < .001) and prompting (p < .05). The main effect for the disclosure variable supports the results of many researchers promoting the use of self-disclosure in counseling. The finding that a client's responses may alter the perceived effectiveness of a counselor regardless of the counselor's response holds interesting implications and appears to warrant further smdy.