Personal Growth of Counselor Trainees

This study compared the level of self-actualization of beginning and advanced students in a master's program in counselor education using the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI). The advanced students scored significantly higher than the beginning students on two POI Scales, Feeling Reactivity and Acceptance of Aggression. The beginning students were more like a sample of normal adults than a sample of self-actualizing persons; however, the advanced students were more like the self-actualizing group.     

Correlates of Counselor Self-Actualization and Client-Perceived Facilitativeness

Client ratings of the abilities of 33 school counselors to communicate the core facilitative conditions of empathy, regard, congruence, and trust were compared to the counselors' scores on a measure of self-actualization. The results supported the contention that there exists a strong relationship between self-actualization and counselor effectiveness as perceived by clients. The potential usefulness of the Personal Orientation Inventory (POl) in the screening and selection of counselor candidates is indicated.     

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.     

A Model for Collaborative Teaching Teams in Counselor Education

Teaching's importance has increased for faculty members and is reflected in the selection criteria for new faculty, particularly those in counselor education. Thus, graduate programs need to provide students with opportunities to obtain teaching experience and enhance their pedagogical training. The collaborative teaching teams model is intended to assist counselor educators in preparing doctoral‐level counseling students for careers in academia. Recommendations for model implementation are provided and specific examples are presented to demonstrate the use of this model in a counselor education and supervision doctoral program accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs.     

Academic peer counseling: Advising with a personal touch

By taking advantage of its resources, students already prepared to do counseling, an academic department has used a peer counseling program to conserve faculty time, improve the dissemination of information, and provide significant interpersonal contact for undergraduate students. Careful selection and synergic supervision have resulted in performance and commitment from the peer counselors. Their efforts have been evaluated positively by student consumers and faculty.She teaches and supervises graduate students in counseling, teaches humanistic psychology, and supervises the academic peer counseling program.He was a peer counselor at the University of West Florida for two years.     

Personality and Attitude Change in Counselor Trainees: An Evaluation

Subjects were 22 participants (14 males and 8 females) in a 38-week Guidance Institute designed to prepare secondary counselors to work with disadvantaged youth. Twenty students with similar characteristics enrolled in the regular counselor education program served as a control group. The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) and Semantic Differentials were administered to experimental and control subjects at the beginning and end of the Institute program. Results indicated that both groups made significant changes on the POI, with the amount and direction of change favoring the Institute subjects. The authors concluded that the Institute had a highly significant impact on the personal development of participants and that the Institute was more efficient than the regular program in eliciting such change.     

职业生涯团体心理辅导对高职生职业决策自我效能感的影响

职业生涯团体心理辅导是高职生职业决策自我效能感提升的有效途径。研究发现,在干预组接受6次职业生涯团体心理辅导以后,在评价自我、规划制定、目标选择、信息收集、解决问题这五个维度上得分均有显著的提高,这为高职院校学生的职业生涯指导工作提供了可靠的依据。     

Students’ Perceptions of Mental Health Counseling in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Counseling services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have focused on counseling in the elementary and secondary schools. To date, the idea of the private practitioner of mental health counseling has been virtually nonexistent. However, education officials at the University of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been exploring the option of following the international trends of preparing students for mental health counseling services, with special emphasis in marriage and family. A counselor education degree would allow individuals to operate private practices to address various concerns that impact individuals within the society at large. No instruments that measure perceptions of counseling from an international perspective were found for the purposes of this study. Therefore, it was necessary for the authors to devise and test a new tool. Surveys were completed by a sample of 141 undergraduate students regarding their perceptions of the importance of counseling in UAE society and the role of the counselor in society and other general questions regarding perceptions of counseling. With this initial effort, psychometric properties of the ‘Perceptions about Counseling Survey’ appeared promising. Results revealed that students had a favorable view toward the role of the counselor in UAE society. Results further revealed that students perceived the counseling profession as favorable. Given that the participants were predominately female, the results were analyzed from the social and cultural perspective of women in Arab society and the social psychological theory of ‘attitude’ is considered as a contextual backdrop.     

CONVERTING TEST DATA TO COUNSELING INFORMATION: SYSTEM TRIAL-WITH FEEDBACK1

A computer-based system for converting test data into locally-validated counseling information was developed and field tested with potential vocational school students. Two data-information conversion procedures were used: similarity (centour) scores based on discriminant analyses and success estimates based on experience tables. Longitudinal validation analyses involving over 1500 students and 20 interest and aptitude measures provided the empirical base for the data-information conversion procedures. Similarity scores and success estimates were developed for each of the 12 vocational program areas in which the students enrolled. These reporting procedures were field tested with 1000 students enrolled in 12 high schools, Illustrations of the similarity score reporting procedures are provided along with summaries of student reactions to these procedures.     

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.     

