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.
Need for Ongoing Practice
Coaching Outside the Classroom
No Evidence of Skill Development
Effective Practice Platform
Increased Access to Instructors
Enhanced Psychologist Readiness
“GoReact is useful when teaching deliberate practice and it’s really impacted the way I work with my students and train them.”
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:
