Expectations and preferences of nonclients for a university student counseling service

Investigated the relationship between preferences and expectations about a university student counseling sevice in a population of 100 student nonclients. In addition, differences between nonclients' self-perceptions and their perceptions of counseling-service clients were investigated. Nonclients were administered a 157-item questionnaire on an individual basis to investigate these variables. It was hypothesized that discrepancies between preferences and expectations, as well as between perceptions of self and of clients, might be indicative of nonclients' willingness to become future clients of the counseling service. Results indicate that nonclients wanted the counselor to be significantly more active than they expected him to be. In addition, they perceived clients of the service as suffering significantly more from psychological and interpersonal problems than they themselves were. In light of the findings, it is suggested that there is a need for dissemination of information with regard to the process and modes of treatment offered by the counseling service. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).