The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of counseling on the energy commitments of clients. Other purposes of the research were to examine the differences in energy commitment and its various components in relation to the success of counseling, to evaluate the feasibility of using energy commitment theory as a means for measuring change as a result of counseling, and to investigate factors which might produce change in man's energy commitments.The theoretical framework used to study the effect of counseling on clients' energy commitments was formulated by Hollis and Hollis. Energy commitment was defined as the condition of consigning energy to be used in facilitating action in the future. In this context, energy commitment possesses three major components--direction, thrust, and flexibility. Direction was divided into the three separate categories of people, objects, and ideas; while thrust was divided into the three separate categories of priority, force, and amount.The research design of the study required that the participating clients submit to specific measurements prior to counseling, undergo counseling, and submit to specific measurements after counseling. In all, twenty-one clients completed this sequence during the eight week time period. In terms of specific criteria for selection, two qualifications were established. All subjects were at least eighteen years of age and were willing to participate on a voluntary basis. In total, nine null hypotheses were investigated at the .05 level of significance. Six of the null hypotheses pertained to the effect of counseling on clients' energy commitments, while three of the null hypotheses pertained to the degree of association between various energy commitment measurements and various measurements of counseling success. The six hypotheses pertaining to the effect of counseling on clients' energy commitments were evaluated by three different statistical treatments: the Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks, the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test, and the Chi Square. The three remaining hypotheses were evaluated by Chi Square and contingency coefficients.The instruments used to determine change, if any, in clients' energy commitments were the Structured Interview Guide (SIG) and the Interview Rating Sheet (IRS). In terms of the degree of counseling success, three measurements were employed. First, the Personal Orientation Inventor, (POI) by Everett Shostrom was used to determine change, if any in the clients' level of self-actualization. Second, the Client Expectancy Inventory (CEI) and the Inventory of Fulfillment of Client's Expectancy (IFCE) were employed to measure counseling success in terms of counseling expectancy and fulfillment of counseling expectancy. The CEI and the IFCE were developed by the author and Joseph Hollis specifically for the present study. The theoretical framework for both instruments was developed after reviewing the literature pertaining to the goals of counseling and clients' expectations of counseling. Third, the researcher employed ratings of counseling success obtained from the participating counselors. In this respect, the researcher constructed the Counselor's Rating of Counseling, Success (CRCS) for this purpose.Two major conclusions were made from an analysis of the data. First, the counseling process produces significant change in the way an individual approaches his commitments, but the actual energy commitments remain essentially the same. Second, the findings concerned with the degree of association between energy commitment change and measurements of counseling success were not significantly related. Hence, the conclusion was made that energy commitment variables are not to any measureable degree assessing the same change criteria as those employed to measure counseling success.Additional data were analyzed pertaining to the correlation between client and counselor ratings of the counseling experience. The obtained Pearson Product-Moment Correlation was not significant at the .05 level of probability. However, the difference between the means of the two groups was significant at the .05 level. Based on the preceding data, the conclusion was made that clients tend to rate the counseling experience more successful than their respective counselors.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/181426 |
| Date | January 1971 |
| Creators | Thro, Ernest G. |
| Contributors | Hollis, Joseph W. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iv, 239 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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