To seek help or not to seek help: The risks of self-disclosure.

Investigations into the reasons why people seek counseling have, for the most part, focused on approach factors, those variables that are associated with a potential client’s increased likelihood of seeking psychological services. The purpose of this research, however, is to explore the role of avoidance factors, those factors that are associated with a potential client’s decreased likelihood of seeking services. Across 2 studies of primarily Caucasian college students (ns! 209 and 268, respectively), the results of simultaneous multiple regression analyses demonstrated that avoidance factors predict negative attitudes toward counseling as well as decreased intentions to seek counseling. Overall, results demonstrate that avoidance factors account for at least as much help-seeking variance as traditionally studied approach factors. What leads people to seek counseling? Indeed, this is a serious question given that only about one third of the people who could likely benefit from psychological treatment are recipients of such services (Andrews, Hall, Teesson, Henderson, 1999). In addi-tion, people often see counseling as a last resort, one to consider only after other options of support have been exhausted (Hinson