Skills‐Based Training and Counseling Self‐Efficacy

The authors studied the effectiveness of the skilled counselor training model (SCTM). Counseling students who completed the SCTM demonstrated greater gains in skills acquisition and counseling self‐efficacy than counseling students who did not receive the training. At pretest, the counseling students in both groups, doing self‐appraisals, rated their performance of counseling skills significantly higher than trained raters assessed the students' performance of counseling skills. At posttest, members of the control group continued to overestimate their skills levels when compared with the ratings given by the trained raters, whereas, in comparison, students who received SCTM training underestimated their performance.     

Teaching Feminist Counseling Skills: An Evaluation

Feminist counseling was analyzed into four core skills: social analysis, androgyny encouragement, self-disclosure, and behavior feedback. A 5-week feminist skill-training program was developed for 45 counselors divided into two groups, matched on years of counseling experience and scores on Spence and Helmreich's Attitude Toward Women Scale (AWS). Training of the second group was delayed for 5 weeks to provide a control for the training of the first group. Participants' attitudes and skill levels before, after, and at a 5-week follow-up were monitored. Counseling simulations were used for skill monitoring. Training resulted in significant increases in social analysis and self-disclosure skills as well as increments in AWS scores. Social analysis skill increments were the only changes maintained at follow-up.     

A Measure of Counselor Competency

Counselor educators need to be able to demonstrate their effectiveness in training new counselors; however, currently few valid or reliable measures exist for assessing educators' impact. The authors describe the development of such an instrument, the Counseling Skills Scale. They began by revising an existing scale and then they solicited feedback from experts and a focus group. They used the instrument to compare beginning counselors‐in‐training with those who had completed a counseling skills course. Finally, they conducted an item analysis. A paired t test showed significant improvements in counseling skills (t = 4.51, p < .000) from pretest to posttest. Cronbach's alpha showed internal consistency to be .90.     

Generalization of Microcounseling Skills from Training Period to Actual Counseling Setting

This study attempted to measure the generalization of the counseling skills learned via the microcounseling paradigm to the actual counseling setting. Twenty practicum counselors were assigned to two groups: (a) experimental group, training focused on the microcounseling skills of attending behavior, reflection of feeling, and summarization of feeling and (b) control group, no training. Measurements of the microcounseling skills were obtained at four intervals: (1) pretraining, (2) posttraining, (3) counseling session I, and (4) counseling session II. Results indicated that experimental subjects evidenced greater learning and retention of skills in reflection of feeling and summarization of feeling. There were no significant differences between subjects on attending behavior skills. Results are discussed with implications for training counselors via the microcounseling paradigm.     

Academic Admission Requirements as Predictors of Counseling Knowledge,Personal Development,and Counseling Skills

The authors investigated whether undergraduates' scores on the Verbal and Quantitative tests of the Graduate Record Examinations and their undergraduate grade point average can be used to predict knowledge, personal development, and skills of graduates of counseling programs. Multiple regression analysis produced significant models predicting total Skilled Counselor Scale (S. Urbani et al., 2002) scores and total Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (Center for Credentialing and Education, 2005) scores. No significant prediction model was found for the Counselor Skills and Personal Development Rating Form (M. P. Wilbur, 1991) Personal Factors scores. It is concluded that educators should recognize the limitations of these admission criteria and assign a weight to them on the basis of what they can and cannot predict.     

Changes in the Perception of the Counselor: Self,Ideal Self,and Self as Judged by Peers

Thirty counseling practicum students' perceptions of self as counselor, ideal counselor, and self as counselor as perceived by other practicum students were measured by the semantic differential technique before and after the supervised practicum experience. Posttest perceptions of self as counselor, ideal counselor, and ratings by other practicum group members were significantly closer to the hypothetical model counselor than were the pretest ratings.     

Specialized Study Skills,Developmental-Reading Instruction and Counseling

Ninety beginning freshmen at the University of Missouri-Rolla were utilized as subjects. The sample was sub-divided into three equal groups; the experimental group was composed of pre-registered students enrolled in an intensified instructional program in Study Skills and Developmental Reading and were provided specialized counseling services; one control group was composed of students that had taken part in the pre-registration program at UMR, but were not enrolled in the Study Skills and Developmental Reading instruction and were not provided specialized counseling services; and the other control group was accorded no variation in traditional method of enrollment or instruction. All three groups were matched on their obtained School and College Ability Test scores, English and Mathematics Placement Test scores, college majors and semester hours attempted. All students in these groups were above average in quantitative skills and below average in verbal skills.

