The application of certain principles of client-centered therapy to short-term vocational educational counseling

After an intensive 6-week training program for 30 experienced counselors in an NDEA Counseling and Guidance Institute, the counseling supervisors, on the basis of multiple criteria selected the 10 most successful counselors and the 10 least successful counselors. The final tape recorded interviews of all 20 counselors conducting short-term vocational-educational counseling with "normal" secondary school clients were secured. The recordings were then rated by ten judges on 5 hypothesized characteristics of a therapeutic relationship. Significant differences were found to exist between the most successful and least successful counselors on 3 of the 5 characteristics. Considerable agreement was also found between the ratings by the supervisors and the judges.