Maintenance of specific counseling skills over time.

Abstract

This study describes naturalistic observation of the frequency with which counseling trainees frsed specifically trained counseling responses across time. Frequency measures were based on the first 30 minutes of audiotaped interviews with clients, taken at the end of prepracticum, during practicum, and at least 3 months after training. Seven response categories were identified as trained in prepracticum: goal setting, confrontation, reflection/restatement, interpretation/summary, structuring, probe, and minimal verbal. Two more categories arose from the data: self-disclosure and information giving. A 10th category, "other," served for otherwise unclassifiable responses. Responses were classified by three trained raters working independently. The data indicate that males make more responses overall than do females. All responses do occur in the trainees' repertoire to some degree, but confrontation and goal setting are used with decreasing frequency, and probes increase across trials. Effects of supervisory expectations, as well as the tendency to internal consistency for a single individual across trials, are noted. Training of specific skills is affirmed.

Impact of Two Clinical Peer Supervision Models on Practicing School Counselors

“…It may be that, without ongoing supervision, these school counselors had regressed in their ability to perform basic counseling skills. This explanation would be in line with Spooner and Stone's (1977) results, indicating that, without consistent supervision, counselors experienced stagnation or regression in the counseling skills taught in their training programs. If such regression hasand does-occur, there are dire implications for the counseling effectiveness of consistently unsupervised school counselors.…”

Research on Training Counselors and Clinicians

“…Behavioral maintenance must be demonstrated through follow-up data in order to evaluate training's long-term, rather than transient short-run, effects. Research (e.g., Spooner & Stone, 1977) has demonstrated that more complex skills are often not maintained once formal training is completed.…”

Client Cognitive Responses as a Function of Quality of Counselor Verbal Responses

“…O ver the past few decades, numerous researchers of counseling have developed taxonomies for systematically categorizing counselor verbal behaviors (e.g., Danish & D'Augelli, 1976;Goodman & Dooley, 1976;Hackney & Nye, 1973;Hill, 1978;Ivey, 1978;Spooner & Stone, 1977;Strupp, 1960). Although the number and types of modes examined vary widely among systems, these taxonomies all consist of several mutually exclusive response modes that judges can use to categorize counselor responses.…”