Examiner Description Form

Abstract

The Examiner Description Form is a specialized, brief assessment tool consisting of 12 items, originally developed by McLennan (1990) as a component of the broader Counselor Perception Measure (CPM). This instrument is designed to rapidly capture clients’ immediate perceptions of the counselor or examiner across essential professional and interpersonal dimensions. It functions as a quantitative measure of the perceived quality of the therapeutic relationship from the client’s perspective, making it highly valuable in contexts involving counseling psychology, evaluation studies, and training programs aimed at improving counselor effectiveness.

The scale utilizes a 7-point response format, allowing for nuanced feedback on traits ranging from supportive qualities (e.g., Caring, Friendly) to professional attributes (e.g., Expert, Competent). Its utility lies in providing direct, actionable feedback regarding client-counselor interactions, often serving as a dependent variable in studies assessing the impact of different intervention styles or assessment feedback methodologies, such as those investigated by Allen (2001).

Keywords

Counselor Perception Measure, CPM, Examiner Description Form, client perception, therapeutic relationship, counseling evaluation, McLennan 1990, assessment feedback, counselor competence, psychological assessment.

Authors

Jim McLennan

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Examiner Description Form is to efficiently measure the qualities of the counselor or examiner as perceived by the client following an interaction, session, or assessment feedback process. This measurement is crucial because the client’s perception of the counselor’s competence and interpersonal style is strongly correlated with engagement and positive therapeutic outcomes.

This instrument is frequently utilized in academic and research settings to quantify otherwise subjective elements of the professional relationship. Researchers employ the scale to compare different training modalities, evaluate the impact of specific counselor behaviors, or assess how the delivery of assessment results influences a client’s view of the professional providing the feedback. The brevity and straightforward nature of the 12 items contribute to its utility in busy clinical or research environments.

Construct

The core psychological construct measured by the Examiner Description Form is the client’s perceived quality of the therapeutic or professional alliance. This construct is operationalized through 12 descriptive adjectives that tap into two generalized domains of counselor behavior: Interpersonal Warmth/Rapport and Professional Competence/Expertise.

Items such as ‘Caring,’ ‘Accepting,’ and ‘Supportive’ reflect the relational domain, emphasizing the counselor’s ability to foster a safe and supportive environment. Conversely, terms like ‘Expert,’ ‘Competent,’ and ‘Knowledgeable’ assess the client’s confidence in the counselor’s professional capabilities. By combining these two facets, the scale provides a holistic measure of perceived counselor effectiveness, which is foundational to the success of any therapeutic relationship.

Validity

While specific, detailed psychometric reports on validity are housed within the original 1990 publication by McLennan, the scale demonstrates strong face validity. The items selected are universally recognized as essential attributes for effective professional practice in counseling.

In subsequent studies, such as the 2001 dissertation by Allen, the scale’s utility in measuring changes in client perception following specific informational interventions supports its construct validity. Because the form is frequently used in counseling research to track variables known to influence treatment efficacy, it is implicitly confirmed to be measuring relevant dimensions of the client-counselor dynamic.

Reliability

The reliability of the Examiner Description Form, particularly its internal consistency, was established during its initial development. Given its purpose as a brief, focused measure, high internal consistency (often reflected by a strong Cronbach’s alpha) is expected across the 12 items, suggesting that they cohere well to measure a single underlying construct (perceived counselor quality).

Its reliability is supported by its continued use across multiple academic studies in the decades following its introduction, indicating that it consistently produces stable and dependable ratings of client perceptions in various counseling and assessment contexts.

Factor Analysis

Although the detailed results of the factor analysis are found in McLennan (1990), instruments designed to assess counselor characteristics typically reveal a clear, two-factor structure. The expected factors are generally: 1) Professional Expertise (including items like Expert, Competent, Knowledgeable), and 2) Interpersonal Warmth/Rapport (including items like Friendly, Caring, Accepting).

The clear distinction between these 12 descriptive traits—some focusing on professional skill and others on relational quality—suggests that the scale is multidimensional, though highly integrated, providing a robust measure of the qualities deemed critical for effective counseling practice.

Instrument

Test Type: Client-rated Perception Measure / Self-report

Format: 12 descriptive items rated on a 7-point Likert scale.

Language Available: English (Primary publication language).

Population Group: Clients or participants engaged in therapeutic, counseling, or assessment interactions.

Age Group: Typically utilized with adult populations receiving professional services.

Population Details: Individuals who have recently interacted with an examiner, counselor, or therapist and are capable of providing subjective feedback on that professional encounter.

Test Methodology: Quantitative assessment where respondents indicate the frequency or degree to which they perceive the examiner possesses the described trait, using a scale ranging from 1=Never to 7=Always.

Keywords

Counselor competence, therapeutic alliance, client feedback, psychological assessment, Jim McLennan, 7-point scale, professional qualities, interpersonal warmth, professional expertise.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Refer to the original publication: McLennan, J. (1990). Clients’ perceptions of counsellors: A brief measure for use in counselling research, evaluation, and training. Australian Psychologist, 25(2), 133-146.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1990.

Permissions and Fees: The measure is widely used in academic and non-commercial research settings, often considered part of the public domain for research purposes, particularly since its items are published in academic literature. However, researchers seeking to use the scale for commercial purposes or in large-scale proprietary assessments should seek explicit permission from the original author, Jim McLennan, or the publisher of the journal, Australian Psychologist.

The instrument can be found in the context of academic research via the Florida International University Electronic Theses and Dissertations repository: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1094

Reference’s

McLennan, Jim (1990). Clients’ perceptions of counsellors: A brief measure for use in counselling research, evaluation, and training. Australian Psychologist, 25(2), 133-146.

Allen, Andrea (2001). Informational effects of assessment feedback. Florida International University Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1094. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1094

Items of the Examiner Description Form

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

The scale uses a 7-point rating system, where 1=Never, 2 Seldom, 3, 4=Sometimes, 5 Often, 6, 7= Always.

1. Friendly
2. Firm
3. Caring
4. Accepting
5. Straight-forward
6. Expert
7. Sensitive
8. Competent
9. Knowledgeable
10. Supportive
11. Confident
12. Understanding