The purpose of this study is to compare the case conceptualizations of beginning and experienced counselors through projective psychological test materials, and to investigate possible differences between the two groups in the extent their case concep...
The purpose of this study is to compare the case conceptualizations of beginning and experienced counselors through projective psychological test materials, and to investigate possible differences between the two groups in the extent their case conceptualizations are consistent with the actual information of the client in case. To this end, 10 beginning and 10 experienced counselors were recruited through the snowball sampling method from private and public counseling institutions such as the college student counseling centers, Adolescent Counseling Centers in the Busan city and Gyeongnam privince. These two groups of subject were presented with various data of an anonymous client, such as her personal and family information, and her test results of projective psychological tests like Kinetic Family Drawing, Thematic Apperception Test, and Sentence Completion Test. Subjects are supposed to write down their case formulations on a sheet after 20~30 minutes of personal analysis of the case. These case conceptualizations were coded and rated by 3 raters including the researcher on the rating guidlines by Kim(2001) and Lee(2001). Besides, the case conceptualizations were rated by the client concerning how much their contents reflect the actual situation of the client. The above mentioned two rating data were analyzed through the nonparametric Mann-Whitney test
The results of the study were as follows. First, the experienced counselors included more elements in their case conceptualization than the beginners. Second, the experienced counselors had a broader understanding of clients' current problems and symptoms and a more comprehensive understanding of personal characteristics and interpersonal factors of the client, than the beginners. Third, the client rated the experienced counselors as excelling the beginners in that the case formulations of the experienced helped her explore more into unknown parts of her personality and represented more comprehensive understanding of her real personality.
These findings imply that the appropriate application of projective psychological test data help to increase the effectiveness of counseling in the field and build a credible relationship with clients. In addition, appropriate education and training for beginning counselors would be needed concerning basic projective psychological tests and case formulation through the comprehensive summary of the test data.