The relationship among counselor experience level, empathic accuracy, and counseling outcome in the early phase of counseling

The current study examined a mediating effect of empathic accuracy on the relationship between counselor experience level and counseling outcome. Data were collected from 48 counselor?Cclient dyads in real-life counseling settings. Empathic accuracy and counseling outcome were assessed by using client perceptions of the first three audiotaped counseling sessions. Ickes?? standard empathic accuracy assessment procedure was used with modifications to assess empathic accuracy. The procedure to assess empathic evaluation included three steps: (a) clients recognize and write down their thoughts and feelings while listening to the audiotapes, (b) counselors infer their client??s thoughts and feelings, (c) The third raters rate the statements of counselors?? empathic accuracy. Correlational analysis revealed that counselor experience level, empathic accuracy, and counseling outcome were positively related to one another. A path analysis was used to test the model that counselor experience level affects counseling outcome through the effect of empathic accuracy. Both paths from counselor experience level to empathic accuracy and from empathic accuracy to counseling outcome were significant, along with a significant mediating effect of empathic accuracy. These results show enhancing empathic accuracy is critical for counseling outcome. Limitations of the current study and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Memory Research in Counseling: A Perspective and Some Hypotheses

The purpose of this article is to outline a perspective for memory research in counseling. The primary audiences were graduate students and supervisors of students planning research plus counseling researchers interested in investigating memory issues in counseling. The importance of memory processes in counseling is briefly reviewed. The authors then present a broad perspective for memory research in counseling and levels of processing, and examine a series of hypotheses that are tied into current work in counseling. The overall heuristic of levels of processing is followed by an examination of the reformulations of the position and how these may result in testable counseling hypotheses. This type of thinking should be valuable to counselor educators as they conduct their own research and help their students plan research programs. In addition, there is potential for applications of memory research to training and practice.     

Working alliance as a mediator and moderator between expectations for counseling success and counseling outcome among Korean clients

The study examined client’s perceptions of working alliance as a mediator and moderator between client expectations of counseling success and counseling outcome. Participants were 284 adult clients in counseling in university or community counseling centers or private practices in South Korea. Level of functioning at the start of counseling was used to control for counseling outcome. Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated that working alliance fully mediated the relationship between client expectations of counseling success and counseling outcome. In addition, moderation of counseling expectations by working alliance on counseling outcome was supported. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Terminology's Impact on Expectations about and Intentions to Seek Psychological Services

Recent research has suggested that psychologists could reframe counseling services as coaching in order to increase the use of psychological services by the general public. This study explored the differential impact of the terminology suggested by replacing the term counseling with the term coaching when assessing college students' expectations about and intentions to seek psychological services. Results indicated that students in general had similar expectations for directiveness, motivation, outcome, or intentions to seek psychological services regardless of terminology used to describe the services.     

Career Counseling Practitioners: Reflections on Theory, Research, and Practice

Career counseling practitioners of varied training levels were surveyed regarding the extent to which major career theories and research data inform their work with clients. In addition, this study was interested in career counselors views regarding (a) how career theorists, researchers, and practitioners can work together to address the needs of career clients, and (b) how theory and research findings can be more relevant to practice. Survey findings revealed that licensed counselors and psychologists as compared to non-counselor trained career practitioners agreed to a greater extent that their degree program had adequately prepared them to provide career counseling by emphasizing theory and attention to personal and career issues, and were more likely to regard professional development activities as important to their career counseling effectiveness. Finally, practitioners had numerous comments regarding the utility of career theory and interventions, and suggestions for bridging the gap between theory and practice.     

An Acceptance and Mindfulness‐Based Approach to Social Phobia: A Case Study

Over the past few years, there has been a proliferation of theoretical discussions and empirical research on the use of acceptance and mindfulness‐based therapies to treat anxiety disorders. Because these treatment approaches are in their infancy, many clinicians may still be uncertain about how to apply such treatments in their work with clients. This case study demonstrates the successful use of an acceptance‐based approach for the treatment of social anxiety disorder in a student in a college counseling center.     

