Effects of Tape‐Recording & Supervisory Evaluation on Counselor Trainee Anxiety Levels

Abstract

Fifty‐three in‐service employment and rehabilitation counselors, enrolled in supervised counseling practica, participated in a study to assess their subjective and physiological anxiety responses to counseling under different stimulus conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: a counseling session, a counseling session that was tape‐recorded, a counseling session that was tape‐recorded and evaluated by their supervisor, and a control condition in which participants read an article on counseling. Results of the 4 treatment conditions × 3 period analyses of variance for subjective (p <.001) and conductance data (p <.05) indicated that participants who counseled had higher anxiety levels than those who read the article. There was no treatment effect found for heart rate data. None of the counseling groups experienced significantly more anxiety than any of the others. It was concluded that tape‐recording and supervisory evaluation do not increase the anxiety levels of participants over the levels experienced while counseling without recording and/or evaluation.

The Effects of Self-Awareness and Evaluation Apprehension on Counselor Trainee Anxiety

“…The findings cited contradict the reported results for Bowman and Roberts' (1979) investigation of the effects of tape-recording and supelvisory evaluation on anxiety levels in counselor trainees. These authors note, tape-recording and supervisory evaluation are not factors that increase counselor trainee anxiety before or during the counseling interview .…”

“…Bowman and Roberts (1979) investigated counseling sessions under differing stimulus conditions to determine the effects on counselor trainee anxiety levels. Included among the experimental conditions was a comparison of the anxiety levels of trainees in a tape-recorded session with trainees in a session that was to be taped and evaluated by a supervisor.…”

Comparing the Effects of Live Supervision Interventions on Novice Trainee Anxiety and Anger

“…State anxiety was not significantly different over time. These results do not support conclusions that counseling sessions cause anxiety for CITs Bowman & Roberts, 1979a;Bowman & Roberts, 1979b;Diblin, 1969;Kaplan, 1983;Mooney & Carlson, 1976), either anticipatory anxiety or pervasive anxiety (Bernard & Goodyear, 1992;Ronnestad & Skovholt, 1993;Skovholt & Ronnestad, 1992).…”

“…Some empirical studies about novice CIT anxiety have supported these perspectives including those by Bowman, Roberts and Giesen (1978) and 1979a;1979b) who found that CITs were more anxious during counseling than during reading or noncounseling conversations. Olk and Friedlander (1992), in a qualitative study, found that novice CITs were more anxious about evaluation and discussing personal concerns and doubts, and more dependent upon faculty supervisor evaluations than doctoral CITs.…”

Counselor Trainees' Dependence on Clients: Issues and Implications

“…One aspect of this discrepancy is the unrealistic expectations some trainees may have regarding their clients' commitment to counseling. After counseling several clients, trainees discover that some are reluctant (Bowman & Roberts, 1979) and others terminate prematurely (Paradise & Wilder, 1979). Despite these occurrences, some trainees cling tenaciously to textbook notions of clients as being fully committed to change, growth, and the counseling process.…”