Transference,Insight, and the Counselor's Intentions During a Counseling Hour

The interactive effects of transference and client insight on session quality, and the relationship between transference and counselor intentions, were studied within the context of a single counseling session. Thirty-eight experienced counselors audiotaped one counseling session and rated their intentions for each intervention. Counselors also rated transference, insight, and session quality. As hypothesized, when transference was high, client insight was positively related to session quality. Furthermore, negative transference was related to several counselor intentions. Negative transference may signal counselors to focus on the relationship and underlying client issues, and to avoid structuring and directing behavior change.     

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.     

当事人的投入与会谈效果、咨询效果的关系研究

本研究探索了当事人会谈时的投入与即时会谈效果的关系;当事人咨询初期的投入与整体咨询效果的关系。结果发现当事人会谈时的投入与即时会谈效果、在咨询初期的投入与整体咨询效果都呈现显著的正相关。进一步回归分析发现,当事人在咨询初期的投入与整体咨询效果呈现正U型的偏态分布,少数投入水平最低的当事人获得中等水平的咨询效果,中等投入水平的当事人咨询效果最差,投入水平最高的当事人的咨询效果最好。     

Prolongement du dispositif d’accompagnement sens de la vie et sens du travail : « Développer le sens de sa vie en cultivant ses liens aux autres et aux communautés sociales »

IntroductionAs an extension of the counseling program for adults, dedicated to meaning of life and meaning of work, a complementary session called “Developing the meaning of one's life by cultivating one's links with others and social communities” has been created. It is developed under the impetus in particular of formulated research perspectives in which broadening the focus is encouraged, by no longer focusing solely on individuals but also on social groups, collectives and communities.ObjectiveThe intention is to understand the way through which meaning is developed by way of contact with social interactions and how the development of reflection on social communities makes it possible to enrich the individual in the construction of his identity, his references and of his social integration. This session strives not to reinforce, with the accompaniment to meaning, individualism, excessive self-centeredness, withdrawal into oneself within what is known of the intimate sphere. On the contrary, it strives to promote an awareness of the importance of the link to others, of an openness to otherness which is fundamental in the construction of meaning.ProcedureThe objective of this study is to present the session by considering its processes and its effects in order to provide practicing psychologists and counselors in the field of orientation with an intervention device and operational tools.Concluding discussionThe scientific and practical implications are discussed in the light of the main results collected during the 2019 experimentation of this session with four communities and its application within five counseling programs validating its contributions for the beneficiaries and for the overall device.     

The Relationship Between Momentary States of Therapist Self-Awareness and Perceptions of the Counseling Process

To investigate the role of momentary self-awareness, beginning therapists and their volunteer clients participated in a postsession process recall in which therapist helpfulness and momentary self-awareness were assessed along with client reactions. Therapist anxiety levels and strategies used to manage hindering self-awareness were also examined. Results suggest that momentary states of heightened therapist self-awareness may be hindering. Specifically, when therapists rated themselves as more self-aware from moment to moment during counseling sessions, they also rated themselves as more anxious before the session and their clients rated them as less helpful during the session. In addition, therapists reported using a variety of strategies to manage distracting self-awareness, including focusing on intervention planning and focusing on the client. Implications for therapist training are discussed.     

Client Accounts of Hope in Early Counseling Sessions: A Qualitative Study

Hope enables individuals to envision a future in which they wish to participate ( Jevne, 1994 ) and is foundational to counseling practice. However, there has been little research examining client accounts of hope in session. Using basic interpretive inquiry, this case study examines clients' accounts of hope during counseling using video‐assisted recall. Three categories emerged: hope‐fostering counseling relationship, supportive identity development, and perspective change. Implications for counseling are discussed.     

Symposium Introduction: Reflexivity in Life Designing Interventions

This article introduces the Symposium on Reflexivity in Life Design Interventions. Eight articles report studies of counseling processes and client operations during life design interventions as well as client feedback during subsequent Interpersonal Process Recall interviews. The Symposium concludes with comments on and discussion of the studies.     

