Evaluating clinical training programs: A formative effort.

Abstract

Island where he will shortly receive his doctorate in clinical psychology. His current interests include clinical training, program evaluation, therapy-change and self-change, and psychotherapy process and outcome, with particular focus on the therapist's theory and personality.

Review of research conducted in psychology program training clinics.

“…Various researchers have addressed the nature and organization of TCs. These studies include two surveys focused directly on organizational issues (Calhoun & Green, 1984; Serafica & Harway, 1980), additional surveys on more specific topics such as after-hours coverage (Bernstein, Feldberg, & Brown, 1991), and an assortment of organizational case studies (Bry, 1992; Kausch & Leventhal, 1972; Levine & Wishner, 1977; Wapner et al, 1984) and program evaluations (Aronson, Akamatsu, & Page, 1982; Harway & Serafica, 1977; Stevenson, Norcross, King, & Tobin, 1984; Walsh et al, 1985). One major focus has been on the relationships among goals, priorities, and organizational structure, whereas another set of issues concerns service delivery, staffing, and clinical policy.…”

Changes in counseling skills during graduate and undergraduate study.

“…In addition to changes in verbal behavior, graduates increased their inner-directedness and self-acceptance as measured by the Personal Orientation Inventory. Stevenson, Norcross, King, and Tobin (1984) asserted that the training evaluation of mental health professionals is long overdue for greater attention and sophistication. For some years counseling psychology has attended to evaluating the time-limited acquisition of specific counselor skills (Ivey, 1971;Truax & Carkhuff, 1967).…”

Apprenticeship clinical training in academia

“…Finally, the cooperative interaction among faculty members facilitates the students' later work as co-therapists. It is probably a result of this well-spelled-out applied process training model that our students, in contrast to typical Ph.D. students (Stevenson, Norcross, King, & Tobin, 1985), report considerable satisfaction with the level of their applied training. Even the students whose education remained at the M.A.…”