The experimental group met for developmental reading and study skills instruction on a bi-weekly basis for no academic credit. The study skills instruction included material dealing specifically with both study habits and study attitudes. The developmental reading sequence consisted of both machine and workbook instruction. The counseling service was provided on a voluntary basis and was initiated at the time of pre-registration. A statistically significant difference in grade point average (GPA) was discerned after the first semester of the project. While no significant differences in GPA existed after the second and third semesters of the investigation, the attrition rate was considerably lower for the experimental group than for the control groups. Highly significant gains were evidenced in reading rates with no significant loss in reading comprehension.     

Enhancing visuospatial skills in second graders: An exploratory follow‐up study

This study was intended to assess the effect of a psychoeducational computer‐assisted and paper‐and‐pencil training designed to empower visuospatial skills in students attending the second grade of the primary school. At pretest, posttest and at the subsequent 3‐months follow‐up, 44 Italian second graders were presented with a battery of tests assessing nonverbal problem solving, imagery, speed of processing, visuomotor coordination, and verbal working memory. After pretest, 22 pupils were trained by the psychoeducational intervention for 15 weekly sessions (Fastame & Antonini (2011). RECUPERO IN… abilità visuo‐spaziali [Recovery in… visuo‐spatial abilities]. Trento, Italy: Edizioni Erickson). Posttest scores and a follow‐up assessment conducted after 3 months by the end of the training documented the positive effect of the psychoeducational intervention in enhancing visuospatial functions of the experimental group. These outcomes were also replicated when a questionnaire assessing visuospatial efficacy was proposed to the teachers of the participants.     

College Counseling Center Clients' Expectations About Counseling: How They Relate to Depression,Hopelessness, and Actual‐Ideal Self‐Discrepancies

Clients' expectations affect many aspects of counseling. This study examined relationships between depression, hopelessness, actual‐ideal self‐discrepancies (AISDs), and clients' expectations about counseling among 80 college students. Less hopeless participants expected more improvement from and more commitment to counseling. No significant relationships were found between depression or AISDs and expectations among the original sample. Among graduate students, AISDs related to counselor nurturance expectations. Implications for college counselors are discussed.     

中学数学困难生的元认知技能干预效应研究

数学学优生与学困生在元认知技能的前测成绩存在显著性差异，但3个数学困生的实验组的元认知技能前测成绩没有显著差异；经元认知技能的短期训练后，数学学困生在元认知技能方面有显著性的提高，但与学优生的差异仍然显著；3个数困生的干预组的元认知技能后测分数之间没有显著差异．     

Emergent Supervisors: Comparing Counseling Center and Non‐Counseling‐Center Interns' Supervisory Training Experiences

Predoctoral interns' responses to an internship supervision training questionnaire indicated that counseling center interns supervised more trainees, received more supervision in their supervisory roles, reported more supervision training activities, and yielded higher supervisor development scores than did non‐counseling‐center interns. A qualitative analysis of participants' responses showed that non‐counseling‐center interns desired more supervision training and opportunities to provide supervision during their internship year than did counseling center interns.     

Effects of Supervised Counseling on Dominance

To ascertain the effects of supervised counselor experience on measures of dominance, graduate students were drawn from three departments at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and given the dominance and self-acceptance scales of the California Psychological Inventory and the California Fascism Scale. In the analysis of variance, the experimental group scored significantly higher (p <.05) on dominance than did the control group from pretest to posttest, and the correlation between dominance and self-acceptance was. 66 (p<. 01). The correlation between dominance and fascism was not significantly different from zero. When the effects of participants' additional counselor (or teacher) experience were partialed out of posttest dominance scores, the results were not significantly changed. The results implied that a supervised counseling practicum effected more of an increase in participants' feelings of well-being than did other counselor (or teacher) experience.     

Moral Development and Empathy in Counseling

Of interest to counselor educators are variables associated with helper empathy. The authors investigated the relationship between empathy and moral development. Students enrolled in a facilitative skills development course completed a measure of moral development before making their first counseling audiotape. After approximately 12 weeks of skills training, they were subsequently rated for their demonstration of empathic understanding to client statements on an analog videotape and on a counseling audiotape made for their course evaluation. Empathy ratings of their responses to the analog videotape correlated .61 (p < .001) with moral development scores and .35 (p < .05) with supervisory empathy ratings of their final audiotape and moral development scores. Implications for counselor education are discussed.     

