This paper reviews Sharpley et al.'s (2000) study, "The Use of Counselor Verbal Response Modes and Client-Perceived Rapport," which examined therapist behaviors during counseling sessions to determine which actions most effectively build client rapport. Unlike most behavioral research, which focuses on the client, this study turned its lens on the counselor. Using the Standardized Client Method and MANOVA statistical analysis across 59 counseling-in-training sessions, researchers measured minute-by-minute rapport ratings. The paper summarizes the study's methods, stated claims, and actual findings, noting both the value of controlled data collection and the limitations introduced by using trained client replicas rather than real clients.
This paper demonstrates critical article analysis — a core undergraduate skill in psychology and counseling courses. Rather than simply restating the study's conclusions, the writer evaluates the methodology, separates claims from evidence, and raises a legitimate threat to external validity. This approach models the kind of structured, evaluative thinking expected in research methods coursework.
The paper opens with a contextualizing introduction that identifies the study's unique focus on counselor rather than client behavior. It then explains the theoretical framework (the Working Alliance model), describes the study's methodology in detail, and addresses the study's stated versus actual findings in separate sections. The paper closes by noting limitations in the method's real-world generalizability. This question-driven structure — method, claims, findings — reflects a standard research critique format used in undergraduate counseling and psychology programs.
The bulk of most behavioral research rests in exploring and measuring the behaviors of the client, or patient, and not that of the therapist involved in the context of therapeutic behavioral counseling itself. Yet, this is the prime focus of a 2000 research study conducted by Sharpley et al., entitled "The Use of Counselor Verbal Response Modes and Client-Perceived Rapport." This study focused its research on examining and assessing the behaviors of therapists mid-session in order to help determine which behaviors are most effective for building client rapport.
The article and research method in question focuses on exploring the counselor-client interaction variables, and how successfully those variables have proven to build a strong client-counselor rapport within the various sessions examined. The study was commissioned in order to help explore the underlying elements of building client-counselor rapport. Understanding such variables can help clarify important steps needed within the context of client sessions, which can in turn help counselors build a stronger rapport with their clients. A method of determining an appropriate time period for such rapport building could then also be constructed and implemented by the counselor.
There has been a considerable body of research regarding various styles of counseling strategies, but there has been little empirical research conducted on the effectiveness and time sensitivity of these strategies as used mid-session in a way that provides comparable analysis for objective determination of successes or failures. Within this study, the primary understanding of the client-counselor relationship is presented through the Working Alliance model. This model is broken down into three parts: bonds, goals, and tasks. Bonds refer "to the degree of trust and emotional closeness experienced by the clients and counselors as a result of undergoing the counseling process" (p. 3). The bonding process is of the greatest importance, as it helps establish the relationship and provides the foundation for future interaction. Goals are the "changes in behavior" initiated by the counselor, which aim to guide the patient through the counseling process. Tasks, finally, are how counselors achieve those goals.
The method of this study used a trained specialist to sit in place of a real client, who rated counselor behavior in terms of its ability to build or decrease rapport. The study "developed a methodology for examining which counselor behaviors are associated with success, as defined by the degree of rapport experienced by the client" (p. 2). It featured fifty-nine counselors in training, all between the ages of 21 and 60, comprising a mix of both genders. This presented a wide survey of therapists examined within their individual sessions and a variety of different therapeutic styles.
All therapists in training conducted a single interview of fifty minutes each. The therapists were not interviewing real clients, but rather highly trained individuals who reported with greater accuracy using a standardized method of evaluation. This is the Standardized Client Method, which reproduces the realism of a true client session while providing greater reliability in the data collected. The methodology broke down counselor behaviors minute by minute, using trained research participants who "present the same problem in multiple counseling interviews and also make minute-by-minute assessments of rapport during therapy interviews" (p. 4). Each counselor in training was therefore exposed to identical client situations and cues, and their behavioral responses to those cues were measured through quantitative analysis.
Perceived rapport was measured by the trained client replica on a scale of one to five, recorded with an electronic device reporting rapport levels minute by minute throughout each session. Out of the total fifty-nine interviews, 2,773 minutes were highlighted for analysis. The data were then statistically analyzed using MANOVA, based on the number of variables within counselor behavior that can affect rapport with the client. This method effectively provided the study designers with a reliable and measurable way to assess therapist behaviors and their effectiveness in building rapport.
However, the use of trained client replicas does place some of the strength and validity of the study in jeopardy. Not all real-life clients will respond to the systems and strategies represented within the standardized behaviors used in the study. This could produce discrepancies between the study's results and actual therapeutic practice in real-world settings. While the Standardized Client Method offers important advantages in data reliability and consistency, researchers and practitioners should weigh these benefits against the limitations introduced by removing genuine client variability from the counseling interaction.
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