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Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling
Published on: January 17, 2025
Do psychologically-minded clients expect more from counselling?
Mark Beitel1, Aida Hutz, Kristin M Sheffield
1Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06519, USA. beitelmark@aol.com
Psychology and Psychotherapy
|June 17, 2009
Summary
Clients with higher psychological mindedness (PM) expect more self-involvement and positive outcomes in counseling. This study explored the link between PM and client expectations, finding PM influences perceived counseling involvement and results.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Counseling Research
Background:
- Understanding client expectations is crucial for effective counseling.
- Psychological mindedness (PM) may influence how clients perceive the counseling process.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between psychological mindedness and client expectations about counseling.
- To determine if PM correlates with expectations of self-involvement, counselor behavior, and counseling outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study design.
- 104 university counseling center clients participated.
- Data collected using the Psychological Mindedness Scale, LOT-R, and expectations-about-counselling questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Higher psychological mindedness (PM) correlated with greater expectations of self-involvement in counseling.
- Higher PM also correlated with greater expectations of positive counseling outcomes.
- PM was not significantly related to expectations of counselor in-session behavior or personality.
Conclusions:
- Clients with high psychological mindedness (PM) anticipate greater involvement and better outcomes from counseling.
- Therapists may benefit from assessing clients' PM and expectations to understand their counseling outlook.
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