Barriers to Treatment Success in Behavioral Consultation: Current Limitations and Future Directions

Behavioral consultation is a prominent indirect service model in the practice of psychology in the schools. Despite some empirical support for the use of behavioral consultation strategies, consultants frequently face a number of barriers to implementation of treatment in practice. This article outlines a number of these barriers in behavioral consultation, including the lack of standardization of consultation, lack of specific training of consultants, little or no consultee (teacher) training, problems surrounding target behavior identification, and external constraints to consultation. Each of these areas is described along several dimensions that need to be addressed in future research.     

Implementing a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS): Collaboration Between School Psychologists and Administrators to Promote Systems-Level Change

Current educational reform mandates the implementation of school-based models for early identification and intervention, progress monitoring, and data-based assessment of student progress. This article provides an overview of interdisciplinary collaboration for systems-level consultation within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. The roles of school psychologists and school-based administrators are presented in relation to the implementation of MTSS practices within an implementation science model. The training and expertise of each discipline are highlighted related to respective aspects of implementation drivers (i.e., competency, organization, leadership). Functions of principals and school psychologists during team-based, problem-solving MTSS practices are described based on a problem-solving framework consistent with school-based consultation. Future directions for graduate training of school psychologists and principals and directions for consultation research are provided.     

Culturally Responsive Consultation Among Practicing School Psychologists

ABSTRACT

School-based consultation has garnered increasing attention relevant to culturally responsive practice in school psychology. Although prior research has investigated school psychologists’ experiences with supporting culturally diverse youth through school-based consultation, few studies have utilized an established framework to understand school psychologists’ experiences. We utilized specific components of Ingraham’s Multicultural School Consultation framework to examine fifteen school psychologists’ experiences with providing culturally responsive consultation. Constant comparative analysis revealed the various strategies used by practitioners to support culturally diverse students throughout the consultation process (e.g., involving multiple people in decision-making, using non-confrontational approaches to educate school personnel about cultural dynamics, providing messages of support and encouragement to diverse students and families) and the socio-contextual barriers to their practice (e.g., cultural minimization, lack of administrative support). Implications for research, training, and school-based practice are discussed.     

Social Justice Training in School Psychology: Applying Principles of Organizational Consultation to Facilitate Change in Graduate Programs

Scholars and professional organizations have called for an increased emphasis on social justice training in applied psychology graduate programs, including school psychology programs (SPPs). During the past decade, emerging research has identified some features of high-quality social justice education, including a clear program mission statement and relevant field-based experiences. However, relatively little literature has described how faculty can pursue comprehensive change in their graduate programs to move training toward a social justice orientation. The purpose of this article is to describe how principles of organizational consultation can be applied to cultivate a program-wide emphasis on social justice issues in school psychology training. In particular, this article reviews relevant literature on social justice education and describes an adapted 5-stage model of organizational consultation for coordinating cohesive program change. Specific recommendations for implementing high-quality social justice training are provided, and directions for future research are discussed.     

The Process of Fostering Consultee Development During Instructional Consultation

This investigation examines how the process of instructional consultation (IC) supports consultees' problem-solving and fosters change in how the consultees understand pertinent work problems. The setting was a mid-Atlantic elementary school's Instructional Consultation Team, and the participants were 13 case manager consultants and 5 teacher consultees. A micro-ethnographic research approach was used and 4 primary sources of data collected: interviews, direct observations, consultation documents, and IC training documents. Analysis of the data uncovered 4 general themes related to the participants' problem-solving and evolving understanding of the work issues. In the discussion, the question of how IC is a constructive process that promotes consultees' development is considered.     

Investigating and Conceptualising the Notion of Consultation to Facilitate Multi‐agency Work

This article explores the use of consultation within educational psychology practice and suggests there is confusion and lack of clarity within the profession surrounding the term, how we use it and how inclusive or exclusive it is as a practice. Three ways of conceptualising consultation are suggested and examples of research and theoretical analysis are described in order to understand these areas of practice. The latter part of the article considers the role of consultation within new practices associated with multi‐agency working and integrated services. It is suggested that as a profession we need to pay more specific attention to the knowledge and skills involved in successful consultation within multi‐agency practice, through drawing upon research and practice from beyond our own somewhat narrow field.     

