Counseling Style Preference of International Students

With a single-subject research design, the counseling-style preference of 6 international clients and 1 White-American client was examined within and across 4 counseling sessions. All clients first listened to an audiotape (analogue) counseling session containing a problem-solving approach and a client-centered approach and rated both approaches. The clients then rated these 2 counseling styles in actual counseling sessions. In contrast to past research findings, no overall preference was found for either approach. Preferences for a particular counseling style also changed from session to session. In addition, preferences exhibited during the analogue portion of the study were often different from those expressed during the actual counseling sessions.