The 2000 Cohort of New Assistant Professors of Counselor Education: Reflecting at the Culmination of Six Years

This article features the final phase of a 6‐year inquiry focused on counselor educators who assumed their first full‐time faculty position in the fall 2000 academic term. Through in‐depth interviews and questionnaires, the participants described their experiences addressing (a) work environment, (b) sources of satisfaction and pleasure, (c) the interplay between professional and personal domains, and (d) change and transformation. References to tenure and promotion became frequent and prominent across all themes. Recommendations for counselor‐educators‐in‐training, candidates, new counselor educators, and veteran counselor educators are provided.     

Dogmatism and Externality in Locus of Control As Related to Counselor Trainee Skill In Facilitative Responding

It was hypothesized in this study that dogmatism and externality in locus of control are inversely related to skill in facilitative responding when the effects of specific counselor training program, number of graduate hours in counseling, age, sex, race, and religious affiliation are controlled. The participants were 215 master's degree candidates majoring in guidance and counseling at three southwestern universities. Dogmatism and externality were measured by the Opinion Scale, and skill in facilitative responding was determined by application of the Gross Rating of Facilitative Interpersonal Functioning Scale to written responses of participants to 16 audiotaped client stimulus statements. Multiple regression and partial correlation techniques were used to test the hypothesis, and the results supported the hypothesis. The authors discuss implications of this study for counselor selection and education.     

Clients' Expectations About Counseling and Perceptions of the Working Alliance

Abstract

We examined the relations between clients' expectations about counseling and their ratings of working alliance dimensions. Thirty-seven clients seeking individual counseling at university-based counseling facilities completed the Expectations About Counseling-Brief form (EAC-B) prior to their first counseling session and the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) after their third session. Results of multiple regression analyses revealed that clients' expectations for personal commitment were positively related to their WAI ratings for agreement on tasks and agreement on goals. Expectations for counselor expertise were inversely related to client WAI ratings for agreement on tasks. No significant relations were found for expectations for facilitative conditions or for WAI bond ratings. Implications for counseling and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

The 2000 Cohort of New Assistant Professors of Counselor Education: Year 3

This article is the 3rd in a series that has been focused on the experiences of assistant professors of counselor education who were at the conclusion of their 3rd year in the profession. Thirty‐six participants provided information about their experiences, sources of pleasure and displeasure, professional contributions, areas of change, and expectations for tenure and promotion. Prominent themes that emerged from the data included mentoring, balance and family focus, and scholarship. Recommendations are presented for counselor educators‐in‐training, candidates, new counselor educators (CEs), and veteran CEs.     

The Skilled Counselor Training Model: Skills Acquisition,Self‐Assessment,and Cognitive Complexity

The authors evaluated the effectiveness of the Skilled Counselor Training Model (SCTM; M. H. Smaby, C. D. Maddux, E. Torres‐Rivera, & R. Zimmick, 1999) in teaching counseling skills and in fostering counselor cognitive complexity. Counselor trainees who completed the SCTM had better counseling skills and higher levels of cognitive complexity than did counselor trainees who did not receive the training. Before training, both experimental and control group participants overestimated their skills performance. The control group persisted in this overestimation after training, whereas students who completed the SCTM had a much more accurate self‐assessment. Results suggest that skills‐based training may improve counseling skills and cognitive complexity in counselor trainees.     

Rehabilitation and Non-Rehabilitation Counselor Candidates: Comparison of Interview Behavior and Personality Techniques

This study investigated the hypothesis that conventional role stereotypes of rehabilitation and non-rehabilitation counselors attract counselor candidates who differ in preferred modes of counseling interview behavior and in personality characteristics. Twenty-four rehabilitation counselor candidates and 21 non-rehabilitation counselor candidates enrolled in a beginning counseling course held interviews with a standard client. Candidates' responses were classified employing a content analysis scale. All subjects had taken the 16 PF at the beginning of the course. Results found rehabilitation counselor candidates used informative, questioning, diagnosing, and probing responses more frequently and feeling responses less frequently than did non-rehabilitation candidates. Non-rehabilitation candidates appeared less practical, conservative, and group adherent on the 16 PF than rehabilitation candidates.     

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.     

PERSONAL GROWTH ASPECTS OF PEER COUNSELOR TRAINING FOR OLDER ADULTS

Although there has been an increase in the use of older adults as peer counselors, little is known about the effects of such training on the peer counselor students. In order to be an effective counselor, the older adults must not only examine their own lives, but they must also disclose their life experiences as well as their personal feelings to their clients. It was thought that these processes of self‐examination and self‐disclosure would result in a reappraisal of the older adults’ attitudes and feelings about themselves. The present study sought to examine the degree of personal growth experienced by older adult participants of a peer counselor training course. It was found that the training course attracted individuals who were self‐assured in their ability to deal with the problems of their lives and who wanted to assist others gain the same degree of self‐confidence. Furthermore, it was found that the training course served to increase the participants’ levels of self‐confidence and self‐reliance while at the same time training the students to use these qualities to help others.     

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.     

A Study of the Effects of Group Sensitivity Training with Student Counselor-Consultants

The use of group sensitivity training within a counselor education program was studied. It was hypothesized that participation would have a positive effect on participant self-concept, would increase the effectiveness of the participants in emitting the core dimensions of empathy, warmth, and genuineness during counseling, and would make the participants more effective in offering the core dimensions in counseling than would be members of a control group who did not receive such training. Members of a National Defense Education Act Institute for Counselor-Consultants were randomly assigned to the treatment and control groups. Measurements consisted of a self-report on self-concept and independent ratings of audiotapes based upon the core dimensions. Analysis of the data did not reveal significant findings, thus the hypotheses were not supported.     

