EMOTION-FOCUSED AND COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPIES AS DETERMINANTS OF PRE-SERVICE COUNSELLOR ANXIETY IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Pre-service counsellor anxiety is an emotional situation that inhibits counsellors’ training and performance. The literature has shown that pre-service counsellors experience anxiety, which largely accounted for underperformance in their practicum sessions particularly in southwestern Nigeria. Previous studies on pre-service counsellor anxiety have centred more on personal factors, such as self-esteem, and career decision-making self-efficacy interventions than emotion-focused and cognitive behavioural therapies. This study, therefore, was designed to determine the effects of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) on the pre-service counsellor anxiety in federal universities in Southwestern Nigeria. The moderating effects of emotional intelligence and counselling self-efficacy were also examined. The study was anchored to the Self-determination Theory, while the pretest – posttest control group quasi-experimental design with a 3×2×2 factorial matrix was adopted. The multi-stage sampling procedure was used. The federal universities (University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University and University of Lagos) offering Bachelor’s degree in Guidance and Counselling were randomly selected. Pre-service counsellors in 300 and 400 level from the selected universities were screened with Zung Self-anxiety Rating Scale (0.74) and a total of 74 respondents who scored high against the threshold level (60) were randomly selected. The participants from these universities were randomly assigned to EFT (25), CBT (25) and control (24) groups. The instruments used were Taylor Manifest Anxiety (r=0.82), Emotional Intelligence (r=0.78), Counsellor Activity Self–efficacy (r=0.97) scales, and instructional guides. The treatment lasted 10 weeks. Data were analysed using Analysis of covariance and Bonferonni Posthoc test at 0.05 level of significance. The participants’ age was 30.12+3.56 years, and 62.2% were females. There was a significant main effect of treatment on the pre-service counsellor anxiety (F(2;72)= 1262.22, partial η2=0.98). The participants in the cognitive behavioural therapy displayed the lowest pre-service counsellor anxiety mean score (27.51), followed by those in emotion-focused therapy (30.28), and the control (59.48) group. There was a significant main effect of counselling self-efficacy on pre-service counsellor anxiety (F(1;73)= 54.43, partial η2= 0.47). The participants with high level (38.70) of self-efficacy benefitted more than their counterparts. There was a significant main effect of emotional intelligence on pre-service counsellor anxiety (F(1;72)= 16.14, partial η2= 0.21). The participants with high level (39.14) of emotional intelligence benefitted more than their counterparts. There were significant interaction effects of treatment and counselling self-efficacy on pre-service counsellor anxiety (F(2;71)= 16.24, partial η2= 0.35) in favour of the pre-service counsellors with high counselling self-efficacy. There were significant interaction effects of treatment and emotional intelligence on pre-service counsellor anxiety (F(2;71)= 13.74 partial η2= 0.31) in favour of pre-service counsellors with high emotional intelligence. There were no significant interaction effects of counselling self-efficacy and emotional intelligence on pre-service counsellor anxiety. The three-way interaction effects were not significant. Emotion-focused and cognitive behavioural therapies were effective in reducing pre-service counsellor anxiety in southwestern Nigeria Universities. Counselling educators should adopt these strategies for reduction of anxiety among pre-service counsellor in Nigeria.