This study examined the relationship between basic counselor skills training and cognitive complexity levels in counseling trainees. Data from graduate counseling trainees enrolled in basic skills training courses and a control group were collected (N = 72). Cognitive complexity levels were measured using the traditional 2‐person form of the Role Category Questionnaire (B. R. Burleson & M. S. Waltman) in a pre‐ and posttest design. Participants exposed to the basic skills training course showed a significantly higher cognitive complexity level than the control group when posttest means were compared.
Miller -Tiedeman (1987) coined the term lifecareer to underscore the interrelatedness of life and career, that planning for career must flow from the total life experience of the individual. Nowhere is such a concept more important than in doing career work with clients who are part of a social or cultural group that faces oppression within the larger society. In addition to the myriad of factors seen in any client, the life context of oppressed peoples includes factors related to their specific culture and their experience of societal oppression. A mentor of the first author often spoke about working with individuals in socially oppressed cultural groups as a process of flowing back and forth between recognizing and appreciating the similarities or common humanity of the individual and recognizing and appreciating the differences or uniqueness of the client's particular culture and social oppression. Just as in cases where the client is from a another culture (Halstead, 1991), the unique group-specific background of the lesbian or gay career client must be considered in how the client is seen and how interventions are planned. At the same time, the counselor must remember the more general principles and concepts that apply to good career work with any client.
James M. Croteau and Suzanne M. Hedstrom are both assistant professors in the Department of Counselor Education and CounselingPsychology at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. The authors would like to thank Diane J , Prosser for her comments on an early version of this article.
This article provides suggestions, information, and resources for advisors to use in assisting students to obtain tenure‐track counselor education positions. Recommendations for research are also presented.
This experimental study examined the effects of comprehensive versus partial written pretherapy disclosure on the behavior and perceptions of university counseling center clients. Although all clients received information on services provided, confidentiality, length of sessions, and right to terminate therapy, only the treatment group received additional information that included personalized data on therapists, what to expect in therapy, and risks and alternatives to therapy. The one statistically significant difference between clients who received partial versus comprehensive disclosure favored the comprehensive disclosure group. The results support previous research, which also concluded that there is no evidence that pretherapy disclosure adversely affects therapy, and add substantially to this conclusion because of several methodological improvements and additions in the current research design compared with prior research designs.
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