Full-versus Part-time Study in Counseling: A Reexamination

An examination of 340 graduates of the master's degree program in guidance and counseling at Boston College revealed no meaningful differences in desirable counselor characteristics between those who had studied part-time and those who had studied full-time. It is recommended that further large-sample studies be carried out to examine the issue when reliable measures of counseling effectiveness are taken into consideration.     

Influence Processes in Supervision

Supervision is conceptualized in terms of social influence processes that result in attitude and behavior change in the trainee. This article emphasizes attitude change, which both accompanies and mediates behavior change. The implications of the social influence perspective for understanding supervision and for conducting research on supervision are explored.     

The Transition From Novice to Expert Counselor

The role of cognition in the preparation of counselors is highlighted by exploring research in the development of expertise.     

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.     

Supervisor Malpractice: Liability to the Supervisee in Clinical Supervision

Legal liability of supervisors to supervisees beyond the principles of respondeat superior or vicarious liability was explored. After defining 4 widely accepted elements of malpractice, it was determined that each of the 4 elements could be applied in the supervisory relationship.     

The Acquisition of Conceptual Skills: An Exploratory Study

It was hypothesized that explicit instruction in the use of a conceptual framework would be more effective than feedback about behavior in teaching the conceptual skills of problem definition and goal formulation to beginning practicum students. Counseling trainees received one of two kinds of supervision, instruction or feedback, in written form following an interview with a role-play client. They subsequently interviewed two more role-play clients. After each interview, trainees formulated problem definitions, short-term goals, and outcome goals for the case. At the end of the experiment, they rated the supervision they received and their own counseling performance in the three interviews. Results did not support the hypothesis, but rather the reverse. Feedback was found to be more effective in teaching goal formulation and was perceived by trainees to be more effective.