Pairing is a commonly recommended practice used to build rapport and create positive therapeutic environments. However, there are limited evaluations of training procedures to teach pairing skills to direct-care staff. The purpose of the present study was to formalize and improve the efficiency of the training process for the initial stages of…

Originating in 1966-68, Microcounseling was the first video-based listening program and its purposes and methods overlap with the communications field. This article presents history, research, and present applications in multiple fields nationally and internationally. Recent neuroscience and neurobiology research is presented with the important…

Background: Mastering counselling communication skills is one of the requirements that lead to the diploma of a registered European psychologist. The microcounseling method proves to be effective in training these skills. Aim: Research into the effectiveness of the microcounseling method often reports overall effect sizes only. The aim of this…

This article describes a study on the effects of a self-instruction training programme in communication skills for psychology students at the Open University of the Netherlands in comparison to a fully supervised training. We expected both training programmes to increase students' knowledge and skills, as well as their self-efficacy and motivation…

This article describes the effects of self-instruction training (SIT) in microcounseling skills compared to those of a traditional trainer-guided program (TT) in a pretest-posttest comparison group design. A sample of 193 undergraduate psychology students participated in this study: 97 students followed SIT and 96 students followed TT. We used…

Compared the effects of microskills practice (MS) and mental practice (MP) in 44 counseling students. Analysis of posttraining simulated counseling interviews indicated that both MS and MP were superior to controls on three of five qualitative dimensions and a proficiency measure. (JAC)

Assigned 26 counselor trainees to either brief microskills practice (MS) or mental practice (MP) and videotaped posttraining simulated counseling interviews. Data showed MS was superior to MP on attending skills, MP led to superior performance on responding skills, and neither led to significant differences in competence on qualitative dimensions.…

Reports the development and validation of a questionnaire designed to assess reflective skills, the Counselor Response Questionnaire (CRQ). CRQ, designed for measuring skills of beginning counselors, differentiates trainees with some reflective skills from those who have little. Internal consistency is good. Validity data are encouraging.…

Assessed the effects of four components of the microcounseling model in acquisition of a counseling strategy, measured by a written test and role-play performance. Components included video models, role-play practice, peer feedback, and remediation role-play practice. All methods of training were equally effective promoting acquisition of…

Twenty-four trainee counselors were allocated to three treatment groups: no modeling, no feedback (NMF); modeling and feedback from the supervisor (MF); and feedback from the supervisor (F). Analysis of variance showed that MF was superior to NMF and F in teaching the skill of reflection of feeling. (Editor/SJL)

Subjected 81 research studies on Ivey's (1971) microcounseling program to a comprehensive meta-analysis, assessing the relation between effect size and the sampling distribution of several important methodological and substantive characteristics. Results suggest that the microcounseling program is educationally effective for teaching simple,…

This program describes an experimental series of six training workshops, directed toward the unique needs of counselors in inner-city schools. The workshops attempted to counteract insularity in current counselor education programs (textbooks and tape recorded interviews) by providing new and more potent methods for counseling disadvantaged…

Investigated the value of increasing a microcounseling trainee's exposure to positive modeling by having a supervisor cocounsel with trainee during the first of three practice interviews. Analysis of interviews revealed that cocounseling trainees achieved significantly higher ratings for each skill than did standard microcounseling trainees…

Evaluates self-efficacy as a predictor of counseling skills performance in a graduate counseling class (n=31). Self-efficacy was measured before, midway through, and at the end of a microcounseling skills training program. Although there was a wide distribution of self-efficacy reports, none of the estimates of grade were significantly positively…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of three instructional approaches to an established and conceptually related approach, microcounseling. The subjects were thirty-two graduate counseling students, randomly assigned to four treatment groups. These were microcounseling, modified microcounseling, self-modeling and verbal…