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The Creation of the Coaching Model
When the Crisis Intervention course was initially created, the instructor asked eight students who had shown proficiency in counseling skills to be the first lab group coaches. Three students were assigned to each coaching group. It was believed that the students enrolled in Crisis Intervention would benefit from receiving more individualized attention from the lab coaches than they could receive from a single instructor attempting to observe role-plays and provide feedback for all of the students. In addition, the coaches were expected to gain enhanced leadership and counseling skills. Lab coaches were oriented in coaching techniques by the Crisis Intervention course instructor. After the initial semester, the students who had just completed the Crisis Intervention course provided a pool of potential coaches for the next semester. Eventually, each coach was given one unit of elective credit as well as a certificate of completion. Prospective community agency employers perceive this lab coach experience as indicative of advanced skill level, which increases the coach's marketability in the profession.
The author and her colleagues have come to realize that participating in a group with attention from a lab coach is fundamental to a student learning how to actually conduct crisis intervention when working with clients in agencies. Comments from students such as "I actually did a crisis intervention session with a client at my internship last night and I can't believe that it worked! I followed all the steps and did the suicide assessment just like we practiced in group. I actually knew what to say!" are common. Complaints from students who did not receive coaching in this course were also common. Because of these ongoing complaints, to ensure that students receive equivalent training the department now requires that all instructors of this course use lab coaches to teach crisis intervention skills. Although the initial set-up of the coaching model may seem laborious, as it requires instructors to recruit coaches, schedule breakout rooms, complete independent study plans, and train the coaches, these extra demands on faculty time are worth the increased skill development attained by using coaches.
It is this author's conviction that students best learn specific skills that can be transferred to real-life situations when they participate in structured lab groups led by coaches. The types of skills that may be transferred to real-life situations are evident in many disciplines, especially those involving interpersonal communication of any kind. Business, management, marketing, public relations, counseling, social work, psychology, and teaching are just a few of the fields that might benefit from this teaching model. The individualized training necessary for learning these skills is impossible when a single instructor has to try to coach a classroom full of students alone.
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Appendix A
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