Evaluation of the Bulatao Center Psychotherapist Training Program for Practicum Graduate Students

• Main Author: Cruz, Margarita Isabel A
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2021
• Subjects: Counseling Psychology; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/bulatao-conferences/4
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This was an evaluation research of the overall training experience of the Ateneo Bulatao Center’s psychotherapist training program. The Kirkpatrick model (2005) was the framework used to assess the value-adding components and recommendations for improving the Phase I: Getting Equipped and Phase II: Supervision through Group Workshops of the Bu Center’s training program. A mixed methods approach and exploratory analysis were applied to interpret the 8 main themes and 11 sub-themes that emerged from the 3 interviews, 3 focus group discussions, and 2 post-training workshop evaluation results. The important components of a training program can be summarized in 4 C’s: 1) choice of topics, 2) challenging the comfort zone through experiential learnings, 3) cliniqing, and 4) cultivating a community of peers. Recommendations to improve the Phase I content were for partnership between the Bu Center and the Psychology Department on practicum offerings. Phase II workshop suggestions were more efficient team meetings, improved scheduling, endorsement of high-risk participants, and applying fixed groupings. Limitations of the study were the retrospective and longitudinal aspect of the data, lack of consistent evaluation process, possibility of socially desirable FGD responses, and lack of a baseline measure of learning and behavior.