Problem. The importance of nonverbal communication in the therapeutic communicative interaction between counselor and client is undeniable. Yet, clinical training programs have traditionally been remiss in systematically teaching this vital area of therapeutic interaction. The problem, therefore, was to begin the process of constructing and evaluating a systematic nonverbal skill training program for counselors by administering and assessing a nonverbal skill training program for beginning counselors. / The study hypothesized that beginning counselors receiving the nonverbal skill training program would demonstrate, in a simulated counseling session, significantly more open body postures, more attending body positions, less eye contact breaks, and less self-manipulative hand gestures than would beginning counselors not receiving the nonverbal training program. The study also hypothesized that beginning counselors receiving the training program would discriminate, in a videotaped posttest designed by this experimenter, congruent from incongruent verbal/nonverbal client messages significantly more accurately than beginning counselors not receiving the training program. / Procedures. To test the hypotheses of the study, a control group posttest-only was employed. The subjects were the beginning master's level counselor trainees (N = 27) enrolled in the two sections of first quarter prepracticum. Section 01 (N = 17) comprised the experimental treatment group and section 02 (N = 10) comprised the control group. / Results. Mann-Whitney U tests showed that the experimental treatment group exhibited significantly more (p < .05) open body postures and significantly fewer (p < .001) self-manipulative hand gestures than the control group. Although the experimental group exhibited fewer (p < .10) eye contact breaks than the control group, this difference did not meet (alpha) = .05. No differences were found between the two groups with respect to body position. The experimental treatment group distinguished congruent from incongruent verbal/nonverbal client messages significantly (p < .025) more accurately than did the control group. / Conclusions. It was concluded that the training program is capable of teaching beginning counselors two basic nonverbal counseling skills. These two skills are: (1)the ability to demonstrate specific nonverbal behaviors that can convey the facilitative conditions of counseling, and (2)the ability to discriminate incongruent verbal/nonverbal client messages. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 1008. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

This study compared a behavioral and a cognitive approach to assertion training in order to determine the differential efficacy of the two methods. Forty subjects participated in this study. These subjects were nonassertive adults who volunteered for an assertion training workshop. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions, a behavioral group, a cognitive group and a control group. Training consisted of four, three-hour sessions held once a week. The two treatment modalities were carefully isolated, and the control group received a delayed treatment program. Four dependent measures were used to evaluate the subjects on three dependent variables, assertive performance, self-perceived likelihood of assertive performance and interpersonal anxiety. Dependent measures included a self report performance scale, two self report anxiety scales and a behavioral role play test. Each subject was videotaped on the behavioral role play test, and the tapes were rated on both verbal and non-verbal components of assertion. Findings of this study were that group assertion training, both behavioral and cognitive, produced significant increases as compared to no treatment on both measures of assertive performance, but it did not significantly decrease interpersonal anxiety. When compared to each other, although the behavioral group had slightly higher scores on dependent measures than did the cognitive group, there was no significant difference between training methods. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 1014. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Job-typing of vocational objectives as a behavioral consequence of gender stereotyping by rehabilitation counselors was examined. One hundred ninety-one Florida rehabilitation counselors responded to a questionnaire designed to study job-typing of vocational objectives under three conditions. Data for the first two conditions, the vocational objective established at the time the rehabilitation program was written and the job title at the time the client's file was closed, were obtained from reports by the subjects on the last five cases they closed in rehabilitated status. Data for the third condition were obtained from the subjects' selection of vocational objectives for three hypothetical clients, in some instances seen as males and in other instances as females. The results of the chi-square data analysis indicated that there was an association between the sex of the client and the gender of the job-type of the vocational objective selected. The degree of association, as measured by the contingency coefficient, varied under the three conditions with a much higher degree of association found in the analysis of the analog data. This suggests that factors external to the counselors' attitudes have some influence on the selection of the clients' vocational objectives. There was no statistically significant difference found between male and female counselors in the selection of vocational objectives under any of the three conditions. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: A, page: 1016. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

The present study was conducted to determine whether there are any differences in relationship satisfaction between married and cohabiting couples. The Comprehensive Index of Satisfaction for Couples was distributed to a nonrandom sample of 60 married and 60 cohabiting couples matched for minimum length of time living together (9 months). A two-tailed t-test was performed on the mean of both group's satisfaction scores obtained from the responses to 261 Likert-type items appearing in the questionnaire's 11 separate subscales. The results of this analysis showed no significant differences between married and cohabiting couples on any of the 11 subscales. Discussion of the findings focuses on speculation as to why the reported satisfaction of these two groups was nearly identical. Conclusions are drawn regarding possible biasing effects of the sample, the structure of the survey instrument, and the methods used to collect the sample. In addition, reference is made to some cultural and social values which may have affected this research, and which may in fact affect any future research which attempts to differentiate marriage and cohabitation on relationship variables such as satisfaction. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4299. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

In response to the increasing number of divorces involving children in recent years, several intervention models have been described in the literature. The educational model is one of these interventions for assisting children in their adjustment to divorce. Children's educational groups have been conducted to foster a healthier understanding of divorce. Educational groups for parents have been used to equip parents with skills for assisting their children. Despite the growing use of divorce education groups as an intervention, there have been no systematic studies comparing the effectiveness of child education to parent education. This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of parent education and child education in facilitating divorce adjustment among children. / Twenty children were recruited for participation in an eight week educational group, while another 14 children participated only in assessment procedures and did not receive treatment. The parents of the group of 14 children participated in a parent education program designed to assist them in working with their children. Both groups of children were compared on behavioral and attitudinal measures to ascertain differences which might have occurred as a result of the two treatments. / This study found no significant differences between parent education and child education on postassessment scores. Drawing conclusions about the relative effectiveness of either treatment, however, should be made in the light of important differences which existed between the two experimental groups on time since separation and divorce. Another confounding variable may have been that too much time had passed for most subjects since parental separation for the treatments to have been effective in impacting such crucial areas as custody arrangements and visitation patterns. Additionally, the lack of adjustment difficulties among most subjects at preassessment may have rendered both treatments ineffective in producing significant change between pre- and post-assessment scores. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4306. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

A 12-week exploratory study was conducted to gain insight into the process of psychological change associated with a combination cognitive-behavioral therapy/aerobic running program in the treatment of depression. Twelve moderately to severely depressed subjects were selected from individuals who were self-referred or referred by mental health professionals in the community. Subjects selected for the study participated in a 4-week baseline recording phase and an 8-week treatment period. Treatment sessions were carried out in a group format on a weekly basis during the treatment period. / The subjects' psychological changes were monitored on three levels. First, subjects were evaluated at screening, pre- and post-treatment intervals for intensity of depression, hopelessness, body-image and a number of other psychological variables. Secondly, the subjects were interviewed bi-weekly and tested weekly to assess their reactions to the therapy experience and their rate of depression respectively. Lastly, the subjects completed a daily assessment of their mood and possible contributing factors that may have occurred. These assessment procedures remained consistent throughout the baseline and treatment phases of the study. / Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed on the five subjects who completed the entire study. Statistical analysis revealed there were no significant changes in any of the dependent measures during the baseline recording period. There was a significant reduction (< .05) in depression, the target variable, as a result of the cognitive-behavioral/aerobic running program. This improvement was reported by subjects to be due to a number of variables, some of which were not directly related to the treatment program. Factors such as the therapist's attention and interest, experimental demand, subject expectancy of improvement and group interaction, seemed to have contributed to the final treatment outcome. Subjects also reported a variety of techniques presented in treatment to be differentially effective in alleviating their depression. Subjective reports also indicated that participation in the combination treatment resulted in increased self-confidence, reduced anxiety and improved body-image. There were no significant changes in body-image, feelings of hopelessness or other psychological variables as a result of treatment. Initial treatment improvement was not maintained at a two month follow-up evaluation. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-01, Section: A, page: 0102. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

