奈良教育大学学術リポジトリNEAR

Introspective-Developmental Counseling

著者 TAMASE Koji
journal or 奈良教育大学紀要. 人文・社会科学
publication title
volume 38
number 1
page range 161-177
year 1989-11-25
URL http://hdl.handle.net/10105/1998
奈良教育大学だ要 第38巻第1号(人文・社会)平成元年
Bull. Nara Univ. Educ, Vol. 38, No. 1 (cult. & soc.), 1989

Introspective-Developmental Counseling'

Koji TAMASE
(Department of Psychology, Nara University of Education, Nara 630, Japan )

(Received April 6, 1989)

A useful paradigm of training for beginning counselors was explored. Particular attention was
focused on the trainee s self-understanding throughout the interviews. Three pairs of graduate
and underdraguate students participated in this program. The pairs of subjects took on the
roles of both counselor and client. The 30-minute interview was repeated five times for each
client. In the first 4 sessions, the client explored his or her past life history from birth to the
present. The fina一 session was used for the client to integrate his or her life history. For the

counselor, the standard questions for each session were prepared. The client rated his or her
own level of attainment of the developmental tasks in his or her life. The results showed that
the method which focused on a particular period for each session helped the client remember
things in that particular period. It was inferred from the subjects comments on the program
that the subject could profoundly understand his or her own past through each session by integ-
rating the important past events into each stage. The behavioral patterns which were found by
the client were rated by three judges on the basis of weinstein-A】schuler's self-knowledge
stages. All of the subjects stayed in the situational or pattern stage of the Weinstein-Alschuler
stages. The program was discussed in terms of theoretical and methodological implications.
Some variants of the model were suggested for future studies.

The purpose of the present study is to explore a useful paradigm of counselor training for

paraprofessionals. In counselor training, the trainee should be trained in using a wide range of

interviewing skills such as questioning, paraphrasing, encouraging, reflection of feeling, summar-

ization (Ivey & Gluckstern, 1982), selトdisclosure (Ivey & Gluckstern, 1983) as well as confronta-

tion (Ivey, 1988). To date, there are many training methods as well as counseling theories, such

as humanistic, psychodynamic, and behavioristic theories (Belkin, 1987; Ivey, Ivey, & Simek-Down-

ing, 1987; Larson, 1984). For beginning counselors, such as undergraduates, graduates, and para-

professionals, however, one of the most effective and well-organized training programs might be

Ivey's microcounseling (Ivey, 1988, Ivey & Authier, 1978). Baker and Daniels (1989) have found,

by using a meta-analysis method, that microcounseling is one of the most useful skill approaches

in the training program. It is important for the trainee to be able to use skills of open and closed

questions (Tamase & Tanaka, 1988), reflection of feeling, paraphrasing, and summarization, as well

as being able to integrate these skills effectively (Ivey & Mathews, 1984, Ivey, 1988). Although

* The present study was conducted when I stayed at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, School of
Education, The School, Consulting, and Counseling Program, as a visiting scholar. I very much appreciate
Dr. Allen E. Ivey for his special support of my research work, I am indebted to all of the other faculty
members of the program for their help in various ways. I also would like to express my appreciation to the
students who participated in ray research program as the subjects.

161
162 Koii Tamase

the recent trend of Ivey's theory moves to a direction which focuses on developmental aspects of

counseling theory (Ivey, 1986; Ivey & Goncalves, 1988; Van Hesteran & Ivey, 1988), it is clear that

microcounseling still stresses counseling skills as opposed to the trainee s selトdevelopment.

Although Rogers (1957) stressed that the couselor must be congruent or genuine in the

counseling situation, it seems very difficult for the beginning counselor to be in that state of mind.

What should the counselor educator do for the trainee's development of his or her own mental
maturity? What should he or she do for the trainees development of his or her mental security
which might, in turn, lead to the trainee s congruence? One of the reasons why the beginning coun-

selors cannot be congruent or genuine may be that they are uncertain about their own selves. In
other words, they may not be ready to understand their own life histories (Damon & Hart, 1982)

without some suitable prompts. In order for the trainee to attain mental maturity, it might be
helpful to let the trainee know his or her own life history (Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985).
Everyone can spontaneously remember several things from the past when he or she is re-

quested to do so. In daily life, however, it is not so easy to remember past events very systemati-

cally and intensively. Thus, events in a persons past life history usually are not so well orga-

nized and arranged in his or her memory, but they are fragmented. In Japan, there is a therapy

called "Naikan therapy'つintrospection therapy, originated by lshin Yoshimoto) which takes one
week to practice as a client or trainee (Murase, 1972, 1982). From 5: 30 in the morning through 9:

00 in the evening, the client, sitting in a small space surrounded by a partition, tries to remember

throughout the day about his or her past life events. The client spends one or more days re-

membering only the relationship with his or her mother, from birth to the present. On the first

day, the client usually cannot remember precise facts which happened to him or her with his or

her mother. By spending a couple of days, the client can remember his or her past life events

much more exactly and much more vividly. Once the client has remembered several factual

events which happened in his or her life with his or her mother, the client is usually able to re-

member other things more easily and more quickly after that.

