| Abstract: | The effect of client reluctance, resistance to professional assistance, has received little attention in the research on counseling effectiveness. In a short-term college counseling situation, it was found that intake measures of client-reluctance were: (a) negatively correlated with client-perceived satisfaction and improvement, (b) negatively related to degree of congruence between perceived problem and perceived emphasis of the agency, and (c) positively correlated with premature termination in counseling. No differences were found between vocational and personal problem groups on measures of client reluctance, satisfaction, or improvement. Client reluctance was shown to be directly related to counseling outcome. Implications for these findings on counselor education and training are discussed. |