The Blueprint I revisited: Training and practice in school psychology

In 1984, the National School Psychology Inservice Training Network (NSPITN) published School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice (Blueprint I), which recognized that America's public schools were troubled and focused on how school psychology could help with a transformation; the role of school psychologists was divided into 16 practice domains. In 1997, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) published a successor, School psychology: A blueprint for training and practice II (Blueprint II), which credits the first edition with having “driven much of the progress in school psychology.” To better understand the impact of the Blueprint I, this study analyzes responses from Nebraska and Iowa school psychologists about it, finding that doctoral-level respondents believed that they were more competently trained than subdoctoral school psychologists in the research domain; quality of training was rated higher by respondents receiving degrees after 1984 in class management, classroom organization and social structures, interpersonal communication and consultation, legal/ethical and professional issues, multicultural concerns, parental involvement, research, and systems development and planning. Analyses revealed numerous areas of congruence and dissonance between training and practice. Respondents reported a preference to decrease the amount of time spent in assessment and increase the time spent in all other domains (except basic academic skills). The relevance to the Blueprint II and the implications for school psychology training and practices are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Creativity Counts: Why Study Abroad Matters to Technical and Professional Communication

Technical communication programs preparing students to perform as symbolic analytic workers can improve a student's creative problem-solving abilities by offering study-abroad opportunities. Newer research from the field of psychology is used as a conceptual framework for discussing the author's development of curriculum for a study-abroad offering within a professional writing program. Details on the study-abroad curriculum proposal such as course assignments, readings, credit hours, and program destination and logistics are included.     

Integrating Mindfulness Meditation Within a University Counseling Center Setting

Abstract

This paper documents the development of a mindfulness meditation component within a University Counseling Center setting. The specific focus is upon the inclusion of meditation as it pertains to both organizational structure and psychotherapy training. The integration of a meditation practice into any organization is a slow process that poses complex questions. We argue that the benefits provide a counterpoint to the complexities inherent when incorporating such training into an organization's structure and a psychology internship program.     

Evaluation of special service delivery systems: An organizational domain-referenced approach

An organizational, domain-referenced approach to evaluation of public school special service delivery systems is offered. Derived from organizational and systems theory, related research in these areas, and the author's experience in special service delivery system evaluation, the framework focuses on the process of service delivery and is seen as useful to the improvement of service delivery within the context of Public Law 94–142. The paper delineates an organizational conception of a “School-Based Special Service Delivery System,” identifies several “Systemic Domains” in which evaluation can occur, outlines evaluation questions, methods, and procedures relative to each domain, and specifies evaluation information derived from evaluation in each domain. The paper is presented for consideration by school professionals with the hope that it can be adapted by them to their local circumstances.     

Developing Nonthreatening Expertise: Thoughts on Consultation Training From the Perspective of a New Faculty Member

A new faculty member's experiences teaching consultation for the first time are described. Several dilemmas and challenges involved in the initial planning of a consultation course are discussed, including: how to fit the consultation course into the broader school psychology training program; how to balance didactic and applied training; and how to teach the interpersonal skills necessary for students to form productive, collaborative relationships with diverse adults. It is argued that Black feminist epistemology (Collins, 2000) provides a potentially useful framework for helping students develop effective collaborative skills.     

Treatment of Parent-Adolescent Conflict Through Behavioral Technology Training: A Case Study

A two-phase parent consultation intervention was used to treat a noncompliant 14-year-old girl. Phase I was a management training program modeled after the Forehand and McMahon program for conduct disordered children. Phase 2 was a communication and problem-solving skills training program that incorporated procedures prescribed by Foster and Robin. Case progress was monitored using a parent's daily log of the child's behavior, direct observations of the family meetings, and a measure of the family issues that were resolved. After consultation, the child was meeting an average of 86% of the parents' objectives, family members were making fewer derogatory comments and more comments indicating effective listening during family meetings, and both the parents and the child agreed that important issues had been resolved. The case serves as an example of the application of case study strategies within a behavioral technology training approach to consultation services.     

