Clinical judgments of easy vs. difficult clients by counselor trainees

Abstract

Thirty‐one counselor trainees viewed videotapes of two actors portraying either an easy client (one who expressed intrinsic motivation for help, responded openly to questions and spontaneously elaborated on responses) or a difficult client. Trainees made 11 ratings of client functioning, likely response to treatment, and personal reactions to client. As expected, clients with a difficult interpersonal style were not regarded as more psychologically disturbed, but were rated as having less potential for change and less ego strength. They were rated as less likely to attend the next interview or to complete counseling and less likely to respond well to counseling. They also were less well‐liked. Auxiliary analyses indicated that minority counselors (N = 9) appeared more optimistic about the results of counseling, though they anticipated equally much difficulty in working with the clients. A single interaction effect indicated that white counselor trainees saw less potential for change in the difficult vs. easy clients; minority Ss made no such distinction.

Age, Gender, and Ethnicity of Counsellor Trainees and Corresponding Counselling Self-Efficacy: Research Findings and Implications for Counsellor Educators

“…Difficult clients are described as noncommittal, indecisive, unmotivated, or inexpressive in the instrument utilised (COSE). Berger and Morrison (1984) contend that minority counsellors hold more positive perceptions of successful treatment with difficult clients than their White counterparts due to cultural differences in expectations of what constitutes a “good” client. In our results, minority counsellors may have been more confident in their ability to form therapeutic alliances with difficult clients based on a non-Western cultural perspective, while White counsellors may lack confidence in effecting meaningful change with these types of clients.…”

Counselor Education Students’ Perceptions of Wellness and Mental Health in African American Men: The Effects of Colorism

“…The DPRF (Berger & Morrison, 1984;Strupp, 1973) was selected to operationally measure students' judgments about mental health. Berger and Morrison (1984) developed the DPRF based on a rating form introduced by Strupp (1973). The DPRF includes seven items used to evaluate a client's psychopathology and eight items used to determine a client's prognosis and prospect of profiting from counseling.…”

“…Participants were given a packet that included a demographic data form, a measure of psychopathology (the Diagnostic and Prognostic Rating Form [DPRF]; Berger & Morrison, ), a wellness inventory (the Perceived Wellness Survey [PWS]; Adams, ), a scale to measure social desirability (the Multicultural Social Desirability Scale [MSDS]; Sodowsky, ; Sodowsky et al, ), and a brief case study about a hypothetical 38‐year‐old African American male (see Appendix). One of four randomly assigned photographs of an African American male “client” accompanied the case study.…”

“…The response options for the last eight items range from 1 ( negative response ) to 7 ( positive response ). The DPRF has been used in studies similar to this (e.g., Atkinson et al, ; Berger & Morrison, ) with internal consistency estimates ranging from .62 to .86. Berger and Morrison () demonstrated that the DPRF discriminated between clients’ presenting issues from less severe to very severe.…”

The Ethics of Bias in Counselor Terminology

“…Whereas behavioral therapists perceived the "interviewee" as reasonably well adjusted, analytic therapists viewed the "patient" as considerably more disturbed. Berger and Morrison (1984) studied the clinical judgments of MHC trainees regarding "easy" versus "difficult" clients. Results indicated that difficult clients were viewed as possessing less potential for change and were less well liked than easy clients.…”