Reconstructing Clinical Training: Implications From Research

The methods used to train counselors need to be reexamined because research has consistently shown that trained clinicians are not more effective than untrained individuals. This article presents an empirically based discussion of methods for reconstructing the clinical training portion of counselor education to increase the effectiveness of training. The proposed reconstruction focuses on the topics of establishing a therapeutic relationship, increasing counselor skillfulness, and training in client matching.     

Written Indicators of Empathy in Human-Relations Training: A Validational Study

This study was conducted to determine if empathic level of functioning as assessed by written measures is predictive of oral functioning. Forty participants, run in four groups with counterbalanced order, responded in writing and orally to stimulus statements. Correlations between oral and written scores were very high and statistically significant for the total sample and the high- and low-functioning subgroups. Only very small differences were found between written and oral group means. Thus, we concluded that written measures can yield a reliable estimate of empathic level of oral functioning, making it possible to obtain a quick, economical, and reliable estimate of level of functioning without the time-consuming and cumbersome process of taping. This finding has particular relevance for training-program evaluations and comparisons in which large numbers of people need to be tested.     

Native language predictors of foreign language proficiency and foreign language aptitude

Fifty-four students were tested at specific time intervals over 10 years to determine best native language (NL) predictors of oral and written foreign language (FL) proficiency and FL aptitude. All participants completed two years of Spanish, French, or German. Each was administered measures of NL literacy, oral language, and cognitive ability in elementary school. A measure of FL aptitude was administered at the beginning of ninth grade and FL proficiency was evaluated at the end of the 10th grade. Among the variables, NL literacy measures were the best predictors of FL proficiency, and NL achievement and general (verbal) intelligence were strong predictors of FL aptitude. Results suggest that indices of NL literacy as early as first grade are related to FL proficiency and FL aptitude nine and 10 years later. Findings provide strong support for connections between L1 and L2 skills, and for speculation that “lower level” skills in phonological processing are important for written language development and oral proficiency in a FL.     

Self‐paced segmentation of written words on a touchscreen tablet promotes the oral production of nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism

We investigated in a pilot study the effects of various types of visual mediation (photos, written words and self‐paced syllabic segmentation of written words displayed on a touchscreen tablet) that are thought to facilitate the oral production of nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism, according to the participants’ level of oral language development and, more specifically, their ability to produce delayed echolalia. We also sought to identify the cognitive characteristics that need to be taken into account when seeking to develop the oral production of nonverbal children with autism. Results showed that the nonverbal and minimally verbal children with autism were able of using written words to produce them orally. Their performance was largely dependent on their level of language development. Tasks combining written and oral modalities prompted some of them to engage in oral production for the first time (isolated syllables for nonverbal children) and allowed others to produce non‐random strings of syllables (minimally verbal children).     

Effectiveness of Group Supervision Versus Combined Group and Individual Supervision

This study investigated the effectiveness of large group supervision, small group supervision, and combined group and individual supervision with counseling students. Sixty‐four participants in a master's‐level practicum were divided into 3 treatment groups that received supervision over 10 weeks. Using a pretest/posttest method, counselors were rated on growth in effectiveness and development according to self‐report, supervisor, client, and objective rater responses. Analyses of covariance revealed that all supervision formats resulted in similar progress in counselor effectiveness and counselor development. Large group supervision produced a significant result on the factor Autonomy/Dependency. However, participants showed a marked preference for individual feedback and supervision.     

Enhancing the Effects of Modeling Through Role-Play Practice

The effects of yoking role-play practice to modeling treatments designed to teach the rudimentary counseling skill of reflection of feeling were investigated. Twenty-eight novice counselors-in-training were randomly assigned to one of the four treatment conditions: written model, videotape model, written model plus role-play practice, and videotape model plus role-play practice. Effectiveness was measured by ratings of students' oral responses to 16 videotaped client vignettes. The multivariate analyses revealed that although there were no significant differences between the two modeling conditions without role-play practice, there were significant differences between students who received an opportunity to role-play practice and those who did not. From the results of the analyses, it was concluded that role-play practice significantly enhanced the effectiveness of the written model but not the video model. These results are discussed in terms of counselor skills training.     

