RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLIENT AGE AND COUNSELOR TRAINEES’ PERCEPTIONS OF PRESENTING PROBLEMS,THERAPEUTIC METHODS,AND PROGNOSES

Research has indicated that counselor perceptions of older adults may influence therapeutic methods. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between client age and counselors’ perceptions of presenting problems, severity of problems, prognoses, and use of therapeutic techniques. Recommendations for client‐counselor compatibility were also evaluated. Counselors were presented with introductory counseling situations that varied by age of client. Participants were then asked to complete questionnaires designed for the purposes of the study variables. Results indicated a significant relationship between the age of the client and the recommended age of the counselor. Other significant differences included therapeutic strategies employed and number of client problems identified. Implications for counselor education are discussed.     

Supervisory Style: Its Relation to the Supervisory Working Alliance and Supervisor Self‐Disclosure

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between supervisor perceptions of their supervisory style and elements of the supervision process, including the supervisory working alliance and supervisor self‐disclosure. Data from 137 counselor supervisors demonstrated a significant positive relationship between attractive, interpersonally sensitive, and task‐oriented supervisory styles and the (a) goals, tasks, and bond components of the supervisory working alliance and (b) frequency of supervisor self‐disclosure. Limitations and implications for counselor supervision theory, research, and practice are addressed.     

A Behavioral Model for the Practicum Supervision of Counselor Candidates

This article presents a behavioral model of supervisor behavior for the counseling practicum that involves supervisor, counselor, and client. Five identifiable stages in supervision are presented: (a) the initial session, (b) the development of a facilitative relationship, (c) goal identification and determination of supervisory procedures, (d) the use of supervisory techniques and procedures, and (e) termination and follow-up. This supervisory process between supervisor and counselor is related to the counseling process between counselor and client.     

Supervisor and Supervisee Attachments and Social Provisions Related to the Supervisory Working Alliance

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between supervisors' and supervisees' self‐reported ability to make healthy adult attachments in relationships, social provisions, and the perceptions of the supervisory working alliance. Data from 67 supervisee‐supervisor dyads indicated that supervisees' social provisions and ability to make healthy adult attachments did not predict supervisees' or supervisors' perceptions of the working alliance at a statistically significant level, but the supervisors' ability to make adult attachments was predictive of both the supervisees' and supervisors' perceptions of the supervisory working alliance. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

The Role of Supervisors' and Supervisees' Mindfulness in Clinical Supervision

The authors explored whether supervisor and supervisee self‐ratings of mindfulness (N = 72 supervision pairs) predicted perceptions of the supervisory relationship and session dynamics. Only supervisor self‐ratings of mindfulness predicted their own ratings of the supervisory relationship and session dynamics.     

Investigating Supervisory Relationships and Therapeutic Alliances Using Structural Equation Modeling

The authors used structural equation modeling to examine the contribution of supervisees' supervisory relationship levels to therapeutic alliance (TA) scores with their clients in practicum. Results showed that supervisory relationship scores positively contributed to the TA. Client and counselor ratings of the TA also differed.     

Writing the client: the role of fictocriticism and prose fiction in the architectural design studio

ABSTRACT

A good working relationship between an architect and a client is crucial to the success of any architectural project. However, client engagement is often absent or difficult to replicate within the classroom teaching of architecture students. In order to address some of these gaps and also to attempt to inculcate a sense of a client–architect relationship within an architectural design studio, the author turned to literary texts. Reading and writing have powerful abilities to affect change, and immersion in reading and writing can propel students to new levels of awareness and enhance their critical reflection. The focus of this article is a consideration of the role of fictocriticism and prose fiction within the design studio context. Reading and writing were harnessed for their transformative potential, enabling students to better envision, develop and communicate their designs. Students were instructed in a method for designing which focused on employing fictocriticism and prose fiction, to foster students’ abilities to critically engage, produce and reflect. This article discusses the design activities employed and provides examples of studio work to illustrate the transdisciplinary learning development and outcomes. The significance of fictocriticism and prose fiction in the design process is also outlined, concluding with implications for the client–architect working relationship, outcomes impacting the students’ future professional practice, and implications for teaching in the twenty-first century tertiary classroom.     

Mindfulness and Counseling Self‐Efficacy: The Mediating Role of Attention and Empathy

This study examined the predictive relationship between mindfulness and counseling self‐efficacy and the potential mediating effects of attention and empathy. Master's‐level counseling interns and doctoral counseling students (N = 179) were surveyed to determine levels of mindfulness, attention, empathy, and counseling self‐efficacy. Pearson product‐moment correlation coefficients revealed significant pairwise relationships between the 4 variables of interest. A multiple‐mediator path analysis supported the hypotheses that mindfulness is a significant predictor of counseling self‐efficacy and that attention is a mediator of that relationship. Results suggest that mindfulness may be an important variable in the development of key counselor preparation outcomes.     

