Students' stories of challenges and gains in learning cognitive therapy.

Abstract

Counsellor educators are responsible not only for teaching counselling students but also for facilitating their personal development processes during training. An understanding of student learning experiences can support counsellor educators in this task. This qualitative New Zealand study extends the examination of reflective practice by researching student reflections on their learning rather than the reflections of the educators. Using narrative method, it explored seven undergraduate students’ experiences of learning cognitive therapy. Findings suggest that students experienced varied challenges during this process. These included the demands of: managing preconceptions, changing counselling models, matching student learning with tutor teaching styles, and translating the model cross-culturally. Out of these challenges emerged beneficial learning for students, including valuing self-development through self-practice, a deeper empathy for clients, and a growing perception of themselves as competent to apply cognitive therapy. This paper concludes by recommending some ways in which counsellor educators could support students in learning cognitive therapy