The idea of the present study was derived from the author's personal experience in Naikan

therapy. Naikan therapy focuses on the trainee's own development. The effectiveness of Naikan

therapy depends on the trainee's willingness and ability to involve him or herself in introspection・

The theme to be remembered in Naikan therapy is strictly restricted to a particular person as well

as restricted to a particular period of the client s past.

For the trainee, it is important to know his or her strengths and weaknesses in his or her be-

havioral, affective, and cognitive aspects. It might be helpful for the trainee to understand his or

her past life history to find deeper understanding of his or her own dispositions in these aspects.

It is assumed that the client's personality trends and behavioral dispositions will depend on his or

her life history. If the counselor facing the client is very unstable for some reason, it is rather
dangerous to continue the counseling unless he or she is aware of his or her states of mind or

shortcomings and is able to control his or her emotional states.

Introspective-Developmental Counseling (IDC) was devised by the author for the beginning
counselor to attain a better understanding of him or herself. IDC may ideally be applied to
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling 163

trainees who have already mastered several basic skills of interviewing. The trainee-counselor

interviews the trainee-client about his or her own life history using basic interviewing skills such

as microskills (Ivey, 1988) for four 30-minute sessions.

The first session is devoted to looking for the facts which happened to the client in his or her

birth through preschool years. The important issue is to let the client remember as many facts as

possible as well as to remember them as clearly as possible. Whether the fact for the client is im-

portant or trivial does not matter at this stage. The interviews are taperecorded, and, at the com-
pletion of the questioning in each 30-minute interview, the counselor will ask the client about how

the interview went and ask the client to complete a rating scale. Through these experiences, the
trainees can mutually understand their own lives and share with each other their life histories.

IDC will be seen from different perspectives. It is possible to focus on various factors which
happen during the process of interviewing. As mentioned above, IDC consists of four 30-minute

sessions二the birth through preschool period, the elementary school period, the junior through

senior high school period, and the recent past period. In the first session, it is important for the

client to see how he or she has attained basic security, and it is especially important for him or

her to know how he or she has attained the secure mother-child relationship. In the second ses-

sion, it is important for the client to see how he or she has attained school adjustment, particularly

academic adjustment and secure peer relationships. In the third session, it is important for the

client to see how he or she has attained ego-identity which refers to psychological weaning and

selトexploration or self-establishment. In the fourth session, it is important for the client to see

how he or she has attained the personal and social adjustment in the recent past. In the addition-

al, final session, the client is to discuss with the counselor how these developmental tasks have
been attained as a whole.

In the present study, there are several issues to be discussed later. Usually, in counselor

training, the trainees take the role of client or counselor. When they take the role of the client,

sometimes it may be difficult for them to take this role because they have never experienced the

situation they are expected to function in. In IDC, it is much easier for the trainees to take on the

role of the client because this role is related to their own life history. In IDC, the topics to be
talked about in a given session are restricted to events in a particular period of the clients life,

and thus, it may be much easier for him or her to remember the facts and feelings in that period

as opposed to merely remembering without restriction. The standard questions provided in the

present study may be helpful for the client to focus on a particular event of his or her past life.

The issue of what kind of questions are more useful will be examined later.

IDC might be a useful technique for real clients as well as for trainees. In a practical setting,
the standard questions used in each session should be changed to be more suitable for each par-

ticular case in order to identify the developmental task in any of the aforementioned life periods.

It will be easy to take components out of IDC to do some basic research, because the situation of

interviewing in IDC is well structured and sequential as well as directive. I will discuss, in de-

tail, the possibility of basic research later. I will also later discuss the meaning of IDC in relation

to the developmental theories of Ivey (1986), Erickson (1985), and Piaget (1966).
164 Koji Tamase

Method

Subjects

The subjects were participants in a class of counseling theory and practice in a state uni-
versity in New England. They earned extra credit for participation in the present program.

Although eight students enrolled at the beginning, one pair could not complete the program, be-

cause one of the partners in one of the pairs could not arrange the interviewing time necessary for
completing the interview. Six students completed the whole procedure. Their ages ranged from

20 to 37 with a median age of 27. All of them were Caucasian, five females and one male. One

pair was undergraduate students and the other two pairs were graduate students. The subjects

had already learned about the interviewing skills: questioning, encouraging, paraphrasing, sum-

manzing, and reflection of feeling in their class.

