Outcome Research in Carkhuff's Human Resource Development Training Programs: Where is the Donut?

Abstract

This paper presents a critical review of research which has been offered in support of training programs that focus on Human Relations Development as proposed by Robert Carkhuff. The studies relied upon by Carkhuff and his students have failed to specify the nature of treatment; its components seem to vary from one study to the next; control groups of a comparative type are usually missing and, when present, have not been equivalent in expectation, motivation, contact time, leader skill or enthusiasm. Measures of process have not been collected and associated with helpee benefit. The scales used to measure gains in interpersonal skills do not have published validity data to support them. Subjects actually practice on the criterion measures employed at posttesting. The gains made have not been demonstrated to be broadly generalized or of practical significance and therefore seem to be of rather limited value. Overall, it was found that research in this area is years behind that which has come to be expected in psychotherapy outcome studies.

Can Counselor Trainees Apply Their Skills in Actual Client Interviews?

“…It is particularly unfortunate that many counselor educators have not differentiated between his conceptual-based training model and his revised skill-based training model. After the many criticisms of Carkhuff's pre-1974 training model (Gormally & Hill, 1974;Lambert & DeJulio, 1977;Lambert, DeJulio, & Stein, 1978;Mahon & Altmann, 1977), it seems that many counselor educators have ignored the revised training technology and have discontinued research on its potential effectiveness.…”

Empirical research on empathy in medicine—A critical review

“…Empirical studies of empathy have been reviewed in various publications (see e.g. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]). However, after reading publications in which empirical research on medical students' or physicians' empathy has been presented or discussed, my impression was that important methodological assumptions, ideals, and trends did not receive adequate attention.…”

Counseling Effectiveness and Trainee Helping Qualities: Another View

“…This view is generally supported by Lambert and DeJulio (1977) in their critical review of research that was offered in support of training programs that focus on human relations development as the central thrust. The major problem continues to be the lack of agreement on what characterizes the "effective" trainee as well as the role of the client's and supervisor's behavior in influencing the growth and development of the counselor trainee.…”

“…Second, in a review of research on the relationship between empathy and counseling outcome, Gladstein (1977) suggested that "due to the lack of clear evidence, counselor preparation programs should be more cautious in emphasizing the role of empathy in counseling" (p. 77). This view is generally supported by Lambert and DeJulio (1977) in their critical review of research that was offered in support of training programs that focus on human relations development as the central thrust. The major problem continues to be the lack of agreement on what characterizes the "effective" trainee as well as the role of the client's and supervisor's behavior in influencing the growth and development of the counselor trainee.…”