A Program Based on the Guilford Model that Enhances Creativity and Creative Psychological Counseling

Abstract

Abstract In the psychological counseling context, some of the most important skills for today’s counselors include producing a significant number of solutions and hypotheses to solve problems and developing technical or intervention tools appropriate for the needs of individuals and families. One of the most effective ways of developing these skills is using creative thinking. Therefore, the present study tests the effectiveness of an 11- week program that aims to enhance the creativity and the creative counseling skills of counseling candidates. The program was implemented in the academic years 2012-2013 (24 students) and 2013-2014 (23 students). This program was based on Guilford’s creative thinking model, and it scored from four perspectives: (1) the perspective of fluency, based on the ability to produce definitions and explanations related to being a creative counselor; (2) the perspective of flexibility, based on the ability to handle creative counseling in different categories; (3) the perspective of originality, based on the ability to produce original ideas or techniques; and (4) the perspective of elaboration, based on the ability to use more details, metaphors, and poetic language. As a result of analyzing the qualitative data, it was concluded that the implemented program was effective in terms of all its dimensions.