Training counseling skills: an experimental analysis and social validation

Area of Science:

• Community Psychology
• Behavioral Training
• Social Work

Background:

• Community development emphasizes leveraging local resources for problem-solving.
• Nonprofessionals in community service centers can be trained to provide counseling.
• Empowering local staff enhances service delivery and community capacity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a training program for low-income nonprofessional counselors.
• To assess improvements in counseling and problem-solving skills.
• To determine the generalizability of trained skills across different contexts.

Main Methods:

• A 40-hour training program was developed for two low-income community service center staff.
• Training included written instructions, practice sessions, and performance feedback.
• Expert judges rated counseling performance to measure social validity.

Main Results:

• The training program significantly enhanced both counseling and problem-solving skills.
• Evidence indicated generalization of counseling performance across clients, problems, and time.
• Expert ratings confirmed the social validity and effectiveness of the training.

Conclusions:

• The training procedures are effective in equipping low-income nonprofessionals with essential counseling and problem-solving abilities.
• This model demonstrates a viable strategy for utilizing local resources within community service settings.
• The findings support the scalability and replicability of this training approach for similar populations.