Psychometric evaluation of a “standardized client” procedure with trainee counsellors

Abstract

The validity and reliability of a "'standardized client" procedure for assessing the impact of counsellor-trainees ' behaviour upon client-perceived rapport was investigated within 22 counselling interviews. A typical client was trained to present the same genuine concern consistently across all interuiews, and to make minute-by-minute in-session ratings of experienced rapport. Data were collected on internal consistency, test-retest reliability, face validity, content, construct and concurrent validity via usual procedures and blind evaluations from professionals in the field. All common psychometric requirements were satisfied. Limitations of this procedure are discussed, and implications for use of "standardized client '' ratings to gather data on the rapport-enhancing effects of specific counsellor behaviours are also raised.

Counsellor facial expression and client-perceived rapport

“…The Standardized Client (STC) is a research confidant who is trained to present the same counselling problem across a series of interviews, while also making assessments of rapport each minute during the interviews. As mentioned above, the STC was developed to enhance the reliable assessment of the effects of specific counsellor behaviours during initial therapy interviews (Sharpley & Ridgway, 1992;Sharpley et al, 1994), and has demonstrated high reliability (test-retest, alpha) and validity (construct, content), enabling it to be applied to a range of counsellor behaviours such as verbal responses (Sharpley et al, 2000) posture and forward lean (Sharpley et al, 2001), eye contact (Sharpley & Sagris, 1995) and silence (Sharpley, 1997). The present study was a further step in this programme of research.…”

“…The STC procedure has been described in detail previously (Sharpley et al, 1994), and uses the same client stimulus as a starting point for each counsellor, much as in written case-study type examinations. The STC procedure is based upon Whiteley and Jakubowski's (1969) description of a ''coached client'' as a suggestion for maintaining the consistency of client-presentation across interviews.…”

“…To achieve this end, we developed and field-tested a procedure for training a ''standardized client'' (STC) to make minute-by-minute assessments of their perceptions of rapport as they experienced it during initial counselling interviews lasting about 45-50 minutes and reported in detail elsewhere (Sharpley, Guidara, & Rowley, 1994;Sharpley & Ridgway, 1992). This STC procedure was applied in the present study to assess the influence of various counsellor facial expressions classified by the Affex system upon client-perceived rapport overall during initial interviews and also on a minute-by-minute basis throughout these interviews.…”

The Telephone Counseling Interview as a Complex, Dynamic, Decision Process: A Self-Regulation Model of Counselor Effectiveness

“…Our method involved having experienced telephone crisis counselors deal with an analog crisis call from a scripted, role-playing client who presented the same problem to all the counselors. By standardizing the presentation of the problem by the client in this way, we could assess the relative effectiveness of the counselors more effectively than if a methodology of multiple callers with multiple problems had been used (Sharpley, Guidara, & Rowley, 1994;Whitely & Jakubowski, 1969). Ethical considerations meant that actual crisis callers could not be studied.…”

Understanding rapport-building in investigative interviews: Does rapport's effect on witness memory and suggestibility depend on the interviewer?

“…Original attachment theorists Bowlby and Ainsworth argued that all people, from infants to the elderly, seek to establish an affective attachment with another to meet needs of psychological and physical security (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978;Bowlby, 1988). This bond component of the working alliance is strongly correlated with rapport in a clinical context (Sharpley, Guidara & Rowley, 1994;Sharpley, Halat, Rabinowicz, Weiland & Stafford, 2001). …”