ERIC Number: ED549224
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 287
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 978-1-2674-0587-6
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Jumping off the Couch: Infusing Creativity into Counselor Education
Lawrence, Christopher
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The College of William and Mary
This study infused key elements of creativity into the process of counselor education, exposing students in a counseling skills and techniques course to a curriculum designed to promote tolerance for ambiguity, appropriate risk-taking behaviors, and improvisational skills. Employing a phenomenological strategy of inquiry, the researcher sought to explore the ways the participants made sense of their experience in the course, as well as the ways the experience informed their perspective of counseling and the role of a counselor. Participants recognized counseling as a profession replete with ambiguity and rife with personal and relational challenges. They came to appreciate a clinician's role in establishing and maintaining rapport and developed an understanding of the need to read situations and reason "on the fly." They realized counselors need to be self-aware and aware of their impact on others, open to exploring divergent viewpoints, and possessed of the divergent thinking skills needed to generate new perspectives. By connecting themselves to their students (through modeling), the students to one another (via experiential opportunities), and everyone to the subject (through lectures, interventions, and assignments designed as part of the curriculum), instructors and students alike recognized counseling as an interpersonal creative activity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Counselor Training, Creativity, Counseling Techniques, Counseling Objectives, Counseling Theories, Phenomenology, Inquiry, Counselor Role, Student Experience, Learning Experience, Ambiguity (Context), Modeling (Psychology), Creative Activities, Thinking Skills, Behavioral Objectives, Teaching Methods, Experiential Learning, Lecture Method, Intervention, Assignments
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Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Author Affiliations: N/A