“Using Live Demonstrations in the Teaching of Counseling Theories and Counseling Process

• Main Author: Bitter, James
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2011
• Subjects: live demonstrations; teaching; counseling theories; counseling process; Counseling and Human Services; Counseling Psychology
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6118

The presenters will demonstrate an approach to teaching counseling theories and counseling process that involves instructor demonstrations. Emphasized is the value of experiential approaches as a way for students to become actively involved in learning counseling process. Some of these experiential methods include: observing live ~ 193 ~ Sunday demonstrations by the instructor with students or outside clients; role‐playing counseling process with peers; opportunities to counsel as a student naturally would; preparing students to offer demonstrations of their own; instructor demonstrations as a part of supervision; and appropriately dealing with studentsʹ personal concerns that emerge as they begin to pragmatically implement counseling theories and process. Emphasized are ways to provide supervision and feedback for students, as well as methods of evaluation. The goal of the session is to demonstrate what might actually take place in a class. The session will start with a brief introduction followed by a demonstration of initial counseling process, a discussion of what could be learned and how the instructor might respond to student comments, and a final demonstration of a more complex counseling process with feedback from students.