Student: ____________________________________ MFT Program (10/12/06) date: _________________ Professional Disposition and Clinical Aptitude Qualitative Evaluation Area 5. Exemplary Professional 1. Integrity Dispositions Student is honest & ethical in Demonstrates consistent congruency between actions, intentions, & dealing with people & situations. In addition, she/he requirements in a way that promotes ethical practice is consistent & sincere. She/he of peers & professionals. understands & abides by the Behavior follows high ethical code of conduct for the ethical standards. Very profession. clear about how to handle difficult ethical dilemmas. 4. Proficient 3. Developing 2. Marginal 1. Unacceptable Demonstrates ability to respond honestly & professionally in ethical dilemmas. At times still struggles with difficult ambiguous & less clear ethnical situations. Very committed to work on developing more clarity in these situations. Shows beginning level of trustworthiness, given demanding role expectations. Has difficulty with ambiguous or less clear ethical situations. Is aware of deficits & demonstrates desire to improve Shows marginal level of trustworthiness. Words & actions are insincere or insensitive. Demonstrates need for continued efforts to improve the consistency of professional practice to meet expectations of training goals. Words & actions are blatantly insincere or insensitive and in opposition to basic professional & ethical guidelines. 2. Empathy Empathy or empathic understanding is the ability to understand another person's feelings or worldview. Responding to another's feelings is called emotional empathy, reflect an understanding of a person's motives, intentions, values, & thinking is called cognitive empathy. Demonstrates outstanding attunement to, & support for, subtle emotional experiences of others. Communication of understanding enhances deeper client awareness of unexplored emotions/ experiences. Demonstrates responses that enhance the expressions/ experiences of others (e.g., supporting deeper meaning in comments or emotions). Demonstrates understanding of other people’s experiences. Beginning to demonstrate ability to express positive affect to professionals & clients. Responses are, however, inconsistently supportive or superficial. Communication may lack warmth or indicate a need for deeper listening. Has beginning awareness of this & is working to improve. Verbal & behavioral expressions suggest limited understanding of, or compassions for, others’ experiences (e.g., emotional, cognitive, interpersonal). Communication detracts from the experience of professionals or clients. Demonstrates very negative & hostile attitudes towards people. Is extremely judgmental & critical of almost everyone. Presents in a very cold & distant manner. 3. Commitment to Social Justice & Democracy Student has a commitment to respect & value cultural diversity & differences. She/he is committed to working with & to assist those who seek services without discrimination or prejudice. Student demonstrates cultural competence in working with clients of diverse backgrounds & life styles Demonstrates a high commitment to respect cultural diversity & differences. Has excellent understanding that there are cultural differences among people & is nonjudgmental towards the culturally different & in fact values diversity & difference. Committed to working with & to assist those who seek services without discrimination or prejudice. Excellent awareness of self & values. Seeks new knowledge & experiences to enhance his/her abilities to work with the culturally diverse. Demonstrates good commitment to respect & value cultural diversity & differences, but still working on clarification the definition & implementation of this commitment. Is committed to working with & assisting those who seek services without discrimination or prejudice. Is working on further awareness of her/his values & biases & how to avoid letting biases interfere with working with the culturally different. Demonstrates beginning commitment to respect & value cultural diversity & differences, but needs further clarification on definition & implementation of this commitment. Beginning to work with & assist those who seek services without discrimination or prejudice, but needs further knowledge to clarify the definition & implementation of this process. At times questions her/his values & biases & is unsure about how to avoid letting biases interfere with working with the culturally different. Demonstrates difficulty in respecting & valuing cultural diversity & differences. Observed being disrespectful to people of different backgrounds. Has difficulty working with clients of diverse backgrounds & life styles. Observed being judgmental & biased towards the culturally different or is often overwhelmed by people who are culturally different. Has beginning awareness of these biases. Does not respect nor value cultural diversity & differences. Is angry and resentful of people who are different to himself/herself Observed overtly treating others in a hostile, discriminatory & prejudicial manner. Is rigid in the belief that one race is superior to another. Is extremely judgmental & biased towards the culturally different. Not open to input from others. Print Name:____________________________________________ (person filling out form) page 1 Professional Disposition and Clinical Aptitude Qualitative Evaluation Area 5. Exemplary 4. Proficient 3. Developing 2. Marginal Demonstrates excellent grasp of the complexities of different clinical or interpersonal situations. When new challenging situations arise the student is able to examine the situation from different viewpoints. Has excellent capacity to adapt to changing conditions of a situation. Is extremely resourceful & able to generate innovative solutions to solve or resolve the