Theorists and therapists have become increasingly attentive to the role of interpersonal behaviors that facilitate or hinder the ability of the counselor to exert influence over the client during counseling. A study was conducted to examine the impact of a counselor's preference that clients not smoke, client stress levels, client sex, and counselor sex on dimensions of perceived therapist credibility and client self-disclosure tendencies. Using Lustman, Sowa, and O'Hara's (1984) distress inventory, 97 male and 97 female undergraduates were identified who experienced high or low levels of stress. Participants were individually taken to the office of a male or female therapist where "Thank you for not smoking" notices were conspicuous or absent. Subjects were asked to describe their impressions of the therapist from seeing the office and hearing a description of the counseling situation. The results revealed that the "No smoking" request had no influence on the subjects' impressions and that low stress subjects were more willing to self-disclose. Subjects reported feeling that female therapists were more qualified, but high stress subjects felt less safe with female therapists than with male therapists. Males generally felt safer with therapists than females did. (Implications for practitioners and for research are discussed.) (Author/NB)