Counseling in Audiology, or Learning to Listen

Pre- and Post-Measures From an Audiology Counseling Course

¹ Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
² University of Mississippi, University
³ Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant

english{at}duq.edu

Because of a "technology explosion," audiologists have more options than ever in providing for their patients' hearing needs. However, relatively few individuals with hearing loss seek out amplification, and those who do frequently report dissatisfaction with the quality of their interactions with audiologists. Most audiologists did not have coursework in counseling in their graduate programs, which may account for patient complaints. As part of a course development evaluation of an audiology counseling course, a preliminary study was conducted to examine two student learning objectives: to learn how to differentiate between content messages and affective messages and to learn how to respond to each type of message appropriately. Pre- and postcourse data collected from two cohorts of audiology graduate students indicated that (a) before taking the course, students were likely to provide informational responses to personal adjustment comments (a type of "communication mismatch"), and (b) at the end of the class, they were much more likely to match or mirror affective statements with affective responses.

Key Words: counseling, hearing loss, personal adjustment, graduate training, audiology

Submitted on July 7, 1998
Accepted on February 2, 1999

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. L. Berg, M. Canellas, S. Salbod, and R. Velayo Exposure to Disability and Hearing Loss Narratives in Undergraduate Audiology Curriculum Am J Audiol, December 1, 2008; 17(2): 123 - 128. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]