Changes in perception of Middle East counseling students

Abstract

Counseling practicum students coming from the Middle East were evaluated on changed perceptions using the Semantic Differential. It was found that there were positive differences in pretest and posttests scores on the three concepts used in the study -self as counselor, ideal counselor and peers as counselors. The evaluative factor of the Semantic Differential proved to be more relevant for this sample than either the potency or activity factor.Counseling in the Middle East is still in its infancy. The American University of Beirut (AUB) has trained counselors coming from several countries including Iran, Cyprus, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal and Lebanon. While its students come from more diversified backgrounds than those of typical university students, the counseling program at AUB faces the same concerns as those in the United States and other Western countries. One such concern is evaluating the growth of practicum students. Evaluating a counseling student's growth in a training program is a complex problem. Effective counseling is a multi-dimensional activity with a number of situational components -counselor, counselee, setting and topic (Shertzer & Stone, 1968). Traditional ways of measuring growth in a practicum course are through supervisors' ratings, group ratings and the use of measuring devices (Dilley, 1965;Wicas & Mahan, 1966). Redfering (1973) has maintained that self-evaluation is a potential tool in assessing changes in counselor's behavior. Self-perceptions of growth by students can provide the means for enhancing traditional methods of evaluation. The purpose of this study was to investigate three questions: 1) Are students perceptions of themselves as counselors closer to their perceptions of the ideal counselor at the termination of the practicum experience than it was at the beginning? 2) Were the peer group concepts of themselves as counselors and their concepts of the ideal counselor different at the termination of the practicum experience? Redfering (1973) found that there were positive changes in the students' perception of the ideal counselor, peer counselors, and self as a counselor after the practicum for American students. 3) Do