Effects of Supervisor Style and Empathy on Counselor Perceptions in Simulated Counseling

Effects of supervisor style (techniques type and counseling type) and supervisor empathy upon counselor perceptions in a supervision analogue were examined. Three groups of 14 students heard two sets of recorded client statements and responded as counselors. The two experimental (E) groups had 20-minute conferences with supervisors between the first and second sets. Controls (C) received no supervision. Counselor perceptions were measured by questionnaire responses. Although subjects supervised by an emphasis on techniques rated themselves less relaxed and less confident about the meaning of empathy than those with an emphasis on counseling, their performance on the criterion of empathy was higher. Both E groups perceived themselves as higher than C's in amount learned, but they were no higher on the performance measure. No differences were found for reactions to supervision (items given E's only) or reactions to participation in the experiment. Empathy of supervisors did not appreciably affect counselor perceptions.     

Counseling Outcomes: Counselor Characteristics and Client Results

Eighteen counselors in one of the administrative areas of the California Department of Human Resources and 697 of their closed cases were studied in order to discover whether differences in employability outcomes did exist. The study attempted to answer the following questions: (a) How many clients achieve employability during their relationships with employment counselors? (b) What is the final disposition of cases that are closed other than employable? and (c) To what degree do counselors engage in placement activities and what influence do these activities have on employable closures? The study provides evidence that some counselors had significantly more clients achieve employable status than did other counselors.     

Career Counseling and Counselor Training in Finland

This article gives an overview of career counseling and counselor training in Finland. Changes with respect to theory and practice are also discussed.     

Client Conceptions of Change in Career Development and Career Counseling

This article illustrates the ways in which clients in career counseling think about the types of change in their career lives and about the determinants of change. It is based on an analysis of the interview data of a few adult clients. Two category systems are proposed as representative of the clients' thinking about change in these domains.     

High School and Employment Agency Client Views on Career Counseling

Individual interviews of Improved Career Decision Making (ICDM) workshop-trained counselors and focus-group interviews of 41 clients in high schools and state employment agencies in 3 states resulted in findings that may have significance for ICDM training, counselor education programs, and effective delivery of career counseling services to clients. An important emerging concept relates to the notion that exposure to strategies derived from career decision-making models alone will not ensure effective client career decisions. A major implication for counselor training and practice is the need to emphasize metacognitive processing of knowledge and skills (gained from experiential activities) by clients so that they will be motivated to effectively plan for careers.     

Client Perceptions of and Preferences for University-Based Career Services

One hundred thirty-three students who were actively seeking career services reported on their perceptions of the similarity among, and their preferences for, 17 different types of career assistance by way of a paired comparison task. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) and multidimensional preference modeling procedures were used to map these data into spatial representations. Ethnicity, international/domestic student status, tendency to foreclose (TTFS; Blustein, Ellis, & Devenis, 1989), and previous experience with an interest inventory each accounted for differences in perceptions. All participants preferred career assistance involving direct interaction with employed individuals, but class level, occupational status, previous participation in a career development class, and previous experience with career counseling accounted for differences in preferences.     

Asian and Caucasian Client Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Counseling

Questionnaire responses from 73 Asian and 255 Caucasian clients at a university counseling center compared ratings of counseling helpfulness, counselor characteristics, and other reactions to counseling. The Asians (a) rated counseling as less helpful for personal-emotional concerns and (b) rated their counselors as less competent than did the Caucasians.     

Measuring Counseling Effectiveness: The Role of Client,Counselor, and Agency

To measure counseling effectiveness in general, and employment and training agencies in particular, the evaluator must include client, counselor, and agency factors in the evaluation scheme. A model measuring counseling effectiveness discusses representative client, agency, and counselor factors, identifies subfactors, and gives suggestions for measuring each. Many of the client-oriented factors can be assessed through self-report, data for which can be elicited via a detailed questionnaire similar to the one in the appendix.     

Client and Counselor Discussions of Racial and Ethnic Differences in Counseling: An Exploratory Investigation

Fifty‐one clients were surveyed to examine the effect of counselor discussion of racial and ethnic differences in counseling. Analyses revealed that White counselors who discussed these differences with their clients of color were rated as more credible and as having stronger working alliances than those who did not discuss such differences. Se entrevistó a cincuentay un clientes para examinar los efectos de la discusión por parte del consejero de las diferencias raciales y étnicas en consejería. Los análisis revelaron que los consejeros Blancos que discutieron estas diferencias con sus clientes de color fueron valorados como más fiables y con alianzas de trabajo más sólidas que aquellos que no discutieron tales diferencias.     

