I’m waiting for the minivan to get serviced and watched the 2020 Lilly Conference by Dr. Sinem Akay-Sullivan from Sam Houston State University. Akay-Sullivan has extensive experience in counseling and was the director of the counseling clinics at Sam Houston. It was interesting to learn about the accreditation system and structure of training for future counselors. Students experience hands-on training through co-counseling sessions, small cohort courses, and internships. There also seems to be a variety of styles and teaching techniques used by different instructors. The Sam Houston State University counselor education program is CACREP accredited and thus fulfills several standards. I thought that having masters students observe at the clinics was a great way for trainees to learn in real-world settings will providing a service free to students. Full time faculty teach the courses, and sometimes adjuncts are involved too. Akay-Sullivan described how the program went virtual and maintained opportunities for students to participate via web conferencing in co-counseling sessions to receive feedback from instructors and peers. They also reviewed studies on self-efficacy and integrating ways to support it in supervised training sessions. A study from Nigeria was described and how the surveys and interviews helped inform restructuring of the training of mental health students. Feedback from instructors and supervisors was identified as a critical component. Akay-Sullivan explained how they now do group supervision over Zoom. Another study presented by Akay-Sullivan was a combination of the use of unfolding case study design with trauma preparation. This is the second Lilly session mentioning unfolding case studies in which information is gradually disclosed about a scenario and group discussion is used. This approach seems to be popular in clinical sciences and nursing. I’ll have to look into studies! Akay-Sullivan ended the presentation by presenting survey results of internship participants. Over three years, they collected data and even had doctoral candidates conduct interviews. The survey results focused on satisfaction with the practicum experience and areas for improvement. Interestingly, while the majority of students was very satisfied, some mentioned wanting more training in suicide prevention counseling and note taking. Reinforcing theory and ethical considerations were areas that Akay-Sullivan mentioned as important for the program. I like how students join in counseling sessions to observe how others interact. Seeing real clients and role playing and then receiving immediate feedback such as “how else could you ask that question?” were mentioned as desired components of the program. Overall it is useful to learn how different programs structure internships and use case studies to train new practitioners!