Skills

Questioning skills were used as well as the other basic attending skills (Ivey, 1988).
Instruments

Audiotapes were used for recording and for feedback. The tapes were prepared in advance

by the experimenter.
Procedure

As the main purpose of IDC was to facilitate trainee-client (client) selトunderstanding, the

client was asked, in the introductory section, to try to talk actively and introspectively about his

or her past life history, using the questions from the trainee-counselor (counselor) as a cue.
After introducing IDC briefly and asking permission in a written paper, the following instructions

were given to the participants.

"Please pair up with one of the other subjects. Both of you are going to take the roles of
client and counselor. The standard questions are prepared. The counselor should ask the ques-

tions one by one. It would be better to ask the questions in order, but if the counselor feels it is
more suitable to change the order, he or she may change the order of the questions. He or she

can ask some additional questions, but he or she should not spend too much time asking any one

question because all of the questions need to be asked within 30 minutes. The time spent on each

question will not be the same. You may continue the conversation beyond 30 minutes, but 30 mi-

nutes are sufficient for data gathering. If the client has any problem answering the question he
or she should not hesitate to decline to answer. After one takes the client role and the other the

counselor role for 30 minutes of one session, review the tape (partly or wholly), and discuss the

facts which the client stated for at least 15 minutes. The counselor should use basic listening

skills as effectively as possible to help the client deepen his or her selトunderstanding. After the

client has rated his or her mastery level of the developmental task on the 5-point rating scale, ex-

change roles with one another, For the client, the following, additional instructions were given.

"After the four interviews, discuss your life history with the counselor for 30 minutes. You are

to answer the next questions later. (1) What session do you think is most influential to your cur-
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling 165

rent life? (2) What are the behavior patterns which you found throughout your life history?"
After the instructions, the subjects selected their partners from within the group. At this
point, audiotapes to record the interviews were handed out to the subjects. They were expected
to accomplish their interviews individually by arranging mutually suitable times. The standard

Table 1 Standard Questions Used in Each Session

(Session 1: Birth through Preschool Period)

Could you tell me about your family members? (For the purpose of structuring the situation.)
1. Is there anything about your birth that you have heard from your mother or other family members?
2. Could you tell me about your life from the earliest age that you can remember?
3. What is the most impressive thing that happened prior to kindergarten?
4. What kind of your behavior bothered your mother when you were a preschool child?
5. How did you feel about your parents when you were a preschool child?
6. Did you struggle with your brothers or sisters at this age?
7. Is there any particular event that made you feel either very happy or afraid of at this age?

くSession 2: Elementary School Period)

1. What was your first grade teacher's name? What kind of person was he/she?
2. Could you tell me a concrete example of something that happened in the first grade?
3. What happened in third or fourth grade?
4. What kind of friends did you have in third and fourth grade?
5. Have you ever mistreated anyone or been mistreated by others in your elementary school years?
6. Have you ever experienced any difficulty in academic achievement in the fifth and sixth grades?
7 , What is the most impressive thing you can remember in your elementary school years?

くSession 3: Junior through Senior High School Period)

1. Could you tell me about your friendships in high school?
2. Did you have any particular friend of the opposite sex?
3. How was the relationship between you and your parents?
4. Did you rebel against your parents?
5. How did you decide on your academic courses?
Have you ever suffered any academic problems?
7. Were you satisfied with your decision of courses?

くSession 4: Recent Past)

1. Could you tell me how you decide on which courses to take after high school graduation?
2. How did you think about your future career development after high school graduation?
3. How did you think about your future life when you graduated high school?
4. Did you think about marriage?
5. Did you ever suffer from any family problems after high school?
6. Did you ever suffer from any academic problems after high school?
7. Did you ever suffer from any interpersonal problem after high school?
166 Koji Tamase

questions for each session (Table 1) and an answer sheet were handed out to the subjects.

On the answer sheet, it was requested that the subjects should type or use a word processor.

It was also requested that the subjects present the cassettes from their interviews along with their

papers. The answer sheet consisted of three parts; A, B, and C. Part A asked two questions:

(1) for each session, the subject was asked to list in short sentences the order of events which

the subject talked about, and (2) for each session, the subject was asked to summarize in one or

more sentences, how he or she felt (comfortable, pleasant, satisfied, depressed, discouraged, etc.).

In part B, the subject was asked to rate himself or herself on the five-point rating scales about the

mastery level of his or her developmental task for each session. The rating itself had already

been done in each session. In session 1, the developmental task was about basic security, which

referred to the mother-child relationship. In session 2, the developmental task was about school

adjustment, which referred to academic adjustment and peer relationships, and in session 3, ego-

identity which referred to psychological weaning and self establishment, and in session 4, recent

past adjustment, which referred to personal and social adjustment. On the rating scale, "very

much" earned 5 points, "much" 4 points, ``moderate" 3 points, "some" 2 points, and "not at all" 1

point.

