ETIOLOGY BELIEFS, PREFERENCES FOR COUNSELING ORIENTATIONS, AND COUNSELING EFFECTIVENESS

Clients of a university counseling service were asked to (a) rank their beliefs about the causes of psychological problems, (b) rank their preferences for a counseling orientation, (c) rate their counselor's credibility, and (d) rate their satisfaction with counseling. Actual etiology-belief similarity between the counselor and the client was not found to be related to ratings of the counselor or to satisfaction with counseling. However, client's ratings of perceived etiology-belief similarity were found to be predictive of ratings of counselor credibility and satisfaction with counseling. Counselors were almost unanimous in their preference for a feeling orientation to counseling, whereas the majority of male clients preferred either a thinking or acting orientation. More clients held the same primary etiology belief as their counselor after counseling than before counseling.