Clinical judgments of easy vs. difficult clients by counselor trainees

Thirty-one counselor trainees viewed videotapes of two actors portraying either an easy client (one who expressed intrinsic motivation for help, responded openly to questions and spontaneously elaborated on responses) or a difficult client. Trainees made 11 ratings of client functioning, likely response to treatment, and personal reactions to client. As expected, clients with a difficult interpersonal style were not regarded as more psychologically disturbed, but were rated as having less potential for change and less ego strength. They were rated as less likely to attend the next interview or to complete counseling and less likely to respond well to counseling. They also were less well-liked. Auxiliary analyses indicated that minority counselors (N = 9) appeared more optimistic about the results of counseling, though they anticipated equally much difficulty in working with the clients. A single interaction effect indicated that white counselor trainees saw less potential for change in the difficult vs. easy clients; minority Ss made no such distinction.