Wisdom of the counselor and the counselor's perception of the therapeutic working alliance PDF
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University of Northern Colorado Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC Dissertations Student Research 5-1-2011 Wisdom of the counselor and the counselor's perception of the therapeutic working alliance Linda Carlyn Osterlund Follow this and additional works at:http://digscholarship.unco.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Osterlund, Linda Carlyn, "Wisdom of the counselor and the counselor's perception of the therapeutic working alliance" (2011). Dissertations.Paper 221. This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholarship & Creative Works @ Digital UNC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. © 2011 LINDA CARLYN OSTERLUND ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO Greeley, Colorado The Graduate School THE WISDOM OF THE COUNSELOR AND THE COUNSELOR‘S PERCEPTION OF THE THERAPEUTIC WORKING ALLIANCE A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Linda Carlyn Osterlund College of Education and Behavioral Sciences School of Applied Psychology and Counselor Education Counselor Education and Supervision May, 2011 This Dissertation by: Linda Carlyn Osterlund Entitled: The Wisdom of the Counselor and the Counselor’s Perception of the Therapeutic Working Alliance has been approved for meeting the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in College of Education and Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Counselor Education and Supervision Accepted by the Doctoral Committee Heather M. Helm, Ph.D., Co-Chair Betty Cardona, Ph.D., Co-Chair Fred J. Hanna, Ph.D., Committee Member Jay R. Schaffer, Ph.D., Faculty Representative Date of Dissertation Defense Accepted by the Graduate School Robbyn R. Wacker, Ph.D. Assistant Vice President for Research Dean of the Graduate School and International Admissions ABSTRACT Osterlund, Linda Carlyn. The Wisdom of the Counselor and the Counselor’s Perception of the Therapeutic Working Alliance. Published Doctor of Philosophy dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2011. The therapeutic working alliance has been identified as the most important factor in the outcome of counseling. The therapeutic working alliance is the relationship between the client and the counselor. It is the context in which the counselor builds hope, collaborates on treatment goals and uses selected treatment approaches to best meet the needs of the client. Scholars have suggested that the counselor‘s personal characteristics contribute to the therapeutic working alliance. Further, researchers have identified wisdom traits as a set of cognitive, affective, and reflective personal characteristics that are interactive, as well as both interpersonal and intrapersonal, which are beneficial in counseling. Wisdom traits can be organized by six conceptual categories; cognitive ability, insight, reflective attitude, concern for others, real-world skills, and emotional intelligence. Based on the review of literature, it is speculated that wisdom traits related to the person of the counselor are an important, but unnoticed factor in the counseling relationship. Participants were 106 professional counselors, 83 female and 23 male, currently working with a client for at least three sessions. Wisdom was measured by Three Dimensional Wisdom Scale, with three factors: the affective dimension, the reflective dimension, and the cognitive dimension; the Self Assessed Wisdom Scale, with five iii factors: critical life experience, openness, reflection or reminiscence, emotional regulation, and humor; and the Wisdom Development Scale, with eight factors: self- knowledge, altruism, inspirational engagement, judgment, life knowledge, life skills, emotional management, and willingness to learn. The therapeutic working alliance was measured by the Working Alliance Inventory – Short Form, Therapist version. The results indicated a significant amount of variability in the therapeutic working alliance was explained by the wisdom of the counselor. Additionally, three of the subscales of wisdom significantly explained a portion of the therapeutic working alliance; the cognitive dimension, emotional regulation, and life knowledge. The reflective dimension, inspirational engagement and life skills were close to significant, therefore indicated as important factors in the counselor‘s wisdom and the therapeutic working alliance. Even though some of the wisdom variables had a statistically significant impact on the therapeutic working alliance, together they made a more significant contribution. As counselor education programs move toward relying on research evidence to inform the educational experience, the focus on the counseling relationship and the person of the counselor becomes increasingly important. In the future, the development of a useful measurement for wisdom could help counselor educators to identify, evaluate and teach wisdom traits in future counselors. Keywords: counselor education, person-of-the-counselor, therapeutic working alliance, wisdom iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS So much has been given to me; I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied. Helen Keller (n.d.) DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my grandmother, Vinnabel Thornton Burleson. Her life was an example of focusing on possibilities instead of problems, and looking for opportunities as opposed to obstacles. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I acknowledge the support, sacrifice and encouragement of my outstanding and wise husband; for without him, I could not have accomplished this. I appreciate the sacrifice and support of my sons, who always believed in me, and celebrated with me each milestone of this project. I acknowledge the support and encouragement of my parents. I am especially thankful to my Mom for leading the way to higher education and mentoring me through this process. I am grateful to my Dad, for being my biggest champion and raising me with the confidence that I could do this. I acknowledge the leadership, support, and guidance of my committee, Dr. Heather Helm, Dr. Betty Cardona, Dr. Fred Hanna, and Dr. Jay Schaffer. Dr. Heather Helm has been a wise and compassionate guide for me throughout this process. I acknowledge the support from the entire faculty and staff in Counselor Education and Supervision program at University of Northern Colorado. v I am grateful to my cohort of fellow students who shared this experience with me. I acknowledge the faculty in the Graduate Counseling Program at Regis University for their encouragement and unwavering support every step of the way. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………..1 Problem Statement Rationale Purpose Research Questions Definition of Terms II. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………..16 Medical versus Contextual Treatments The Common Factors in Counseling The Therapeutic Working Alliance The Person of the Counselor Wisdom: A Comprehensive Construct for Conceptualizing Counselor Traits The History of Wisdom in Research Literature Wisdom and Counseling Comparison of Models Wisdom and Age Implications for Counselor Education and Supervision The Purpose of the Current Study III. METHODS…………………………………………………………… .91 Research Design Research Questions and Hypothesis Participants Procedure Variables Instruments Data Analysis vii IV. RESULTS………………………………………………………………113 V. DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………..138 REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………...165 APPENDIX A: PILOT STUDY ONE…...……………………………………..185 APPENDIX B: PILOT STUDY TWO……...………………………...………..195 APPENDIX C: INFORMED CONSENT…………………………..…………..212 APPENDIX D: DEMOGRAPHICS QUESTIONNAIRE ……………………..215 APPENDIX E: THREE DIMENSIONAL WISDOM SCALE……..……...…..217 APPENDIX F: SELF-ASSESSED WISDOM SCALE…….…………………..226 APPENDIX G: WISDOM DEVELOPMENT SCALE….………………….….230 APPENDIX H: WORKING ALLIANCE INVENTORY- SHORT FORM THERAPIST……………...………………………………………...………….234 APPENDIX I: LETTER OF INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH STUDY…………………………………………………...………………..…..238 viii
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