On Change and Diversity: The Role of Governmental Policy and Environmental Influences

This article addresses the issue of change in the government‐university relationship. As has become increasingly clear for both analysts of higher education policy and for administrators in higher education institutions, a fundamental shift in the relationship between national governments and higher education institutions is taking place in many western European countries. In some countries, these changes are occurring at greater speed than in others, but the movement to what has been labelled “state supervision” is quite dominant. The first part of the article analyzes the rationale for this change at system level by tracing its historical imperatives; after which it discusses the concept of the supervisory governance model. The second part focuses in particular on one of the key objectives of higher education policy, namely diversity, and addresses the question of the extent to which a supervisory governance strategy can contribute to the attainment of this objective and what doing so implies for the role and function of higher education institutions. By focussing on the specific issue of diversity, the authors intend to demonstrate the dynamic relationship between governments and higher education institutions that is implied in the supervisory model.     

Using contact with nature,creativity and rituals as a therapeutic medium with children with learning difficulties: a case study

In most cases therapy is addressed as an indoor verbal activity in which the relationship between therapist and client stands at its centre. This article proposes a different approach to therapy: conducting it creatively in nature, with the environment being used not only as a therapeutic setting but also as a medium and a partner in the process. The article is based on a case study carried out with a group of children with special needs within a school setting. It explores the therapeutic and educational impact that this approach had on the participants and on nature's role in it. The article also aims to initiate a dialogue around the option of working with this population in non‐verbal and experiential ways, illustrating the potential that the use of group work, creativity and contact with nature may offer.     

A review of psychotherapy outcome research: Considerations for school‐based mental health providers

Evaluating psychotherapeutic outcome is an important endeavor given psychology's focus on identifying effective treatments. There is ample evidence to suggest that psychotherapy interventions for children and adolescents are effective. Unfortunately, the child and adolescent psychotherapy outcome literature lags behind the adult‐focused outcome literature in some important areas, as children and adolescents are often viewed as extensions of adults. This review analyzes the pertinent youth meta‐analyses, examining treatment, client, and therapist variables relevant to positive outcomes. We also consider the impact of variables that have received more attention in the adult psychotherapy outcome literature (i.e., the therapeutic alliance, therapist effects, and allegiance effects) and their possible impact on child and adolescent outcomes. Our hope is that this discussion benefits school‐based mental health professionals when discerning what works best with the youth population. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Application of the contextual model to school‐based counseling: Why does it work?

There is considerable support for the effectiveness of psychotherapies regardless of their individual theoretical underpinnings. They all evidence substantial positive outcomes, particularly if they contain common elements. These include a therapeutic relationship within an appropriate setting, a rationale for why the client is unhappy or distressed and in need of therapy, and procedures for effecting positive change. We interpret these common elements as a process of learning that promotes the client's independence, friendship formation and maintenance, competence, and physical health. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Examining gender similarity and mentor’s supervisory status in mentoring relationships

This study examined the influence of mentor’s status (supervisor vs. non‐supervisor) and gender similarity (homogeneous vs. diversified) of mentor–protégé dyads on protégé’s perception of mentoring functions and outcomes. We collected and analyzed data from 217 mentor–protégé dyads comprised of working professionals from a variety of industries. Results of MANCOVA indicated that supervisory mentors provided more career development functions than non‐supervisory mentors. Mentor–protégé gender similarity and mentor’s supervisory status interacted to influence psychosocial support, career development, and career satisfaction. Key findings are discussed in terms of implications for future research and career counseling in industry and education.     

