Date of Award

Fall 12-1-1984

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Communication Disorders and Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology

First Advisor

John C. Jessell

Second Advisor

J. Laurence Passmore

Third Advisor

Reece Chaney

Abstract

This study was designed to compare the effects of two precounseling training processes for facilitating the client-counselor relationship and client self-exploration. One group of subjects was exposed to a videotaped presentation of a simulated initial counseling session which demonstrated desirable client and counselor behavior. A second group of subjects read a document which closely matched the content of the videotaped session. Subjects went immediately into a session with their assigned counselor. The dependent variables investigated in this study were: (1) perceived client-counselor relationship as measured by the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, and (2) client self-exploration as measured by the Helpee Self-Exploration Scale. The sample of this study was composed of 60 subjects who presented themselves as first-time counselees at the Counseling Service of Texas Tech University and volunteered to participate in this study. Data were obtained at the end of the first counseling session. Results of the statistical analysis showed: (1) no differences between internally oriented and externally oriented subjects on the Social Reaction Inventory, (2) the videotaped precounseling training group attained significantly higher scores on the client-counselor relationship measure, and (3) no significant differences between training groups on the client self-exploration measure. Implications concerning the effectiveness of the training methods are discussed. It appears that videotaped precounseling training facilitates the client-counselor relationship more effectively in the first counseling session than does written precounseling training. This has practical applications in any context in which there is only one client contact and/or where expedition of the client-counselor relationship is of importance.

Download

Share

COinS