TPC Journal V7, Issue 3 - FULL ISSUE

266 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 3 Test of Sphericity was statistically significant ( W = .93, p <.001), indicating heterogeneity of covariance matrices across levels of preference rankings for counseling modalities (Meyers, Gamst, & Guarino, 2006). Therefore, a Greenhouse-Geisser correction was utilized for interpreting results. The observed F value was statistically significant: F (1.87, 551.48) = 169.30, p < .001, η2 = .37, observed power = 1.00. Bonferroni pairwise comparison tests ( p < .05) demonstrated that participants ranked individual counseling ( M = 1.34, SD = .59) significantly higher than group counseling ( M = 2.14, SD = .73), which in turn received a significantly higher ranking than family counseling ( M = 2.52, SD = .62). Thus, participants ranked attending individual counseling as their first preference for counseling modality, followed by group counseling ranked as their second preference, and finally family counseling ranked as their last preference. Discussion The purpose of this study was to further examine the perceived counseling needs of young adults with cancer with regard to counseling. A paucity of research has studied counseling topic and modality preferences for young adult clients with cancer in depth. Both individual and group counseling had the same number of topics rated as helpful (25/38 topics), and 15 topics were rated as being equally helpful in group or individual counseling. Many of the 15 topics are discussed in the literature as relevant to young adults with cancer: infertility concerns (Eiser, Penn, Katz, & Barr, 2009; Gupta, Edelstein, Albert-Green, & D’Agostino, 2013; Katz, 2015; Kent et al., 2012), the “new normal” (Miedema, Hamilton, & Easley, 2007; Odo & Potter, 2009; Snöbohm, Friedrichsen, & Heiwe, 2010), employment (Katz, 2015; Odo & Potter, 2009; Zebrack, 2011), and pacing oneself to prevent exhaustion (Hauken, Larsen, & Holsen, 2013; Odo & Potter, 2009; Snöbohm et al., 2010), among other developmentally relevant topics. Participants indicated that discussing anxiety, finances, sad feelings, sexual and intimacy concerns, and stress management in individual counseling would be significantly more helpful than discussing these topics in group counseling or family counseling. Perhaps because these topics are fairly unique to one’s specific life context, they may not be topics that would be as helpful to discuss with other family members or with other young adults with cancer. They may be topics that young adults with cancer prefer to gain insight about on their own, with a counselor providing feedback. Alternatively, they may be topics that are perceived as being too sensitive to discuss with others. Especially in regard to financial concerns or sad feelings, perhaps young adults with cancer do not want to worry or burden friends and family with their concerns (Brennan, 2004; MacCormack et al., 2001). Participants rated the topics of finding social support and getting information about one’s medical situation as significantly more helpful for discussion in group counseling than in individual or family counseling. Group counseling itself can be a way for young adults with cancer to find social support from others who understand their experiences (Kent et al., 2013). In addition, young adults with cancer may use group counseling to solicit advice and brainstorm ideas of how they can enhance their social support system. Even if someone is from a different background, such as a different social class, that person may be able to provide relevant information for increasing social support and interacting with one’s support system. Similarly, getting information about one’s medical situation is a topic that is not as context-specific as some of the topics rated as helpful to discuss in individual counseling (e.g., finances). Speaking with other young adults with cancer about one’s medical experience and soliciting information about their medical experiences may be beneficial. Consistent with Taylor and Kashubeck-West’s (2013) findings, family counseling did not have any topics that were rated as more helpful to discuss in family counseling than in the other two counseling modalities. In addition, a few notable instances of family-relevant topics were rated significantly more helpful for discussion in individual counseling than in family counseling. These