Journal of Counseling Psychology最新文献

Negative experiences with therapists are not uncommon but the literature lacks in-depth investigation on this issue. Therapists have been found to be ineffective in recognizing and even leading to negative experiences. It is crucial to gain a better understanding of these negative experiences from service users' perspective to prevent harm, especially among Asians who are underrepresented. The present study aimed to identify and analyze themes of negative experiences regarding therapists' practice based on subjective narratives of service users in Hong Kong. Twenty participants who received psychotherapy were recruited in Hong Kong for an individual semistructured interview. Interview questions included details of negative experiences with therapists, the impact of these events, and reasons for nondisclosure of negative experiences to their therapists. Reflexive thematic analysis was adopted. Four themes were generated: (1) therapists' technical skills, which included lacking basic skills, lacking appropriate responsiveness, and omission and passivity; (2) therapists' relational skills, which included lacking empathy, lacking genuineness, and not approachable; (3) therapists' hurtful and harmful practice, which included judgments and inaccurate assumptions, abandonment, and retraumatization; and (4) users' response to therapist-related negative experiences. This qualitative study provided valuable insights into the subjective experiences of service users on negative experiences with therapists during psychotherapy. It also revealed the impact and nondisclosure of these experiences. Future studies could consider utilizing this framework and clinicians are recommended to take active precaution and be prepared to address potential negative experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The term "trauma" was originally used to describe only the most horrific experiences, but its meaning has expanded in both public and academic circles. This has led to concerns about potential risks associated with defining the term trauma more broadly. However, little research has examined whether the breadth of individuals' trauma beliefs affects their distress after exposure to a potentially traumatic event. The purpose of this study was to examine whether preexisting trauma beliefs, measured via the Trauma subscale of the Harm Concept Breadth Scale (McGrath & Haslam, 2020), predicted distress following exposure to a film clip of a fatal car accident, which served as an analogue for a traumatic experience. In a college student sample (N = 439), individuals who endorsed broader trauma beliefs were more likely to report viewing the film clip as a trauma (f² = .03, p = .001) and to have higher ratings of negative emotion after exposure (f² = .03, p < .001), with small effect sizes, but did not report more event-related distress 2 days later (f² = .01, p = .079), controlling for covariates (e.g., neuroticism). Those who perceived the exposure as traumatic had higher scores on measures of negative emotions (f² = .11) and event-related distress (f² = .12), ps < .001, with small-to-medium effect sizes. These results suggest that applying the word "trauma" to a broader spectrum of events may be associated with more negative reactions to traumatic events and that clinicians could help individuals reframe those beliefs. Better measures of trauma beliefs and research with more diverse samples are needed to better understand the effects of trauma beliefs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

