Experiential Interpersonal Skills in the Psychology Curriculum ‘An Ounce of Practice is Worth a Pound of Theory’

Abstract

The quotation used in the title of this paper was offered to me as evaluation of a short course on basic counselling skills. The participant was one of 14 undergraduates from the second and third years of the Psychology Department at Leeds University who had elected to do the course as one of the practical work options. Several-other students offered similar comments valuing the practical experiential approach to skill learning. They also welcomed the belated opportunity for getting to know each other and regretted that the course had not been available to them much earlier in the three-year programme.