Behavioral Sciences

Preparing Future Psychologists With Deliberate Practice & Video

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Preparing Future Psychologists With Deliberate Practice & Video

Psychology students have a limited window to develop and get feedback on counseling skills before entering the workforce. In fact, because of privacy restrictions, most students stop receiving feedback immediately after graduation. This can lead new practitioners to experience a skills plateau.

An effective method to help students and new practitioners keep improving their skills is deliberate practice. Dr. Adam Jones, Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy at Texas Woman’s University, uses deliberate practice as a scaffolding tool to coach students as they focus on specific skills. 

“Think of it as working out at the gym,” said Dr. Jones. “One study … found that [therapists] who regularly engaged in deliberate practice activities had significantly better outcomes than those who didn’t.”

To meet the challenges of deliberate practice, which include enabling student practice, instructor coaching, and proof of skill development—all outside the classroom—Dr. Jones uses GoReact for video assessment.

Challenges

 

Need for Ongoing Practice

  • Psychology students and new practitioners need a way to practice and get feedback on counseling skills.

Coaching Outside the Classroom

  • Instructors need a way to coach and give targeted feedback to help students reflect on their strengths and weaknesses.

No Evidence of Skill Development

  • Instructors are unsure if students are connecting knowledge to practice and making improvement.

GoReact Solutions

 

Effective Practice Platform

  • Using GoReact for remote observation, psychology instructors can evaluate therapy and counseling skills anytime, anywhere.

Increased Access to Instructors

  • With GoReact, students can practice and demonstrate any skill, and instructors can give feedback from anywhere.

Enhanced Psychologist Readiness

  • Video enables instructors to see visible improvement in their student’s therapeutic techniques.

“GoReact is useful when teaching deliberate practice and it’s really impacted the way I work with my students and train them.”

Dr. Adam Jones

Assistant Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy

Introducing a Valuable Tool for Lifelong Learning

 

Dr. Jones heard about GoReact from a previous advisor. “We were desperately trying to find a solution for how we could train therapists and supervise their clinical work,” he said, “and I could tell GoReact would be a gamechanger.”

He uses these GoReact features to amplify deliberate practice, while introducing students to a valuable tool for lifelong learning: