Clients' Perceptions of a Counseling Relationship

In attempting to describe this relationship, researchers have focused on various qualities of caring, such as warmth, support, attention, understanding, and acceptance. Another important element of the client-counselor relationship is the way that significance is communicated through interpersonal exchange.

The term "mattering" was used by Rosenberg and McCullough (1981) to describe the feeling that people have when they sense that others are interested in them and value their contribution. When people believe that they matter, they feel that they belong and that others appreciate them. Rosenberg and McCullough's research indicated that adolescents who felt that they mattered were less likely to commit delinquent acts.

This research defined a series of dimensions associated with mattering. These four dimensions are summarized as folloes:

1. Attention: The feeling that someone notices or is interested in you. For example, when you enter a room, people acknowledge your presence and make you feel welcome.

2. Importance: The sense that people are interested in what you are thinking, feeling, and doing. This aspect is communicated when people inquire about your well-being and take the time to listen carefully to what you have to say.

3. Dependence: The feeling that your contribution is valued and needed. You may be a member of a team and feel that everyone is counting on your participation for the development of ideas.

4.Ego-Extension: The feeling, whether right or wrong, that others are interested in how you are doing (accomplishments as well as disappointments), even when there is no longer a professional relationship.

In any counseling situation, there is a parallel relationship as clients look to counselors for a sense of mattering and counselors look to their colleagues and supervisors for similar recognition.

Perceptions of the Ways of Mattering by People With Mental Illness Marc Corbière, Norman E Amundson. The Career Development Quarterly. Alexandria:Dec 2007. Vol. 56, Iss. 2, p. 141-149 (9 pp.)