Simulated Consulting Experiences in Counselor Preparation

Simulation, using role-playing and commercially available materials, was used to provide counselor-teacher consultation experience for counselor trainees. Students in a master's level guidance program worked with teachers in a consultative situation on a series of problems. Representative situations in which a teacher might consult with a counselor about possible courses of action in solving a problem were presented via simulation. Experienced teachers rated the adequacy of counselor recommendations concerning the problem situation. The trained counselors' recommendations were rated as superior (p < .01 level) to those of untrained counselors. These results support the use of simulation as a technique for counselor education. Implications for counselor education programs are discussed.     

Self-Generated Performance Feedback in Interviewing Training

The present study examined the effect of self-generated performance feedback, of expert performance feedback, and of no performance feedback on novice counselor trainee's production of counselor tacting response leads (CTRLs). Self-generated performance feedback consisted of the participants responding to a video-taped client and then orally evaluating their own response on the basis of a performance standard. Expert performance feedback consisted of verbal feedback from a designated expert given over a bug-in-the-ear apparatus. Analysis of four measures of CTRLs revealed no differences resulting from either source of feedback—self or expert—however, those who received feedback outperformed the controls. These differences were maintained over a short time span.     

Interpretive responses to images in picture books by primary and secondary school students: Exploring curriculum expectations of a ‘visual grammatics’

As well as maintaining the central role of literature, the new Australian Curriculum: English emphasises the multimodal nature of literacy and requires students in primary and secondary schools to develop explicit knowledge about visual and verbal grammar as a resource for text interpretation and text creation. This study investigated the use of visual grammatics in interpreting picture books by students across Years Four, Five, Seven and Ten following an intensive professional learning programme undertaken by their teachers. A proposed framework describes variation in students' interpretive stance from tactical to diegetic to semiotic. Levels of student semiotic understanding are differentiated and differences between students' oral and written interpretations are discussed in relation the need for explicit teaching of written interpretive responses to multimodal literary texts, drawing on an articulated visual and verbal grammatics appropriate to the teaching of English in primary and secondary schools.     

Dogmatism and Externality in Locus of Control As Related to Counselor Trainee Skill In Facilitative Responding

It was hypothesized in this study that dogmatism and externality in locus of control are inversely related to skill in facilitative responding when the effects of specific counselor training program, number of graduate hours in counseling, age, sex, race, and religious affiliation are controlled. The participants were 215 master's degree candidates majoring in guidance and counseling at three southwestern universities. Dogmatism and externality were measured by the Opinion Scale, and skill in facilitative responding was determined by application of the Gross Rating of Facilitative Interpersonal Functioning Scale to written responses of participants to 16 audiotaped client stimulus statements. Multiple regression and partial correlation techniques were used to test the hypothesis, and the results supported the hypothesis. The authors discuss implications of this study for counselor selection and education.     

Are Head Start Effects Sustained? A Longitudinal Follow-up Comparison of Disadvantaged Children Attending Head Start, No Preschool, and Other Preschool Programs

This study investigates the sustained effects into kindergarten and grade 1 of Project Head Start for disadvantaged black children. Participation in generic Head Start programs was compared to both no preschool and other preschool experience for disadvantaged children in two American cities in 1969-1970. Incorporating both pretest/posttest and comparison group information, the study has advantages over other Head Start impact studies. Both preprogram background and cognitive differences were controlled in a covariance analysis design, using dependent measures in the cognitive, verbal, and social domains. Children who attended Head Start maintained educationally substantive gains in general cognitive/analytic ability, especially when compared to children without preschool experience. These effects were not as large as those found immediately following the Head Start intervention. Findings suggest an effect of preschool rather than of Head Start per se. Initial findings of greater effectiveness of Head Start for children of below average initial ability were reduced but not reversed. The diminution of effects over time, especially for low-ability children, may reflect differences in quality of subsequent schooling or home environment.     

Another look at the STM capacity of prelingually deafened individuals and its relation to reading comprehension

The study investigated the short-term recall of serially presented verbal(izable) information by prelingually deafened individuals and hearing individuals, and reconsidered how short-term memory (STM) is linked with their reading skills and their memory coding strategies. A computer-controlled paradigm calling for written ordered recall of 12 lists of 8 consecutively displayed Hebrew nouns was used to assess STM capacity. Forty-nine students with prelingual deafness (mean grade 6.9) and 39 hearing students (mean grade 6.5) participated in the experiment. Twenty-seven of the participants with deafness were raised according to an oral philosophy. The remaining 22 participants from the deaf group used sign language as their preferred communication code. In general, the findings suggest that neither discrepancy in the ordered short-term recall of verbal materials nor discrepancies in reading comprehension are directly assignable to differences in the memory coding strategies of prelingually deafened and hearing individuals. If such functional discrepancies develop, they reflect absent or insufficiently internalized knowledge.     

