The Effects Of Group Leadership Style on Counselor Trainees' Personal Functioning

Abstract

498This study examines the effects of three group leadership styles on the personal and interpersonal functioning of 67 counselor trainees who participated in a required group experience in conjunction with a group experience course. Theparticipants were randomly assigned to one of three group conditions: (1) structured T-group, (2) rotating leadership, and (3) Rogerian. Each of the nine groups met approximately 20 hours over the course of the semester. Each subject completed the following instruments: Edward's Personal Preference Schedule, Money Problem Checklist, Rotter Incomplete Sentence Blank, and Reaction to Group Situation Test. Results from the pretest, posttest, and 6-to 8-weekfollow-up suggest that differences among the groups could in part be attributed to group leadership styles. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.Many counseling training programs are predicated on the idea that the life-style of their participants must be modified in order for them to function effectively as counselors. Underlying this premise are two notions: (1) Nonintellectual factors are basic to effective counseling and (2) counseling as an &dquo;interpersonal influence process&dquo; (Strong, 1968) requires the counselor to be seen by the client as empathic, trustworthy, and facilitative. Although counselor programs may use such procedures as microcounseling, human relations training, and interpersonal recall process to train specific interaction skills, they may also employ group counseling as a means of fostering self-awareness and personal growth. In general these tactics are SMALL

Rehabilitation Agency Leadership Style

“…Unlike many studies of leadership style that have used scenarios of hypothetical work situations and/or have been conducted with undergraduate students as research participants (e.g., Bar-Tal, 1991;Fenton & Kaczkowski, 1987;Kraus & Gemmill, 1990), the participant sample used for this study was drawn from a population of men and women in real work situations. The assessment of employees from actual work settings contributed to the authenticity of the research findings. '…”