Many people go for training to upgrade their skills which is hoped to pave the way for better pay. But what are the kinds of skills that really affect wages? Employers have emphasized the value of generic skills such as interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. Does possession of these skills translate to at least the…

Nonprofessional mental health workers in a program for early detection and prevention of school maladaptation in children were compared to similar controls on changes in attitude and clinical response style after 12 didactic training sessions and supervised field experience. Some combination of training, experience, and supervision increased aide…

The author is concerned with how counseling, and counselor education can be used to prevent problems, how we can employ our expertise in assisting educators to relate helpfully to students and make education relevant, and how we can employ non-professionals as helpers and thus reach the entire community. (Author)

The first paper discusses the philosophy, values and climate of a program for training non-professional mental health workers who can be considered generalists and thus employable in a wide range of settings within the rapidly changing mental health field. The advantages and disadvantages of training generalists are considered. The program, which…

A four-session behavior modification training program for training one volunteer nonprofessional is presented. Readings, discussion, audio-visual taping, and role playing were utilized to prepare the trainee, who then managed a field case at a private school for emotionally disturbed'' children. (Author)

This article explains how a wide variety of psychological education techniques can be applied in a systematic program to train parents to help other parents whose families may have drug related problems. This shows how paraprofessionals can be trained quickly and effectively to solve sociopsychological problems in the community. (Author)

To meet the needs of young black students in integrated junior high schools, adult black human relations specialists were systematically selected and trained and assigned within the school system. They functioned above levels determined to be minimally effective and were generally highly rated by students, principals and administrative staff,…

Systematic Human Relations Training (SHRT) is predicated on the basic assumption that there are certain core helper-offered conditions that are necessary in a helping relationship, i.e., empathy, respect, warmth, concreteness, genuineness, self-disclosure confrontation, and immediacy. This, however, is only part of the model. The second basic…

Lay personnel indigenous to the inner city were selected and trained in helping and human relations skills as functional professionals. In turn, they utilized an internship principle in conducting similar training programs for 63 essentially unselected hard core unemployed. (Author)

This paper describes the current status of a helping skills program designed to train mental health paraprofessionals in relationship-building skills. Six skills were identified as the basis of the training program: (1) understanding the need to be a helper; (2) using effective nonverbal behavior; (3) using effective verbal behavior; (4) using…

This updated search of the ERIC system, "Dissertation Abstracts," and the journal literature yielded 78 documents which focus on programs that have trained and utilized paraprofessionals (K-16) with a look at outcomes and potential adoptability. (CJ)

This paper attempts to discuss several unresolved issues currently of concern in the utilization and training of paraprofessionals. It examines, briefly, three well-known training programs, and elaborates on a fourth, focusing on the objectives and processes of the training. While there is considerable overlap among the programs, especially in…

This updated search of the ERIC system, "Dissertation Abstracts", and the journal literature yielded 41 documents which focus on programs that have trained and utilized paraprofessionals (K-16) with a look at outcomes and potential adoptability. (SD)

The authors present modes used to train both paraprofessionals and graduate students for a wide range of tasks within the helping process. With emphasis on the mastery of the behavior of systems entry, their training program combines the components of careful trainee selection, competence building, and trainer preparation. (LA)