A study analyzed the extent to which writing teachers in conferencing situations employ the communication techniques used by professional helping agents. A metatheory of communication techniques developed by Allen Ivey and associates which attempts to combine and synthesize the relevant psychotherapeutic and counseling techniques in the profession was used. Using the principles of Carl Rogers, Ivey, and others, a writing conferencing communication model was developed as a criterion base for the analysis. Ten teachers (teaching K-12) were selected from around the San Francisco Bay Area who were reputed to be skilled writing conferencers and who used writing conferences frequently in their teaching. An analysis of a series of videotaped writing conferences outlines the frequency that writing teachers use the communications skills outlined in the model. The study of the interaction patterns which impede and which encourage the communication flow between teacher and student during the writing conferencing process discovers that, for the most part, teachers engaged in writing conferences do not widely use the communication skills which are defined as effective in helping relationships. (One table of data is included; 74 references are attached.) (SG)