Counselor training, anxiety, and counseling self-efficacy: Implications for training psychology students from the united arab emirates university

The impact of training on counseling self-efficacy and state and trait anxiety was examined in this study. One hundred and thirteen undergraduate psychology students from United Arab Emirates (UAE) University participated in this investigation. The experimental group consisted of seventy-three students who were taking their first practicum (65 females; 8 males) and the control group was composed of female students who had not yet taken their practicum (n=40). Pre- and posttests were conducted using the Counseling Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE: Larson et al., 1992) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI: Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970). Significant mean differences were found between the experimental group and the control group in both counseling self-efficacy and anxiety. Analysis of covariance revealed that training increased trainees' counseling self-efficacy and decreased their level of anxiety. These findings are discussed and directions for future research are provided.