Effect Of Counseling Research Articles

Keeping It Real: A Grounded Theory Study of African American Clients Engaging in Counseling at a Community Mental Health Agency.

Few studies have examined African American clients' subjective experiences in counseling from their perspective. This study used a constructivist paradigm, grounded theory methodology, and dimensional analysis to develop a model of clients' subjective experiences in counseling. Derived from clients' perspectives, the model suggests that the African American participants in this study engaged in an ongoing assessing process. Initially, they assessed client-therapist match, which was influenced by 3 factors: salience of Black identity, court involvement, and ideology similarity between client and therapist. These clients then assessed their safety in therapy and their counselor's effectiveness simultaneously. Clients in turn used information obtained from their assessing process to monitor and manage their degree of self-disclosing along a continuum. The model has important implications for future research.

Correlates of School Counsellor Effectiveness in South Western Nigeria

(2004). Correlates of School Counsellor Effectiveness in South Western Nigeria. Journal of Social Sciences: Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 237-243.

Developmental Advocacy: Twenty‐First Century School Counseling

Characteristics of current and emerging school counseling program models are reviewed, and their limitations and challenges in serving students' needs in the 21st century are enumerated. The authors discuss the implications for these models of recent advances in developmental theory and research and in positive psychology, along with the integration of nontraditional counseling functions. Developmental Advocacy is described and offered as a way to enhance the effectiveness of the contemporary school counselor.

Analyzing Police Hostage Negotiations with the Verbal Interactional Analysis Technique

Abstract Verbal Interactional Analysis Techniques have been used for several decades to gather research data on teacher and counselor effectiveness. This article presents an adaptation of the techniques for use by police psychological personnel and police trainers to analyze verbal interaction between negotiators and perpetrators in situations such as hostage taking, barricades, and suicide attempts. The techniques can be quickly learned and habituated so that audio tapes of negotiations can be analyzed and feedback provided to police negotiators in a graphic, nonthreatening manner.

Taiwanese University Students' Conceptions of Counseling

The purpose of this study was to describe and discuss Taiwanese university students' conceptions of counseling. A qualitative method was used to analyze 60 in-depth interviews from 30 male and 30 female students at a national university in central Taiwan. Results indicated that Taiwanese university students recognized the importance of counseling services to students and citizens, even though most of them were unfamiliar with counseling. Thematic patterns emerged from Taiwanese university students' conceptions of counseling, which suggested implications for clinical practice, education, and research. Namely, accessibility, familiarity, credibility, and effectiveness of counselors seemed to enhance students' willingness to seek counseling. Results also suggested that counseling services should implement a combination of educational, preventive, and therapeutic functions.

The Inclusion of Spiritual Process in Counseling and Perceived Counselor Effectiveness

In this study, client level of spirituality was examined as a potential moderater for the effectiveness of including spiritual process in the counseling process. Using an analogue design, participants were crossed on self‐reported level of spirituality and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 analogue conditions. Results suggested that a spiritual intervention was perceived similarly to a cognitive‐behavioral intervention for all respondents. Those respondents who self‐reported higher levels of spirituality rated the counselor on the analogue as more expert and more trustworthy, regardless of which of the 2 analogue conditions they evaluated. Implications for counselors are provided.

Taiwanese female university students' perceptions of counselor effectiveness

This study was designed to describe how Taiwanese female university students perceived a counselor counseling a client by employing three different counseling styles respectively. 190 Taiwanese female university students wrote down their reactions toward the counselor and the process of counseling after watching a videotape demonstrating a segment of counseling a Taiwanese university freshman with a problem of college major selection. A five-mode of data analysis (Marshall & Rossman, 1995) was employed in order to analyze the descriptive data. Three major categories emerged and were described: the context of counseling as relaxing, the role of the counselor as an integration of a friend and a professional, and the counselor as a reflection of professional image. Discussion of results and implications for research and practice are presented.

Effectiveness of Group Supervision Versus Combined Group and Individual Supervision

This study investigated the effectiveness of large group supervision, small group supervision, and combined group and individual supervision with counseling students. Sixty‐four participants in a master's‐level practicum were divided into 3 treatment groups that received supervision over 10 weeks. Using a pretest/posttest method, counselors were rated on growth in effectiveness and development according to self‐report, supervisor, client, and objective rater responses. Analyses of covariance revealed that all supervision formats resulted in similar progress in counselor effectiveness and counselor development. Large group supervision produced a significant result on the factor Autonomy/Dependency. However, participants showed a marked preference for individual feedback and supervision.

The Role of Expectations in Effective Genetic Counseling.

The goals for this investigation were to assess individuals' expectations for social support from genetic counselors, and to explore how these expectations influence perceptions of genetic counselor effectiveness. Two studies were conducted to address these goals. Results from the first study show that individuals most frequently expect genetic counselors to provide options and support following the disclosure of distressing test results, while data from the second study demonstrate that expectations play a significant role in individuals' assessment of genetic counselor effectiveness. These findings shed light on what individuals expect from genetic counselors following the disclosure of medically positive test results and inform how these expectations influence the success of genetic counseling sessions.

Perceptions of counsellor effectiveness: A study of two country groups

The perceptions of United States' (US) and Singaporean college students on directive and nondirective counselling approaches were examined. A total of 103 Singaporean students, studying in Canada and the US, and 108 US students participated in the study. Simulated counselling interviews of the two approaches were presented to students through videotapes. After watching the counselling sessions, students rated the counsellor with the Counsellor Effectiveness Rating Scale; they also were asked to write comments about the counselling session. A multivariate analysis yielded a two-way interaction effect by country of origin. Counsellor expertise was rated significantly higher by Singaporean students observing the nondirective style, while US students rated the directive style higher. Qualitative responses from students were also examined. Implications are discussed.

