TPC-Journal-V2-Issue1

33 Sources by Which Students Perceive Professional Counselors’ Effectiveness Michael W. Firmin Richard A. Wantz Ruth L. Firmin Courtney B. Johnson Using qualitative research methods, interviews were conducted with college students regarding the sources they used in generating perceptions of professional counselors. Respondents believed that information sources such as word of mouth, media sources and personal experiences were responsible for their understandings of professional counselors. The findings have applications for leaders in professional counseling organizations. Common knowledge characteristics, public perceptions, counselor identity and advocacy are discussed. Keywords: perceptions, professional counselors, information sources, counselor identity, advocacy The Professional Counselor Volume 2, Issue 1 | Pages 33–42 © 2012 NBCC and Affiliates www.nbcc.org http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org doi:10.15241/mwf.2.1.33 Perceptions do not equal reality. However, perceptions eventually can lead to what reality becomes in time. All professions possess public perception. When someone refers to doctors, lawyers, dentists, and other specialized occupational groups, images are created in our minds. These percepts possess varying degrees of reality, of course, but the effects of such images are cogent nonetheless. Of particular interest to the present study is the perception of human service personnel, including professional counselors. As a whole, the human service profession has landed itself on the positive side of the public’s opinion spectrum (Nunnally & Kittross, 1958). McGuire and Borowy’s (1979) research showed a continuum of perceptions held by the lay public regarding a wide range of professionals who worked with mental illness. Those occupying the fields of nursing, physicians, counseling psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists received the highest rankings. Undergraduate students’ opinions regarding effectiveness of various human service providers for helping mental health consumers were reported by Tse, Wantz, and Firmin (2010) and Wantz and Firmin (2011). Participants in these studies rated human service providers’ effectiveness more positive than negative. Professional counselors and psychologists were rated more effective with providing mental health services than other human service providers. Richardson and Handal (1995) found the general public viewed psychotherapy as a reasonably effective means of treatment for between 25 and 50% of all cases. Most people also recognized that services of less traditional human service providers, such as marriage and family therapists, also could be used effectively in relation to particular disorders. Psychiatrists and psychologists, however, were perceived as having higher levels of competence when addressing mental health issues (Schindler, Berren, Hannah, Beigel, & Santiago, 1987). Educational attainment (Dotson-Blake, Know, & Holman, 2010), chronological maturity (Erikson, 1963; Oliver, Reed, & Smith, 1998), and psychosocial development (Tinsley, Hinson, Holt, & Tinsley, 1990) have been reported to be positively correlated with perceived benefits of counseling. Murstein and Fontaine (1993) found familiarity of the general public to be greater concerning physicians, clergypersons, and psychiatrists than it was in their knowledge of psychotherapists and psychologists. Consequently, of the two, psychologists were the source the general public was most likely to use when recommending a human service Michael W. Firmin is a Professor at Cedarville University. Richard A. Wantz is a Professor at Wright State University. Ruth L. Firmin and Courtney B. Johnson are doctoral students at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Correspondence can be addressed to Richard A. Wantz, Wright State University, Human Services, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Dayton, OH 45435-0001, rick.wantz@right.edu .