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…

This article reviews the groundbreaking work of Dr. Allen Ivey through a personal interview and conversations with Mary Bradford Ivey, including a number of colleagues and former students. Allen's enormous contribution to the counseling profession spans nearly four decades. Although best known for microcounseling skills, which is widely taught in…

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…

Two groups of second year medical students were given interview training, one by a conventional method (practice interviews with instructor feedback) and one in microcounseling (specific practice in attending behavior, open-ended questions, paraphraseing, etc.) Pre-training and post-training interviews with real patients were videotaped for each…

This paper concerns microcounseling approaches which involve teaching the component behaviors of effective counseling or interviewing within a problem-solving framework. It notes that Egan, Ivey and Carkhuff, as proponents of this view, stress that later action stages of the problem-solving cycle should be based on an adequate understanding of the…

The author contends that the counselor should move into the school and the community to teach others the various skills of counseling and interpersonal communication. He believes that conducting systematic training programs in such skills as microcounseling should become an important role for counselors. (Author)

Micro-counseling, based on micro-teaching principles, was used in a pre-practicum training program to teach specific objectives related to test interpretation. Based on judges' ratings, the experimental group in micro-counseling received significantly higher ratings than the control group which had conventional class presentations and discussion…

Pilot study. Microcounseling format is base-line measurement, training, and re-interview designed for individualized training. (DAG)

Three brief instructional programs for beginning counselors are described for the purpose of inducing entry-level social skills that support effective counseling interaction. Implications for a competency-based counselor education format are discussed. (Author)