Assessment of Counseling Self-Efficacy: Validation of the German Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scales-Revised

Background: Many authors regard counseling self-efficacy (CSE) as important in therapist development and training. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the German version of the Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scales-Revised (CASES-R).Method: The sample consisted of 670 German psychotherapy trainees, who completed an online survey. We examined the factor structure by applying exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to the instrument as a whole.Results: A bifactor-exploratory structural equation modeling model with one general and five specific factors provided the best fit to the data. Omega hierarchical coefficients indicated optimal reliability for the general factor, acceptable reliability for the Action Skills-Revised (AS-R) factor, and insufficient estimates for the remaining factors. The CASES-R scales yielded significant correlations with related measures, but also with therapeutic orientations.Conclusion: We found support for the reliability and validity of the German CASES-R. However, the subdomains (except AS-R) should be interpreted with caution, and we do not recommend the CASES-R for comparisons between psychotherapeutic orientations.

How do personal and professional characteristics influence the development of psychotherapists in training: Results from a longitudinal study

This study examined the professional development of psychotherapy trainees over three years of training. The first objective was to investigate the long-term change of work involvement (Healing and Stressful Involvement) during psychotherapy training. The second objective was to investigate possible predictors of professional development from the areas of training context as well as professional and personal attributes of trainees. A total of 184 psychotherapy trainees with psychodynamic, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral orientation participated in the study. The development of work involvement was assessed over three years of training using the Work Involvement Scales. The set of possible predictors for work involvement included training context variables (training orientation, supervision), professional attributes of trainees (theoretical breadth, work satisfaction), and personal attributes of trainees (introject affiliation, attachment strategies, personality traits). Hierarchical Linear Modeling was conducted to investigate the change over time and the individual predictors of work involvement. Over three years of training Healing Involvement improved whereas Stressful Involvement did not change over time. Healing Involvement was mostly predicted by training context variables and professional attributes (therapeutic orientation, job satisfaction) as well as extraversion. Stressful Involvement was only predicted by personal attributes of trainees (age, neuroticism, conscientiousness, introject affiliation). The results imply two distinct sets of predictors for Healing and Stressful Involvement that will be discussed with regard to their implications for psychotherapy training and trainee selection.

An overview of the Italian contribution to the international multisite SPRISTAD study on psychotherapy training

The Interest Section on Therapist Training and Development of the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPRISTAD) has launched a multisite collaborative longitudinal study of psychotherapy trainees’ development, a large-scale study involving a number of countries all over the world. In the present article, we present an overview of the early Italian contribution to the SPRISTAD study, based on preliminary paper-and-pencil data collection. Our preliminary findings showed cross-sectional differences at different years of training and two-years longitudinal changes in trainees’ perceived development. Moreover, trainees’ characteristics such as their motivation, relational manner, current life, and personal background have shown to deserve attention in research on trainees’ development. These findings encourage the continuation of the SPRISTAD online data collection.

Trainees’ Cultural Humility and Implicit Associations about Clients and Religious, Areligious, and Spiritual Identities: A Mixed-Method Investigation

Therapists’ cultural humility is associated with stronger client–therapist working relationships, though therapist trainees’ cultural humility toward clients of diverse religious, areligious, or spiritual (RAS) backgrounds is unknown. This is compounded by a lack of systemic training in RAS diversity within clinical and counseling psychology programs. The current, mixed-method pilot study ( N = 10) explored psychotherapy trainees’ self-reported and implicit attitudes (via Implicit Association Tasks) toward RAS diversity in clients, and then used a focus group to explore whether trainee responses to feedback about their implicit attitudes imbued themes of cultural humility that supervisors and educators could use as discussion points to heighten cultural humility and responsiveness in trainees. There was no association between trainees’ self-reported and implicit RAS attitudes; participant responses revealed cultural humility themes, including receptivity and openness to feedback (i.e., their levels of implicit attitudes toward RAS groups).