Three Counselor Training Models: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of three prepracticum counselor training approaches on counselor performance: T group, behavioral skills, and discussion control. Pre‐ and postmeasures consisting of 30‐minute video‐recorded counseling interviews were administered to all subjects. Counselor performance was evaluated by client completion of the Counseling Evaluation Inventory (CEI) and by three trained judges' ratings of four five‐minute interview segments using the Counseling Strategies Checklist (CSC). Data from each instrument were subjected to a 3 × 2 factorial analysis of variance. A significant group × time interaction occurred for the CEI. Significant time effects occurred on four of the seven dependent variables of the CSC. The results of the study have implications for both the length and type of training approach used in effective counselor education practices.

Skill Training: Cautions and Recommendations

“…Cormier, Hackney, and Segrist (1974) have reported similar results. They compared the skill development of prepracticum counseling students assigned to three different treatment groups: (l) a discussion control, (2) a T-group, and (3) a behavior skills group.…”

Research on Training Counselors and Clinicians

“…However, Cormier, Hackney, and Segrist (1974) found that systematic behavioral skills training, an approach that closely parallels MC in its specification of target skills and sequential use of programmed texts, modeling, and videotaped rehearsal with feedback, was no more effective than discussion group or encounter group approaches. This may be due to the investigators' attempt to teach a variety of moderately difficult skills to novice prepracticum students, rather than focusing on a limited number of discrete counselor responses.…”

Psychometric evaluation of a “standardized client” procedure with trainee counsellors

“…That effect remains best described by Rogers (1 957) as the necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic change. For some time, research has suggested that reliance on training in skills usage rather than personal development is most likely to produce effective counsellors (Cormier, Hackney & Segrist, 1974;Toukmanian & Rennie, 1975). To this end, skill-based training programmes encompassing procedures for measuring the usage of these skills have been developed (e.g., Ivey & Authier, 1978).…”