Deliberate practice of consultation communication skills: A randomized controlled trial.

Abstract

Consultation is a key competency area for school psychologists, though much is unknown about how school psychologists develop the competency to consult. Deliberate practice (DP) is a promising approach to enhance use of communication skills, thereby supporting consultation competence. DP training included multiple opportunities for video-recorded consultation practice in response to a consultee’s request for assistance, self-reflection on skill application, and corrective supervisory feedback. In this randomized controlled trial, 109 school psychology graduate students across 45 training programs received either consultation training as usual delivered through their first consultation course (control group; n = 61) or a supplemental DP training intervention in addition to their first consultation course (treatment group; n = 48). Students who completed the DP training significantly increased their use of communication skills during a simulated practice opportunity, while the control group participants did not. Students in the DP condition also reported significantly greater self-efficacy than students in the control group, although students in both groups reported significantly greater self-efficacy over time. DP participants also reported high levels of training satisfaction. Implications of these findings for the design and delivery of consultation training and supervision are discussed.

A qualitative content analysis of novice consultants' responses to a consultee's request for assistance

“…Research investigating school consultation training is limited. Empirical descriptions of graduate‐level consultation coursework suggest that process skills, including approaches to communication and relationship development, are often not emphasized in training (Hazel et al, 2010; M. L. Newell, 2012; Newman, Villarreal, et al, 2022). One reason may be that there is little research regarding how interpersonal process skills are most effectively taught and scaffolded to guide training (M. Newell & Newman, 2014).…”

“…(Newman, Gerrard, et al, 2022; Newman, Villarreal, et al, 2022) applied a deliberate practice (DP) approach to support school psychology graduate students' consultation communication skill development. Consistent with definitions of DP in the literature (i.e., Ericsson & Pool, 2016; Miller et al, 2020; Rousmaniere et al, 2017), the approach included individualized, developmentally appropriate learning objectives for students; supervisor observation, assessment of skill performance, and feedback; and students' successive skill practice and refinement in a simulated situation.…”

“…In a pilot study (Newman, Gerrard, et al, 2022), 13 school psychology graduate students engaged in DP by responding to a virtual teacher consultee and increased their communication self‐efficacy and indicated satisfaction with the training. In a subsequent randomized controlled study (Newman, Villarreal, et al, 2022), 109 students across 45 school psychology training programs were either randomly assigned to engage in either their first consultation course ( n = 61) or engaged in their first consultation course plus a multiweek supplemental DP communication skills training focused on paraphrasing, clarifying, and reflecting feelings ( n = 48). DP participants significantly increased their application of communication skills as well as their self‐efficacy for using those skills.…”

Therapists' self‐assessment of time spent on learning activities and its relationship to treatment outcomes: A replication study

“…Fortunately, several studies indicate that training with a focus on practice and feedback, in contrast to didactic training, leads to better skills in managing client resistance (Westra et al, 2021) and communications skills (Newman et al, 2022). In line with these results, two studies by Perlman et al (2020, 2022) showed that an alliance‐focused and facilitative interpersonal relationship training, based on deliberate practice, had a positive effect on the therapeutic skills of professionals and undergraduates.…”

The last chapter (but not the last word) on deliberate practice.

“…True, the current evidence shows DP is more effective than traditional approaches for teaching and training therapists (Barrett-Naylor et al, 2020;Newman et al, 2022;Westra et al, 2021). Still, much remains unknown and subject to revision; for example,…”