Review of school counseling outcome research

This article is somewhat unique in this special issue as it focuses on the effectiveness of an array of school counseling interventions and not solely on individual and group counseling. In summarizing the school counseling outcome literature, the authors found that students who participated in school counseling interventions tended to score on various outcome measures about a third of a standard deviation above those who did not receive the interventions. School counseling interventions produced quite large effect sizes in the areas of discipline, problem solving, and increasing career knowledge. The effect sizes were smaller, but significant, related to school counseling interventions' impact on academic achievement. Surprisingly little school counseling research was found related to individual counseling. Concerning guidance curriculum, small groups were more effective than interventions that involved entire classrooms. Furthermore, outcome research reflects that group counseling can be effective with students who are experiencing problems and difficulties. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A Grounded Theory of Master's‐Level Counselor Research Identity

A grounded theory approach was used to examine the research identity of 17 master's‐level counseling trainees and practitioners. The emergent theory gave an understanding to sources of variation in the process and outcome of research identity. The authors provide recommendations for counselor educators to use with current and former students.     

Using Cognitive Interventions With Counseling Practicum Students During Group Supervision

The authors argue that students in counseling practicum courses experience many self‐defeating thoughts and anxieties. These worries can impede their performance as new counselors and can have a negative impact on the supervision process. The authors outline innovative methods used by cognitive therapists to address this anxiety. In addition, a model is presented for counselor educators to use cognitive restructuring techniques as a supervision tool. Summary Throughout their studies, counseling graduate students face many possible fears and anxieties that arise from their classroom experiences. The greatest fears and anxieties seem to be related to the counseling practicum experience. This experience is one in which students may feel incompetent, vulnerable, and unskilled as they begin to put their classroom knowledge and experiences into practice. If these fears and anxieties persist, students have a hard time making progress in the area of the counseling relationship and skill building. We have examined how practicum students' fears and anxieties might be addressed, using cognitive interventions. Such interventions allow students to take irrational thoughts and change them to rational thought patterns. This is accomplished by asking students to state their fears verbally, to think about the effects of the fears and the consequences, to think about intervening beliefs and thoughts, and to restate the fears in a rational manner. Our experience suggests that cognitive interventions are useful strategies to help practicum students combat fears and anxieties. Further research might examine the use of other behavioral interventions to address these fears. For example, does role‐playing a counseling technique in supervision make a student less anxious about applying it in a real counseling session? In summary, fear and anxiety can impede the preparation of counselors during their practicum experiences. Understanding the underlying thoughts that cause these fears can help students overcome self‐defeating thought patterns. Cognitive restructuring techniques have been shown to reduce tension and can be used with counseling practicum students to help relieve performance and supervision anxiety.     

College Counseling and Student Retention: Research Findings and Implications for Counseling Centers

College counseling centers may come under increasing scrutiny by administrators regarding how their services contribute to student retention. College counselors can use data to demonstrate a positive influence of counseling on retention, but they also need to educate administrators that student retention should be a consideration among many when evaluating the efficacy of services. The author reviews findings from studies on the impact of college counseling on retention and addresses implications for counseling centers.     

Integrating Social Justice Into Counseling Theories Pedagogy: A Case Example

As they explore counseling theories, students are encouraged to examine their own values, attitudes, and beliefs to find congruence with these theories. This traditional approach inadequately addresses the social injustices that may be perpetuated by selecting theories that further oppress clients and other marginalized communities. Prilleltensky (1997) introduced a social justice paradigm, emancipatory communitarianism, to address the limitations of existing theories on the basis of their underlying values. The authors discuss how incorporating emancipatory communitarianism and values discussions into counseling theories pedagogy can enhance critical thinking and self‐exploration among developing students. Implications for counseling pedagogy, practices, and research are discussed.     

