Counselor‐Client Interaction: Impact of Client Content on Counselor Judgments

Abstract

This study was designed to assess whether or not counselors perceived clients with different concerns as equally in need of counseling and equally desirable to work with.Within the field of counseling psychology, the interaction between the counselor and the client is recognized as an essential component of the therapeutic process. This is generally acknowledged across a vast range of theoretical orientations. Extensive research has been conducted in this area, thus exemplifying the importance that has been attributed to it. Despite the attention given to the counselor-client interaction, the majority of the research has been one-sided; focus has been on how the counselor affects the client.When viewing the counseling process as a dialogue or exchange between two individuals, it is also reasonable to expect that client responses will have some effect on the counselor. A crucial question becomes "What types of client input have significant impact on the counselor?" This is important because treatment intervention and eventual outcome are likely to be influenced by the answer. One variable to be considered is the content or nature of the client's presenting problem. It is possible that the initial concern expressed by the client will have some effect on the counselor's attitude. Consequently, counselors need to be aware, given the possibility that the nature of the concern will influence their method of intervention.The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the content of a client's presenting concern influenced counselor attitudes. Two major questions were addressed. First, did the nature of the problem affect the counselor's perception in regard to the level of need for counseling? Second, did the nature of the problem affect the counselor's desire to

The evaluation of participants’ perceptions of session impact: do counsellors-in-training, volunteer clients, and extra-credit/class required clients view session impact differently?

“…Ametrano & Pappas, 1996;Dunn, Borgers, & Thomas, 1988;Gross, 2006;Kivlighan, 1989Kivlighan, , 1990Kivlighan & Shaughnessy, 2000;Lent et al, 2006;Stiles & Snow, 1984;Stiles, Gordon, & Lani, 2002) that have explored counsellors-in-training perceptions, session ratings by clients and novice counsellors, and other factors related to in-session ratings and session outcomes. Ametrano and Pappas (1996), for example, explored the effects of sex and gender role orientation of novice counsellors on session outcomes.…”