Consultant Directiveness and Support as Predictors of Consultation Outcomes.

Abstract Transcriptions of the first interview between 17 advanced doctoral students in school psychology serving as consultants and 17 experienced teachers were coded with the Consultant Analysis Record (Bergan & Tombari, Journal of School Psychology, 13, 1975) for consultant verbalizations that provided support to the consultee. The consultants had received training in an expanded model of behavior consultation. Correlations were computed between categories of consultant verbalizations and three consultee outcomes: consultees' perceptions of (a) the consultation process, indicated by their responses to the Consultant Evaluation Form (Erchul, Professional School Psychology, 2, 1987); (b) whether the problem improved; and (c) whether they did anything differently as a result of consultation. Total scores on the Consultant Evaluation Form correlated significantly with positive validation elicitors (r = -.62), with inference emitters (r = .48), and with support (r = .47). The findings are interpreted as supporting the importance of the consultants' relationship skill and problem-solving skills to consultees' evaluations of consultation. The use of controlling verbalizations, especially closed-ended questions, is associated with less favorable consultee perceptions of consultation. The implications for training consultants and directions for future research are offered.

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