A SAMPLE OF 46 CLIENTS AT A UNIVERSITY COUNSELING CENTER AND TWO SAMPLES OF 67 AND 145 NONCLIENT STUDENTS COMPLETED SURVEYS RELATED TO THE OCCURRENCE OF STRESSFUL EVENTS. SUBJECTS' PERCEPTIONS OF PERSONAL CONTROL WERE MEASURED BY LEVENSON'S INTERNALITY SCALE. THEY WERE CATEGORIZED AS EXHIBITING HIGH, MEDIUM, OR LOW PERCEPTIONS OF PERSONAL CONTROL (CHARACTERISTIC INTERNALITY). STRESS AT THE TIME OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP-SEEKING WAS ASSESSED BY COMPARING CLIENTS AND NONCLIENTS ON SELF-ESTEEM AND PERCEPTIONS OF CONTROL OVER RECENT LIFE EVENTS. SUBJECTS ALSO INDICATED THE DEGREE OF STRESS THEY ASSOCIATED WITH EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL ISOLATION AND POWERLESSNESS. AS PREDICTED, HIGH INTERNALS GENERALLY REPORTED HIGHER STRESS THAN MODERATE OR LOW INTERNALS; AND HIGH INTERNAL CLIENTS, IN COMPARISON WITH NONCLIENT CONTROLS, REPORTED LOWER SELF-ESTEEM, HIGHER STRESS, AND LESS CONTROL OVER RECENT EVENTS. LOW INTERNAL CLIENTS GENERALLY DID NOT BEHAVE AS PREDICTED. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT CLIENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF PERSONAL CONTROL ORIENTATION OF COUNSELORS MAY ALSO INFLUENCE TREATMENT, AND THAT FURTHER COMPARISONS OF INTERNALS, MODERATES, AND EXTERNALS ALSO ARE NEEDED. THE RESEARCH IS LIMITED BY SAMPLE SIZE, THE NATURE OF THE SAMPLE, LACK OF DIRECT CLIENT COMPARISON OF STRESSFUL LIFE EXPERIENCE, AND THE USE OF SELF-REPORT AS OPPOSED TO BEHAVIORAL DATA. FOOTNOTES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--AOP)