Research on social influence in counseling has examined how clients perceive counselors and how counselors influence clients. There has been little attention to counselors' perception of clients or the ways clients influence counselors. Research in this area could identify client characteristics which contribute to the counseling process and could enable practitioners to train clients for counseling. This paper reviews related research, citing studies examining the effect on counselors of: clients trained in interviewing skills; counselors and clients matched for level of conceptual thinking; client attractiveness; client motivation; and clients trained in problem solving or job interviewing skills. Pre-training for clients based on research on client characteristics is suggested to enhance the reciprocal influence process of the counseling relationship. (MCF)