Interviewing Skills and Computer Assisted Instruction

Summary

This paper describes the use of the Interviewing Skills for Human Services (I View Skills) computer program that was incorporated into two undergraduate social work courses. The goals and objectives of the I View Skills program are described as well as how the program was integrated into the course curricula. Findings on the students' perceptions of the I View Skills program based on a     

Videodisc Development for Human Service Professions

Summary

Videodiscs have excellent capacity for storing slides, motion pictures, graphics, or text. Through advanced laser applications, videodisc information and motion pictures can simulate human interaction, allowing the viewer to “interact” in human crisis situations simulated in video. Video presentations can be stopped by the viewer, who can select among alternatives the outcome of actions on the screen. A video screen “teacher” can be programmed to discuss simulations with the viewer. The benefit of this “human dimension” possibility in computer-assisted instruction is the critical ingredient which can be of major interest to human service professionals. Appropriate learning programs need to be made available on videodisc equipment to make a major improvement in the education and continuing education for both human service professionals and their clients. In universities with a spirit of interdepartmental cooperation, there is potential for faculty in social work, education, and psychology to bring together their resources to produce quality videodiscs for use in preservice and inservice programs. Videodiscs for human service professions have been successfully produced by the Colle e of Education and Human Service Professions at the Unlversity o lb' Minnesota, Duluth. Suggestions are reported in this article on how videodiscs can be produced for use in human services.     

Social connectedness and life satisfaction: Comparing mean levels for 2 undergraduate samples and testing for improvement based on brief counseling

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Comparing the mean levels of social connectedness and life satisfaction, and analyzing their relationship for 2 undergraduate samples, and testing for an increase in their means for a brief counseling sample. Participants: Between October 2013 and May 2015, 3 samples were collected: not-in-counseling (NIC; n = 941), initial counseling session (ICS; ie, triage session only; n = 168), and brief counseling (BC; ie, median of 4 additional counseling sessions; n = 28). Methods: Online surveys measuring demographic and background control variables, social connectedness, and life satisfaction. Results: NIC students exhibited higher social connectedness and life satisfaction than ICS students. Social connectedness significantly explained life satisfaction beyond controlled-for variables for both samples. There was a significant increase in social connectedness and life satisfaction for the BC sample. Conclusions: Social connectedness is an important antecedent of life satisfaction for undergraduates. Brief counseling can increase transition students' social connectedness and life satisfaction.     

College Counselors’ Perceptions and Practices Regarding Anticipatory Guidance on Firearms

Abstract

Objectives: This study assessed college counselors’ anticipatory guidance on firearms for student clients. Participants: The membership of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors was used to identify a national random sample of counseling centers (n = 361). One counselor from each center was selected to survey. Methods: In the winter of 2008, a 3-wave mailing procedure was used to maximize the response rate. Completed surveys served as consent (as approved by the University Human Subjects Committee). Results: A total of 213 counselors (59%) responded. They were unlikely to provide anticipatory guidance (6%), chart/keep records on client ownership/access to firearms (17%), or to counsel the majority of clients from various diagnostic categories on firearms. Conclusions: University personnel are likely to refer students with suspected mental health problems to university counseling centers. The findings indicate that few counseling centers will address firearm issues with students.     

Interactive Technology Impacts on Increasing Cultural Awareness in Education for the Human Services

Summary

Understanding and being sensitive to the needs of persons from another culture is one of the most important abilities for people working in the human service; it is also one of the most difficult abilities to develop in students and in-service professionals. Two videodisc applications on cultural diversity developed at the University of Minnesota Duluth present content related to Southeast Asian refugees and American Indians. Processes used or simulated in these applications include interacting cooperatively with members of the other culture, engaging in problem solving activities, gaining background knowledge on other cultures, comparing and contrasting values, talking directly with people from another culture, and talking with someone who knows both the majority and minority culture. Preliminary research studies indicate that these applications have been well received by human service students at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.     

Teaching Note—Social Work Serial: Using Video-Recorded Simulated Client Sessions to Teach Social Work Practice

Simulation, the use of trained actors as simulated clients, has gained empirical support as an effective teaching and assessment method in social work education. The associated costs involving the use of live simulation, however, often pose a barrier and prevent less resourced schools from implementing this pedagogical approach in the classroom. Social Work Serial is a pedagogical project that used video-recorded simulated client sessions as an alternative to live simulation. In this teaching note, we will describe step-by-step production and implementation processes involving the project and discuss the implications of video-based simulation for social work education.     

Systematic Interviewing Microskills and Neuroscience: Developing Bridges between the Fields of Communication and Counseling Psychology

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 point—“counseling and communication change the brain and encourage the development of new neural networks.— Multicultural issues are important in the microskills framework. Over 500 databased Microcounseling studies exist with translations in 21 languages. The authors suggest that the communication studies field might wish to consider itself also a mental health profession as the teaching of listening skills and effective communication is central to well-being. Furthermore, communication studies can do much to increase multicultural understanding and cross-cultural communication.     

Interactive Videodiscs: A Linkage Tool for Social Work Education

Abstract

The merging of videodiscs and computers now makes possible a variety of exciting instructional strategies in education. This article highlights the ways in which videodiscs can be utilized to individualize the pace of student learning and to enhance the transfer of new learning from the classroom to beginning professional encounters. Ranging from concept learning to simulations of client-worker interactions, the application of videodisc technology to classroom instruction enables the blending of theory and practice so valued by social work educators.     

Formative Evaluation and Editorial Review in the Development of Videodiscs Related to Human Service Professions

Summary

The importance of formative evaluation and editorial review during the development of an interactive videodisc is often overlooked. The rationale for the integrated use of formative evaluation and editing during the process of design, production, post-production and programming is presented. The role of the instructional designer, as well as some of the focal points, in formative evaluation and editing is discussed.     

