Opinions of Counselor Candidates Regarding Counseling Skills Training

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this study is to contribute to the enhancement of the quality of counseling skills training and counselor education through the medium of understanding the opinions of counselor candidates regarding counseling skills training. The research group consisted of 67 counselor candidates who voluntarily participated in the study. The research data was collected by three different qualitative data collection tools developed by the researchers. Content analysis was carried out and the results indicated five main themes: Counseling Skills, Specific Skills Training Methods, Perceptions of Counseling, Being a Counselor Candidate, the Learning and Teaching Process of Counseling Skills. The results also showed that within the scope of systematic counseling skills training programs, using various skill training methods and instructional technologies which are integrated compatibly was effective. At the same time, the results indicated that counseling skills training provided an increase in professional competency and helped to develop the professional identity of counselor candidates. The results are discussed and interpreted in light of the literature. Besides, some suggestions are provided to counselor educators and researchers.Key WordsCounselor Education, Counselor Candidates, Counseling Skills Training, Microcounseling, Professional Development of Counselor Candidates.Counselor/therapist education is aimed at training counselor/therapist candidates as professional counselor/therapists with essential knowledge, skills and professional identity. Becoming a counselor/therapist is also considered to be a developmental process (Hackney & Cormier, 2005). Thus some developmental models have been set since the 1980's (e.g. Hogan, 1964; Loganbill, Hardy, & Delworth, 1982; Stoltenberg & Delworth, 1987 as cited in Skovholt & Ronnestad, 1995). Enhancing the quality of supervision, which plays a significant part in the professional development and education of counselor/therapists, is the aim sought to be gained through the understanding of these models (Bernard & Goodyear, 2004; Borders & Brown, 2005, Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003).The experiences and evolution of counselor/ therapist candidates during their training has been investigated within the scope of professional developmental researches (e.g. Hill, Sullivan, Knox, & Schlosser, 2007; Ronnestad & Skovholt, 2003). It is possible to say that most of these researches investigated the development of counselor candidates with regard to the practicum process and community service activities. There has also been an increase in the number of researches which thoroughly investigate the experiences of counselor/ therapist candidates and the pre-practicum process. (e.g. Folkes-Skinner, Elliott, & Wheeler, 2010; Hill, Sullivan et al., 2007; Hill et al., 2008; Woodside, Oberman, Cole, & Carruth, 2007). At this point the studies which focus on counseling/helping skills are quite important because the counseling skills training is one of the most important parts in counselor education (e.g. Hill, Sullivan et al., 2007). It is also emphasized that counseling skills training is the most important prerequisite for counseling practicum (Hill & Lent, 2006; Ladany & Inmann, 2008; Whiston & Coker, 2000).It is noted that many researches on counselor education in Turkey have investigated practicum courses, or the supervision process of courses, such as individual counseling practicum (e.g. Aladag & Bektas, 2009; Denizli, Aladag, Bektas, Cihangir-Cankaya, & Ozeke-Kocabas, 2009; Zeren & Yilmaz, 2011), group counseling practicum (e.g. Aladag, Bektas, Cihangir-Cankaya, Ozeke-Kocabas, & Yaka, 2009; Aladag, Bektas, Denizli, Ozeke-Kocabas, & Yaka, 2008) and counseling practicum in schools (e.g. Ozyurek, 2009). The results of these researches have provided information about the qualities and needs of counselor candidates, as well as providing insight for enhancing the quality of counseling practicum and supervision. …