Factors Contributing to the Status of Group Programming at Psychology Internship Sites

ABSTRACT

Previous research has explored administrative factors that may predict the health of group programs in college counseling centers. The current study seeks to extend this research to a more diverse set of mental health agencies. Directors of training (N = 171) at mental health agencies that host doctoral interns in psychology completed a survey about their site’s group offerings, attitudes about group, and training opportunities for interns. Results were largely consistent with the previous study and suggested that efforts to foster expertise may predict better group program outcomes. While attitudes toward group were positive, sites could be doing more to cultivate their group programs, such as offering more regular trainings in group and allowing group coordinators to have hours to administer the programs.     

Women's Centers: A Critical Appraisal and A Case Study

Women's centers can play an important role in counseling and educational development services that promote equity. Not all programs that carry the name “for women” automatically provide nonsexist or quality services for women. This article provides a critical overview of existing women's centers and the key problems regarding quality of services, organization, and funding. A model, financially self-supporting center, which was designed to address these problems, is described. The article suggests that financial self-sufficiency will be necessary to the long-term success of the women's center on a national scale and that model centers such as the one described can be used by communities for developing their own self-supporting women's centers.     

The child parent drop-in center: Community based primary prevention

A community supported child-parent drop-in program that provides services to families with few financial resources or to those who may not seek help from other service agencies is described. Services are provided free or at a minimal cost. The family oriented program provides short-term, respite care for children from birth to kindergarten age, educational programs and social opportunities for parents, short-term crisis counseling, referral to other community resources, and volunteer opportunities and training. Three centers are housed in facilities that donate the space. The centers recruit, train and actively involve parents, students, senior citizens and other volunteers to work in the program. Service groups and businesses aid in fund-raising and human service agencies provide consultation, act as referral resources and help with program operation. Each center is individualized to meet the needs of the community it serves.     

Does psychopathology predict counseling duration?

Many university counseling centers have adopted case management policies in an effort to conserve limited resources. Fearing that students with more severe problems will consume too many clinical resources, many counseling centers have decided to refer such students to external agencies or providers for mental health services. However, this fear might be unwarranted because empirical research has not shown a substantial relationship between psychopathology and counseling duration. This investigation examined whether a new treatment-planning inventory, the Butcher Treatment Planning Inventory, might be useful for better understanding the relationships between various problem areas and counseling duration. Participants were new clients (students and staff members) at a university counseling center in the southeastern USA. Professional staff members and graduate students in counselor education, clinical psychology, and clinical social work provided counseling services to the participants. Lower scores on several scales predicted counseling duration. In other words, clients with lower scores on these scales (representing less psychopathology) attended more counseling sessions than clients with greater psychopathology. Therapists' background also predicted counseling duration; clients who worked with either a professional staff member or graduate student in counselor education attended more sessions than clients who worked with a graduate student in clinical psychology. The results of this study, combined with previous research, suggest that measures of psychopathology are not very useful for identifying which clients will complete long-term counseling. Until better information becomes available, actuarial tables remain the most efficient means for predicting counseling duration.     

Development of Family Therapy and Systemic Therapy in Germany

The roots of systemic therapy in Germany date back to the sixties. Systemic therapy is one of the most widely applied forms of psychotherapy and counseling in Germany. The majority of therapists and counselors in child guidance centers, couples therapy counseling centers and youth protective services have been trained in systemic therapy. A high number of clinical psychologists, social workers and medical doctors have received training in this model of therapy. In the beginning, multigenerational, experiential, as well as structural-strategic and Milan systemic approaches were popular. Today, the post-modern systems concepts, solution-oriented and narrative approaches and self-organization theory appear to be predominant. Some centers provide research and training in behavioral and psychodynamic family and couples therapy. However, systemic approaches are clearly leading the field with over 10,000 people who have received systemic training and about 150 training institutes across the country. The critical attitude shared by many leading figures towards empirical research has limited its success in university programs. In addition, training is usually provided in the form of post-graduate courses rather than at academic institutions. Currently, three journals and one online-journal publish articles on various systemic topics. Many publishing houses have a series of books on systemic therapy and one publishing house specializes exclusively on systems oriented books. In 2008, systemic therapy gained recognition as an evidence-based treatment. Four years later, the appropriate authorities have not initiated the process of assessing it as a treatment paid for by public health insurances. In consequence, systemic therapy is not available on a large scale in the public outpatient psychotherapy system. Some additional remarks are provided on the history and current situation of systemic therapy in Austria and Switzerland.     

Staff and Resident Involvement in a Therapeutic Community: For Better or Worse?

Therapeutic communities are a commonly used context for counseling persons with drug problems or emotional problems and for other populations of clients. The group dynamics of therapeutic communities are very complex. When the staff members of a therapeutic community develop communication problems with one another or when these staff members become overly involved with residents, staff problems almost always have a negative impact on the program of the therapeutic community. This article describes how staff problems can negatively affect the program of a therapeutic community and also relates the kinds of problems encountered in a therapeutic community to the problems encountered in rehabilitation programs in other settings.     

Finding a Balance: Reconciling the Needs of the Institution,Patient, and Genetic Counselor for Optimal Resource Utilization

The current practice of cancer genetic counseling is undergoing widespread change and scrutiny. While there are clinical resources for genetic counselors (GCs) regarding the delivery of cancer genetic services, there is limited literature regarding effective management of a genetic counseling clinical program. We have developed administrative tools to manage a large team of GCs at a single academic medical center over a period of increasing demand for genetics services, with the initial aim of decreasing wait time for urgent genetic counseling visits. Here, we describe the three main elements of the clinical operations: Balancing patient volume between GCs, scheduling tracks for both routine and urgent appointments, and a team of triaging GCs to ensure appropriate patient referrals. For each of these elements, we describe how they have been modified over time and present data to support the utility of these strategies. The preliminary evidence offered here suggests that these tools allow for an equitable distribution of patient volume between team members, as well as the timely and accurate scheduling of urgent patients. As a result of the experiences presented here, other genetic counseling programs grappling with similar issues should be aware that it is possible to shift clinical operations to serve certain patient populations in a more timely fashion while keeping both providers and GC staff satisfied.     

SELF- VERSUS OTHERS' RATINGS AS PREDICTORS OF ASSESSMENT CENTER RATINGS: VALIDATION EVIDENCE FOR 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK PROGRAMS

Although 360-degree feedback programs are rapidly increasing in popularity, few studies have examined how well ratings from these programs predict an independent criterion. This study had 2 main aims: First, to examine the validity of ratings from a 360-degree feedback program using assessment center ratings as an independent criterion and to determine which source (i.e., self, supervisor, peers, or subordinates) provided the most valid predictor of the criterion measure of competency. Second, to better understand the relationship between self-observer discrepancies and an independent criterion. The average of supervisor, peer, and subordinate ratings predicted performance on the assessment center, as did the supervisor ratings alone. The self-ratings were negatively and nonlinearly related to performance with some of those who gave themselves the highest ratings having the lowest performance on the assessment center. Supervisor ratings successfully discriminated between overestimators but were not as successful at discriminating underestimators, suggesting that more modest feedback recipients might be underrated by their supervisors. Peers overestimated performance for poor performers. Explanations of the results and the implications for the use of self-ratings in evaluations, the design of feedback reports, and the use of 360-degree feedback programs for involving and empowering staff are discussed.     

Thriving,burnout, and coping strategies of early and later career counseling center psychologists in the United States

We interviewed seven early career psychologists (ECPs) and seven later career psychologists (LCPs) employed at university counseling centers in the United States about their experiences with thriving, burnout, and coping. We analyzed the data using Consensual Qualitative Research. Typical factors that contributed to thriving included recognition for achievement and the climate of counseling center and campus, although the latter was more important for ECPs than LCPs. Typical factors that contributed to burnout included challenges with tasks and responsibilities and challenges related to professional relationships. Finally, interpersonal support (general), self-care, cognitive strategies, and behavioral strategies (typical) were coping strategies used by both ECPs and LCPs, but only ECPs identified using personal therapy. Implications for counseling centers and for research are presented.     

Accreditation Standards for University and College Counseling Centers

The accreditation standards outlined in the article are used by the International Association of Counseling Services, Inc., as the basis for the formal accreditation of college and university counseling programs throughout the United States and Canada. They reflect the program elements and practice standards that are deemed essential in a counseling center that provides high-quality services to students.     

Teaching group treatment in doctoral programs for counseling psychology

We surveyed the 71 doctoral programs in counseling psychology approved by the American Psychological Association to examine whether and how group counseling or therapy was taught. Responses from 31 programs listed at least one graduate course in group counseling; over half offered more than one. In most cases the introductory course was required. Analysis also indicated that introductory courses often included an in-class or an out-of-class experiential component, focused either primarily or exclusively on outpatient therapy and used Yalom's interpersonal approach. Discussion focused on the importance of courses in group interventions in doctoral programs in counseling psychology and the differences and similarities in academic training of group interventions in programs in counseling and clinical psychology.     

Accreditation Standards for University and College Counseling Centers

The accreditation standards outlined in the article are used by the International Association of Counseling Services as the basis for the formal accreditation of college and university counseling programs throughout the United States, Canada, and Australia. They reflect the program elements and practice standards that are deemed essential in a counseling center that provides high‐quality services to students.     

