Educating Counselors: A Constructivist Approach to the Development of Core Counseling Skills
Roselind G. Bogner, Susan L. Horrocks, Elizabeth J. Lanni Manley, Stephen J. Denig

Abstract
The constructivist approach to learning was effective in the development of counseling skills in graduate students (N=39; 31 female, 8 male) over three semesters in an Introduction to Counseling course at a small private liberal arts university in the Northeast. The constructivist strategies included: role-play experiences, videotaped counseling sessions, small cooperative learning groups, and professor and peer interaction and feedback regarding the development of empathic counselor responses. The two rating forms used to measure counseling skills were the Counselor Skills and Personal Development-Rating Form (CSPD-RF; Torres-Rivera, et al. 2002) and the Counselor Response Rating Form (CRRF; Unpublished counseling scenarios), which was scored by the Basic Counselor Response Rating Scale (BCRRS; Bogner, 2005). All measures of growth were at a significance level of p < .05 and (Cohen’s-d) effect sizes indicated moderate growth in counseling skill development.

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