Effects of counselors' etiology attributions on college students' procrastination.

Clients come to counseling with personal theories about their problems' etiology. Counselors bring other hypotheses to the table. Counselors may be more helpful either when they accept clients' theories or when they provide new ones. A third option is that problem etiology is irrelevant in finding solutions. This study tested the cognitive dissonance theory of interpretations (L. Levy, 1963; S. R. Strong, J. A. Welsh, J. L. Corcoran, & W. T. Hoyt, 1992), which argues that discrepant interpretations are most helpful. Eighty two college-aged procrastinators (25 men, 57 women; ages 17-23, M = 18) interacted with a counselor who (a) agreed with them about procrastination's causes, (b) disagreed with them, or (c) said it was not important to specify a cause. Contrary to prediction, the 3rd condition led to more improvement in participants' self-reported procrastination. This finding is discussed in terms of possible responsibility attributions implicit in the 3rd condition.

Effects of counselors' etiology attributions on college students' procrastination.

Effects of counselors' etiology attributions on college students' procrastination.

Vicarious traumatisation of counsellors and effects on their workplaces

The literature on therapists' reactions to clients' traumatic material is Critically reviewed. The various attempts within this relatively new literature to conceptualise this phenomenon include countertransference, compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatisation. The limited research evidence is evaluated and found to support anecdotal accounts by trauma therapists. Empathic engagement with trauma survivors is necessary for effective psychotherapeutic intervention. However, empathic engagement also makes therapists vulnerable to the detrimental effects of vicarious trauma, with consequent negative effects on individual counsellor effectiveness and organisational dynamics in the workplace.

Asian Americans' and African Americans' Initial Perceptions of Hispanic Counselors

This study examined the effects of Hispanic counselors' race and speech accent on Asian American and African American students' initial perceptions. Results show that students' gender, race, and level of “universal‐diverse” orientation, along with counselors' speech accent, predicted students' initial perceptions of the counselors and of the counseling relationship.

Effect of counselor and client education in nicotine addiction on smoking in substance abusers

Smoking cessation has received little attention in substance abuse programs. The present study analyzed the effect that counselor and client education in nicotine addiction had on clients’ treatment readiness for a smoking cessation program. Thirty-eight smoking clients and two counselors from a short-term residential alcohol treatment facility participated in this study. Counselors served in both the treatment and control conditions in this 2 × 2 mixed factorial design by first participating in the control condition (general substance abuse education) and then in the treatment condition (smoking education). Counselors proceeded to work (for 6 weeks) with clients who had participated in the control education in general substance abuse issues and with clients who participated in the treatment education series in smoking issues. Clients completed the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence and Stages of Change Ladders pre- and posttest. Results indicated that counselor and client education was effective in significantly changing the clients’ thoughts toward smoking cessation and their smoking behaviors. Implications for instituting a smoking education program involving counselors, as well as clients, are discussed.

Patient-Treatment Matching in Substance AbuseDrug Addiction Severity

In this study, a mixed group of 60 substance-dependent patients were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of treatment in either a high-structure, behaviorally oriented (HSB) or a low-structure, facilitative (LSF) individual counseling style. We tested the hypothesis that patients with a more severe pretreatment drug problem will realize greater treatment benefit in HSB counseling, while those with a less severe problem will benefit more in the LSF approach. Six counselors provided the treatments in a counterbalanced design that controlled for possible differences in counselor effectiveness. Treatment benefit comparisons with respect to the counselors' posttreatment ratings, the number of counseling sessions attended, reduction in problem severity, and substance use during treatment were consistently in the hypothesized direction. These findings provide at least partial support for the notion that treatment benefit for substance abuse patients can be improved through appropriate patient-treatment matching on the basis of addiction severity.

Client/family interface in counselling: Challenges for counsellor acceptability and performance in Nigeria

In its three decades of formal existence in Nigeria, counselling is still an emerging profession. This paper does not attempt to evaluate the current status of counselling in Nigeria. Instead, the major thrust of the paper is to bring to light a major dimension that a number of practitioners tend to ignore in their interaction with Nigerian clients-that is, the client/family interface. This dimension is a major distinguishing factor in bringing in culture-relevant variables and how these variables impact and impinge on the counselling process, counsellor effectiveness and acceptability.

The Telephone Counseling Interview as a Complex, Dynamic, Decision Process: A Self-Regulation Model of Counselor Effectiveness

The authors assert that new frameworks for conceptualizing the counseling process are needed in order to advance understanding of the determinants of counselor effectiveness. In the present study, a self-regulation model of performance on complex, dynamic, decision tasks proposed by Omodei and Wearing (1995) was tested in an analog study with 40 telephone counselors who varied in amount of experience. Client-perceived effectiveness of the counselors was found to be related to levels of counselor expertise, intentional motivated cognitive effort, emotional involvement with the caller, and anxiety. Conceptualizing a counseling interview as a complex, dynamic, decision process may lead to theoretical and practical advances in the field.

Relationship Between Humor Appreciation and Counselor Self-Perceptions

This study examined the relationship between humor appreciation and self-perceptions of high school guidance counselors. Results indicated that humor appreciation was unrelated to self-perceived counselor effectiveness, and that male and female counselors enjoyed similar types of humor. Counselors described their humor preferences as being extroverted, realistic, intelligent, and enjoying lighthearted and offbeat humor. Finally, counselors with more education perceived themselves as having less of a sense of humor.

Client Rating of Counselor Effectiveness: A Call for Caution

This study examined the relationship between client presession level of distress and client rating of the effectiveness of individual counseling sessions. Results of this investigation suggest a need for caution when interpreting client ratings of the effectiveness of counseling services. Preexisting client conditions may significantly influence the client ratings, independent of the effectiveness of the counselor.