Coached-Client Effects on Counselor Trainee Response

This study investigated whether or not coached clients modified the verbal responses of counselor trainees. The responses were judged on two dimensions: (a) interpersonal relatedness and (b) portion of total time consumed by the counselor. The subjects of the study were 58 pre-practicum graduate students in counseling at the University of Washington. The coached clients did elicit significantly different responses on both the dimensions of relatedness and speaking time. For example, aggressiveness or intrusiveness on the part of a mother client limited counselor verbalism, while aggressiveness on the part of a boy client stimulated overtalk. The counselor's social responsiveness was significantly related to his tendency to respond with reflected feeling instead of inference of diagnosis.     

Concerns of Beginning Counselor Trainees

The concerns of beginning counselor trainees were factor analyzed. The analysis yielded five distinct variables about which trainees expressed concerns: whether clients liked the counselor, counselor adequacy, counselor role, counseling techniques, and client needs. The relative importance of the concern variables, the specific items that trainees rated of greatest concern, and the implications of these findings for counselor educators are presented.     

Effects of Discrimination Training on Counselor Trainee Response Choice

The purpose of this study was to assess whether counselor trainees who received training in identifying and producing 10 response types as well as training that emphasized when to use the response types would be more effective in using responding skills than trainees who received only training in identifying and producing response types. Thirty-two master's level counselor trainees from a large midwestern university participated in a three-session training workshop and responded to three dependent measures developed to assess effectiveness in using response types along three dimensions: (a) identification, (b) performance, and (c) evaluation. Statistical analysis indicated significant differences between treatment groups. Treatment seemed to decrease the extent to which counselor trainees questioned the client and expressed their own opinions and values during counseling interviews and increase the extent to which trainees used action-oriented statements aimed at encouraging the client to work on problem solving. Trainees in the treatment group showed a tendency to try out complex response types and to use these more frequently and appropriately. Treatment differences were maintained over time.     

Effects of Immediate Awareness of Success and Failure upon Objective Examination Scores

In determining whether or not students learned more effectively in different learning environments, experimental and control classes were conducted over a 2-year period in a basic statistics course that involved ten faculty members and 1,172 students. Grades, common examinations, and a checklist were the basic criterion measures used; mathematics background and overall grade point (GPA) served as control mechanisms. Major conclusions were: students preferring some type of independent study consistently underachieved; instructor types, which produced high achievement levels for specific types of students, were identified in behavioral terms; it probably will take drastic manipulations of the learning environment beyond the normal constraints of the university in order to produce effective changes in the learning pattern.     

The Effect of Immediate Reinforcement on Response-Recurrence Probability

Abstract

The role of reinforcement as a causative agent in increasing the probability of future recurrence of particular responses is examined experimentally and subjected to statistical scrutiny. The reinforcement's immediacy to the response and the subjects' awareness of it are found to elicit the desired response by means other than situational chance thereby indicating its potential usefulness for guiding behavior into desirable channels.     

Comparative Perceptions of Practicum Counselor Behavior

Nineteen counseling interviews were rated by the respective clients, counselors, and supervisors on the Counselor Rating Form; these ratings of perceived counselor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness were compared in a repeated measures analysis of variance. Results indicated that all three sources of perceptions were similar, although counselors rated their own behavior as significantly less expert than their clients. The article discusses the results in terms of their relevance to counselor supervision and training.     

Structure,Impact, and Deficiencies of Beginning Counselor Educators' Doctoral Teaching Preparation

The authors utilized the consensual qualitative research method (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997 ) to explore beginning counselor educators' (N = 9) experiences of doctoral teaching preparation, including helpful and missing components. Emerging themes included a lack of intentionality in teaching‐related program design and a need for stronger preparation in pedagogy and content delivery methods.     

Reinforcement and the Scholarly Response

Abstract

Failure is Impossible Women Teaching for Change: Gender, Class and Power By Kathleen Weiler South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin &; Garvey, 1988, 174 pages, $29.95 hardbound, $12.95 softbound Reviewed by Martha Kendall

Just the Right Medicine Exhortations on Liberal Education: A Dean Speaks His Mind By Robert L. Spaeth Collegeville, Minnesota: Office of Academic Affairs, St. John's University, 1988, 110 Pages, $4.95 softbound Reviewed by Pheme Perkins

Are Intellectuals as Irrelevant as They Seem? The Last Intellectuals: American Culture In the Age of Academe By Russell Jacoby New York: Basic Books, 1987, 290 pages, $18.95. Reviewed by Joseph A. Amato     

Perception of Counselor Behavior and Current Intergenerational Family Relationships

In this study, significant relationships were found between several dimensions of intergenerational family relationships and supervisor ratings of counselor behavior.     

Effects of Counselor Action Skills on Cognition

The authors explore the effects of counseling action skills on cognitive processing by female participants in an analog study. Reflection of feeling was found to elicit defensiveness.     

Effects of Low-level Counselor Functioning on Clients

Three counselors identified as functioning at a low level on basic facilitative skills were paired with both a high- and a low-level functioning client for three sessions. Functioning levels for both counselors and clients were determined by appropriate rating scales. The results indicated negative change in interpersonal functioning levels on the part of high-level clients and no significant change on the part of low-level clients.     

Mindfulness‐Based Awareness and Compassion: Predictors of Counselor Empathy and Anxiety

Mindfulness‐based awareness and compassion were examined as predictors of empathy and anxiety among 152 master's‐level counseling interns. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported that awareness and compassion differentially contributed to explaining the variance in counselor empathy and anxiety. Implications for counselor education are discussed.     

The Effects of Assertive Training on Counselor Trainees

It has been suggested that the addition of assertive training as an integral part of counselor education programs would be desirable. Although this study indicates that assertive training is effective in reducing counselor discomfort and anxiety, such training has no significant effect upon client or supervisor ratings of counselor effectiveness. Therefore, the addition of such a training experience seems, at best, to be open to question.