The purpose of the study is to find the effect of counselor activity self-efficacy on the outcome for each counseling stage. Counselor activity self-efficacy of the counselors from university counseling centers and professional counseling organization...
The purpose of the study is to find the effect of counselor activity self-efficacy on the outcome for each counseling stage. Counselor activity self-efficacy of the counselors from university counseling centers and professional counseling organizations were evaluated, followed by a Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ) and a Working Alliance Inventory (WAI). As well for the clients, SEQ, WAI, and a Counselor Rating Form (CRF) were surveyed. Correlation analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to the outcomes of the counselors and the clients, based on the counselor activity self-efficacy in each counseling stage. The results and the argument of the research are as follows.
The study indicates that the counselor activity self-efficacy affects both the SEQ and the WAI of the counselors' outcomes, as well as the SEQ of the clients' outcomes. This result differs from preceding studies, which claim that counselor's self-efficacy affects the counselors' outcomes, but not those of the clients. Based on this approach, one can assess that counselor activity self-efficacy provides insights into understanding the outcomes of not only the counselors, but of the clients, and also, that the SEQ better explains the outcomes of the clients than the WAI.
The ANOVA results of the outcomes for each counselor activity self-efficacy and the counseling stage illustrate that the outcomes of the counselors and the clients, based on the counseling stage and the interaction between the self-efficacy and the counseling stage, do not vary in noticeable degree. However, the variance in the outcomes of the clients and the counselors, based on coping self-efficacy suggests a noticeable difference. This implies that the clients have well perceived the coping self-efficacy generated during the counseling. Also it can be inferred that the reason of minor effects from counseling stage and interaction, despite the differences in outcomes of the clients and the counselors based on the counselor activity self-efficacy, lies in the number of cases in the study.
This study proves its significance through demonstrating the effect of counselor activity self-efficacy on the clients' outcomes, which was not portrayed in preceding studies, as well as the positive influence of the coping self-efficacy (perceived coping capabilities in challenges or threats) among many others on the counselors' capabilities, which is acknowledged by the clients and then portrayed in the outcome.
The limitations and the proposals, based on the argument and conclusion of this study, are as follows. First, the number of cases collected for the study is inadequate to conduct in-depth analysis, including the implication of differences in the early, middle, and last counseling stages. Second, it is hard to extract general theories, because many of the counselors, who participated in the study, had only one to three years of experience, as well as the clients, who were mostly college students. Therefore, for following studies, further efforts should be made in aggregating data for counseling cases and their participants.