Counseling on Campus: Client Persistence and Progress

Two related studies addressed college students' persistence and progress in psychotherapy. In Study 1, using emotional health variables assessed at intake, students who persisted in counseling and demonstrated clinical improvement were compared with those who either did not return for their first session or who did return but stopped before improvement. Findings showed that those counseling completers, compared with the other two groups, reported at intake significantly higher levels of confidence that therapy will help, degree of well-being, and levels of life functioning. Study 2, focusing on students who received at least eight counseling sessions, found improvement on variables reflecting distress and life functioning, with students who rated themselves highly distressed at intake reporting the most benefit. The findings suggest approaches to improve realistic expectations for and engagement in counseling.     

Effectiveness of Short Term Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training in College Students with Cluster B Personality Disorders

This pilot project investigates the efficacy of an 11-week dialectical behavior therapy skills training class in increasing adaptive skill use and emotion regulation in college students with cluster B personality disorders or traits. Subjects are students (N?=?19, mean age = 21.31, 1 male, 18 female) at a southeastern university counseling center. Students meeting criteria but not interested in attending the group were recruited to serve as control subjects who received treatment as usual. As compared to treatment as usual, dialectical behavior therapy participants had significant improvement in increasing skills use and decreasing maladaptive coping skills; there was a trend for improvement in difficulty regulating emotions.     

The effects of environment‐based education on students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking

This study examined the relationship between environment‐based education and high school students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Four hundred four 9^th and 12^th grade students from 11 Florida high schools participated in the study. A Pretest‐Posttest Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (9^th grade) and a Posttest Only Nonequivalent Comparison Group Design (12^th grade) were used. Interviews of students and teachers were used in the classic sense of triangulation. Data collection took place over the 2001–2002 school year. When controlling for pretest score, grade point average (GPA), gender, and ethnicity, environment‐based programs had a positive effect on 9^th grade students' critical thinking skills (p=.002). When controlling for GPA, gender, and ethnicity, environment‐based programs had a positive effect on 12^th grade students' critical thinking skills (p < .001) and disposition toward critical thinking (p < .001). The results of this study support the use of environment‐based education for improving critical thinking and can be used to guide future implementation.     

Testing the Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making With Counselor Trainees

A training intervention using the Intercultural Model of Ethical Decision Making was tested with a sample of 48 counselor trainees enrolled in 3 counseling courses across 2 universities. Postintervention data indicated students' scores increased significantly on 5 of 6 evaluation criteria as well as on the overall total score. Although pretest scores were significantly different between students who had taken a multicultural course and those who had not, there was no posttest difference. Implications and suggestions for future training and research are discussed.     

Trainees Versus Staff: Exploring Counseling Outcomes in a College Counseling Center

Investigators compared counseling outcomes among nonpaid graduate-level trainees and professional staff at a college counseling center. Counseling outcomes for 331 college student participants were measured using the Outcome Questionnaire 45.2 (OQ45.2), employing a pretest–posttest design. The two groups of service providers did not differ significantly (p = .179; α > .05). A unique aspect of this study was the statistical control for the clients’ readiness to change. The implications for practice in college counseling centers suggest the use of graduate-level trainees as effective counseling providers and a method to cope with high demand for services.     

The Impact of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention on University Resident Assistants

Resident assistants (RAs) can serve as important suicide prevention gatekeepers. The purpose of the study was to determine if training improved RAs’ crisis communications skills and suicide‐related knowledge and to determine if the knowledge elements predicted crisis communications skills. New RAs showed significant improvement in all areas from pretest to posttest, whereas returning RAs showed no significant increase in any of the areas. None of the knowledge areas predicted communications skills for either group.     

University Employees' Perceptions of University Counseling Center Services and Consultation Activities: A Multidimensional Scaling Analysis

This study examined university employees' (N = 130) awareness and perceptions of the importance of university counseling and consultation services. Results of a multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS) combining awareness and perception scores for 19 distinct services revealed 4 distinct MDS group configurations, each in a 2‐dimensional structure, indicating that employees fell into 1 of 4 groups sharing similar perceptions of counseling and consultation activities. Implications for service provision and research are discussed.