A Long Distance Approach to Evaluating Counselor Communication

This article describes an instrument, Recorded Counselee Narratives, used to collect counselor responses over the telephone and an instrument, Counselor Preference Survey, developed to evaluate such responses. Data is presented to show that nonprofessional, untrained raters can achieve sufficient reliability to make the instruments useful in studying nonprofessional evaluations of counselors. Possible uses of the instruments in evaluation of applicants for graduate counselor education programs, lay counselors, and telephone counselors are described.     

Development of a Pre-practicum Counseling Skills Model

This article presents a model and rationale for training specific counseling skills prior to the practicum experience. Recent research on counseling process and counselor behaviors is integrated into a pre-practicum training laboratory with the following objectives: reducing social behavior inappropriate to professional counseling, learning to tolerate and use silence as a tool, learning to listen, learning to identify feelings through verbal and nonverbal communication channels, developing a repertoire of counselor responses and counseling strategies, and developing a professional self-image. Acquisition of these skills and attitudes in a pre-practicum permits a consultation-professional model for practicum that focuses upon the accumulation of experience rather than skills.     

Coached-Client Effects on Counselor Trainee Response

This study investigated whether or not coached clients modified the verbal responses of counselor trainees. The responses were judged on two dimensions: (a) interpersonal relatedness and (b) portion of total time consumed by the counselor. The subjects of the study were 58 pre-practicum graduate students in counseling at the University of Washington. The coached clients did elicit significantly different responses on both the dimensions of relatedness and speaking time. For example, aggressiveness or intrusiveness on the part of a mother client limited counselor verbalism, while aggressiveness on the part of a boy client stimulated overtalk. The counselor's social responsiveness was significantly related to his tendency to respond with reflected feeling instead of inference of diagnosis.     

Paraprofessional Trainees and Counselor Education Students: A Comparison of Personality and Predicted Counseling Effectiveness

This study compared 55 counselor education students with 34 junior college students being trained as counseling paraprofessionals, regarding their personality and predicted counseling effectiveness. All members of both groups were enrolled in practicums at their respective institutions. The two groups differed significantly on 8 of 16 personality characteristics as measured by the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire. And a higher percentage of the paraprofessionals received lower ratings as determined by a regression equation used to predict counseling effectiveness.     

Measuring actual reduction of risk to child abuse: a new approach

Previous efforts to measure the effectiveness of child abuse prevention programs have relied on proximate measures presumed to be predictive of actual skills. This paper presents documentation that brings those assumptions into question, describes actual observation and measurement of behavioral change in children before and after prevention education, and correlates that behavioral response with more traditional measures of effectiveness. Unique to the evaluation was the staging of an actual situation in which each of the children had an opportunity to leave the school building with a stranger. Each simulation was videotaped and conducted in such a way that the children remained unaware of the fact that they had been tested. In addition, tests of language development, self-esteem and knowledge of prevention and safety concepts were administered before and after participating in the Children Need to Know Personal Safety Training Program [1]. Several findings have significant value for future examinations and programming. The effectiveness of a primary prevention program based on age-appropriate, experiential and interactive instruction was empirically documented. Traditional instrumentation which elicits written or verbal responses to cognitive questions about safety may be misleading in assessing children's vulnerability. Higher self-esteem before instruction and higher knowledge/attitude scores after instruction were found to be predictive of a reduction in vulnerability. While this is a significant series of findings, some children did not achieve the objectives of the prevention program. These results suggest further possibilities for evaluation and some direction for improving prevention education.     

Exploring academic achievement in males trained in self-assessment skills

This paper examines academic achievement of males following formal training in self-assessment. It adds to current literature by proposing a tried-and-tested method of improving academic achievement in males at a time when they appear to be marginalised. The sample comprised 515 participants (233 males), representing 25.2% of that high school leaving cohort in a small Caribbean country. Academic achievement was examined in all subjects taken by participants at a regional examination. Examination results indicate that males who were formally trained in self-assessment skills outperformed their untrained male counterparts. Implications for teaching and learning are explored and several practical suggestions are offered.