Keywords

Counselor education; counselor training; virtual simulation; basic counseling skills development

Abstract

There is a high need for competent professional counselors because of the increasing number of children and adults presenting mental health concerns each year in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health, 2012). Counselor educators are tasked with the duty of preparing counselors-in-training (CITs) to be competent clinicians. In order for counseling professionals to be considered competent clinicians, they must demonstrate competence in three domains: (a) knowledge, (b) skills, and (c) behavior (ACA, 2014; CACREP, 2009). The goal of this study was to contribute to further understanding the most effective instructional approach to facilitating role play while instructing pre-practicum counseling students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of virtual simulation training on the development of basic counseling skills, the immersion experience, levels of anxiety, and levels of counselor self-efficacy (CSE) among CITs using student-to-avatar and student-to-student role play. A quasi-experimental research design was used to investigate the effect of the treatment on the constructs. The results of this study found that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups across all four constructs. A spilt-plot analysis of variance, trend analysis, and repeated measures between factor multivariate analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. The results of this study indicated that exposure to virtual simulation training did not affect the development of basic counseling skills, immersion experience, counselor self-efficacy, and anxiety. The results also showed that virtual simulation did not hinder the development of basic counseling skills, or negatively influence immersion experience, counselor self-efficacy or anxiety.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2015

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Hagedorn, W. Bryce

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Education and Human Performance

Degree Program

Education; Counselor Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005895

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005895

Language

English

Release Date

August 2016

Length of Campus-only Access

1 year

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education and Human Performance; Education and Human Performance -- Dissertations, Academic

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