Beginning counselors' death concerns and empathic responses to client situations involving death and grief

Beginning counselors' levels of discomfort and ability to respond empathically to clients presenting with death-related issues was investigated. Fifty-eight masters-level counseling students completed the Threat Index and the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale and viewed a series of 8 videotape vignettes depicting clients with death-related (e.g., grief, AIDS) and non-death-related problems (e.g., marital discord, physical handicap). As hypothesized, significantly higher levels of counselor discomfort were found in responding to client situations involving death and dying, especially when these involved serious illness in the client. In addition, personal fear of death predicted counselors' distress in death counseling. Contrary to expectations, counselors were actually slightly more empathic in responding to grief and loss than other conditions, although the overall level of empathy displayed was low in absolute terms. The least empathic responses were provided by counselors who construed death in fatalistic terms on the Threat Index, and who were "saturated" with death themes by the completion of death attitude questionnaires prior to viewing the videos. The authors concluded that death and loss counseling presents unique challenges to beginning mental health providers, especially for those whose personal death anxieties leave them vulnerable to such work.