Meaning Coconstruction in Group Counseling: The Development of Innovative Moments

This study discusses a model of group counseling, the narrative mediation path (NMP), which is a unique narrative, multimodal approach that combines four narrative modes (metaphoric, iconographic, writing, and bodily) and the narrative group. The purpose of the NMP is to foster reflexive processes with underachieving university students and to improve their academic performance. The study analyzes a single case of group counseling for seven underachieving economics students at an Italian university and the process of meaning construction among NMP narrative modes and the follow-up session. It applies the innovative moments coding system, a reliable method for studying change by tracking narrative innovations in sessions. More specifically, we focus on how innovative moments (IMs: action, reflection, protest, and reconceptualization) evolve during the four different narrative modes and the follow-up session. The findings suggest that the NMP fosters narrative innovations, mainly of a reflexive nature (reflection and reconceptualization). Moreover, during counseling and the follow-up session, the pattern of change is primarily characterized by reconceptualization IMs, the most complex form of narrative innovation.     

Gay and bisexual male clients' perceptions of counseling: the role of perceived sexual orientation similarity and counselor universal-diverse orientation

A recurring question in multicultural counseling is whether client-counselor similarity on sociodemographic characteristics benefits counseling. A related issue is how counselor orientation to diversity relates to counseling process and outcome, both as a main effect and in interaction with counselor-client sociodemographic match. This cross-sectional study investigated these questions in relation to gay and bisexual male clients' counseling experiences by examining clients' perceived similarity to their counselor in sexual orientation, as well as counselors' self-reported orientation to diversity (assessed in terms of level of universal-diverse orientation [UDO]). Data were from 83 male-male client-counselor dyads recruited from lesbian/gay/bisexual-affirming counseling practices, where clients identified as gay or bisexual and counselors identified as gay, bisexual, or heterosexual. Counselor UDO was positively and uniquely associated with client ratings of the working alliance, session depth, and session smoothness. Perceived sexual orientation similarity was not directly related to any of the counseling-related criterion variables. Moreover, when counselors reported low levels of UDO, perceived similarity was negatively associated with the client-rated alliance and perceived improvement. Client religious commitment-a control variable in all analyses--was uniquely and negatively associated with client ratings of perceived improvement in counseling.     

Predicting Dropout in Counseling Using Affect Coding of the Therapeutic Relationship: An Empirical Analysis

This study used an observational research method to examine affective counselor–client exchanges during the initial session of counseling for clients who dropped out of counseling and clients who remained in counseling. Results confirmed significant differences in the affect codes of clients and counselors between the 2 groups. Discriminant function analyses classified 77% of counselors and clients in the correct groups and correctly classified over 94% of clients who returned for 4 or more sessions.     

Effect of Client Expectations on the Counseling Relationship

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect upon an initial interview of positive and negative client expectations for counseling. 30 subjects or clients were randomly assigned to 3 groups (1 positive expectation group, 1 negative expectation group, and a control group). Following a 30-minute counseling session, the counselors and clients were asked to evaluate the relationship that had been established. Despite pre-counseling differences in client expectations, no significant differences were found in the relationships established.     

Critical moments in career construction counseling

An important research need concerns identifying and describing factors that promote reflexivity and change in life-design career interventions. Career construction counseling, a primary life-design intervention, uses narrative methods in an interpersonal process of helping people design a work life through reflexive action. Using Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR), the present study examined what prompts reflexivity and change in career construction counseling. A single case analysis method involving a 24-year old Caucasian woman examined one client's experience of processes that prompted change and reflection about her current career transition. Post-counseling IPR with the client of her videotaped career construction counseling session indicated five major themes: (a) role models prompt identity reflection, (b) early recollections foster cohesion, (c) follow-up questions add depth to the story, (d) counselor as audience provides clarity and validation, and (e) career construction interview questions illuminate perspective and need for action. Results support prior research indicating the usefulness of career construction counseling for promoting reflexive action in life design.     