Academic Supervision: seeking metaphors and models for quality

This paper explores the idea that conceptualizing academic supervision (at Honours or graduate level) as a fiduciary relationship can assist supervisors in enhancing student learning through quality decision‐making. In this paper I reflect on my conceptions of supervision in the light of the growing scholarship on supervision. My conceptions of academic supervision affect my practices as a supervisor. I use my conceptions and experiences of the supervision process to draw conclusions about the ‘best practice’ of supervision. These conclusions about best practice are partial in the sense that they are justified by past experiences, mine and those of others. More is needed to assist supervisors to deliver good quality supervision within a complex relationship where future issues are hard to predict. As a solicitor and legal academic I have been exposed to the ‘professional–client’ relationship and to the literature on metaphors and models for such a relationship. The literature on academic supervision suggested to me that the professional–client relationship and the supervision relationship were similarly perceived. Metaphor is used as a device to understand complexity and to provide a model for decision‐making that, it is argued, will facilitate quality learning outcomes within the supervision relationship. In the fiduciary metaphor the focus is on a relationship which is essentially an ethical one of promoting the welfare of the student. The effectiveness and continuance of the relationship depends on trust. Differentials in knowledge and power are respected but not exploited. Those with greater knowledge and power have correspondingly greater obligations. The language is that of mutual responsibilities and obligations rather than rights. This is contrasted with paternalism, a widespread metaphor within the professions generally, which disempowers and marginalizes.     

Moral Development and Empathy in Counseling

Of interest to counselor educators are variables associated with helper empathy. The authors investigated the relationship between empathy and moral development. Students enrolled in a facilitative skills development course completed a measure of moral development before making their first counseling audiotape. After approximately 12 weeks of skills training, they were subsequently rated for their demonstration of empathic understanding to client statements on an analog videotape and on a counseling audiotape made for their course evaluation. Empathy ratings of their responses to the analog videotape correlated .61 (p < .001) with moral development scores and .35 (p < .05) with supervisory empathy ratings of their final audiotape and moral development scores. Implications for counselor education are discussed.     

Value Differences Among Public High School Teachers Using a Regression Model Analysis of Variance Technique

This study examined outcomes of a supervision practicum in which graduate students supervised under-graduates in teacher education during microteaching activities and studied their supervisory behavior using videotape replays of conferences with teacher-trainees. Pre- and post-measures were used to assess changes in conference style as reflected by verbal behavior, and changes in the relationship between conference dialogues and subsequent teaching behavior. Supervisors shifted toward more indirect-supportive conference styles. Conclusions were that videotaped microteaching can be adapted to improve supervisor education by 1.) providing realistic supervisory experience, 2.) serving as a vehicle to modify the conference behavior of potential supervisors, and 3.) serving as a research vehicle for accumulating new knowledge and testing current theories concerning the process of supervision.     

Brief Therapy at a University Counseling Center: Working Alliance,Readiness to Change,and Symptom Severity

The authors investigated whether students receiving short–term individual counseling at a university counseling center showed progress as evidenced by perceived client and counselor outcomes and the roles that client readiness to change and working alliance played in this setting. The results indicated that the counselor reports, not the client reports, reflected statistically significant change in client symptoms. Changes in symptom severity were not associated with working alliance and readiness to change.     

Relationship dimensions in the professional supervision of psychology graduates: supervisee perceptions of processes and outcome

The professional supervision of new graduates to ensure both their effectiveness with clients and their personal learning and development is a common feature of a range of human services contexts. This study investigated psychology supervisees’ perceptions of relationship processes and outcomes in professional supervision. The relationship constructs of supervisor support, challenge and openness were investigated and related to the outcome variables of supervisee anxiety and perceived effectiveness of supervision. Psychology graduates (n=261) involved in the process of professional supervision for registration responded to a mail survey regarding the quality of their supervisory relationship. Findings established the relationship dimensions of levels of supervisor challenge, supervisor support and supervisor openness as independent but related constructs. Supervisees’ perceptions of supervisor support and openness predicted their perceptions of supervisor effectiveness. Supervisees’ perceptions of level of supervisor challenge predicted their self-reported levels of evaluative anxiety or defensiveness in the supervisory process.     

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Client Factors Affecting Relationship Commitment in the Consultative Relationship

This study explores several factors that exist in the client–consultant relationship and their impact on relationship commitment. The participants were 228 college students from two doctoral research universities. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight scenario‐based questionnaires that measured the effect of three manipulated variables on ability to trust, comparison level of the alternative, dependence, and trust in a relationship commitment. The findings suggest that consultants can proactively manage relationships with their clients by considering their clients’ inherent ability to trust as well as how client decision making is affected by the relationship between alternative choices and their dependence on the consultant.     

The Relationship of Supervisory Styles to Satisfaction With Supervision and the Perceived Self‐Efficacy of Master's‐Level Counseling Students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether supervisors' supervisory styles are related to master's‐level counseling students' satisfaction with supervision and their perceived self‐efficacy. Multiple regression analyses of data obtained for 82 participants indicated that particular supervisory styles were significant predictors of supervisees' satisfaction with supervision and perceived self‐efficacy. Findings can be used to enhance the training of supervisors.