Interactive Training Model: Enhancing Beginning Counseling Student Development

Abstract

The authors propose the Interactive Training Model (ITM), a full classroom role play experience, as a method for helping student counselors develop essential interviewing and counseling skills and self‐awareness as required by the 2009 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs Standards. This pre‐post, quasiexperimental study involving 45 master's‐level students indicated that those who participated in the ITM made greater gains in supervisee development compared with those who participated in a traditional peer feedback model. Narrative student feedback regarding the use of ITM in an essential skills course is presented, and implications for counselor education are discussed.

A Grounded Theory of Counseling Students Who Report Problematic Peers

“…The integration of peer and faculty feedback has been recognized as critical to the success of other counselor training areas and development models (Borders, ; Paladino, Barrio Minton, & Kern, ). Although more research is needed to explore the appropriate delivery methods of students’ feedback regarding their peers, the legal system has already recognized the significance of these peer voices.…”

School Counselor Consultation Preparation: A National Study

“…Only 38% of the syllabi required students to practice consultation with stakeholders, 35% of the syllabi required practice via mock scenarios, and even fewer syllabi (19%) required recording and review of consultation sessions. Counselor educators seldom rely solely on knowledge-and disposition-based assessments when teaching basic counseling skills (e.g., Paladino, Barrio Minton, & Kern, 2011), yet the current findings indicate that programs may be willing to do so with consultation, a very skill-intensive service. This can have ramifications for service delivery given the intricacy of school-based consultation (Davis, 2003;Dinkmeyer et al, 2016) and the frequency with which school counselors report consulting (Goodman- Scott, 2015).…”

Role-Playing in Counselor Student Development

“…An instructor or doctoral student would be present to facilitate the group discussion. Alternatively, the interactive training model (Paladino, Barrio Minton, & Kern, 2011) requires the instructor to assign six roles prior to the role-play, including client, counselor, two counselor advisors, a client advocate, and the audience. More recently, the use of pocket camcorders to enhance role-plays has been suggested (Walter & Thanasiu, 2011).…”