A Word from Bob
I’ve excerpted today’s blog post from my book, Equipping Biblical Counselors: A Guide to Discipling Believers for One-Another Ministry.
And the Survey Says: The Effectiveness of Paraprofessional Counselors
While I was working on my doctorate in the mid-90s, an article published in a major counseling journal sent shock waves through the counseling community. Its results called into question the efficacy of professional counseling training, while also distilling basic elements that qualify an individual to be an effective people helper.
The article traced the history of modern research into counselor effectiveness beginning with Durlak’s work examining the results of forty-two studies that compared the effectiveness of professional helpers to paraprofessionals (laypeople helpers).
The data from the study indicated that lay helpers equaled or surpassed the effectiveness of the professional therapists.[1]
Hattie, Sharpley, and Rogers attempted to refute those findings by combining the results of forty-six studies. Their data, however, supported Durlak’s conclusions.
Clients of lay helpers consistently achieved more positive outcomes than did clients of the professionally educated and experienced counselors.[2]
Berman and Norton reanalyzed Hattie’s study. They concluded that no research currently supported the notion that professional training, knowledge, or experience improved therapist effectiveness.
Their reanalysis
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
