The Relationship Between Client Reluctance and Counseling Effectiveness

Abstract

The effect of client reluctance, resistance to professional assistance, has received little attention in the research on counseling effectiveness. In a short‐term college counseling situation, it was found that intake measures of client‐reluctance were: (a) negatively correlated with client‐perceived satisfaction and improvement, (b) negatively related to degree of congruence between perceived problem and perceived emphasis of the agency, and (c) positively correlated with premature termination in counseling. No differences were found between vocational and personal problem groups on measures of client reluctance, satisfaction, or improvement. Client reluctance was shown to be directly related to counseling outcome. Implications for these findings on counselor education and training are discussed.

Mandated Clients in Career or Employment Counseling

“…&Wilder, 1979).If the counselor is open, empathic, and clear in explaining his or her role in a genuine and respectful way, we have found that clients often reciprocate by being more open and forthright. This openness can help both the client and counselor to determine whether or not the service to which the client has been mandated is appropriate.…”

“…When mandated clients come to counseling they often view the counselor as someone who represents an unjust "system" and, as such, is someone that they need to fight against (Mahrer et al, 1994Paradise & Wilder, 1979. If the counselor is open, empathic, and clear in explaining his or her role in a genuine and respectful way, we have found that clients often reciprocate by being more open and forthright.…”

“…In discussing the mandated participation issue, counselors need to do so in a straightforward, genuine, and nondefensive manner. Some client hostility can be anticipated, and this needs to be heard without getting drawn into a defensive posture (Dowd & Sanders, 1994;Mahrer et al, 1994;Paradise &Wilder, 1979). The posture may represent fear and feelings of fragility on the part of the client that are masked by anger and defiance-a type of self-protection (Dolan as cited in Romig 81 Gruenke, 1991;Mahalik, 1994).…”

“…Working with mandated or involuntary clients can dramatically influence the nature of the counseling situation for both the counselor and the client. Most definitions of counseling either assume or state that the client makes a decision to seek out the service and chooses to participate (Abu Baker, 1999;Hackney & Cormier, 1996;Paradise & Wilder, 1979). Haley (1992) noted that counselors are typically trained to work with clients who are self-referred.…”

“…The fact that they are made to come to see the counselor can make clients feel as if they are at fault or in trouble with the government. If this perception is reinforced by the counselor, the result is often either overt resistance or submission by the client, neither of which is helpful for the client or the counselor (Mahrer et al, 1994;Paradise & Wilder, 1979). The most successful approach seems to be presentation of the situation in terms of the rights and obligations of the client.…”