This study focuses on two objectives: revising and validating the Supervisory Style Inventory (SSI; Friedlander & Ward, 1984) for use in China, and examining how supervisory style match predicts trainee clinical performance manifested by their client symptom outcomes. Participants included 173 beginning therapist trainees who saw 1,916 clients under the supervision of 73 supervisors in a Chinese mental health counseling training program. Clients completed measures of their symptom distress before every session; trainees completed the SSI for their expected supervisory style at the beginning of practicum and their perceived actual supervisory style at the end of the practicum; supervisors completed the SSI at the beginning of practicum to report their self-rated supervisory style. Results show that (a) factor analysis reduced the 33-item SSI to 21 items with two subscales: Task-Focused and Organized (TFO) and Relationship-Focused and Supportive (RFS). This structure demonstrated measurement invariance across trainee and supervisor versions. (b) Trainee-perceived RFS scores significantly predicted greater client symptom improvement, while supervisor-self-rated RFS scores negatively correlated with client outcomes. No significant effects were found for TFO scores. (c) Regarding supervisory style match, greater mismatch between trainee-expected and supervisor-self-rated styles predicted poorer client outcomes. Mismatches between trainee-expected and trainee-perceived or trainee-perceived and supervisor-self-rated styles did not significantly predict client outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Group leaders typically lead only one group; consequently, leader and group effects are often confounded in group counseling research. Therefore, we do not know the relative importance of leaders and groups in promoting group member outcome. We address this limitation by identifying the sizes of leader and group effects in a large sample of emotional cultivation groups for Taiwanese youth, where group leaders led multiple groups. Data from 1,495 participants (56.2% boys and 43.8% girls) from 255 emotional cultivation groups were analyzed. A four-level hierarchical model (time of assessment nested within group members, who were nested within groups, that were nested within group leaders) was used to partition the data. Results indicated significant improvement from pretest to follow-up in 20 out of 21 outcomes assessed. The suppression aspect of Emotion Regulation Questionnaire did not change significantly between pretest and follow-up. Average leader and group intraclass correlations were 0.07 and 0.06, respectively, collectively explaining 13% of the variance in group member outcomes. A cluster analysis, using leader and group intraclass correlations, identified a two-cluster solution: Flexible Cognitive, Emotional, and Relational Strategies (33% of outcomes) and School, Social, and Emotional Adjustment (66.67% of outcomes). In the Flexible Cognitive, Emotional, and Relational Strategies cluster, both leader and group effects were significant, with the group effect three times larger than the leader effect. In the School, Social, and Emotional Adjustment cluster, both effects were also significant, but the leader effect was five times greater. Both the group that a child/youth belongs to and the group's leader influence improvement to an equal extent. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Transgender people have been under increasing legislative attack and scrutiny, particularly since 2020. This article presents a qualitative meta-analysis that examined the functions and meanings of gender within transgender identity development. Using a critical-constructivist grounded theory qualitative meta-analytic approach, we reviewed 27 qualitative studies (including 426 total participants) based in the United States to understand how trans participants' identities developed. There was great diversity in participant sexual orientations and gender identities. Findings indicated that trans identities supported participants in claiming their internal sense of gender, which allowed them to overcome their internalized transphobia and surrender to their deep need to explore their authentic experiences of gender and to identify its discordance with cisheteronormative genders. These findings indicated that transgender identities and communities have functioned in a manner that is sharply different from that which is represented in the rhetoric that underpins anti-transgender legislation. The qualitative meta-analytic results provided a set of evidence-based corrections to counter contemporary myths that frame transgender identity development as characterized by manipulation and pathology. By replacing these myths with descriptions of gender tied to self-agency, self-expression, and self-celebration, our findings can be used in advocacy by policymakers, activists, researchers, and counseling psychologists working with trans populations and combatting anti-trans legislation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

The complexity of therapeutic processes has been the subject of extensive research, encompassing both evidence-based techniques and protocols, as well as the more subjective aspects of therapy. These subjective aspects include the fundamental competencies of the therapist and the crucial establishment of a strong therapeutic alliance (TA). The TA-a sine qua non factor for improved outcomes-remains underexplored in certain contexts. This study aimed to explore the role of the TA within a brief cognitive-behavioral teletherapy protocol designed for crisis settings. Using framework analysis, we transcribed and analyzed 20 psychotherapy sessions involving 20 distinct therapeutic dyads. For these, we included 10 dyads of clients who dropped out and 10 of those who completed treatment. One key finding was that client engagement improved when their needs were effectively addressed through the protocol, aligning with the establishment of clear therapy goals, a core component of the TA. In contrast, therapists who adopted a more directive or hierarchical approach in delivering interventions tended to foster weaker alliances, which might have contributed to higher rates of therapy dropout. We discuss how the identified themes influence the TA and psychotherapy outcomes, offering insights to support the development of tailored treatment strategies. Improving goal alignment between therapists and clients can enhance the effectiveness of mental health care. This is particularly critical in the context of brief psychotherapies, which must balance effectiveness with responsiveness to clients' immediate needs in response to crises. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

In recent years, the tripartite conceptualization of meaning in life (MIL) including (a) coherence/comprehension, (b) purpose, and (c) significance/mattering has received growing scholarly consensus and some support from factor analytic findings. However, a considerable body of studies has shown that the three MIL dimensions are highly correlated, suggesting the potential for MIL's unidimensionality. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether a bifactor model, compared to other plausible models, best explained the relations among three MIL dimensions, namely, comprehension, purpose, and mattering. Using four different samples (4,041_T1 and 2,717_T2 midlife adults, 610 adults, 956 college students, and 346 patients with chronic illnesses), results indicated that the bifactor model best fit the data, compared to the unidimensional model and the correlated three-factor model. The bifactor model provided evidence for an overarching MIL factor. Ancillary bifactor indices favored the unidimensionality of MIL. The findings provide conceptual, measurement, and practical implications for MIL researchers and practitioners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).