The Rural School Counselor: Relationships Among Rural Sociology,Counselor Role,and Counselor Training

Recommendations for the training of rural school counselors are derived from characteristics of the rural American population and the resultant role of the school counselor.     

Counselor Education,Program Accreditation and Counselor Credentialing in Turkey

The purpose of this article is to examine counselor education and the current state of affairs regarding program accreditation and counselor credentialing efforts in Turkey. The paper considers the Turkish education and higher education systems, followed by a brief history of counseling and current counselor education in Turkey and, finally, discusses accreditation and credentialing processes in the country. Attention to these matters and, in particular, standardization and restructuring of undergraduate and graduate counseling programs is considered increasingly important for the development of counseling in Turkey.     

Another Look at Counselor,Client, and Supervisor Ratings of Counselor Effectiveness

The purpose of the study was to compare the perceptions of counselors, clients, and supervisors with regard to the effectiveness of counseling. The Counseling Evaluation Inventory (CEI) was used as a measure of counseling effectiveness, using client satisfaction as a criterion. 25 graduate student counselors provided self-ratings on the CEI. Additional CEI ratings of these counselors were obtained from 120 of their clients and their practicum supervisors. The counselor self-ratings and the supervisors' ratings were significantly correlated with each other, but neither was significantly correlated with the client CEI ratings. In addition, the client CEI ratings were significantly higher than both the counselor self-ratings and the supervisors' ratings.     

Counselor Role,Function, and Job Satisfaction

A survey of 246 certified Tennessee school counselors was made regarding job satisfaction as related to the ASCA role and function recommendations. It was found that the counselors were most job satisfied with placement activities and least job satisfied with research activities.     

Implications of Counselor Conceptualizations for Counselor Education

Conceptualizations of novice and experienced counselors are examined to determine how they view client problems and change in counseling.     

The Relationship of Counselor Self-Disclosure to Counselor Effectiveness

Counselor self-disclosure was investigated as a dimension of counselor effectiveness with a sample of forty-one graduate students in a counseling and guidance practicum. Effectiveness was measured by ratings from clients and practicum supervisors. Clients rated the counselors in three aspects of the counseling interview and supervisors rated counselors in eight areas. Counselor self-disclosure scores were correlated significantly with all the criterion scores of counselor effectiveness (p <. 05). It was suggested that the concept of psychological disclosure may have important implications for counselor selection and training.     

Counselor Gullibility

In this article the author argues that it is mandatory that counselors suspend any disbelief in their clients during the early stages of counseling. Disbelieving interferes with counselor spontaneity and empathy. Indeed, the real work of counseling cannot start until clients perceive counselors as gullible. I offer a justification for being gullible during the initial sessions, along with suggestions for what can be done to develop appropriate levels of gullibility in counselors in training.     

Assessing the Impact of Counselor Licensure in Ohio as Perceived by Counselors,Counselor Educators,and Legislators

This study investigates the perceptions of counselors, counselor educators, and legislators regarding the impact of counselor licensure in Ohio.     

Basic Counselor Skills Training and Counselor Cognitive Complexity

This study examined the relationship between basic counselor skills training and cognitive complexity levels in counseling trainees. Data from graduate counseling trainees enrolled in basic skills training courses and a control group were collected (N = 72). Cognitive complexity levels were measured using the traditional 2‐person form of the Role Category Questionnaire (B. R. Burleson & M. S. Waltman) in a pre‐ and posttest design. Participants exposed to the basic skills training course showed a significantly higher cognitive complexity level than the control group when posttest means were compared.     

Case Type,Anchoring Errors,and Counselor Education

The presence of anchoring errors within a counseling education student sample was investigated using three sets of case material. After reading information that was “good,” “bad,” and “neutral,” participants were asked to rate the mental health of the three hypothetical clients varying in severity. Case type and order of presentation of the pieces of information were randomized across participants. Results indicated that anchoring errors were present for all three cases regardless of severity, but that the presence of anchoring errors was restricted to those made as a result of reading “bad” material. Implications for alerting students in counselor educator programs to the presence of anchoring errors and the need to avoid them are discussed.     

The Relationship of Counselor Self-Actualization To Counselor Facilitativeness

After completing the Personal Orientation Inventory, 32 counselors-in-training each conducted a half-hour counseling session with one of 32 volunteer clients. Following the session, clients and counselors filled out the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, indicating how encouraging the counselor had been. Correlational analyses found that in general, counselor trainees who viewed themselves as more self-actualized were not perceived by clients or by themselves as being more encouraging. Specific elements of self-actualization however (awareness of self, others, and the nature of man) were related to facilitative conditions.     

Relationship of a Group Counseling Course,Hours in Counselor Education,and Sex to Empathic Understanding of Counselor Trainees

This study investigated the relationship of a graduate course in group counseling, the number of hours completed in counselor education, and sex to the empathic understanding of trainees in a counselor education program. The trainees were taped in similar counseling sessions, and their responses were rated independently by three counselor educators, who used Carkhuff's empathic understanding scale. A three-way analysis of variance determined only one significant difference. The trainees who had completed a course in group counseling were significantly higher (p <.05) than those who had not. The level of empathic understanding of the higher group, however, was less than the level considered to be the minimum for effective counseling.     

From School Counselor to Counselor Educator: A Phenomenological Study

Through a phenomenological study, the experiences of 8 early‐career school counselor educators who entered academia directly from positions as P–12 school counselors were examined. Results revealed that the participants experienced numerous challenges and supports related to their transition. Recommendations for counselor educators, doctoral students, and new faculty are provided.     

Roses,Ducks, and Doctoral Degrees in Counselor Education

Points of agreement and disagreement with Randolph's article on changing the non-psychology doctorate in counselor education are presented.     

Extending Counselor Supervision

This article proposes that supervision of the counselor trainee be extended into the trainee's first employment setting following completion of his master's degree program. This extension would be of benefit to the producer (counselor training program), the product (counselor trainee) and the consumer (local school or agency). The proposed model is suggested as also being relevant to the training of counselor supervisors.