Some effects of counselor profanity in counseling

60 male and female 24-50 yr old recovering alcoholic counseling clients were assigned randomly to 1 of 3 male counselors and to 1 of 2 treatment conditions. In the nonstandard English condition, the counselor casually and passively introduced 4 profane words. The standard English condition was identical except in respect to the use of these specific words. On client self-report and behavioral measures, which cut across all schools of counseling, counselors who used nonstandard English were judged to be less effective and satisfying. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).