Behavioral Consultation as a Process for Linking the Assessment and Treatment of Social Skills

There has been recent interest in social skills assessment and treatment among researchers and practitioners. The research bases in these areas are expanding rapidly, and the identification of valid assessment methods and effective intervention strategies is promising. However, few researchers have identified ways m which social skills assessment and intervention can be linked in a practical manner. Likewise, the process by which services are delivered is rarely addressed. The purpose of this article is to present a model by which the interaction between social skills assessment and intervention can be enhanced, with a focus on the problem-solving process. One effective and efficient manner of providing services to socially unskilled children is through an indirect model of service delivery; that of behavioral consultation. Behavioral consultation is a four-stage problem-solving model that involves the cooperative efforts of two or more persons to clarify a student's needs and develop and implement appropriate strategies for intervention. This article presents the objectives and procedures of each stage of behavioral consultation as a process to facilitate accurate problem identification and effective problem resolution, with the goal of linking social skills assessment directly to treatment.     

A 30 Year Perspective On Best Practices for Consultation Training

This article uses the author's 30 years of teaching consultation as a basis for developing suggestions for those providing training in this field. The article addresses questions about what the content of training should be, how consultation training can link theory to practice and how to respond to persistent challenges to training (e.g., freedom versus constraint, multicultural consultation, and when consultation training should be offered within a preservice curriculum for developing school-based consultants). The training suggestions derive from a model of consultation and consultation training that is based in constructivism and seeks to enhance feelings of empowerment and long term implementation of consultation on the part of the trainee. The article proposes a practitioner-researcher model in which practicing consultants view themselves as researchers who collect data and share information about their practice with other school-based consultants. These shared practices are used to inform the knowledge base and are used as a basis for contributing to the scholarly literature. Finally, this article proposes directions for researching the process and outcome of consultation training that cut across all of the issues raised in this article.     

Effects of an Inductive Versus a Deductive Instructional Approach on the Constructive Feedback and Problem-Solving Skills of Supervisors

This study investigated the effects of an inductive versus a deductive instructional approach on the constructive feedback and problem-solving skills of supervisors. Sixteen supervisors were randomly assigned to either an inductive or a deductive instructional group for one of the instructional units in a supervisory training program. The topic of the unit was the constructive feedback process. Supervisors' acquisition and transfer of skill in giving constructive feedback, problem-solving skill, facilitation of subordinate problem-solving skill, and attitudes toward training were assessed. The findings showed that while supervisors in the deductive group demonstrated greater ability to transfer their learning, supervisors in the inductive group perceived that the quality of their training experience was better. No significant differences were found on either measure of problem-solving skill. Implications of these findings for instructional design theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Exploring the Use of Computer Simulation to Evaluate the Implementation of Problem-Solving Consultation

The purpose of this study was to examine how school psychologists implemented the problem-solving consultation process within a computer-simulated school environment. Four school psychologists were recruited to complete three simulated consultation cases. The school environment was computer generated and all of the teachers and target students (clients) were computer generated. A qualitative case study design coupled with interviews was used in this study. Three themes emerged from the data analysis including (a) behavioral approach to problem conceptualization, (b) individualized approach to intervention design, and (c) minimal attention to plan evaluation. Implications for problem-solving consultation training as well as use of computer simulation are discussed.     

跨文化心理学视野的中国县域文化与性格探析

中国县域文化与居民性格研究既是本土心理学的课题,也是跨文化心理学的课题,更是文化心理学、社会心理学的课题,在本土心理学和文化心理学尚未成熟的背景下,使用跨文化心理学概念框架是一个有益的选择。采用田野工作法、文献资料法、调查访谈法、经验总结法、逻辑推理法等方法,使用背景变量、过程变量、心理变量的实验心理学概念,区分生态学背景变量、社会政治背景变量;生物适应变量(包括包括生态影响、生物传递)、文化适应变量(文化传递、社会化和濡化);可见行为变量、推论行为变量的心理变量等概念。观察、分析、综合、抽象、概括了张掖甘州文化类型与居民性格特质及其关系,进而进行了县域文化与性格研究的展望。