Changes in the Perception of the Counselor: Self, Ideal Self, and Self as Judged by Peers

Abstract

Thirty counseling practicum students' perceptions of self as counselor, ideal counselor, and self as counselor as perceived by other practicum students were measured by the semantic differential technique before and after the supervised practicum experience. Posttest perceptions of self as counselor, ideal counselor, and ratings by other practicum group members were significantly closer to the hypothetical model counselor than were the pretest ratings.

Changes in perception of Middle East counseling students

“…While none of the tests were significant, they were all in the positive direction. The results of this study support the results of the study conducted by Redfering (1973) on a sample of American students. There were positive changes in perceptions of counselors-in-training toward commonly held qualities of counseling as measured by the evaluative factor of the SD at the conclusion of the practicum.…”

“…The adjective pairs for the three factors are given below. The ten bipolar adjectives for the evaluative factor were taken from Redfering (1973) and Osgood (1957). The pairs for the potency and activity factors were taken from Osgood's listing of bipolar adjectives.…”

“…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…”

“…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 students coming from more authoritarian cultures than the U.S. (Kates & Diab, 1955;Melikian-, 1956;Prothro & Melikian, 1953) perceive counseling differently on the three factors of the Semantic Differential -evaluative, activity and potency?…”

“…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.…”