Quality Assessment Study of Brief Psychotherapy at a University HMO Setting

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a short-term psychotherapy (four to fifteen sessions) quality assessment study conducted at the University of Massachusetts Mental Health Service. The outcome measures devised and the process of their administration are described. The positive outcome results of this study are encouraging and supportive of the impression that high quality brief psychotherapy can be provided at university counseling services. Student and health maintenance organization (HMO) member consumer evaluation opinions were positive and their utilization of services was found to be psychologically sophisticated and appropriate. A frequency table lists the most common presenting problems of this population. Practical modifications are suggested for future quality assessment research of brief psychotherapy.     

Better Listening: Paraphrasing and Perception Checking–A Study of the Effectiveness of a Multimedia Skills Training Program

SUMMARY

The authors describe a multimedia communications skills training CD-ROM for human service students and practitioners and evaluate its effectiveness with undergraduate social work students in Canada.     

Faith and Religious Delusions in First-Episode Schizophrenia

ABSTRACT

Empirical research has not adequately examined whether social workers and clients discuss sociocultural issues when addressing mental health problems, nor the quality of the interaction when such discussion occurs. This exploratory mixed-method study examined the interactional process associated with discussion of sociocultural issues in the first three counseling sessions with four white social worker/client of color dyads. Findings showed that productive cross-cultural interactions were associated neither with specific sociocultural content nor client-worker composition, but rather with the social worker's perception and skill. Analysis differentiated one worker/client dialogue from the others, highlighting the importance of training practitioners to apply social work knowledge and skills in a synthesized manner.     

Coping and Regulating Emotions: A Pilot Study of a Modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy Group Delivered in a College Counseling Service

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the efficacy of a pilot program, aimed at treating college students with borderline personality disorder (BPD) using short-term, modified group dialectical behavior therapy at an Australian college counseling service (CCS). Participants: Seventeen enrolled college students aged between 18 and 28 (76.5% female), with a diagnosis of BPD completed the program between November 2009 and November 2010. Methods: Participants attended 8 2-hour group therapy sessions, held at the CCS during semester. Participants were assessed for levels of depression, anxiety, BPD traits, and coping strategies, at commencement and completion of the program. Results: There was a reduction in symptoms of depression and BPD traits, and an increase in adaptive coping skills, including problem solving, and constructive self-talk. There was no reduction in anxiety. Conclusions: The findings indicate promise for short-term treatment of college students with BPD. Implications and limitations are discussed, with emphasis on replication with a control group.     

Exploring the Design of Financial Counseling for Mortgage Borrowers in Default

This paper analyzes the effects of counseling provided to borrowers in mortgage default (n = 299). Borrowers receiving more hours of counseling perceive counseling more favorably than those receiving fewer hours of counseling. Using measures of marketing efforts to instrument counseling time confirms the positive effect of counseling duration on borrower ratings of counseling. Borrowers are more likely to attend additional counseling sessions after receiving face-to-face counseling as opposed to telephone counseling, although preference among modes can largely be explained by time in counseling. Each additional hour of counseling reduces the marginal probability of a borrower moving to a more severe stage of foreclosure. Counseling could be more successful if provided for longer durations regardless of the delivery mode.

Sharing expertise and responsibility for learning on a postgraduate qualifying coursei in social work

Abstract

This paper describes two aspects of an approach developed for basic social work training by social work staff at the University of York, the Core Group and Interviewing Skills.     

The Journey Toward Intercultural Sensitivity

Abstract

This paper reports on the use of Milton Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) to analyze logs that were submitted by mental health service providers who participated in an intensive training program on intercultural competency. Program participants wrote eight monthly reflective logs about cultural experiences that occurred between training sessions. The categories of intercultural sensitivity described in the DMIS were used as the basis for coding log entries. The findings over the 10-month training period show that the development of intercultural sensitivity is, for the most part, a non-linear process in which one makes intermittent reversions to earlier levels and moves forward in spurts. After offering examples of non-linear and linear patterns in the logs, the paper discusses possible explanations for the findings and the challenges of coding according to the Bennett Model. Implications for intercultural competency education and training programs and their evaluation are proposed.     

Do “Clicker” Educational Sessions Enhance the Effectiveness of a Social Norms Marketing Campaign?

Abstract

Objective: Social norms campaigns are a cost-effective way to reduce high-risk drinking on college campuses. This study compares effectiveness of a “standard” social norms media (SNM) campaign for those with and without exposure to additional educational sessions using audience response technology (“clickers”). Methods: American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment questions are used to evaluate actual and perceived use. Additional survey questions assess individual exposure to the interventions. Results: The authors find “clicker” technology to be more effective than social norms poster media alone in reducing misperceptions of normative alcohol use for those students who attended clicker sessions. Conclusion: Poster SNM campaigns may be most effective when supported by group “clicker” heath-related sessions.     

An Evaluation of the Therapeutic Learning Program

Abstract

The Therapeutic Learning Program (TLP) is a structured, model-based treatment designed to help clients counter self-doubts that interfere with personafdevelopment. Specific information is collected and a therapist helps the client interpret it, select goals, and overcome emotional barriers to action. Undergraduate volunteers (N = 66) seeking counseling to solve academic problems were randomly assigned to a condition in which they entered TLP information on a computer (TLP1), a condition in which they entered the TLP information on a paper check list (TLP2), or participated in a personally chosen option (PCO) control. The post-test data showed equal satisfaction and setf-concept gain for all three treatments. Sessions with the computer were longer, involved the clients in more individual effort, and were probably more thorough.