PRESENTING PROBLEMS OF UNIVERSITY COUNSELING-CENTER CLIENTS - A SNAPSHOT AND MULTIVARIATE CLASSIFICATION SCHEME

A multivariate categorization scheme for classifying clients' presenting problems was empirically developed. Six hundred and eleven clients who sought services at a university counseling center completed the Computerized Assessment System for Psychotherapy Evaluation and Research (L. McCullough & A. D. Farrell, 1983). Descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, cluster differentiation by external variables, and stability of cluster solutions across subsamples are presented. Nine clusters of clients with different types of presenting problems that were stable across subsamples were identified. This multivariate approach provides a more complex assessment of clients' presenting problems that may have implications for case disposition, therapeutic interventions, prevention interventions, and research pertaining to coping, help seeking, and therapeutic outcomes.