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Abstract
Therapeutic Assessment (TA), a collaborative style of providing test feedback, was examined for its efficacy in improving forty-two participants' commitment to career choice and career exploration behaviors, relative to an Information-Giving (IG), or ‘standard’ style, and a delayed-treatment control group, after each of two sessions of career assessment, and at a two-week follow-up.
During the 45-minute first session, participants in the TA experimental condition met with a counselor to generate at least three career-related questions that they wished to have answered by the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), set goals for the assessment, and collaboratively discussed their current career-related concerns. During the 45-minute second session, they received results of the SII in accordance with the TA model.
‘Standard’ treatment participants also met with a counselor for a 45-minute first session, however, the counselor utilized the session to gather information about the participants' career-related concerns. Participants received the results of the SII in accordance with a ‘standard’ model during the 45-minute second session.
Participants in the delayed-treatment control group received ‘standard’ TI feedback after the conclusion of the study.
In regard to participants' perceived session quality, the results indicated a main effect for time on the dimension of depth as measured by the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ). Participants in both the TA and IG experimental conditions reported significantly higher depth scores after the TI feedback session, relative to their initial session with a counselor—indicating that they found the TI feedback session to be more powerful and valuable. Implications for career assessment practice and future research are discussed.