In part C, the following three questions were requested. (1) What session did the subject
think was the most influential in his or her life? (2) What were the behavioral patterns which were
found through his or her life history? (3) Comments on the experiences the subject had while tak-
ing part in IDC were asked. The present study was done during the fall semester of 1988, be-
tween October 25th and November 29th.

Results

Self Rating on Developmental Tasks

Table 2 shows the results of selトrating by the subjects (Part B of the answer sheet) on the

developmental task in each session. As is shown in Table 2, some subjects (B-l and Ol) rated
themselves as low in most of the periods, while the other subjects (A-l and O2) as high. It might
be said, however, that most of the subjects varied in their rating of themselves from period to

period.

Answering Part C of the answer sheet, the subjects expressed what was the most influential

session to their current life. As is shown in Table 2, it was not necessarily the session highest in

the rating that the subject answered as the most influential ( mark on number). Some of the sub-

jects answered the earliest period of their lives as the most influential, while others so rated the

latest period.

These ratings might be translated into what was the subjects'basic mood for each period.

Table 3 illustrates that the ratings of 5 and 4 are for "happy"; the ratings of 2 and 1 are for "sad";

and the rating of 3 is for "neutral." As a consequence, some subjects had a happy past (A-1, A-2,

B-2, and O2), while the remaining two subjects had a sad past (B-l and Ol). Coincidentally,
these results are perfectly consistent with the subjects'own answers about the most influential
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling 167

Table 2 SelトRating by the Subject for the Developmental Task

Pair of Ss

LO CVJ CM<TO+
< < 03 ffl U U

*     詛     *  c^

N
in
i-i

CO ^ CM -^ CO -*
I

*          *
in
00.-i
I

CM
n

*
C<] i-i
l

Tf ^) m
tj< n

′/
I

2
OJ

in
I
I

1 ) Rated by the subject as the most important period in his or her past.

2 ) The developmental task referred to was basic security in session

l, school adjustment in session 2, ego-identity in session 3, and

personal and social adjustment in session 4.

3 ) Rating score: 5 (very much), 4 (much), 3(moderate), 2 (some), and 1

(not at all).

4 ) Scores in the parentheses were spontaneously rated by the sub-

jects (C-l and C-2).

Table 3 Translation of Basic Mood Information from Table 2 for Individual Subjects

Pair of Ss
3       4
蝣a, -a竺

H
ォV;'Si
Vp
p
< < m
l

Jd

Happy Happy
aad
l

Happy Happy Happy

 
 
 

Sad Sad Sad

.

S3
 
cq
C ^ O

>,

Happy Happy Happy

 
 
r - 4   C ^ ]
I

Sad Sad
o
I

Happy Happy Happy

o
I

1 ) "Happy" means the score 5 or 4, "Sad" means 2 or 1, and "-" means 3.

period (Table 2).

Insight for Behavioral Pattern
Three judges were asked to rate the answers to the questions regarding the subject's selレ
knowledge stage (Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985) on answering sheet C-2 according to the scoring
procedure developed by Weinstein and Sweitzer (1985). Weinstein and Alschuler (1985) have
identified four stages of self-knowledge: elemental, situational, pattern, and transformational. At
the elemental stage, memorable experiences are recounted in a fragmented list of juxtaposed
elements. The elements are not causally linked, classified, or interpreted. At the situational
stage, people describe a whole situatioll and refer to a single coherent situation by depicting reac-
168 Koji Tamase

tions to it and consequences of it. At this stage, there are no reported consistencies across situa-

tions and no statements that report relationships between situations. Pattern self knowledge con-

tains descriptions of stable internal responses that are reactions to a class of situations or result

in a class of situations. People see patterns of overt behaviors, but descriptions of covert pat-

terns are the hallmarks of this stage. People at the transformational stage describe how they con-

sciously monitor, modify, or manage their inner patterns of response. They can stop their negative

reactions, reinterpret situations, and confer new meanings on situations. As is shown on Table4,

most of the subjects remained at the pattern stage.

Table 4 Stage of Self-Knowledge by Weinstein & Alschuler in Respec-

tive Period

R2      R3   Final decision
i/i (A d. a. a. a.

CO
C/3 00 Q-h Cu c/l D-,

CL, 0- 0O
CL, CL

1 ) The highest stage in individual subject was estimated, thus the

highest stage, transformational did not appear in the present sub-

jects. S: Situational. P: Pattern.

2 ) The order of the subjects here was changed from that in Table 2

for confidentiality.

