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Nonprofessional counselors: Revisiting selection and impact issues
Author(s) -
Mitchell C. M.,
Davidson William S.,
Redner Robin,
Blakely Craig,
Emshoff James G.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/bf00905729
Subject(s) - psychology , locus of control , personality , context (archaeology) , clinical psychology , social environment , applied psychology , social psychology , paleontology , political science , law , biology
Conclusion In summary, the present study suggests that selection of university undergraduate nonprofessional counselors using paper‐and‐pencil measures had little incremental validity over self‐selection and potential treatment effects. In addition, the results suggest that the training and supervision experience of nonprofessionals clearly can have different impacts on attitudes and satisfaction. In fact, students in the least intensive condition felt quite dissatisfied with their experience and themselves. There is one caveat which should be kept in mind when examining the findings of this study. First, although four of the six conditions had reasonable numbers of students ( n ≤ 24), two of the conditions were comparatively small ( n = 12). Often, effects were carried by the larger conditions even when the smaller conditions evidenced opposite trends. Finally, results suggest that the setting of the experience can produce different impacts. This study suggests the importance of training intensity, content, and setting — elements which have often been neglected by previous research.