The Effects of Mental Practice on Counseling Behaviors

Neophyte counselors trained in the use of their own imagery to practice counseling interviews were compared with a similar group not receiving the training. The mental practice was hypothesized to have experiential value for neophyte counselors resulting in positive effects upon selected behaviors commonly found with counseling experience. Results indicated that the ability to discriminate differing levels of empathic responses, the ability to evaluate accurately one's own performance, and the amount of preinterview confidence were significantly higher for the mental practice group. However, the communication of empathy and the subjective evaluations of the counselors during the interview did not prove significantly higher. This article discusses the potential value of mental practice as a supplementary experiential training technique and some considerations for its use and further study. 1981 American Counseling Association