Counseling is a process of helping clients investigate and have an insight into their own feeling in order to change their lives positively (Hill & O'brien, 2001). It could be its first step both vital and important for counselor to grasp client i...
Counseling is a process of helping clients investigate and have an insight into their own feeling in order to change their lives positively (Hill & O'brien, 2001). It could be its first step both vital and important for counselor to grasp client in this process. For counseling of this sort, counselors gather and evaluate the data about not only clients but also counseling problems. In the methods of evaluation of this sort, counselors make the most use of psychological tests in order to evaluation in more professional and more objective ways.
This study is to try to make use of psychological tests effectively in the process of counseling. In addition, as a research for preparing for foundation to develop the better tests and the fundamental investigation, this study was to examine whether or not counselors should carry out psychological tests in the course of counseling, frequency of using the tests, the purposes and utilities of the tests and problems. This study was to know the actual condition of psychological tests used in the course of real counseling by investigating the recognition about the necessity of education in relation to psychological tests of counselors and the demands of counselors and so on.
For this, I made a survey of total 232 counselors from novice ones to professional ones who carried out individual counseling with Seoul and Gyeonggi province as the central area. And I obtained the following results.
First, I have the findings of the survey concerned with the actual condition of psychological tests used in the process of counseling. 89.7% of counselors used the psychological tests during counseling. And counselors used 3 or less than psychological tests on each client. And the most method that counselors use is their immediate test.
The most periods that counselors carry out are interview when clients are accepted and when they are in the early days in counseling. A way of interpretation that counselors test directly and explains most used. In this case, counselors arrange hours separately in test and explanation.
Second, I found out the usefulness and purpose of psychological tests used individual counseling. And I found out kinds of psychological tests used, kinds and reasons of test preferred in counseling. I found that counselors could get objective data because 56.3% of them could get objective data to understand clients. They responded that they made useful advantage of psychological tests in the course of counseling. The number of tools of tests that counseling agencies hold, on an average, is 5 to 9 ones. The number of tools of tests that counselors use, on an average, is 1 to 4 ones.
Tests and tools of tests that counselors make the most use of and prefer are SCT, MMPI, MBTI, HTP & KFD, K-WAIS, though there is a little difference in order. These five tests get a majority in the total tests.
Third, I examined the recognition, problems and demands in tools of psychological tests that counselors use. As a result, they would like to use the standardized tool of test the most. When counselors use and apply tests, they feel the lack of technical knowledge about tests is the biggest problem. If any type of test is developed a little from now on, there is a great demand for "test related to emotion" in them.
Fourth, after I examined about the ability to carry out psychological tests that counselors use, many counselors get more advices about qualification examination of clinical judgment ability, a direction of the course of counseling in future and suggestion. In this point, they perceive the usefulness about supervision. It turns out that 89.9% of counselors who practice psychological tests have been received supervision.
Also, the education about psychological tests is very helpful to the use of test. What is considered in offering the education about psychological tests is choice made by real clinic experience and recognition. What counselors feel lacking in education about psychological tests is insufficiency of education in interpretation and practical use of test integratedly, the burden of expensive education fee. Of them, they say expensive education fee the most.
Besides, I examined the number of psychological tests that counselors know in our country, whether or not they use newly developed test, and the opinions of them about psychological tests in general.
The results and suggestion of this study are as follows:
First, in this study, I investigated the actual conditions in use and application of psychological tests in the general individual counseling.
By using these I became aware that the frequency of using them is very high in the course of counseling. And I know that tests are used the most as a tool to understand clients. And I know these are useful in the counseling.
Second, in this study, I examined kinds of tests being used and being preferred now by counselors. I suggest that counselors should develop the psychological tests that are more helpful in counseling through the demands of counselors. And they showed the direction that they wanted to improve the existing psychological tests.
Namely it will be easy for counselors to carry out, and also it will be easy to interpret. And they will not impose burden on clients. I became aware that counselors preferred the tests that are abundant in objective data in order to understand clients. As the type of psychological tests which counselors want to develop from now on, "tests related to emotion" are in demand the most.
Third, in this study, I examined speciality of counselors, the time used which a counselor uses during a test, whether or not they use supervision and a curriculum of psychological tests education selection. According to counselor's career, the number of a test-tool used and the reasons of application for test-education are related to each other.
Counselors say that only 18.3% of them in speciality about psychological tests that they perceive, are very sufficient or rather more sufficient. On this, this study showed that it is necessary for counselors to make efforts in order to improve their speciality. It showed that the more career they have, the more tools of test they use. I became aware that as counselors have more careers, they choose tools of test by actual clinical experience of counselors, not by degree of acknowledgment or recommendation of those around them.
Finally, in this study, I examined whole opinions about psychological tests that each counselor thought.
And in discussion, I presented the uppermost limit of study and I presented that it is necessary for counselors to continue to make a study through interview-in-depth intended for more counselors from now on.