Dialogue features that facilitate clients’ self-disclosure involving past memories and their effects: A study of career counseling for university students

Abstract

Among various concerns faced by university students, career-related anxiety is particularly prominent and can lead to mental health problems. In career support, the usefulness of clients’ “self-disclosure involving past memories” has been highlighted; however, studies focusing on actual listening dialogues and examining the process and effects of such disclosure remain limited. Therefore, this study examined the characteristics of counselors’ dialogue that elicit clients’ “self-disclosure involving past memories” and the usefulness of such dialogues. The results revealed that counselors’ “self-disclosure involving past memories” as well as counselor- and client-initiated advice promoted clients’ “self-disclosure involving past memories.” Furthermore, dialogues that elicited such disclosures improved POMS (Profile of Mood States) scores regardless of clients’ self-concealment tendencies. In contrast, speech patterns—such as excessive co-occurrence of “self-disclosure involving past memories” or a lack of co-occurrence with advice—may not lead to improvement. These findings highlight the usefulness of both clients’ and counselors’ “self-disclosure involving past memories” and advice, suggesting potential applications for conversational agent development and the training of novice counselors.