BLUE charts: respondents with M.E. who have received
counselling.
GREEN charts: respondents with M.E. who would like
to receive counselling.
RED charts: respondents with MS who received counselling.
The number in brackets after the question number at
the bottom of each chart is the percentage of respondents
in the group who submitted a value for the question.
This is an important indicator in some sections of
the survey for showing how many respondents worked
with different items in their counselling. The bars
in the graph and the bottom numbers in the grid represent
the percentage of the total number of respondents
for each survey who ticked the corresponding value
for the item. The rating value (1 to 7) is in the
top row of the grid. The sum of percentage values
may fluctuate due to standard rounding in calculations.
Note the different scales on the left of each chart
- for those who had counselling the scale goes up
to 50%, for those that want counselling the scale
goes up to 80%. Using a lower scale where possible
makes reading the graphs easier.
In this type of chart the scale on the left is the
rating scale 1 to 7. They key at the bottom shows
the source criteria from the spreadsheet and the criteria
name. In the above chart the criteria are examined
for correlation between the composite rating 'Counsellor'
and the composite rating 'Efficacy2'. The numbers
beside the key correspond to the spreadsheet rows
containing the data. The scale at the bottom of the
graph is the number of respondents represented in
the graph. In this type of chart 2 ratings can be
read for each respondent. e.g., look at the sharp
peak above 40, this respondent's efficacy2 rating
is 6 and their counsellor rating is 4.
27/ 'My self-esteem increased.' The self-esteem of chronically ill people can be diminished (Donoghue and Siegel 2000, p.31; Lubkin and Larsen 2002, p.73) so for this research increased self-esteem is a useful measure of counselling efficacy.
43/ 'Counselling helped'. This allows an overall impression of how helpful the respondent found the counselling experience to be. This allows the respondent to take into account indirect factors such as doing something for oneself or liking the counsellor etc., if this is their experience. Clarkson (2002, p.47) remarks:
There is accumulating evidence
(Lambert 1976; Bergin and Lambert 1978) that extra-analytical
factors may be as, if not more, important as that
which actually transpires during the therapeutic hour…
44/ 'My emotional health improved.' This is included
as a measure of a fundamental purpose of counselling
in addressing the client's emotional needs. The BACP
Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling
and Psychotherapy (2003) includes:
The fundamental values of counselling and psychotherapy
include a commitment to: ... Alleviating personal
distress and suffering
These items affect some people with M.E. and are frequently described in literature.
These qualities of the counsellor as perceived and rated by respondents provide insights into how clients experienced the relationship and mostly correlate to counsellor qualities that are widely researched and written about in counselling text books. These items also correlate to some of the 'Personal Moral Qualities' described in the BACP (2003) ethical framework. Item 24/ 'I trust my counsellor', is slightly different from the others in that it could be described as requiring ownership as well as attribution. The BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2003) states, 'The practice of counselling and psychotherapy depends on gaining and honoring the trust of clients.'
Respondent comments are in BLUE TEXT like this sentence and include comments from people with M.E. who do not want counselling
References from publications are in GREEN TEXT like this sentence
Some questions from the surveys included in the text contain words in brackets which indicate the different wording in the questionnaires for people with M.E. who want counselling, e.g.: