Evidence for the Utility of a Photovoice Task as an Empathic Skill Acquisition Strategy Among Counselors‐in‐Training

An instructional technique derived from photovoice was compared with a didactic approach for empathic skill acquisition among 38 master's-level counselors-in-training. Participants in the photovoice condition demonstrated marked improvements in quality of empathic statements compared with those receiving didactic lecture. Considerations for implementing this educational approach are provided. ********** The use of effective empathy when relating to clients is a cornerstone skill of the counseling profession. Moyn (2006) noted that empathy "is crucial for responsive historical understanding" (p. 410) of the human condition, and helping professionals are often expected to provide services to clients and their families using a similar perspective. This approach has contemporarily been applied by humanistic practitioners to understand the experiences and affirm a holistic perspective of clients as they engage in the processes of growth and development over the life span (Clark, 2004; Feller & Cottone, 2003; Freedberg, 2007; Rogers, 1957, 1980; Toranzo, 1996; Winefield & Chur-Hansen, 2000). Demonstrating empathy for all aspects of clients' lives is one way that counselors can acknowledge the dignity and worth within the context of clients' community and culture. Thus, it is a prudent task for counselor educators to use innovative humanistic education methods that facilitate practitioners' skills and dispositions for empathic understanding of client issues. Rogers (1980) described empathic responding as a special way of being present in the perceptual context of another, whereas Carkhuff (1993) referred to this skill as accurate sensitivity. Raskin and Rogers (2000) proposed an encompassing and accepted description of this empathic demonstration, and they stated that demonstrating empathy was "an active, immediate, and continuous process" (p. 147) in which the counselor becomes aware of the client's attitudes and feelings, experiences those states, and creates a mirror through which the client can explore and discover deeper meanings through the counselor's accurate understanding. This captures the essence of the therapy conditions necessary for facilitating psychological connection, trust, mutual respect, and understanding in a helping relationship. Counselor educators have continued to recognize the importance of developing the ability of students to convey empathy as a standard of training. In addition to counselors and other mental health professionals, practitioners in the field of nursing (Kunst-Wilson, Carpenter, Poser, Venohr, & Kushner, 1981), general medicine (Shapiro, 2008; Stepien & Baernstein, 2006; Winefield & Chur-Hansen, 2000), and management (Suri, 2001) have also identified the ability to explicitly demonstrate empathy as a premium skill. Although some authors have described the ability to demonstrate empathy as being innate and primarily mediated by biological processes (Chapman et al., 2006; Decety & Jackson, 2006; Preston et al., 2007), others have emphasized that empathic understanding is one of the helping skills that can be developed through training and practice (Barrett-Lennard, 1981; Fernald, 1995; LoCicero & Hancock, 2000; Martz, 2001; Pranis, 2000; Toranzo, 1996; Winefield & Chur-Hansen, 2000). In response, several paradigms for developing empathic responding have been proposed and investigated. Traditional approaches to teaching empathy include lectures, discussion, and related assignments. Fernald (1995) implemented a 5-week seminar in which psychology students completing their externships developed appreciation and perspectives of empathy through assigned readings, lectures, discussion, and simulations. Following this intervention, students reported a greater degree of self-perceived empathic understanding and potential to respond to others in a helpful way (Fernald, 1995). Toranzo (1996) found that engaging students in reading literature and writing about the perspectives of the characters in the stories increased other-perspective-taking in deaf students completing general education course work. …