The feelings of therapist and patient toward each other are important factors in the therapeutic relationship. This study investigated how beginning therapists perceive and are perceived by clients. After initial counseling sessions with college student clients (N=133), six psychotherapy practicum trainees at a university counseling center completed the Therapist Personal Reaction Questionnaire (TPRQ), rating their feelings toward the client and their assessment of how well the interview was conducted. Clients (N=133) completed the Counselor Rating Form-Short Version (CRF-S), which assessed patient perceptions of therapist attractiveness, expertness, and trustworthiness. Five of the 15 TPRQ items related significantly to at least one of the CRF-S scales. The findings indicated that when therapists felt they had done a good job in the intake session, clients rated them high on the Expertness Scale of the CRF-S. Both patients and therapists appeared to be in agreement about how good a job the therapists had done in the initial sessions. The results indicated that, at intake, novice therapists were viewed as expert if they saw their client as troubled and unable to solve his or her own problem. When novice therapists saw their clients as already helping themselves, clients viewed therapists as lacking in skills. These results suggest the importance of training beginning therapists to identify the concerns of their patients. (NB)