Comments from the Subjects on the Program

All of the subjects commented positively on the program. The following comments are

arranged in random order for the purpose of confidentiality. Some parts ( mark) of the comments

were deleted because of redundant or irrelevant personal matters.

S-A: I feel I benefited a lot from going through these different periods of my life. I enjoyed

looking back on my past period by period; I feel this gave me a better idea of what happened in

my life and why I acted a certain way at a certain time. I also have desired for a long time to
keep a record of my life and this adds an area to that record that may have been lost otherwise.

As I was going through this I realize also how much more I could have remembered, talk about

and thought about. There were many more memories and experiences that the 30 minutes for

each session didn't allow to be said. Another point I feel that is important to bring out deals with

the danger of relying too heavily on the past and life events to explain why a person is the way

they are today. Even though looking back on the past is important and what has happened to and

in my life affects me now, there has to be a point within my life when I take responsibility for my
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling 169

own actions. I feel there are reasons why I am who I am today that are because I have chosen to

act in a certain way (actions can be positive or negative).

The last thing I want to mention is the fact that for me, going through IDC helped me to see

patterns that aren't necessarily healthy. One good pattern I see in my life is honesty. Honesty

in the sense that I never have desired to take credit for something if I hadn't actually accom-

plished what I was being praised for. Perhaps if you were to employ IDC again, urging people to
note positive as well as negative patterns would be good. It would be interesting to note if others

who went through IDC noticed both negative and positive patterns or emphasized one more than

the other. I dont know if this is a cultural issue or not, but I believe that most people in this
society can tend to focus on negative aspects and that the positive often gets left out.

∫-B: As I stated before, I am surprised that my insecurities stem mostly from my childhood,

and that my siblings had such a negative impact on my self esteem. I have reviewed my life
numerous times, but only from adolescence on. This project has been beneficial in understanding

the development of my personality. I m glad I participated in such an insightful project.

One thing I found interesting about this study was the emphasis placed on school. I'in not
sure if this is a cultural or gender issues, but 1 did not find school as influential on my life as I

did family and friends. My relationship with people is what I remember best about my past.

School didnt affect me much. The woman that I interviewed felt the same way. I suspect that
the United States doesn't take schooling seriously enough. Schoolwork never worried me to a

great extent, nor did I care much for classes. Whether or not I learned anything significant was

not a concern of mine. Basically, I went to school because I was suppose to and attended classes

that were assigned to me. The relationships I became involved in were my main concern.

Therefore, I was surprised to read so many questions asking about school and courses.

S-C: This process was very valuable to me, even though I had previously 3 years of therapy.

It was especially useful to concentrate on one period of life at a time. This helped me to see the

overall progression of my development, from beginning to the present.

I did find however that the emphasis on school life and education was inappropriate for my

particular situation. Many of the questions were not helpful in assisting me in delving into issues

and experiences that had been of importance to me in my life. Because of this, much of the time

my partner and I went our own way and spent the majority of the time exploring family issues.

In my view, the interview questions might have been more well rounded if some explored family

and home issues as well (especially in sessions 2, 3, and 4). The IDC process seems that it would

be an excellent tool for a prospective counselor seeking to identify and explore his/her own issues

in order to counsel more objectively and effectively. I could see it as a necessary part of learning

to be a counselor, interviewer, therapist.

S-D: It has been interesting to think back over my life through this IDC project. (*) Even

though I often felt like I didnt know what to say as the interviewer, I was glad to have a chance to

practice some of the skills that we learned in class. Overall I think it was a positive experience.

S-E: One of the most predominate feelings from doing these exercises is amazement of the dif-

ference in emotiolis that each session brings back. The first and third seem especially good, while
 170 Koji Tamase

the second seems bad. Prior to this IDC, I was aware of a generally good childhood, and past life
history. I was not aware, however, of how strongly different my emotions were in regards to the
different periods. I also realized in sesion V that I have two very different feelings in session I¥.
(*) In genera一 I feel very good about the experience of IDC. I think I have gained more insight

into myself, increasing my personal growth and making me more able to seeing personl traits that

might affect my workng with clients. (*) This experience has allowed me to become more self

aware. Therefore, I am little less a slave to my own mental traps. Hopefully, I am also a little

less likely to insnare someone else in these traps because of my ignorance of self.

S-F: I enjoyed taking part in the IDC project although it has been somewhat depressing. It

would be interesting to know what the purpose of this exercise was. I think that (the author) was

aware of the fact that we really did not know the reasons behind the program. I guess by not

knowing what you wanted, it is more difficult to falsify answers or ideas. Overall, it has been a

very interesting experience.

Discussion

After a brief discussion about the results of the present study, theoretical and methodological

issues will be discussed. Finally, some variants of the present model will be presented.