TRAINING COUNSELING SKILLS: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS AND SOCIAL VALIDATION

A community development perspective suggests the value of using local resources to solve local problems. Two low-income staff of a community service center served as nonprofessional counselors after receiving a training program consisting of written instructions, practice, and performance feedback. The effects of the 40-hour training program were positive for both counseling and problem-solving skills. There was also evidence of generalization of counseling performance across clients, problems, and time. In addition, expert judges' ratings of performance were obtained as a measure of social validity. These findings suggest that the training procedures are effective in enhancing the counseling and problem-solving skills of low-income nonprofessionals.     

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Science-Day Programs at University-Based Science Outreach Centers

Abstract

University-based science youth centers offer science-day activities for students that include lectures and sometimes a laboratory experience. This phenomenological study explores stakeholders’ views of science-day programs at 3 different university-based science outreach centers. The study describes the characteristics, the goals, the pedagogy, and the challenges of science days as voiced by the different informants. We found that the main goal was exposing students to science and “showing STEM is fun." Some teachers sought added value of learning in out-of-school environments and pointed to the importance of hands-on activities. The centers’ staff did not address pedagogy and viewed teachers’ role as being chaperons. Teachers felt patronized by the young guides who did not acknowledge their experience and expertise. Some differences in approaches of junior and senior teachers are discussed. In conclusion, we recommend mutual discussion of goals, and finding ways for teachers and centers' staff to collaborate in planning and enactment of science days.     

Implementing Housing First Across Sites and Over Time: Later Fidelity and Implementation Evaluation of a Pan-Canadian Multi-site Housing First Program for Homeless People with Mental Illness

This article examines later fidelity and implementation of a five‐site pan‐Canadian Housing First research demonstration project. The average fidelity score across five Housing First domains and 10 programs was high in the first year of operation (3.47/4) and higher in the third year of operation (3.62/4). Qualitative interviews (36 key informant interviews and 17 focus groups) revealed that staff expertise, partnerships with other services, and leadership facilitated implementation, while staff turnover, rehousing participants, participant isolation, and limited vocational/educational supports impeded implementation. The findings shed light on important implementation “drivers” at the staff, program, and community levels.     

The Forgotten Facilitators: Human Relations Training for Support Personnel

Lamb and Rapin's (1976) ecological model for categorizing and evaluating student development services emphasizes the total environment of the student service as critical to the students' receptivity to and ultimate success in counseling. The adjunct role of the support staff in the creation and maintenance of a generally positive milieu is often assumed or ignored. To remedy this situation, a staff development program was implemented to (a) provide recognition of the support personnel's necessary involvement in and contribution to the division's mission, (b) develop human relations skills, and (c) facilitate increased understanding and communication between the professional staff and the support staff.     

A Different Look at Assessment Centers: Views of Assessment Center Users

This study aims to shed light on possible problems of assessment center users and designers when developing and implementing assessment centers. Semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of assessment center users in Flanders revealed that, besides a large variability in assessment center practice, practitioners experience problems with dimension selection and definition, exercise design, line/staff managers as assessors, distinguishing between observation and evaluation, and with the content of assessor training programs. Solutions for these problems are suggested.     

Marathon Group Therapy with Former Drug Users

This article deals with a study that assessed the effects of marathon group therapy on the attitudes of the participants in a 16-hour-long marathon group. The participants were all former drug users who were transferred from prison to a residential drug treatment center. The volunteer residents, who were randomly divided into control and experimental groups, completed posttests that included the following semantic differential concepts: kindness, reality, the future, anger, guilt, my real self, drug treatment programs, counselors, counseling, and group counseling. Evaluative (E) and Potency (P) scales were obtained for each concept. The results showed that experimental group members responded higher on the Group Counseling (E) subscale and lower on the guilt (E) subscale than the control group members.     

Increasing Severity of Presenting Problems in College Counseling Centers: A Closer Look

Dealing with increasing numbers of college students who present with serious psychological problems has been identified as a significant challenge for counseling centers in the current decade. On the basis of their review of research, G. L. Stone and J. Archer (1990) concluded that the level of psychopathology among counseling center clients increased during the 1980s and likely would continue to do so into the 1990s. A closer look at the research shows that there is the perception among counseling center practitioners that psychopathology is on the rise but little direct evidence to support such a trend. Although not necessarily on the increase, there is empirical evidence that certain forms of psychological disturbance are not uncommon among clinical and nonclinical college student samples. Implications for counseling center research and practice based on this literature review are discussed.