IngentaConnect Do psychologically-minded clients expect more from counselling?

Authors: Beitel, Mark¹; Hutz, Aida²; Sheffield, Kristin M.³; Gunn, Chris⁴; Cecero, John J.⁵; Barry, Declan T.¹

Source: Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, Volume 82, Number 4, December 2009 , pp. 369-383(15)

Publisher: British Psychological Society

Abstract:

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between psychological mindedness and clients' expectations about counselling.

Design:

A cross-sectional design was employed to assess correlations among study variables.

Methods:

Participants were 104 counselling-centre clients at a mid-size, Southwestern US university. Participant volunteers filled out the Psychological Mindedness Scale, life orientation test-revised (LOT-R), and the expectations-about-counselling questionnaire.

Results:

Clients who reported higher levels of psychological mindedness (PM) reported greater expectations of self-involvement in counselling and greater expectations of positive outcome. In contrast, PM was not significantly related to clients' expectations about their counsellors' in-session behaviour or to expectations about their counsellors' general personality style. Dispositional optimism (LOT-R) did not play a major role in the relationship between PM and expectations about counselling.

Conclusions:

High PM clients do seem to expect more from counselling than low PM clients, particularly in terms of self-involvement in the process and with respect to positive outcome. Consequently, therapists should consider assessing clients' PM, expectations, and the relationship between PM and expectations.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1348/147608309X436711

Affiliations: 1: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA 2: University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA 3: University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA 4: Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA 5: Fordham University, New York City, New York, USA

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