Discussion of Findings

ln the first session, the subjects remembered many concrete events with particular feelings

which they described using adjectives and nouns such as happy, sad, scared, angry, afraid, alone,

loved, fun, needy, pleasant, jealous, worried, reclusive, shy, and so forth (cited from the subjects'

descriptions). It seems that the subjects could focus on their experiences in the family, particular-

ly remembering the relationship with their parents. In this session, many elements of the sen-

sory-motor level (Ivey, 1986) seem to come out. Activating the sensory-motor experiences in the

past assumes to promote the activation of the most basic level of development in the present life.

in the second session, the subjects spent most of the time remembering their school life; they

focused particularly on the relationship with their friends. Concrete examples which the subjects

reported are cited in the subjects own words as follows: hit a girl, had a crush on a boy, picked

on, made fun of a girl, mistreated, ignored, laughed at, cried, rejected, got attention, had fantasy.

Some subjects described much more about the abusive relationship with their siblings in their

families. It is interesting for me to find that the subjects were rarely concerned with academic

achievement unless they had some difficulty. This is in contradiction to the Japanese students

who seem forced to concern themselves with academic achivement in a much more competitive
school setting. With regard to this point, it might be interesting to note that school refusal is a

common problem in Japan (Biggar, 1987), while parental abuse is a problem in the United States

(Brassard & Gelardo, 1987).

In the third session, the subjects talked about rebellion against the parents as well as inner

states of their own: smoking pot, drinking alcohol, going to other countries alone, feeling strong

sexua一 desires, needing more space in their re一ationships, starting to talk about ideas, not really
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling 171

having a life of one's own, feeling exceptiona】ly lonely and depressed, and gaining independence.

Although I employed three of the seven questions for asking about academic matters, some of the

subjects seemed unsatisfied about such biased questions. The subjects'culture should be consi-

dered when developing questions which will examine the trainee's ego-identity. That is, Japan

has a culture that is group-oriented (school here is the place of finding ego-identity) as opposed to

the United States, which has a culture that is individual-oriented (family here is the place of find-

ing ego-identity).

In the fourth session, most of the subjects seemed to have changed their relationship with

family members and friends in some sense, and they had become much more mature at this poinL

even though there is a demonstrated variance among the subjects, mostly because of their differ-

ences in age. What is interesting to me, as a person from Japan, is that they are still struggling to
get their independence from the family, but they do not struggle with their search for interdepend-

ence with the family in more mature way. They rarely describe the respect or gratitude they feel

for their parents.

In summary, the interview process seems to have proceeded very effectively. In each session,

different themes were discussed, even though presumably there is some cultural consideration to

be noted when making questions for each session, especially in session three.

The process of interviewing the individual subjects is clearly shown in selトrating table

(Table 3). Some subjects stayed at the lower level of attainment in the developmental task, while

others achieved a much higher level. Even so, they varied in ratings from session to session.

Table 3 might be helpful in evaluating the level or state of the subject's mind as a whole. This

would be possible if the subject has some basic pervading feeling about his or her life as suggested

by Tronick (1989). The terms happy and sad here will be exchangable for secure and insecure,

respectively.

Table 4 will suggest a different perspective about the results. The idea of developmental

stages of self-knowledge (Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985) will be useful in understanding the

trainee's current cognitive state. Weinstein s pattern stage, where most of the subjects in the pre-

sent study stayed, is correspondent to the formal level of Ivey (1986) as well as of Piaget (1966).

However, the precise content of the pattern stage against the formal level seems controversial.

One of the differences is that the pattern stage refers only to the internal pattern oi thought

(Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985) while the formal level refers to both the internal and external paレ

terns (Ivey & Rigazio-DiGilio, 1988).

Theoretical Issues

There were numerous debates about what events are important in the individual life history,

and how the significant events might influence present life. It is doubtful, however, that there is

a consistent conclusion which can be acceptable for every researcher in the counseling field.

Although the present study is based on anecdotal data rather than ample statistical data (Skolnick,

1987), it might present much more practical and contrete information for the counselor educator to

consider when training his or her beginning counselors. Although the introspection method has

an origin in the earliest time of psychology (Wundt, 1874/1904), the method seems to be re-evalu-
172 Koii Tamase

ated in a current trend of psychology (Stagner, 1988).

Several issues about the standard questions used in the present study should be discussed.

As can be seen in the subjects'comments, some of the standard questions might not, in some sense,

be suitable to American students. The questions employed in the present study were related to

the developmental tasks which seemed to be important in each life stage. Although I used the

questions which seemed to me to be suitable measures of developmental tasks common to students,

the issue about what is a developmental task in a specific life stage might not necessarily be con-

sistent among theorists in the field. A very interesting issue is that some subjects pointed out

that there was a presumable distortion in the questions which were used. As a consequence, the

questions used in the present study might reflect the Japanese culture which stresses academic

aspects for youth much more than the American culture does (Walsh, 1987).

