Active Listening Essay

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Active Listening and Counselor Self-Efficacy: Emphasis on One Microskill in Beginning Counselor Training Dana Heller Levitt ABSTRACT. By emphasizing active listening over the other microskills, it is hypothesized that beginning counselors will feel more efficacious and better able to hear clients, thus performing better in skill areas. In this pilot study with five Master’s-level counselor trainees in their first counseling practicum, an emphasis on active listening in instruction and individual supervision resulted in increases in active listening and self-efficacy ratings, as well as performance in three skill areas (reflection of feelings, challenging, and immediacy). These results suggest the importance of attending to counselors’ strengths and reducing anxiety in the first counseling experience. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.] KEYWORDS. Active listening, self-efficacy, counselor training At the heart of counseling is listening, the experience of being heard and accepted that enables growth and change (Toller, 1999). An important aspect of empathic understanding is basic communication skills, more so than the speDana Heller Levitt, PhD, NCC, is Assistant Professor of Counselor Education at Ohio University. Address correspondence to: McCracken Hall, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701-2979. The author wishes to acknowledge Dr. N. Kenneth LaFleur for his contributions to this research study and manuscript. The Clinical Supervisor, Vol. 20(2) 2001  2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 101 102 THE CLINICAL SUPERVISOR cific words or counseling techniques used (Goldin & Doyle, 1991). The counselor-client working alliance, the relationships of two human beings in the room together, is the

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