A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Association Between Working Alliance and Outcomes of Individual Career Counseling

Abstract

This article reports on the results of the first meta-analysis of the association between working alliance and outcomes of individual career counseling. This random-effects meta-analysis included 18 published and unpublished studies that produced a weighted mean effect size of r = .42. This effect size was heterogeneous across studies. Separate meta-analyses were conducted for several types of outcomes: Career outcomes, mental health outcomes, and client-perceived quality of the intervention. Average effect sizes for the association between working alliance and types of outcomes were .28, .18 and .62, respectively. Moderator analyses indicated that the overall mean effect size ( r =.42) varied in a large proportion as a function of the type of outcomes and the time of assessment of working alliance (first session, mid or at termination of the counseling service). Our results confirm that working alliance is associated to career counseling effectiveness and suggest that career counselors should emphasize on the working alliance during the career counseling process. In conclusion, this article provides suggestions for practice in individual career counseling and avenues of research on working alliance in this context.

Trajectories of Change in Career Decision Difficulties During a Manualized Individual Career Counseling Intervention: The Influence of Counselor Adherence, Working Alliance and Client Personality Traits

“…Meta-analyses (Brown & Ryan Krane, 2000; Oliver & Spokane, 1988; Ryan Krane, 1999; Spokane & Oliver, 1983; Whiston et al, 1998; Whiston et al, 2017) conducted in the past decades demonstrate that individual career counseling leads to a significant decrease in clients’ career decision difficulties with moderate to large effect sizes ( d s ranging between 0.41 and 1.08). Although previous research supports the effectiveness of individual career counseling on career decision difficulties, this broad range of effect sizes suggests that individual career counseling may lead to various degrees of change across clients (Heppner & Heppner, 2003; Milot-Lapointe, Le Corff, & Arifoulline, 2021). In a series of meta-analyses of 62 career intervention studies including 7725 participants, Ryan Krane (1999) observed that the variability in career choice interventions effectiveness is in large part explained by the components of the interventions.…”

Career counseling and psychotherapy: The working alliance and reflexive practice.

“…Their advocacy is vindicated by a growing body of evidence of the working alliance's contribution to clients' outcomes of career counseling (e.g., Alchin et al, 2018;Elad-Strenger & Littman-Ovadia, 2012;Masdonati et al, 2009Masdonati et al, , 2014Milot-Lapointe et al, 2018Whiston et al, 2016). Meta-analytic research affirms the importance of practitioners attending to the working alliance throughout the course of counseling (Milot-Lapointe et al, 2021). Research findings published in the career development literature and psychotherapy literature (e.g., Flückiger et al, 2018;Horvath et al, 2011;Martin et al, 2000) justify greater attention to the practitioner-client relationship and the factors that influence its effects on clients' experiences and the outcomes of counseling interventions.…”

Die Arbeitsbeziehung im Coaching: Ein Forschungsüberblick und Handlungsempfehlungen für die Praxis

“… 2002 ) und der individuellen Karriereberatung (Milot-Lapointe et al. 2021 ). Dies unterstreicht die Schlüsselrolle der Arbeitsbeziehung in professionellen zwischenmenschlichen Interaktionen.…”

“…B. auch in der individuellen Karriereberatung (Milot-Lapointe et al. 2021 ) finden. Dies könnte daran liegen, dass Coachees die Arbeitsbeziehung als Indikator nutzen, um die Qualität der Intervention insgesamt zu bewerten (ebd.).…”

“…Übereinstimmend mit seiner These zeigten im Laufe der Zeit zahlreiche Studien auch in anderen helfenden Professionen die Bedeutung der Arbeitsbeziehung für die Ergebnisse des Veränderungsprozesses -nicht nur in der Psychotherapie (vgl. Horvath et al 2011;Martin et al 2000), sondern auch im Mentoring (Eby et al 2013), der Supervision (Ramos-Sánchez et al 2002) und der individuellen Karriereberatung (Milot-Lapointe et al 2021). Dies unterstreicht die Schlüsselrolle der Arbeitsbeziehung in professionellen zwischenmenschlichen Interaktionen.…”