An investigation of knowledge among counselor educators, educators in clinical psychology, and psychiatrists regarding selected aspects of brain damage

• Main Author: Dubnick, Barbara
• Other Authors: Donn, Patsy A.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Educational psychology.; Clinical psychology.; Brain damage.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/175933; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/414614

The purpose of this study was to explore and compare specific areas of knowledge among counselor educators, educators in clinical psychology, and psychiatrists regarding selected aspects of brain damage. Areas explored included knowledge of soft signs, knowledge of pertinent standardized tests and other methods of assessing brain damage, and kinds of referral sources. The specific intention of collecting the data was to provide information which might be useful for the modification and development of curriculum and instructional design in counselor education training programs.The three populations consisted of 20 counselor educators, 20 educators in clinical psychology, and 13 psychiatrists who responded to a letter requesting their participation in a brief telephone interview. A questionnaire consisting of sex questions about brain damage was administered by telephone to the three populations to compare their knowledge regarding selected aspects of brain damage. The questionnaire data were reported by number and percentage for each item.The conclusions drawn from this study included:1. Educators in clinical psychology and psychiatrists suspected brain damage in their clients/patients more frequently than counselor educators. It would appear from this that either there is a higher frequency of suspected brain damage among client/patients seen by clinical psychologists and psychiatrists or that they are more alert to the possibility than counselor educators.2. Educators in clinical psychology appeared to be the most knowledgeable of the three groups with respect to soft signs of brain damage. Counselor educators mentioned the least number of soft signs.3. Educators in clinical psychology mentioned more standardized psychological tests used for diagnosing brain damage than the other two groups. Counselor educators were the least familiar with these tests.4. Psychiatrists were more familiar with the medical laboratory tests used for diagnosing brain damage than the other two groups. Counselor educators knew the least in this area.5. The majority of respondents in all three groups were either not aware of non-standardized techniques used for investigating possible brain damage, or they preferred not to use them.6. All of the psychiatrists and most of the counselor educators and educators in clinical psychology have referred clients/patients for further diagnosis when they suspected brain damage. The referral sources most frequently mentioned by all three groups were neurologists, neurosurgeons, psychologists, physicians, or hospitals or medical centers.