The impact of gender role conflict and counseling technique on psychological help seeking in men

We hypothesized that men's gender role conflict would predict attitudes towards psychological help-seeking after viewing counseling that focused on either client feelings or client cognitions. The sample was made up of 164 male undergraduates: 115 White, 13 African-American, 13 Hispanic, 18 Asian, 2 Portuguese, and 3 of unspecified ethnicity. Participants completed the Gender Role Conflict Scale (GRCS), viewed a videotape of a 10-minute counseling session that used interventions that were either emotion-focused or cognition-focused, and completed a measure of their attitudes towards seeking psychological help. Results indicated that men scoring high on gender role conflict who viewed the session that focused on feelings were least likely to indicate a willingness to seek psychological help compared to men in each of the three other conditions. We discuss implications for counseling interventions for men who adopt the traditional male gender role.A version of this paper was presented at the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. We would like to thank Bob Cournoyer and Piet Lammert for portraying the counselor and client in the study.     

Gender Self‐Confidence and Social Influence: Impact on Working Alliance

The authors investigated the relationships between the counselor's gender self‐confidence, the counselor's use of social influence within the counseling session, and the counselor's sex in relation to the counseling relationship. These attributes were studied with regard to how deeply a therapeutic working alliance developed between the counselor and the client. Results support the importance of counselor characteristics on the counselor–client alliance. Implications for teaching, research, and practice are presented.     

Returning to the Feminine Ground

A case study is described of an adult male European American client who experienced spontaneous spiritual imagery while participating in a visualization meditation during a counseling session. The symbolism of the imagery is discussed in light of A. Deikman's (1997) concepts of receptive and instrumental consciousness.     

Counselor Ethnicity,Counselor Nonverbal Behavior,and Session Outcome With Asian American Clients: Initial Findings

Five Asian American and 5 European American female counselors each saw 3 Asian American volunteer clients for 1 session of career‐focused individual counseling. Examination of counselor nonverbal behaviors revealed that European American counselors displayed significantly greater frequency of adaptors, postural shifts, and smiles than did Asian American counselors. The frequency of smiles was significantly positively correlated with client‐rated session positivity and session arousal, and the frequency of postural shifts was significantly positively correlated with client‐rated session arousal. Limitations and implications of the findings are described.     

会谈中的当事人阻抗及工作同盟的影响因素:一项过程研究

从心理咨询过程研究视角,以38个会谈为对象,考察咨询师指导和当事人特质逆反对当事人阻抗的影响,并检验三者对工作同盟的影响。结果:指导正向预测阻抗,特质逆反则不能,二者的交互作用也不显著;阻抗负向预测工作同盟,指导则不能,二者的交互作用和中介作用都不显著,但阻抗的中介效应相对更大。结论:咨询师指导增加当事人阻抗;当事人阻抗破坏工作同盟,并在咨询师指导对工作同盟的影响过程中可能起中介作用。     

Client and counsellor narrative accounts of congruence during the most helpful and hindering events of an initial counselling session

The role of congruence in establishing and maintaining a therapeutic alliance has been emphasized by theorists within the humanistic/person‐centred tradition. However, there appears to be a lack of research that explores the processes occurring during moments of congruence or incongruence. The main objective of the present study was to gather qualitative data about congruence based on both participants’ narrative accounts of their subjective reactions during the most helpful and the most hindering event of an initial counselling session. Client and counsellor recollections of their experiences during these two events were stimulated through the replay of a video‐tape after the session. The event identification came from the client through a Brief Structured Recall interview. During the hindering event, both participants were incongruent. There was a mismatch between what they were feeling and what they were expressing verbally and/or non‐verbally. At the same time the client was feeling criticised and offended by counsellor's confrontation. By contrast, during the helpful event both participants were congruent. The counsellor was experiencing empathic understanding toward his client and the client was feeling accepted and understood. The implication of these findings are discussed in terms of how congruence might affect the construction of significant events during the therapeutic hour.