School psychologists as consultants: Issues in training, practice, and accountability.

From contemporary research and theory in mental health consultation, implications are drawn for the development of an indirect service role for school psychologists. Attention is given to the need for training school psychologists in consultation skills, to the obstacles encountered in the initiation of consultative relationships, and to methods for assessing efficiency and effectiveness of a variety of consultative activities. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher perceptions of consultation services provided by school psychologists.

Investigated the following questions: Do teachers prefer consultation or traditional testing services? Do teachers view the consultee role as one that is appropriate for their profession? Do consultation interactions result in increased professional skills for the consultee? 12 schools from a wide range of communities were provided with school psychology consultants for 14 wks. At the end of this time, teacher attitudes concerning the consultation process were assessed. Data analyses revealed that the 173 teachers reacted positively to the consultation services, placed a high priority on working along with school psychology consultants, and believed that their professional skills would improve as a function of consultation interactions. None of the results differed between schools as a function of gross demographic characteristics. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metaphors for lives and work of independent consultants.

Identifying one's metaphors can provide independent consultants with (a) a better understanding of how their skills and knowledge fit the big picture of their lives and how to use these skills to the greater benefit of their customers, (b) a better experiential flexibility, and (c) an ability to rejuvenate their lives by actively seeking out experiences that form the bases of alternative metaphors. Three metaphors for lives and work of independent human resource development consultants were identified by this qualitative study. Suggestions for practicing independent consultants and future research directions are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developing school-based consultation teams: A design for organizational change.

Presents a structure for moving toward consultative service delivery systems in schools. The development of the instructional consultation team (ICT) model is described, and a model for change consisting of 4 stages (initiation, implementation, institutionalization, and evaluation) is presented. ICT models were implemented in some form in over 44 schools from 1985 to 1990. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple functions for psychologists in community consultation.

"Psychologists are assuming a wider range of responsibilities in community program administration and community consultation: in mental health, corrections, education, and anti-poverty." A program for training consultants was developed in New Mexico during a 4-yr demonstration project. Selection criteria include: (1) sound graduate training including the PhD for psychologists, (2) substantial clinical skills in diagnosis and therapy, (3) experience in consultation and administration, and (4) experience in community work. A 2-mo., full-time orientation program was conducted for the consultants hired. The project stimulated development of various new resources in local communities including, among others, a day school for retarded children, a family casework agency, a day center for emotionally disturbed children, a training and consultation service to an orphanage, and an alcoholism treatment and rehabilitation program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perception of case conduct as a means of evaluating school psychological services.

Developed a 40-item questionnaire to survey the opinions of all possible recipients of school psychological services in a small rural school system (N?=?39). Questionnaire items were grouped into 6 broad categories (personal/professional qualities of the consultant, teacher involvement, assessment, written communication, parents, students). Results are discussed in terms of respondent satisfaction by category. The questionnaire should be useful for stimulating ideas for in-service training, as a reflection of the degree of satisfaction with the consultative process, and as an overall guide for improving consultative services. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Agency-wide implementation of problem solving consultation: Foundations, current implementation, and future directions.

Describes steps taken and the support needed for large scale implementation of a consultative service delivery model. The foundation of a problem solving consultation model used at Heartland Area Educational Agency 11 (HAEA-11) in Iowa is presented. Case examples are used to illustrate various components within problem solving consultation. Efforts to evaluate perceptions of problem solving consultation, and to guide further implementation of consultation at the systems level, are summarized. Areas in which additional resources would enhance problem solving consultation are discussed. Shifts in the philosophy of service delivery that are fundamental for successful implementation of problem solving consultation are described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effectiveness of a partnership-centered approach in conjoint behavioral consultation.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate the extent to which a partnership orientation in conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC) may predict case outcomes and determine the relationship between a partnership orientation and implementation integrity of CBC. CBC is a problem-solving process by which families and teachers work collaboratively with a consultant to address students' academic, behavioral, and social needs. Twenty children, their parents and teachers, and consultants were involved in CBC services. Outcomes included parent and teacher ratings of acceptability, satisfaction, perceptions of effectiveness, and child performance across home and school settings. Partnership orientation scores and process integrity data were collected across interviews for each case. Results suggest that both parents and teachers consistently find CBC to be an acceptable, effective, and satisfactory form of service delivery. Findings reveal that consultants can conduct CBC interview objectives effectively within a partnership orientation. A partnership orientation in CBC was significant in predicting teachers' acceptability and satisfaction with the process; however, parents' acceptability and satisfaction with the CBC process was not predicted by a partnership orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological services provided within Veterans Administration nursing homes.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 17(5) of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice (see record 2008-10955-001). In this article, the copyright information was incorrect. The correct copyright information is included in the erratum.] Surveyed the nature and scope of psychological services provided within 67 Veterans Administration nursing facilities to examine the emerging professional domain of the nursing home psychologist. Data regarding service delivery models, use of time, assessment and treatment services, multidisciplinary team activities, staff and student training, and research are provided. The profile of the ideal nursing-home psychologist that emerges from this survey is that of a well-rounded psychologist capable of rendering a full range of assessment, treatment, and consultative services while also functioning as a treatment team member, a teacher, a program developer, and a researcher. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teachers' perceptions of control and preferences for consultative services.

Investigated the relationship between teacher feelings of control in dealing with common acting out, withdrawal, and academic types of student problems, and teachers' relative preference for consultation and referral services. 64 elementary school teachers responded to a modified Pupil Problem Behavioral Inventory. Higher feelings of control over student problems were significantly related to a preference for consultation rather than referral services. Results are consistent with prior research indicating that an internal locus of control is associated with increased efforts to obtain and utilize information. Implications for teacher use of and resistance to school-based consultative services are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pediatric oncology consultations: A generalizable model for medical settings.

The traditional medical or disease model of emotional disorders is often counterproductive to the establishment of an effective psychological consultation service in a medical setting. The reasons for this problem are discussed in relation to the differences between psychological and medical consultants. The development of an effective psychological consultation service in a complex pediatric oncology setting is described in relation to staff and patient needs. The evolution of the consultation service suggests several generalizable principles that can be adapted for application in other medical settings. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multilevel school consultation training: Preliminary program evaluation.

Recommends the acquisition of consultation skills for school psychologists but notes that this is a neglected area in the majority of training programs. To meet the need for training prototypes, a multilevel consultation training sequence with matched field experiences graduated by learning goals and previous skill development is proposed. Specifically, Level 1 of the consultation program and its matched field experience, consultation with student teachers, is evaluated as a viable means within a university setting by which novice consultants can practice diverse consultation skills. Evaluation data from 12 consultation students (doctoral candidates), student teachers, and student teaching supervisors support the effectiveness of the program for both consultants and consultees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competency-Based Behavior Consultation Training: An Evaluation of Consultant Outcomes, Treatment Effects, and Consumer Satisfaction.

Assessments of consultants, clients, and consumer satisfaction were used to examine the effects of a competency-based consultation training program conducted over 4 years. Using a multiple-baseline framework to assess training effects on consultants and single-case study designs to evaluate changes in client behavior, a number of significant results were found. As predicted, consultants (N=24) significantly increased their consultation skills and knowledge, but with no change in attitudes toward behavioral intervention techniques. Supervised consultation with preschool teachers and parents resulted in a range of behavior change in clients (N=39), with an overall effect size of 0.51. Consumers reported a high level of satisfaction with training and consultation services. Results of a long-term follow-up with consultants indicated positive views and use of consultation. The discussion focuses on these results, and implications for consultation training and future research directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsible and responsive rehabilitation consultation on the ADA: The importance of training for psychologists.

Diversely prepared psychologists will be providing services related to the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Scope of practice issues include the ethical importance of appropriate training and the interdisciplinary model of rehabilitation service provision. Functional hierarchies for training, based on a model of consultative practice, are presented: Level 1 involves rehabilitation principles, knowledge, and functions; Level 2 involves disability concepts, function, and knowledge; and Level 3 involves ADA knowledge and functions. Four short- and 3 long-term training options are outlined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Customer driven mental healthcare and the role of the mental healthcare consultant.

Health care, including mental health care (MHC), is in the midst of revolutionary change. The simultaneous demands for increasing quality and constraining costs have necessitated the search for a new service delivery paradigm. The Total Quality Management model has been introduced into health care under the term Continuous Quality Improvement. In order to meet the demands being placed on it, MHC is beginning to introduce the "patient-customer" into its quality improvement programs. The transition to a customer driven framework will be a difficult one for many MHC practitioners. MHC consultants (i.e., consultants with knowledge of organizational processes and MHC issues) can facilitate this transition by helping MHC administrators and practitioners align around the goal of improved quality of care, defined in terms of both patient outcome and patient satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trial consultation: A new direction in applied psychology.

Increasingly, professional psychologists are faced with the challenge of the changing marketplace, and some choose to meet that challenge by forging new career paths. In this article, the field of trial consultation is reviewed with special emphasis on common tasks trial consultants undertake. It is argued that because of the large number of civil and criminal trials conducted annually and the comparatively small proportion of consultants, the field remains an untapped source of career options for psychologists who have many of the skills necessary to be successful trial consultants. Controversies concerning the effectiveness of trial consultation, ethical issues surrounding its use, and suggestions for appropriate training in the field are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stuttering therapy in the elementary school setting: guidelines for clinician-teacher collaboration

This article describes guidelines for developing an effective collaborative/consultative approach to the treatment of stuttering in an elementary school setting. Four primary areas of shared clinician/teacher responsibility are discussed, which include: education, observation, facilitation of fluent speech, and generalization of speech fluency. Although the speech-language pathologist should initiate the teacher's involvement in a child's therapy, both the clinician and teacher should work toward developing a mutually influential partnership, through which the specific needs of individual children who stutter can be addressed in a comprehensive manner.     

A confidence-credibility model of expert witness persuasion: Mediating effects and implications for trial consultation.

Trial consultation is a quickly growing domain of professional practice for psychologists. Preparing expert witnesses to testify is just one prime example of practice options for consultants. A wealth of evidence shows that developing expert confidence and credibility are important goals for witness training. However, research has yet to articulate a list of testimony delivery skills needed to bolster perceptions of credibility and agreement with the expert. The present study advances expert credibility theory and trial consultation practice by empirically validating a confidence-credibility mediation model of expert witness persuasion. It is argued that this model, grounded in credibility and confidence theories, can be integrated with existing methods of witness preparation training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Psychological services provided within Veterans Administration nursing homes": Correction to Kupke.

Reports an error in "Psychological services provided within Veterans Administration nursing homes" by Thomas Kupke (Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 1986[Jun], Vol 17[3], 185-190). In this article, the copyright information was incorrect. The correct copyright information is included in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1986-28163-001.) Surveyed the nature and scope of psychological services provided within 67 Veterans Administration nursing facilities to examine the emerging professional domain of the nursing home psychologist. Data regarding service delivery models, use of time, assessment and treatment services, multidisciplinary team activities, staff and student training, and research are provided. The profile of the ideal nursing-home psychologist that emerges from this survey is that of a well-rounded psychologist capable of rendering a full range of assessment, treatment, and consultative services while also functioning as a treatment team member, a teacher, a program developer, and a researcher. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential impact of preschool models on development and early learning of inner-city children: A three-cohort study.

Three different preschool models operating in an urban school district were identified through cluster analysis of teacher responses to the Pre-K Survey of Beliefs and Practices. The language, self-help, social, motor, and adaptive development, along with mastery of basic skills, of 721 4-year-olds randomly selected from these models were compared. Children in the child-initiated model demonstrated greater mastery of basic skills than did children in programs in which academics were emphasized and skills were taught. Children in the combination model did significantly poorer on all measures except self-help and development of social coping skills compared with children in either the child-initiated or academically directed models. Girls outperformed boys in all areas except gross motor development and play and leisure skills. Implications for educational policymakers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)