Abstract
Thirty-five clients who received counselingparticipated in this exploratory study by completinga letter to a friend that described in as much detailas possible what they had learned from counseling. Theparticipants' written responses were analyzed using acontent analysis approach. The analysis indicated thatthe data were best categorized in terms of three broadareas of learnings (Self, Relations with Others, andthe Process of Learning and Change). The Self taxonomywas found to consist of six hierarchical levels. TheRelations with Others taxonomy consisted of fivehierarchical levels, while the Process of Learning andChange taxonomy consisted of five hierarchical levels.The results suggested that these three taxonomiesoffer a promising and exciting way to view the impactof counseling within a learning framework. If thesetaxonomies are found to be stable in future researchand clients are easily classified using the taxonomiesthen this approach may have implications forcounseling. It may well be that to maximise thelearnings counselors could use specific strategies andtechniques to enhance their clients' learning in thethree areas.
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Burnett, P.C., Van Dorssen, L. What do clients learn from counseling?. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 22, 241–254 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005611704610
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005611704610