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EFFECT OF CLIENT SENSE OF HUMOR AND PARADOXICAL INTERVENTION ON ANXIETY
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of client sense of humor on the effectiveness of paradoxical and nonparadoxical directives in the treatment of anxiety as well as on the perceptions of these directives and counselors using them. Fifty-three students who were self-identified and selected as having test anxiety and who were divided into high and low sense of humor groups completed two interviews in which they received either a paradoxical directive or a nonparadoxical directive. The control group received no treatment. Dependent measures included the Sarason Test Anxiety Scale, the Counselor Rating Form-Short Form, and Likert scale ratings of the the clients' perceptions of the homework directives. Results indicated a trend for participants; with a low sense of humor to have lower anxiety than participants with a high sense of humor after receiving a paradoxical directive. Anxiety was significantly decreased in both the paradoxical and nonparadoxical conditions. Participants viewed the directives and counselors favorably, suggesting that fears related to the use of paradoxical interventions may be unfounded. Sense of humor may be a client variable to consider with the use of paradoxical interventions.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
Recommended Citation
NEWTON, GERALDINE RENSCHLER, "EFFECT OF CLIENT SENSE OF HUMOR AND PARADOXICAL INTERVENTION ON ANXIETY" (1987). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8722414.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8722414