Counselor Education Abroad: Selected Programs

This article discusses the current status of counselor education programs being operated for the benefit of military personnel and military dependents abroad. A major issue examined is the apparent inaccuracy of the stereotype of the professional military man as an individual unable to learn or present facilitative dimensions.     

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.     

The Relationship of Facilitative Functioning to Effective Peer Supervision

This study was conducted to investigate the process of peer supervision. The criterion used was counselor trainees' growth in facilitative functioning. The study sought to ascertain whether the facilitative counselor trainee was also the effective peer supervisor, to provide information on evaluating the peer-supervisory experience, and to shed light on the most effective techniques of supervision. Peer supervisors were found to be effective in improving the performance of counselor trainees in the core dimensions of empathy, respect, genuineness, and concreteness. A significant positive correlation was found between peer supervisors' level of empathy in the counseling relationship and the trainees' ratings of supervisors on the relationship questionnaire. No significant correlation was found, however, between the trainees' ratings of their supervisors and the improvement demonstrated by the trainees in the core conditions. In addition, no significant correlation was found between the extent of the trainees' improvement and the supervisors' level of functioning as counselors. The relationship between trainees' responses to the supervisor role-analysis form and their improvement in counseling skills suggested that the most effective supervisors were structured, didactic, and more technique oriented.     

Effects of Race and Communication Style on Indian Perceptions of Counselor Effectiveness

This article reports the results of a study in which 102 American Indian 11th and 12th grade high school students rated 7 dimensions of perceived counselor credibility and utility. Results indicated that Indian counselors were perceived as more effective than non-Indian counselors and that the non-directive, “facilitative” verbal response style was rated as less effective than either a directive or a cultural/experimental style.     

A Comprehensive Model for Multidimensional Competencies in the Training of Secondary School Counselors

Counselor education programs throughout the country have employed competency-based objectives as part of their training programs. The utilization of behavioral objectives in defining specific counselor skills has produced numerous systems and models for the training of counselors. This article presents a multidimensional model for counselor education that uses a behavioral approach in conjunction with the more globally accepted services and functions of the secondary school counselor. The multidimensional model places the competencies in three distinct domains: (a) 10 identifiable services provided by the secondary counselor; (b) the three functions performed by the counselor; and (c) the three types of program training components commonly used in counselor education programs. The three dimensions of the model are presented in a Guilford-like cube for simplicity.     

Effects of Verbal Interaction Analysis Training with Counseling Practicum Students

This article investigates differences in counselor verbal style and type of counselee talk in two groups of counselor trainees. The first group consisted of 15 counselor trainees who received a training program with an Amidon-type Verbal Interaction Analysis System; the second group was a control group of 15 counselor trainees who received no interaction analysis training as part of a semester-long counseling practicum. The results indicated that the counselors receiving interaction analysis training tended to talk less and Use indirect influence techniques more often than the counselor trainees in the control group. Clients of the counselors in the experimental group tended to talk more often and use more self-initiated talk than did the clients of counselors in the control group.     

Effect of Experimentally Induced Sets of High and Low ‘Expertness' During Brief Vocational Counseling

A study was designed to evaluate the effects of an experimentally induced set of “expertness” on clients' evaluations of their selected experiences during brief vocational counseling. Thirty-one college freshman males were randomly assigned to two induced sets of high and low expertness, and client responses to both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the interview were obtained. The results suggested that (a) clients responded more favorably to relationship aspects of the interview with a counselor who was introduced as a nonexpert than with a counselor who was introduced as an expert, (b) informational recall was greater for clients interviewed by the expert counselor, and (c) global ratings of counselor effectiveness did not differentiate between expert and nonexpert counselors. Implications for counselor training and counselor practice are discussed.     

Older Peer Counselor Training

This article relates an older peer counselor training program which was developed for paraprofessional volunteers, 55 and over, to assist elderly widowed people in their adjustment process. The training had three goals: to develop group cohesiveness, to broaden trainees' understanding of widowhood adjustment, and to develop one-to-one interpersonal skills. Training outcomes, including the findings of pre- and posttest assessment of attitudes, indicate that the training program was effective in eliciting widowhood and counseling attitude change, and in providing the trainees with the opportunity for personal growth. The results replicate other studies, demonstrating that procedures employed to train young counselors can be used to train elderly paraprofessionals.     

Helping Beginning Counselors Develop a Personal Theory of Counseling

Developing a personal theory of counseling is essential for beginning counselors. Current approaches de‐emphasize life experiences before graduate training and fail to incorporate counselor developmental stages. This article presents a framework for strengthening development of a personal theory of counseling by integrating life experiences and counselor developmental stages with theory building approaches.     

Attitudes Toward Teaching Prevention and Developmental Issues Among Turkish Counselor Educators

The goal of this study was to determine existing attitudes of Turkish counselor educators regarding the need to emphasize prevention and developmental issues in counselor education programs and to propose ways of incorporating these functions into the counseling area as necessary. Data were collected via questionnaire from 104 counselor educators who have been working at Turkish universities. Of the 50 professors, 23 instructors and 31 research assistants who responded, 36 had prior school counselor experience and 68 had not. The counselor educators reported they had given less attention to prevention and developmental issues in their courses than other issues, but indicated positive attitudes towards teaching preventive and developmental issues.