In this study, an attempt was made to determine if alcoholism counsellors tend to view their clients' wives negatively. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was designed. Of the 284 questionnaires mailed to counsellors in Quebec, Ontario and New York State, 176 were returned. Several statistical tests were used to determine which factor(s) affected their opinion. It was found that American counsellors and counsellors who are recovering alcoholics tend to agree with the disturbed personality theory, adopt the codependence concept more readily, and view wives of alcoholics as more pathological than do the Canadian counsellors and the counsellors of a professional background. Further research is suggested to explore the possible cultural differences in the two countries as well as the apparent benefit of having counsellors of a professional background in treatment centers.

Counselor supervision has been examined in many ways; from the angle of the supervisor, the supervisee, and the supervisory dyad. An area that has not been researched as solidly is that of the effect of supervisor race and gender on White trainees' perceptions of supervision. The present study was designed to examine those variables. The independent variables included supervisor race (Black female or White female), trainee gender, and trainees' levels of White racial identity. Dependent variables included perceptions of supervisor expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness, and supportive supervisory behavior and evaluative supervisory behavior scores on the Expectations for Supervisor Behaviors Questionnaire. The expectation was that supervisor race, trainee gender, and trainee's level of White racial identity would serve as predictors of perceptions of supervisors and their behaviors.Participants were 50 Caucasian masters level counseling and counselor education students at two Midwestern universities who volunteered for the study. Caucasian female research assistants were utilized to collect the data. Trainees were provided with one of two biographical sketches describing a hypothetical female supervisor; the information in each sketch was identical except for race (Black female or White female). Trainees then listened to a short audiotape of a simulatedsupervision session. Finally, they completed the following surveys: the Supervisor Rating Form (short version), Expectations of Supervisor Behaviors questionnaire, the White Racial Identity Scale, and an author-generated demographic sheet.A canonical correlation was performed to answer the major hypotheses of this study. The results indicated that supervisor race and two subscales of White racial identity, Disintegration and Autonomy, were significant predictors of perceptions of supervisor attractiveness and evaluative supervisory behaviors. Of five canonical roots calculated, this was the only one that was significant.A oneway MANOVA was also computed to test the significance of the supervisor race. The results indicated that the Black supervisor received higher scores on both the supportive and evaluative supervisory behavior subscales than did the White supervisor. Finally, only two other trends were noted. First, female trainees scored both supervisors significantly higher than did male trainees on perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness. Second, male trainees scored the Black supervisor significantly lower than the White supervisor on perceived expertness, attractiveness, and trustworthiness.The significance of these findings for research and practice, and the limitations of the present study are discussed in the last chapter of this dissertation.60 / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

M.A. / This study explores attitudes and fears of HIV counsellors towards HIV testing. A social constructionistic perspective was used to realize this objective. The researcher hoped to find out the following:  what attitudes and fears do HIV counselors( who have not tested for HIV), have towards HIV testing?  how the HIV counsellors’ attitudes and fears differ from those of the general population.  the environmental factors affecting their decision, their vulnerability to HIV and what can facilitate their willingness to test.  what strategies can be used (from the HIV counsellors’ point of view), to change those attitudes and alleviate those fears so that all HIV counsellors can be willing to undergo voluntary HIV testing. Tape recorded interviews were conducted with the HIV counsellors who have not tested for HIV. It was evident in the study that there are attitudes and fears towards HIV testing which are common to the HIV counselors and the general population, and those which are peculiar to HIV counselors because of the nature of their job. Also evident in the study is the fact that HIV counsellors are vulnerable to contracting HIV and therefore could reap the benefits of knowing their HIV status by undergoing the HIV test. The researcher together with the HIV counsellors co-designed strategies that will address those attitudes and fears so that HIV counsellors can be encouraged to undergo voluntary HIV testing. Since the study was conducted only in the community clinics, the findings cannot be generalized to all HIV counsellors. The recommendations based on the findings are that a similar study should be done and should cover a much wider and broader context to determine if such a study can yield similar results.

No description available.

The problem of this study was to determine the effects of student teaching upon student-centeredness and openmindedness.

The purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive account of school counselors' perceptions of helpful and hindering events of their Oregon State University's (OSU) master's level preservice school counselor social advocacy training. Participants as co-researchers in this study engaged in the in-depth interview process, shared perceptions of helpful and hindering events of training, and engaged in collaborative interpretation and data analysis. Co-researchers kept reflective journals during this study. The major findings from this study were that co-researchers' perceptions of helpful and hindering events of training in this program were based on their views of how effective and facilitative this training had proven to be in their experience as activist advocates for students in their professional practice. Co-researchers suggested revisions of the social advocacy training program design and content based on their lived experiences of training and practice as social activist school counselors. / Graduation date: 2001

This study investigated the attitudes of mental health counselors toward persons with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Three hundred and fifty-eight members of the American Mental Health Counselors Association were mailed a survey packet including an Attitude Towards AIDS Victims scale and an additional two questions assessing comfort with clients with AIDS. Demographic information was also collected. There were 255 useable surveys, for a response rate of 72%. The results of the survey indicated that gender was not a significant independent variable in the attitudes of the mental health counselors. Professional and/or personal contacts with a person with AIDS were highly predictive of positive attitudes. Sexual orientation of the respondent was also highly significant as was personal acquaintance with a gay male or lesbian. Formal AIDS training of one hour or more showed a significant relationship with attitudes of mental health counselors toward persons with AIDS, with the relationship becoming more significant at 11 or more hours. The study indicated that mental health counselors are largely uninvolved in providing mental health treatment to persons with AIDS, with 5% of the subjects providing 70% of the services. Recommendations follow regarding preservice and inservice AIDS training and the need for mental health counselors to be more proactive in the AIDS epidemic. / Graduation date: 1996

Counseling self-efficacy of supervisees is a significant outcome variable of counselor training. The Social Cognitive Model of Counselor Training (SCMCT; Larson, 1998a) provided a framework from which to examine the relationships of supervisory social influence in supervision, supervisory working alliance, and counseling self-efficacy. Supervisees' perceptions of their efficacy in counseling were assessed through the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE; Larson, et al., 1992). The sum of the "client focus" and "rapport" subscales on the Supervisory Working Alliance Inventory--Trainee Version (SWAI-T; Efstation, Patton, & Kardash, 1990) represented a measure of the supervisory working alliance. Social influence of supervisors was operationalized by the composite score on three factors ("expertness," "attractiveness," and "trustworthiness") on the Supervisor Rating Form (the modified Counselor Rating Form--Short; Corrigan & Schmidt, 1983).Participants were 78 trainees of various experience levels at several counselor programs. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the following three hypotheses: 1) A strong working alliance would predict counseling self-efficacy of supervisees. 2) Perceptions of supervisors as high in social influence would contribute significantly to the criterion variable, counselor self-efficacy. 3) High social influence and a strong supervisory relationship, while controlling for experience level, would significantly predict a portion of the variance in counseling self-efficacy. The hypotheses were supported. Supervisory working alliance, experience level, and social influence contributed respectively, 22%, 13%, and 6% of the variance in counseling self-efficacy. In addition to its unique contribution, social influence enhanced the relationshipbetween counseling self-efficacy and the supervisory working alliance by acting as a suppressor variable.Exploratory analyses revealed that supervisees who perceived their supervisors to be high in social influence were more satisfied with supervision. A strong supervisory working alliance also correlated positively with satisfaction with supervision among trainees. Satisfaction with supervision, however, was not correlated with counseling self-efficacy. / Department of Educational Studies

This research addressed the nature of mainstream counsellors' attitudes towards their culturally different clients. This investigator conducted two separate studies in which all of the subjects were students in the Department of Counselling Psychology at The University of British Columbia. The counsellors in the first study were in the first year of the counselling program (novice) while those in the second study were in their final year (mature). The research design was an experimental post-test only control group. Counsellors' attitudes towards their culturally different clients were investigated by presenting a client who had a foreign accent. In each study one group was exposed to a non-accented client in a counselling situation and the other group was exposed to a foreign-accented client. A matched-guise videotape of a client presenting a counselling problem was shown to the two groups of counsellors in each study. Each counsellor in the control group viewed a non-accented client and each counsellor in the experimental group viewed the same client but with a foreign accent. To measure the attitudes of counsellors towards their clients, a Semantic Differential Attitude Scale was constructed utilizing 50 bipolar adjectives. In addition, the counsellors responded to a written Interview Questionnaire designed to investigate what may influence the attitudes of the counsellors, such as: similarity of beliefs; perception of the client's motivation and an awareness of cultural differences. In both studies all counsellors rated the client in the accented and non-accented situations with an overall positive attitude on the Semantic Differential Scale. However, the counsellors exposed to the accented client, in Study One responded with a more positive intensity of attitude than the counsellors who viewed the non-accented client (p≤.001). The counsellors in the second study did not differ in their attitudes towards the accented or non-accented client (p>.05). In response to the Interview Questionnaire, the novice, beginner counsellors in Study One generally reacted to the client on a more personal level with the mainstream counsellors in the accented situation reporting more affinity towards the client. Those more mature counsellors in Study Two were less involved and attended to the external influences on the client (accented or not). Recommendations for future counselling research are suggested in the areas of the attitudes of counsellors towards their accented clients; similarity of experience as a variable which influences the cross-cultural counselling process; and the utilization of the matched-guise videotape in training and education. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

No description available.