Effects of Supervised Counseling on Dominance

To ascertain the effects of supervised counselor experience on measures of dominance, graduate students were drawn from three departments at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and given the dominance and self-acceptance scales of the California Psychological Inventory and the California Fascism Scale. In the analysis of variance, the experimental group scored significantly higher (p <.05) on dominance than did the control group from pretest to posttest, and the correlation between dominance and self-acceptance was. 66 (p<. 01). The correlation between dominance and fascism was not significantly different from zero. When the effects of participants' additional counselor (or teacher) experience were partialed out of posttest dominance scores, the results were not significantly changed. The results implied that a supervised counseling practicum effected more of an increase in participants' feelings of well-being than did other counselor (or teacher) experience.     

Web-based training in child maltreatment for future mandated reporters

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of providing Web-based information about child maltreatment to undergraduate education and graduate counseling students. The goal was to determine, via an objective test, whether students would gain information about abuse signs and symptoms and reporting laws. METHODS: One hundred and five education and counseling students enrolled in a large, urban, ethnically diverse, university participated in the Web-based training tutorial. Their participation was part of their course requirements. They logged into the Web site using their university identification number and password. The pre and post-tests could only be taken once. Completion of the tutorial took on average 1 hour. RESULTS: Findings indicated that students' post-test scores were significantly higher than pretest scores on an examination measuring knowledge of child maltreatment signs, symptoms, and reporting procedures. Participants rated their knowledge of child maltreatment significantly higher after taking the tutorial and reported enjoying the self-paced learning of the Web format. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of a brief on-line tutorial to disseminate information related to child abuse identification and reporting to future mandated reporters. In approximately 1 hour of on line training, participants gained an increase in knowledge of reporting procedures. Utilization of Web-based training is proposed as an effective and convenient method of instruction particularly for child abuse issues.     

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.     

Peer Counseling in Colleges and Universities:

Peer counseling owes its beginnings to the paraprofessional movement of the '60s. During the last fifteen years, there has been a growing acceptance of peer counseling, particularly on college campuses. It can be defined as the active use of listening and problem-solving skills together with knowledge about growth and development by students in order to help, advise, and counsel other students. The peer counselor assists other students by clarifying thoughts and feelings, be exploring options, or providing needed information. The use of nonprofessionals in counseling roles has a systematic research history in the literature. Further, there is evidence that preparation for the role and reflection on experience as a peer counselor can be a powerful and enabling factor in individual and group development; through providing service to others, students exercise altruism and learn interdependence in the process of individuation. Recommendations are made for program structure, function, and evaluation; it is suggested that peer counseling programs fit well into a matrix of interventions aimed at assisting student development in a learning environment conductive to growth and developmental needs.     

British and Commonwealth Counselors: An Investigation of Counselor Characteristics and Theoretical Views

This study investigated personal characteristics, espoused theoretical orientation, counseling response style, and tendency toward variety as related to general guidance, and counseling competence, and to home or overseas origin of 32 (16 males and 16 females) students enrolled in the Guidance Unit at the University of Reading, England. Subjects were drawn from the United Kingdom (Home students) and from 11 overseas countries (Overseas students). Instruments administered were the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS), the Porter Counseling Inventory (PCI), and the Similies Preference Inventory (SPI). The subjects' theoretical orientation was determined by the ratings of six theories of counseling. These ratings were given weighted scores for Insight and Action orientation, i.e., London's Insight-Action dichotomy. Guidance and counseling competency was based upon ratings by three professors using a 5-point scale. Results showed large differences between the groups on the EPPS and PCI, but EPPS and PCI scores were unrelated to the subjects' theoretical orientations. Competency ratings were related to theoretical preference, with Home students espousing Action approaches receiving lower ratings and Overseas students espousing Insight approaches receiving lower ratings. Results were discussed in terms of different cultural demands on counselors and with relevance to the use of the Insight-Action dichotomy in research with American counselor samples.     

Using Markov Chain Analyses in Counselor Education Research

This study examined the efficacy of an infrequently used statistical analysis in counselor education research. A Markov chain analysis was used to examine hypothesized differences between students' use of counseling skills in an introductory course. Thirty graduate students participated in the study. Independent raters identified the microskills students used and the effectiveness of participants' counseling sessions. Significant differences were found in the counseling processes of students who were rated as effective and ineffective using a Markov chain analysis. Implications for future research using Markovian analyses in counselor education research are explored.     

Testing the Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making With Counselor Trainees

A training intervention using the Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making was tested with a sample of 48 counselor trainees enrolled in 3 counseling courses across 2 universities. Postintervention data indicated students' scores increased significantly on 5 of 6 evaluation criteria as well as on the overall total score. Although pretest scores were significantly different between students who had taken a multicultural course and those who had not, there was no posttest difference. Implications and suggestions for future training and research are discussed.