Client Cognitive Responses as a Function of Quality of Counselor Verbal Responses

This study examined the relationship between high and low quality counselor responses in four response modes and client cognitions. Twenty-one university students participated in two sessions of brief counseling that included high and low quality counselor responses in paraphrasing, questioning, reflection of feeling, and self-disclosure. After each counseling session, participants used Kagan's (1975) interpersonal process recall method to report their cognitions in response to these counselor responses. Results indicated that the participants had more favorable cognitions toward the counselor associated with high quality counselor paraphrasing and reflection of feeling responses. Participants' cognitions directed toward themselves did not differ in response to any of the four high and low quality counselor responses. Implications of the results are discussed.     

Clients' attributions of recalled important or helpful events in a counseling interview

Clients' causal explanations for recalled important or helpful events between those of early and of late sessions of counseling interview have been examined. We predicted that (a) for clients' recalled important or helpful events, there will be more internal attribution in late than in early sessions and (b) clients' evaluation of counseling sessions would be positively related to their internal attribution of the recalled important or helpful events. Data were generated from 84 sessions of therapy, with 12 counselor-client dyads conducting seven sessions of therapeutic interviews each. Immediately after each interview, clients were requested to recall and explain the most important or helpful events that happened during the session. Clients' causal explanations of the events were analyzed by two trained judges. Results showed no statistically significant differences in frequencies of internal attribution. Similarly, internal attribution did not covary with clients' evaluation of counseling sessions. The implications of the results are discussed.