Sex Role Orientation and Self-Disclosure Flexibility in Counselor Training

Several studies have suggested that counselor response effectiveness may not be merely a function of instruction in basic counseling skills. This study examined the impact of the sex role orientation and level of self-disclosure flexibility of 44 counseling students on their ability to demonstrate counseling skills and their overall counseling response effectiveness during and after counseling skills training. Using a factorial analysis, sex role orientation and level of self-disclosure flexibility accounted for approximately 30% of the variance in quality of counseling skills. These findings lend support to the importance of trainee perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral flexibility in the acquisition and use of counseling skills. Suggestions for altering counseling skills training and further research are provided.     

Applying Cultura in the Community College Counseling Practice

Latino students represent the fastest-growing population in the state of California, the United States, and the California Community College (CCC) system. Unfortunately, compared to other ethnic groups, Latino community college students continue to lag academically. Given the importance of counseling services and the scarce research related to community college students and community college counseling services, this study explored how 26 first-generation, low-income, Latino community college students perceived, negotiated, and developed a relationship with their community college counselor. Using a qualitative grounded theory research design, participants’ counseling experiences were captured through face-to-face semistructured in-depth interviews, and a theoretical model was developed. This study extended the literature on the importance of community college counseling services in assisting and motivating students to reach transfer and graduation and emphasized students’ positive and negative counseling experiences. The research findings suggest a need to improve community college counseling services. Thus, based on the research findings and other published research, this study proposes a set of the following: (a) guidelines for applying cultura (culture) to community college counseling that can assist relationship building between students and counselors; (b) questions that can be included in students’ evaluation of counselors; (c) counselor interview questions that may elicit behavioral response and assess cultural competence; and (d) community college students’ preferred counselor characteristics that may be used by hiring committees.     

Time‐Limited Counseling Outcome in a Nationwide College Counseling Center Sample

This study examined the dose‐effect relationship between the number of sessions and therapeutic outcome in a large, nationwide counseling center research consortium. A positive relationship was found between the outcome of counseling and the number of sessions attended. The results of this study support the effectiveness of brief psychotherapy.     

A Review of the Empirical Basis for Counseling: Implications for Practice and Training

This article reviews the empirical literature in terms of three components of counseling including existing counselor and client factors, the counseling process, and the outcome of client change. The counseling process is based on the therapeutic relationship, general factors, and common techniques or interventions, as well as specific counseling approaches. The review supports the contention that there are common factors exhibited by skilled therapists that are empirically related to positive client change. Recommendations are made for the use of this information by counselor educators in training student counselors and designing training programs.     

An Internationalization Competency Checklist for American Counseling Training Programs

Through a mixed method design the researchers sought to develop an internationalization competency checklist that U.S. counseling training programs could use as a pragmatic guide in their efforts to internationalize their curriculum and training environments. Based on a six-domain framework and using content analytic method, 70 potential internationalization competency items were generated. The items were further validated by 66 counseling professionals in the field who were knowledgeable about counseling training and have experience with international activities, resulting in 43 items with 60% or more positive endorsement. These 43 items were selected to form an International Competency Checklist. Practice and research implications of the study’s findings are discussed.     

Wisdom from Korean Reentry Counseling Professionals: A Phenomenological Study of the Reentry Process

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the common experience of Korean counseling professionals who returned to South Korea after obtaining their doctoral degrees in the United States. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Korean counseling professionals to understand their cross-cultural experience. The data were analyzed by phenomenological methods of inquiry. Seven themes emerged from the analyses: Reminiscence, Differences and Comparisons, Benefits, Challenges, Coping, Application and Modification, and Meaning. The findings suggested how the setting and context in which the reentry process occurred contributed to the participants’ experience as well as the essence of the reentry process. Implications of the results are discussed in the light of cross-cultural counseling and for future research and practice.     

An Outreach Support Group for International Students

International students often face challenges in adjusting to their new environment without the use of local supports such as counseling. This article suggests how universities can form an outreach support group that encourages the participation of international students by minimizing the stigma associated with using mental health services and by addressing relevant practical and emotional issues that international students face.