Based on an earlier list of characteristics, ten assertions were derived about the nature of psychotherapy upon which it was believed that humanistic therapists would agree. These assertions were then submitted to three groups of therapists (111 returns) listed in the "National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology":…

The act of counselor self-disclosure has been regarded favorably by humanistic practitioners, while psychoanalytic figures have generally regarded the sharing of this type of information negatively. Counselor self-disclosure may be a useful means of eliciting reciprocal disclosure by the client or communicating that the counselor is willing to…

This analogue study investigated the relationship between attitude similarity and expertness on perceived trustworthiness of a confederate counselor. Undergraduate students (N=51) who scored in the extreme conservative or liberal range of an attitude survey on controversial topics were randomly matched with a confederate counselor whose…

Judaism provides for human mental health as well as modern psychology since all elements of counseling philosophy and techniques are inherent in classic Jewish institutions and practices. As opposed to a behaviorist theory of determinism, the Judaic theory of personality and development believes man is endowed with free will but only at the point…

Black and white counselors in South Africa live in legally predetermined separate worlds highly charged with emotion. Professional neutrality in such a circumstance would be a myth. Counselors are charged on ethical grounds to address the effects on the client and themselves of the socio-political condition. Failure to do so, even at that level,…

A nine-year profile is presented of the characteristics of certified public school employees in North Carolina between 1978-79 and 1986-87. Certified employees are grouped into functional areas based upon each person's primary work assignment. The functional areas include: (1) teachers; (2) principals; (3) assistant principals; (4) central office…

Clinical child interviews have received little attention in the psychological literature and in the absence of empirical findings, curent interview practices are primarily based on clinical lore. In order to investigate the effects of interviewing style and interviewer mode of dress, on the quantity and quality of information obtained from 8 to 11…

Describes some of the characteristics that make for successful counseling. Discusses such aspects as dialogue, counselor perceptions, and honesty. (EJT)

Literature on client rights and preferences for therapy and therapy styles has suggested that allowing clients to choose their own therapists should have positive effects on the process and outcome of therapy as well as the chosen therapists' performance and attitudes. A slide/tape presentation containing information about each therapist at an…

Assessment of counselor trainee applicants with respect to level of cognitive complexity might prove a useful additional criterion in selection of students for training programs. To determine the correspondence between a measure of counselor effectiveness and five cognitive complexity measures, 38 subjects, master's degree students in counseling,…

The ex-con's return home can be viewed as a potential crisis, wherein attempts to assist him in a successful transition can be helpful. From a group of first felonists about to be released on parole, 18 matched pairs were identified. One member of each pair was randomly selected and offered intensive outreach crisis counseling; the second member…

This paper avaluates research on the characteristics and selection of counselors. It also considers the implications of recent developments in counseling theory and practice for the research on counselor characteristics and selection. There has been almost no research on counselor selection as such. The research on characteristics of counselors…

Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that counseling students will be most inclined to develop and later use those skills which they perceive as being valuable. For example, if students consider display of warmth a characteristic which distinguishes effective from ineffective counselors, it is more likely that once graduated the students will…

This paper discusses the effects of pretraining counseling clients for group therapy sessions. In an attempt to speed the group process and give maximum coverage to all college students requesting group therapy, pretraining experiences were given to members of three experimental groups and were compared to one control group. The experimental…