The Attractiveness of Telephone Counseling: An Empirical Investigation of Client Perceptions

Telephone counseling clients reported that convenience, accessibility, control, and inhibition were the most attractive attributes of receiving counseling (not crisis intervention) via telephone. The results mirror many opinions in the literature. Of the 186 counseling clients who responded to the survey, 96% would be willing to seek telephone counseling again compared with 63.1% who reported being willing to seek face‐to‐face counseling. More than half (58%) of the respondents who had experienced both telephone and face‐to‐face counseling preferred telephone counseling.     

Client Perceptions of the Impact of Genetic Counseling: An Exploratory Study

Twenty-eight former genetic counseling clients seen at a major Midwestern university were recruited to be interviewed about their genetic counseling experiences, including most and least helpful aspects, what they learned, how this information impacted their decision-making, and their perceptions of their genetic counselors' behaviors. Responses were inductively analyzed, and several themes were identified, including: Clients sought genetic counseling to obtain genetic-medical information; a majority accurately recalled this information; genetic counseling influenced decisions for about 50% of the sample; decision-making was affected by several extra-session factors; a majority experienced distress during the session; most perceived genetic counselor responses as nondirective and liked this approach; counselor behaviors regarded as directive involved discussion of pregnancy termination; participants disagreed about the need for and provision of genetic counselor support; most regarded the session as helpful and stated that they would seek genetic counseling again. Suggestions for addressing these issues in practice and research are given.     

Effect of Client and Counselor Ethnicity on Preference for Counselor Disclosure

Preferences for counselor self‐disclosure based on the ethnicity of both the respondent and the counselor were examined for African American and Caucasian students. Results suggested that respondent ethnicity affected preferences for certain types of information about the counselor (personal feelings, sexual issues, professional issues, and success/failure) and that there were interaction (respondent by counselor ethnicity) effects on preference for disclosure in other areas (interpersonal relationships and success/failure). Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Client Adherence to Asian Cultural Values,Common Factors in Counseling,and Session Outcome With Asian American Clients at a University Counseling Center

Based on data from 61 Asian American clients at a university counseling center, the study found that client‐perceived match on client‐counselor belief about problem etiology was related to counselor credibility, empathy, and cross‐cultural competence; the client‐counselor working alliance; session depth; and the likelihood of the client recommending the counselor to another client. An interaction effect showed that both strong match on belief about problem etiology and high client expectation for counseling success were associated with strong client‐counselor working alliance.     

A Qualitative Investigation of Somali Immigrant Perceptions of Disability: Implications for Genetic Counseling

This study examined the potential utility of genetic counseling services for Somali immigrants by investigating their perceptions of disability. Five Somali women participated in structured interviews that assessed their perceptions of the nature, causes, and impact of disability, and care for persons with disabilities. Using a Heideggerian Hermeneutics qualitative method of analysis, six major themes emerged: (1) disability refers to both physical and mental conditions, with mental disability generally thought of first and as more severe; (2) in Somalia, the family cares for disabled family members, treating them as if they were normal (3) there are major cultural differences between Somalia and the United States in how persons with disabilities are treated; (4) caring for a person with a disability is stressful for the family; (5) Allah determines whether or not a child will be disabled, and this cannot be predicted or altered; and (6) family is the primary life focus, and therefore, risk of disability does not affect reproductive decisions. These themes suggest that traditional genetic counseling may have limited utility for Somali immigrants. We recommend several modifications to traditional genetic counseling for Somali patients that also may be useful for populations that have similar beliefs.     

Career Counseling With Juvenile Offenders: Effects on Self‐Efficacy and Career Maturity

This study investigated the effect of career counseling on a juvenile offender population (N = 22). Results indicated the intervention produced significantly higher levels of career maturity and self‐efficacy for the treatment group compared with a control group.     

The Timing of Counselor Contact in the Use of a Computer Information Delivery System With Adult Career Counseling Clients

Treatment outcome differences based on the timing of counselor contact in the use of a computer information delivery system were investigated. The results indicate significant differences between scores for the postintervention counseling and control groups on the Career Decision Scale. Results also indicate significant differences between the postintervention and en-route counseling groups for scores on the Computer Liking subscale of the Computer Attitude Scale. Implications are discussed.