Experiences of Counselors‐as‐Clients in Counselor Education

Abstract

Eight professional counselors who routinely role-play as clients in 1 counselor education program participated in a focus group investigating their portrayal experiences. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, which resulted in 3 superordinate themes: missions, influential factors, and repercussions. Findings reinforce instruction of idiographic and person-centered care in counselor education.

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: A Contemporary Qualitative Approach

“…Qualitative methodologies are widely recognized as valuable and credible approaches to conducting empirical research in counselor education (Hays & Wood, 2011; Hays, Wood, Dahl, & Kirk‐Jenkins, 2016). Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a contemporary qualitative approach that is becoming more widely used to explore questions related to counselor training (Dawson & Akhurst, 2015; Dickens, Ebrahim, & Herlihy, 2016; Farmer & Byrd, 2015; Miller & Barrio Minton, 2016; Osborn, West, & Nance, 2017). Grounded in principles of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and idiography, IPA is used by researchers to explore individuals’ meaning making related to certain significant experiences (Pietkiewicz & Smith, 2014).…”

Aware I Am Alone: Intersections of Solitude and Mindfulness

“…Very little literature addresses role-playing activities within mental health provider preparation programmes. The few studies that exist recognise experiential role-play activities as essential instructional practices (Osborn, West & Nance, 2017), and that such practices can carry emotional weight even though participants recognise them as fictional (Rodriguez et al, 2018;Taylor, 2018). Dennison (2011) highlights that even when such role-playing activities are perceived as stressful, students may prefer these activities as being more 'realistic'.…”

Counselor Education and Supervision: 2017 Inaugural Review

“…Role‐plays emerged as a subtheme with Clarke, Binkley, and Andrews (2017) presenting the dramatic pedagogy model for using client actors in counselor education. Relatedly, scholars investigated experiences of professional counselors who role‐played clients in training exercises (Osborn, West, & Nance, 2017) and students who engaged in metaphoric story creation in a prepracticum course (Duffy, Saltis, Thompson, & Kassirer, 2017). Articles included suggestions for using improvisation exercises in the classroom (Lawrence & Coaston, 2017), incorporating video case learning in helping skills courses (McCarthy & French, 2017), managing anxiety via creative techniques in helping skills courses (Tolleson, Grad, Zabek, & Zeligman, 2017), and using PhotoVoice within research methods courses (Patka, Miyakuni, & Robbins, 2017).…”