Counselor Trainees’ Evaluation of Practicum Course Yildiz KURTYILMAZYildiz KURTYILMAZ Aysen BALKAYA CETINAysen BALKAYA CETIN Gamze ULKER TUMLUGamze ULKER TUMLU

Problem Counseling process a collaborative approach the quality of the therapeutic relationship b/w counselee and counselor

Therapeutic relationship requires initial skills of attending respecting clients, being empathic, active listening, etc. Problem

Keeping a grip on session difficult for trainees not good enough/competent on effective counseling skills & techniques Despite strong theoretical background & knowledge difficulty in integrating theory and knowledge into practice real client in a real counseling session complicated

Problem Education & training w/o experience not fulfill trainees’ needs during session Individual counseling practicum course (PC)

Research Questions How counselor trainees evaluated themselves in counseling process a-14 week practicum course in an undergraduate Counseling & Guidance Program

Method Qualitative study Five open-ended questions 11 counselor trainees Written answers for anonymity At the end of the semester

Method 1.What are your attributes and qualifications you need to develop to become more efficient and effective in counseling process? 2.Which situation in counseling sessions is the most difficult for you to handle? When you are faced with this situation, what did you do? 3.When you can’t respond appropriately in sessions, what do you do? 4.When you get supervision about sessions, what did you experience/ how did you feel? 5.Did the feedback given in supervision make any contributions to the management of counseling process professionally? If it did, how?

Method Data Analysis Inductive Analysis Participants 11 seniors taking Individual Counseling Practicum Course 8 females 3 males Age range= 21-24

Method Participants complete about 20 sessions with real counselees to be successful in a 14-week course transcribe each session they audio taped took supervision both individually and as a group during a 5-hour course

Findings Findings are presented under themes of I. the difficulties experienced during counseling process & the practicum, II. coping methods III. supervision experiences

Findings I. Difficulties Subthemes were obtained as 1. Difficulties in managing counseling process, 2. Difficulties in meeting the course requirements 3. A lack of theoretical knowledge

Findings 1. Difficulties in managing counseling process 1. Focusing on the process 2. Using therapeutic skills and techniques 3. Conceptualizing problems 4. Managing silence

Findings 1. Difficulties in managing counseling process 1. Focusing on the process 1. Diverted attention due to overinvolvement w/ themselves 2. Disengagement from counseling process 3. Difficulty in working towards clients’ objectives 4. making clients come back to agenda of session when they digress from their main goals …..When my counselees went out of agenda, I have difficulty. ………..

Findings 1. Difficulties in managing counseling process 2. Ineffective usage of therapeutic skills & techniques 1. Active listening 2. Being objective 1. Being empathic 3. Personalizing problems, meaning, goals 4. Restructuring ……..when my clients ask for advices from me, I have difficulty in restructuring. ………… 5. Managing silence

Findings 1. Difficulties in managing counseling process 3. Difficulties in conceptualizing problems 1. Making inferences about implicit goals 2. Making associations b/w various themes 3. Misconceptualization of the problem & wrong road map.

Findings 2. Difficulties in meeting course requirements 1. Counseling with more than one client 2. Transcribing each session 3. Coping with criticism and feedback in supervision

Findings II. Ways of Coping 1. Using therapeutic skills and techniques 2. Integrating supervison into practice 3. Reviewing literature

Findings II. Ways of Coping / Using therapeutic skills and techniques 1. Minimal encouragers 2. Concretization 3. Reflection of content 4. Reflection of feelings 5. Summarizing 6. Here & Now 7. Asking questions 8. Restructuring 9. Using silence

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision 1. Feelings 2. Professional development 3. Personal development

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision /Feelings during supervision 1. Anxiety 2. Fear 3. Distress 1. Pleasure 2. Gratification 3. Courage 4. Curiosity 5. Enthusiasm 6. Becoming Motivated

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision/ Professional Development 1. Development of professional identity 2. Objective self evaluation 3. Effective usage of counseling skills & techniques 4. Managing counseling process 1. Compensating failures

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision/ Professional Development 1. Development of professional identity 1. professional satisfaction, 2. internalization of professional ethics 3. development of professional self efficacy …The more failure in supervision, the less failure in my professional life. …….. Supervision strengthened me.

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision/ Professional Development Effective usage of counseling skills & techniques Concretization Personalization Being more empathic Managing counseling process Preparation for next sessions /Compensating failures Clarification & conceptualization of problem During supervision taking into account what we can do at the next session, how we can be more helpful to our clients at each week made important contributions to better management of the next sessions.

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision/ Professional Development Compensating failures ……. Through supervision I could realize the points I missed during sessions. Therefore, I could be more efficient and more helpful at the next sessions of the client.

Findings III. Evaluation of Supervision/Personal Development 1. Coping w/ criticism Initially, I became distressed when I got feedback through supervision. Then, I became relaxed when I realized that feedback was not directed at me and my personality, but my responses during sessions. 2. Increase in self criticism 3. Increase in self confidence

Results Counselor trainees 1. experience difficulties in managing process, using therapeutic skills and techniques spontaneously 2. cope w/ the difficulties by integrating supervision into practice, utilizing literature, 3. perceive supervision as a source of professional & personal development

Results In conclusion Despite the difficulties, trainees found the practicum course improving encouraging

Counselor Trainees’ Evaluation of Practicum Course Yildiz KURTYILMAZYildiz KURTYILMAZ Aysen BALKAYA CETINAysen BALKAYA CETIN Gamze ULKER TUMLUGamze ULKER TUMLU