Introduction and Overview
Building Consultation Skills

An Application-Learning Model

Counselors entering schools should be prepared to support the school’s academic mission by promoting and enhancing the learning process. To accomplish this goal, counselors need the knowledge and skills that allow them to facilitate the personal/social, career, and academic growth of students through interventions with students, teachers, parents, and administrators. These interventions include individual and group counseling, classroom guidance, and consultation and are part of a balanced comprehensive developmental guidance program. Consultation, as a counselor intervention, is the focus of this text. An application-learning model is used to develop skills in two primary areas: case consultation and workshop presentation.

Preparation for Consultative Role

State and national agencies that oversee counselor preparation have recognized the need for consultative skills to be well developed, as large numbers of students can be impacted through work with parents, teachers, and administrators. Both the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) National Model (2019) and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, 2016) include consultation as a key component of a comprehensive school counseling program. We believe consultation is an essential component with specific skills that can be used to make a difference with students through working with the adults who are charged with their learning and development.

Goals for this Text

Our goal for this text is to provide a framework for a hands-on approach to developing the knowledge and skills school counselors need to function as effective consultants in schools. A foundation is laid through the introduction of theory, consulting approaches, and their application in school settings. An increased integration of theory and practice is offered through an experiential approach to developing competence as a consultant to parents, teachers, and administrators. After reading and participating in the skill-training exercises detailed in this text, school counselors will have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to effectively deliver consultation as one of the interventions supporting increased learning opportunities for students. This appendix provides an overview of some of the techniques and strategies that have been used in course delivery, as well as some sample activities used to support learning, as school counselors build an ongoing base of knowledge and integrate consultative skills into their school counselor roles.1

“Tell, Show, Do, Coach” Model

Teaching the consultative process involves building a knowledge base, and introducing the necessary skills to facilitate that process. We believe that Bandura’s social-learning theory is the most effective way to provide comprehensive training in consultation (Bandura, 1977). This “tell, show, do, coach” model provides opportunities to learn about the consultation process; see consultation skills demonstrated; practice delivering both case consultation and group consultation (workshops); and receive both supportive and corrective feedback as part of the course, culminating with opportunities for school counselors to demonstrate their ability to integrate their knowledge base with initial mastery of consultative skills, later during their internship. This increases confidence and the likelihood that counselors will be able to effectively facilitate the consultative process in their schools.

Tell

The “tell” portion of the course begins with general information about consultation. A brief history of school consultation, an overview of the consultative process, and a differentiation between consultation and counseling will help to orient school counselors to consultation in general and introduce them to issues that have ethical ramifications. Information about the different approaches to consultation is also provided.

As school counselors are demonstrating consultative skills throughout the course, they can also contribute to this “tell” part of the model, as they provide well-researched information on topics frequently emerging during consultation. Specific topics such as child abuse, loss, violence prevention, and changing families can be addressed, along with information about appropriate resources and interventions.

Show/Do

Two important skillsets to develop during this course are case consultation skills and workshop-presentation skills. The process of observing these skills being used in context and practicing the skills during class speeds skill acquisition and deepens understanding. By practicing in small groups, school counselors have the opportunity to see multiple models for these two important skillsets, as well as several core skills such as listening, attending, providing feedback, and eliciting input and information. A structured guide is provided for both the case consultation and the workshop. This guide is incorporated into the feedback forms used by observers, as shown in Tables I.1 and I.2.

Table I.1 Case Consultation Feedback Form.

Table I.2 Feedback to Workshop Facilitators.