Another important issue in the present study is that the model straddles the bound.ary be-

tween basic and applied research. Stone (1980) stated that "a cognitive perspective would suggest

that the greater the degree of integration between knowing and doing, between theory and practice,

and between university and applied setting, the better the program.'つpl48). The subjects who are
likely to participate in future studies of the present model will usually come from a pool of gradu-

ate or undergraduate students, or they may be paraprofessionals who are participating in on-going

training in the fundamental skills of counseling or interviewing. In the model, the subjects in

pairs can mutually experience first-hand practice as a counselor or a client rather than taking on

a fictional role. In the counseling research, it is clearly noted that such a bridging model is lm-

portant in the research model. In this sense, the present model might be helpful for future

research. By modifying the present procedure in this model, the model might be more appropriate
to practical work in a clinical setting. Also, it might be controlled in a laboratory setting, as was

done by Tamase and Tanaka (1988) in research work done in microcounseling. Practical exam-
pies will be discussed later.

Although it is important for the counselor to deepen his or her self-understanding, it is not

necessarily true that the person who can understand him or her is a person who can understalld
other people. The reverse might hold true. It might even be said that a person who is a human

services professional sometimes lacks self-understanding. My view is that counselor education

should simultaneously be intent on deepelling the trainee s self-understanding and on teaching

counseling skills.

Methodological Issues

One of the most important features of the present study is to require the subjects to remember

specific events in their particular life stages. As can be seen in the subjects'comments, this proc-

edure is very useful for them to remember the past, miscellaneous, complex events, and for them to

put these events in proper chronological order. I borrowed this idea from Ivey s microcounseling

(Ivey & Authier, 1978), which asks the subject to focus on only one skill per session. Japanese

Naikan therapy (Murase, 1972) also uses a similar procedure which requires the client to remem-

ber a single topic such as "about the relationship with mother in preschool period," in a single

session. These procedures were revealed to be effective in the field of episodic memeory. Using
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling 173

appropriate cues for remembering some materials might be helpful (Ickes, Robertson, Tooke, &
Teng, 1986).
In counselor education, I would like to restate that it is necessary to deal with the issue of the
counselor's selトunderstanding. In general, this issue relies on the counselor's self-training
through his or her personal experience. Recently, Weinstein (Weinstein & Alschuler, 1985) has
developed a way for students to deepen their selトunderstanding. He classified four stages of
self-knowledge; elemental, situational, pattern, and transformational. A couple of methodological
differences will be pointed out between the Weinstein study and the present study. First, the
present study employs a procedure which proceeds from past to present, while the Weinstein
study uses a procedure which proceeds from present to past. Second, the present study focuses
on every event, trivial or important, which the subjects remembered. There was no specific
weight given to any event. In contrast, the Weinstein study focuses on one event which presum-
ably is the most significant one for the subject. It might be said, however, that the present study

deals with the significant event as well, because subjects look for their behavioral patterns on the

bases of the remembered facts and, as a consequence, find some of the events to be significant.

Although Ivey and Rigazio-DiGilio (1988) focus much more on the client rather than the

trainee-counselor when they refer to the developmental level, their categorization might be helpful

to the counselor-understanding when he or she applies it to his or her counselor training. Third,

the Weinstein study was conducted in a group setting where the subjects employed a paper and
pencil method to write down their answers. The present study, however, was conducted by pair-

ing up the subjects, and letting them take on the role of both the counselor and the client. The

present procedure might not only facilitate the trainee s selトunderstanding, but it also might

facilitate the trainee's practice in interviewing skills which he or she has learned in his or her

counselor training. The procedure employed in the present study may be applicable to a group

setting. This issue will be discussed later.

Some other methodological issues are of importance. The method of using audiotape in the

present study is a little different from the traditional method. In the traditional study, the coun-

selor used the taperecorder to record the client's conversation; this information was to be used

only by the counselor. In the present study, however, the taperecorder was used mainly by the

client as a tool to help him or her to remember the specific details belonging to each life stage.
The trainee can review and listen to his or her own conversation and discuss it with his or her

partner. By doing so he or she can integrate the meaning of his or her past life events with a

multilevel perspective (Goncalves, Ivey, & Langdell, 1988). The tape is reviewed from session to

session. The outcome of reviewing the audiotape will be helpful to the client in accumulating re-
membered events. The client might remember several events which did not appear in the preced-

ing interview, though in the present study ample time was not actually spent in reviewing. The

reviewing session might be much more helpful if an ample amount of time was spent in reviewing.
It would be more effective if the client was requested to bring his or her own tape back to his or

her home and to try to listen to the tape and be ready to attend the next session. This activity

was not controled in the present study.

174 Koji Tamase

It is interesting to note the comments that reflected different feelings in different sessions

(S-A). This means that there might be several periods which have a significant influence on the

client's present life; the meanings, however, might differ according to the specific period. The

multilevel of consciousness point of view (Goncalves, Ivey, & Langdell, 1988) might be helpful in

enhancing the counselor's self-understanding because he or she could see his or her past from

different perspectives as opposed to the view which sees the life history from a single perspective.

Finally, in the present study the final session, in which the client was able to integrate his or

her own patterns of behavior, thought, and feeling through his or her whole life history, was im-

portant because many factual events in the client's history were already made clear through va-

rious sessions and, in so doing, it might be much easier to integrate these events. Rigazio-DiGiho,

(1988) tried to facilitate the depressive patients'cognitive development by using standard ques-

tions (Ivey, Rigazio-DiGilio, & Ivey, 1987) in the developmental therapy・ The present model might

be applicable to the developmental therapy (Ivey, 1986) by focusing on a particular issue, such as

the family issue in the case of Rigazio-DiGilio (1988). Although I did not use taperecording in the

final session, it might be better to use taperecording in the final session as well. By doing so, It IS

possible to assess the trainee's mastery level of his or her interviewing skills. In addition, it is

possible to ascertain how well the trainee can lead his or her partner in discovering the partner s

patterns as well as to more deeply understand his or her life history・ It is possible to measure
what kind of microskills (Ivey, 1988) the trainee has mastered.

Variants of the Model

lt is possible to develop different variants of the present model and to apply them in different

ways in experimental or practical settings. I myself am interested in closely examining the ques-
tions in the model. In this regard, it is possible to more intensively examine the effect of the

wording of the questions by restricting the period such as in the preschool period. As Ivey and

his collaborators (Ivey, Ivey, Simek-Downing, 1987) have stressed, it might be helpful for some

clients to use the questions which focus exclusively on the positive aspects of the clients

conversation. The questions which focus on the negative aspects of the clients life, such as un-

forgettable experiences, also seem effective in facilitating the clients own development in

selトunderstanding. This would be pertinent and helpful if the client could tolerate remembering

these negative aspects. My suspicion is that the questions which focus on the positive aspects of

the client's past might facilitate the client's release and lead to the client s horizontal development.

In contrast, the questions which focus on the negative aspects of the client's past might facilitate

the client's vertical development (Ivey & Goncalves, 1988). This would be pertinent if some suit-

able prompts, such as the integration of the remembered events, were to be made available within

the final session of the present study. The effect of the questions which focus on both the posi-

tive and negative aspects should be examined as well.

Although the validity of the standard questions was not examined in the present study, It IS

important to explore the validity of the questions used here in light of the developmental stages of

particular theories such as that developed by Erikson (1985). It is interesting to compare a study

which uses standard questions, such as those used in the present study, with a study which uses
 Introspective-Developmental Counseling ll.'

many more unprescribed questions in the individual interview. Also, the issue of which method

of questioning is better when the questions are the same, either sequential or random, should be

asked. It is recommended to measure the responding time, the length of the response, or the re-

sponse latency to the individual question (Tamase & Tanaka, 1988). In Naikan therapy (Murase,

1972, 1982), the target event to be remembered is weighted on how much the client is indebted to

the target person (i.e., mother). Giving weight to particular events was not included in the present

model. It is important to examine whether or not giving weight to the events to be remembered

may influence the client s feelings after the interview sessions are completed. The present model

might be appropriate for group administration by using written questions and written answers.

As was done in the study by Weinstein and Alschuler (1985), it will be helpful to allow appropri-
ate time between questions. One of the issues which is important to consider when one subject is
paired with the other is how these individual subjects are acquainted with one another. The conト

patibihty of the partners in the pair seems important to a successful interview. It is interesting

compare the performance of the compatible group with the incompatible group.

It is possible to associate the present model with the microcounseling skill approach. For ex-
ample, in the first session, the subject will be asked to use only open and closed questions. In the

second session, paraphrasing and minimal encouragments will be introduced. In the third session.
reflections of feelings will be requested. In the fourth session, the skill of summarization will be

used. And, in the fifth session, the integration of all of the skills will be recommended. In this

way, by varying the skills which are used in a particular session, it will be possible to see the self

in different perspectives from session to session (Ivey, personal communication). Although, in the

present study, the client was asked about the behavioral patterns which he or she had formed

through the interviews (sheet C-2), it is possible to ask about many more internal patterns in the

client's thought processes. This technique was employed in Weinstein and Alschuler (1985). By

asking these questions about the internal patterns, it might be possible to 一ead the client to a much

more profound understanding of the self than the present results demonstrate (Weinstein, personal
communication).

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