Technological Expectations For Support Staff

Universities 21 is published by the University Professionals of Illinois

Mitch Vogel,
President

Mary Ann Schwartz
Editor

Getting students to understand the dynamics of counseling theory and p ractice is a challenging task. Textbooks, lectures, and class discussions can only go so far in defining and outlining the various approaches that can be used with clients. Thus, Jon Carlson, a departmental colleague, and I sought additional ways to provide our students with greater knowledge and more insight into how counseling theory and practice are related in the context of actual applications. In 1995, under a contract with Allyn & Bacon, we began to develop a series of 12 videos called Psychotherapy with the Experts. To do this, we invited recognized professionals to serve as our guest "experts" and we recruited four individuals-a white female, a black female, an Hispanic male, and a white male-to serve as clients. Depending on client availability, the experts met with two to four of the clients, producing a total of 36 counseling session tapes. For each expert, we selected the tape that they thought best portrayed a featured approach to therapy

Student involvement came next. We brought together an audience of graduate students and practitioners to meet the expert and to view an opening interview, watch a video of the counseling session, and share in a discussion of that theory. The opening interview was based on topics about the theory, including multicultural issues, how to apply the theory with different types of clients, adaptations in the approach for differing client needs, application for group or family counseling, and research questions concerning the theory itself. After watching the session video, the audience was invited to ask questions concerning the theory and the counseling session.

The student participation was a vital part of this series which was completed in late 1997.

In 1996, while we were finishing the first series, Allyn & Bacon gave us a second contract to develop a new series, Family Therapy with the Experts. Many of the problems facing individuals in our society today are family related. To deal successfully with these issues means treating the family as a social system. Thus, it is important for students to understand the distinct aspects of treating all family members, not just the person who has the more immediate or visible problem. We featured thirteen family therapists in this series, using a format similar to the one above. In doing so we selected families to participate who are representative of today's family structures. Couples, intact families, a white mother and son, a black mother and son, and a gay couple were among those included in the videos. In the near future a book will be added to complement this series.

The student feedback to the content of these videos has been most encouraging and has led us to accept a contract with Zeig & Tucker to develop another series of thirteen videos entitled Brief Therapy Inside Out. Although the format for this new series differs in some ways from the first two series, it features leading brief therapists each working with a different client. Students will again be able to compare and contrast the different styles of therapy in the context of real therapy sessions. Clearly using videos such as these as a teaching tool is not the only way to teach about counseling theory and practice, but it has been our experience that viewing examples of real counseling situations allows students to become more involved and feel more confident about recognizing the relative advantages of utilizing different therapy styles in specific contexts. Students have told us that they often replay the videos even after they have left our classes, especially during their practicum, as a way to reinforce their newly acquired knowledge and skills.

Editor's note: Diane Kjos and Jon Carlson have received national awards for their work. The American Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors presented them with their Innovation and Vision Award and the International Association of Family Counselors gave them their prestigious Media Award for their outstanding contribution to the training of counselors. They have also collaborated with Len Sperry, Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in developing another video, Psychopathology and Psychotherapy: Diagnosis and Treatment published by Accelerated Development. The three of them are currently working on a text and accompanying videos to teach counseling skills and interventions.