This study focused on supervision training in the preparation of doctoral students in counseling. A self-instructional module was developed and initially field tested. The module employed a linear, constructed response format to introduce doctoral students to the three, primary, interpersonal approaches to supervision--the psychotherapeutic, the behavioral, and the integrated. Prior to the development of the module, a nationwide survey was conducted of all counselor education, or related, programs offering the doctorate to determine the state of the art of supervision training, to gauge the perceived usefulness of a self-instructional instrument, and to provide guidelines for constructing the module. The survey responses indicated that training in supervision is an important aspect of doctoral preparation in counseling which needs further investigation and that counselor educators would be willing to use a self-instructional module in supervision training. The initial field testing of the module involved 16 students. The results showed that a statistically significant (p < .005) increase in knowledge of counselor supervision was achieved. However, the criterion levels for determining substantive gain in knowledge were not met, and the individual frames within the module did not usually elicit the correct response(s). It was suggested that restructuring the module might increase its effectiveness as an instructional tool. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-02, Section: A, page: 0536. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Burnout was thought to be present among Registered Nurses (RNs). Emotional exhaustion was identified as the core feeling-state of burnout. Female RNs (N = 96) from a regional medical center in Tallahassee, Florida were assessed during a series of "Burnout Seminars for Nurses." Subjects were volunteers who knew research data would be collected. The purposes of the study were fourfold: (1) To determine if differences in personal needs for achievement, autonomy and dominance were related to the frequency of one's emotional exhaustion. (2) To determine if the demographic variables of type of nursing education, current job level, and professional tenure were related to the frequency of one's emotional exhaustion. (3) To determine if there was an interaction effect between the selected personality variables and the selected demographic variables with respect to the frequency of one's emotional exhaustion. (4) To determine the relationship between one's measured frequency of emotional exhaustion and their self-perception of current burnout level. / Independent variables were needs for achievement, autonomy and dominance as measured by the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. The dependent variable was frequency of emotional exhaustion as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Moderator variables were type of nursing education, current job level, and professional tenure. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was utilized in assessing each of the independent variables and frequency of emotional exhaustion with respect to each moderator variable. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation procedure examined frequency of emotional exhaustion in relation to self-assessment of current burnout level. / No significant relationships were found between the independent variables and dependent variable with respect to moderator variables. A significant relationship (r = .67, p < .001) existed between frequency of emotional exhaustion and self-assessment of current burnout level. ANOVA revealed a significant negative relationship (p < .006) between age and frequency of emotional exhaustion. Another ancillary finding was a Canonical Correlation (p < .048) between a cluster of personality variables (achievement, abasement, nurturance, succorance) and a cluster of burnout variables (intensity of emotional exhaustion, frequency of personal accomplishment). The cluster of personality variables was positively related to intensity of emotional exhaustion, and negatively related to frequency of personal accomplishment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-11, Section: A, page: 4723. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.

This study was designed to investigate the age level by which children may be expected to distinguish reality from fantasy, when considering the variables of Sex and Socioeconomic Status. Research in this area has been sparse and contradictory even though a number of counseling approaches contain assumptions, whether clearly stated or not, concerning children's abilities to distinguish reality from fantasy. Furthermore, wide disagreement exists between numerous theoreticians, both in the fields of childhood development and counseling concerning the age by which children may be expected to relate to the real world. / Taylor's Reality/Fantasy Orientation Test (1971) was used to measure whether children, between the ages of four and eight years old could distinguish reality from fantasy. In order to measure SES, the Occupational Status Scores Scale (Nam, et. al., 1975) was employed. One hundred children in each age category were divided by sex and two socioeconomic levels (Total N = 300), thus yielding a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial design. All of the participants in this study were from the Pendleton, Umatilla County area. / In order to measure the internal consistency of Taylor's measure, the Kuder - Richardson 20 statistical test of item analysis was performed, yielding an overall realiability score of .91. An analysis of variance was also performed on data in order to test for main and interactional effects. The results indicate that the main effect of age is significant at the .001 level, SES data yielded interesting patterns but did not quite reach significance when setting alpha at .05 and sex was not significant as a variable. / The data was interpreted as indicating that the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy continues to improve with age and becomes solidified between age six and eight, and that SES should not be discounted as a possible strong mitigating factor, slowing down or speeding up children's understanding of the real world. / The results of the study indicate that children's perceptions of the real world improve significantly from year to year to age eight and closely coincide with Piaget's formulations concerning cognitive development stages. The results also imply a strong parallel between language acquisition abilities and the ability to relate to the real world. Since the data clearly indicate that it is between ages six and eight that this ability becomes solidified, the use of rational, reality-oriented approaches with children before age eight (particularly for lower SES children) may well be inappropriate. Taking the results of this study into account, it would seem necessary and beneficial to re-evaluate the theoretical and practical appropriateness of such techniques with children under age eight. / The results strongly support the viewpoints of developmental theorists (Blocher, Dinkmeyer and Eriksen) concerning child development and counseling practices. Their concerns that pressures brought by significant adults for children to move from the fantasy world to the real world at an early age, resulting in the experience of failure and feelings of inferiority and selfworthlessness have additional support. In light of the results of this study therefore, it is recommended that some form of play therapy, incorporating concepts about the real world be employed as the technique of choice with children under age eight. / The results also imply that Taylor's Reality/Fantasy Orientation Test may become a useful tool for the early identification of children experiencing significant emotional and psychological illness. In particular, it is hoped that with further research and development of this test, the early diagnosis of childhood schizophrenia, using objective criteria may become a possibility. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-06, Section: A, page: 2512. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 40-10, Section: A, page: 5322. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1979.