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Article Excerpt
The Ways of Mattering questionnaire (N. E. Amundson, 1993,2003) was developed to evaluate clients' perceptions of a counseling relationship. This study reports the construct and convergent validities of the Ways of Mattering as well as the internal consistency of each of its subscales for people with mental illness who were registered in supported employment programs. The questionnaire demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability with this population. The instrument could be useful for identifying the basic and positive elements required to establish a solid foundation for developing a working alliance between the counselor and the client.
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As researchers evaluate the essential components of helping others, the relationship between the client and the person in the helping role is repeatedly identified as an essential factor (Henry, Strupp, Schacht, & Gaston, 1994). In several meta-analyses, this relationship stands out as a central component in all forms of counseling and therapy (Horvath & Symonds, 1991; Martin, Garske, & Davis, 2000). Skovholt, Ronnestad, and Jennings (1997) stated emphatically that the single most important factor in counseling or psychotherapy is the ability to establish a positive working relationship.
In attempting to describe this relationship, researchers have focused on various qualities of caring, such as warmth, support, attention, understanding, and acceptance (Day, 2004). They have also examined the ways that counselors and clients have bonded through shared goals and tasks. Bordin (1979) was one of the first researchers to use the term working alliance to begin to define the essential qualities of the relationship. Meara and Patton (1994) reported that the working alliance was characterized by collaboration, mutuality, and cooperation between the client and the counselor. The working alliance has also been described as the result of a mutual investment by the client and the counselor or another vocational professional (e.g., an employment specialist), and the alliance can be built at each meeting on the basis of affective and concrete goals and task-related concerns (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989). The beneficial role of an alliance between counselors/therapists and clients in vocational and psychotherapeutic processes is also widely recognized for persons with mental illnesses (Gaston, 1990; Gehrs & Goering, 1994; Horvath & Luborsky, 1993; Martin et al., 2000; Neale & Rosenheck, 1995; Svensson & Hansson, 1999; Tyrrell, Dozier, Teague, & Fallot, 1999).
Another important element of the client-counselor relationship is the way that significance is communicated through interpersonal exchange. Rosenberg and McCullough (1981) used the term mattering to describe the feeling that people have when they sense that others are interested in them and value their contribution. When people believe that they matter, they feel that they belong and that others appreciate them. Rosenberg and McCullough's research indicated that adolescents who felt that they mattered were less likely to commit delinquent acts. Schlossberg, Lynch, and Chickering (1989) indicated that the concept of mattering could be applied to adult students in a higher education setting. Amundson (1993) suggested that the principles of mattering could be applied to unemployed clients, and Connolly and Myers (2003) connected this concept with workplace wellness. Of all the environmental or social determinants of work integration for people with mental illness, the concept of mattering between the client and the employment specialist warrants further investigation.
Schlossberg et al. (1989) extracted from the work of Rosenberg and McCullough (1981) a series of dimensions associated with mattering. Four of these dimensions can be summarized as follows:
1. Attention: The feeling that someone notices or is interested in you. For example, when you enter a room, people acknowledge your presence and make you feel welcome.
2. Importance: The sense that people are interested in what you are thinking, feeling, and doing. This aspect is communicated when people inquire about your well-being and take the time to listen carefully to what you have to say.
3. Dependence: The feeling that your contribution is valued and needed. You may be a member of a team and feel that everyone is counting on your participation for the development of ideas.
4. Ego-Extension: The feeling, whether right or wrong,...
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