Graduate students (n equals 46) who had indicated that their major interest was teaching were compared with 47 graduate students who had indicated that their major interest was counseling. The groups differed on six of the subtests, three of which were interest measures. A further comparison between the counselor candidates who had a practicum and…

Each of six patients saw each of four therapists twice. Each of four variables was scored separately for patient and therapist for each interview. Results indicate that therapist behaviors were not the result of a trait," of a given tendency to be empathic, or a consistently applied therapeutic technique, but rather were very substantially…

Investigated the relationship between cognitive complexity of self-reported emotional experience and accurate empathic understanding in a group of experienced counselors. A significant positive correlation was found between cognitive complexity of self-reported emotional experience and accurate empathic understanding. (Author)

Presents demographic information for 621 survey respondents and examines the data reported by 230 American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) members in private practice. More counselors in private practice held advanced degrees and were certified or licensed than those who were not; the majority worked part-time. (Author/RC)

Explores various arguments for and against therapist self-disclosure and relates these to theoretical school and therapist style and personality. The therapist's selective dynamic use of his own perceptions, experiences, and values in a genuine fashion contributes positively to the therapeutic outcomes. Case studies are used and literature is…

Criticism of the study relating effects of therapist warmth to desensitization include: the use of surrogate, student subjects; nonstandard desensitization procedures; and no control group. Morris and Suckerman respond that the first two criticisms rely on selective reading of the literature and the third is irrelevant. (NG)

Reports on interviews of 10 doctoral graduates of counselor education programs to determine how they viewed professional identity. Results focus on uniqueness of counselors, career development issues, dislike of research, grouping for support, dislike of managed care, anger over turf wars, and affinity with holistic and preventive medicine. (RJM)

Outlines areas for career counseling process research: examining the working alliance; reconceptualizing career counseling as learning; investigating process/outcome differences due to client and counselor attributes; examining influential session events; using a common problem resolution metric; examining change longitudinally; examining…

Forty former rehabilitation counseling clients returned a mail questionnaire that requested them to write descriptions of "ideal" and minimally qualified rehabilitation counselors. Relational values and qualities represented the most frequent categories for the ideal counselor descriptors; demographic characteristics were mentioned least. Broader…

Explored preference for counselor's sexual orientation among homosexual male (N=47) and lesbian subjects (N=36). Results indicated that subjects tended to prefer homosexual counselors, although a sizable number believed that counselors' sexual orientations did not make a difference. Found internalized homophobia predicted discomfort in discussing…

Claims mental health counseling can benefit from the depth perspective generated by double description: the politics of Weikel and Palmo and the semantics of Ivey. Compares and contrasts views regarding identity, roles and functions, and positioning of mental health counseling as a profession. (Author)

Traces recent concepts of counselor motivations and intentions and proposes a model that locates intentions on a continuum of counselor strategy. A lack of published work on counselor motivation of practical or theoretical significance can be traced to methodological and design problems. Techniques for measuring intentions are discussed, with an…

Focuses on dilemma of how counselors' organizational groups sometimes function contradictory to professional knowledge and ideals. Explores group theory, expectations of counselors, and coping strategies to articulate how counselors may better understand and manage in an uncomfortable and distressful work group. Includes 37 references. (Author/CRR)

In three studies, Mexican-American college students reported preference for ethnically similar counselors. Findings pertain to men and women and to persons who have and have not sought counseling, they are not significantly influenced by experimenter's ethnicity, and they apply to students who have considered counseling. Findings suggest that…