DIGEST - Volume 8, Issue 4-FULL

3 TPC Digest Read full article and references: Kalkbrenner, M. T., & Neukrug, E. S. (2018). Identifying barriers to attendance in counseling among adults in the United States: Confirming the factor structure of the Revised Fit, Stigma, & Value Scale. The Professional Counselor , 8 , 299–313. doi : 10.15241/mtk.8.4.2 99 | TPC Digest human services practitioners). The Fit barrier measures the degree to which one trusts the process of counseling. The Stigma barrier involves one’s hesitation to seek counseling because of feelings of embarrassment. The Value barrier appraises the extent to which a prospective client might avoid counseling because of a belief that the benefits of seeing a counselor will not be worth the effort it would require. The primary aim of the present study was to extend the line of research on the Revised FSV Scale by norming the measure with a sample of adults living in the United States. The findings of the present investigators were promising and indicated that the Revised FSV Scale was a reliable (consistent) and valid (the test measures what it was designed to measure) questionnaire for appraising barriers to counseling among a random sample of adults living in the United States. In addition, findings also revealed that 32% of adults living in the United States had attended at least one session of personal counseling in the past, which is consistent with past investigators who found that between 15% and 38% of adults have sought counseling. The authors also found demographic differences between participants’ sensitivity to the FSV barriers. Participants who identified as male reported significantly higher vulnerability to all three FSV barriers when compared to participants who identified as female. In addition, participants who had not attended counseling in the past were more sensitive to the Value barrier compared to participants who had attended counseling in the past. Researchers discuss a variety of implications regarding how professional counselors can use the Revised FSV Scale to measure and potentially reduce barriers associated with counseling among prospective clients. Michael T. Kalkbrenner, NCC, is an assistant professor at New Mexico State University. Edward S. Neukrug, NCC, is a professor at Old Dominion University. Correspondence can be addressed to Michael Kalkbrenner, 1224 Stewart St., Las Cruces, NM 88003, mkalk001@nmsu.edu.