situation. Demonstrates good understanding of the complexities of different clinical or interpersonal situations; Has awareness that some situations are difficult for her/him. Is able to explore new challenging situations from different viewpoints & adapts to changing conditions of a situation. Has some awareness of personal strengths & weaknesses. Still working on how to draw on strengths to cope with weaknesses. Beginning to grasp the complexities of different clinical interpersonal situations. Has beginning awareness that some situations are difficult for her/him. Has difficulty exploring some new challenging situations from different viewpoints & struggles with adapting to changing conditions of a situation. Can periodically get stuck in a problem situation & struggles to be more resourceful & to generate innovative solutions to solve or resolve the situation. Is aware of these difficulties & is working on improving. Demonstrates difficulty in grasping the complexities of different clinical or interpersonal situations & is unaware of this. Tends to views things from only her/his viewpoint. Has beginning aware of this tendency, but is somewhat resistant to work on improving his ability to view the situation from multiple viewpoints. Relies on others to come up with solutions that work, & tends to be a bit overwhelmed by new challenging situations. 5. Tolerance for Ambiguity The student has the ability to look beyond the concrete concepts & communications, to appreciate the complexities of communications, to understand that there might be multiple meanings & expectations for any situation or communication, to look beyond the "content" but to understand the "process." Demonstrates strong ability to “sit” with uncertainty & ambiguity while simultaneously promoting mutual understanding, learning, & communication with professionals & clients. Looks beyond the content & able to have excellent insight into the complex underlying process. Demonstrates good ability to tolerate ambiguity in role expectations, professional situations, & interpersonal interactions. Shows flexible thinking about multiple considerations in cases. Still developing ability to understand the complexities of the underlying process. Displays moderate discomfort with uncertainty, yet, takes initial steps to seek clarity. This process of seeking clarity reduces ability to maintain presence. Is aware of his issues & is actively working on improving this. 1. Accepting Feedback Demonstrates great openness & acceptance of feedback, appropriately seeks feedback & is very effective in integrating feedback into new attitudes, interpersonal behaviors, or approaches to problem solve difficult situations. Demonstrates good acceptance of feedback. Has good understanding of feedback & seeks out assistance to implement change in response to feedback. At times still struggles with how to implement feedback to facilitate change. Beginning to listen to feedback but struggles to acknowledge & accept areas for improvement. Has awareness of this & is committed to work on improving this. Demonstrates considerable discomfort with situations, concepts, & cases that present as uncertain, abstract, or unstructured. This discomfort interferes with ability to maintain objectivity & to problem solve, &, may interfere with the learning/ therapeutic experiences of clients. Has some awareness of this. Demonstrates some resistance to feedback. Perceives feedback as criticism & tends to be defensive. However, is aware of this tendency & is willing to improve. Professional 4. Flexibility & Dispositions Resourcefulness (continued) Student is Not rigidly bound to one way of viewing the world or any situation. He/she is able to take in the totality of the situation & assess how best to select a viable way to understand that situation & thus generate solutions that best fits the situation. He/she is able to adapt to changing conditions of a situation. He/she also is able to be resourceful in finding or generating innovative solutions that works for the client & the situation. Clinical Aptitudes The student is able to hear feedback without defensiveness or see it too personally as criticism, or negative judgment of one's self. He/she has the ability to make mistakes & learn from them & to incorporate suggestions from supervisors & instructors to correct or improve performance. 1. Unacceptable Is rigid & unable to grasp complexities of different clinical or interpersonal situations. When new challenging situations arise student demands that others must see situation from his/her view point & is not able to examine situation from other's viewpoint. Is not able to adapt to changing demands of the situation. Consistently gets stuck rigidly doing the same things that do not work. Gets angry at others for not agreeing with him/her. Is overwhelmed with situations, concepts, & cases that present as uncertain, abstract, or unstructured. Has great anxiety which prevents his/her ability to maintain objectivity & to problem solve, which interfere with the learning/ therapeutic experiences of clients. Rejects feedback & demonstrates defensive responses. Treats feedback as personal attacks & is very hostile & negative to person giving feedback. Professional Disposition and Clinical Aptitude Qualitative Evaluation Area 5. Exemplary 4. Proficient 3. Developing 2. Marginal Demonstrates consistently excellent self-awareness & regulation of interpersonal communication/ style to enhance professional/ therapeutic relationships. Demonstrates good interpersonal awareness. Working on improving range of communication/ interpersonal styles. Demonstrates beginning level of awareness his/her behavior & communication on others. Still struggling to regulate interpersonal style to fit situations or personalities. Committed to improve this. Demonstrates superficial awareness of impact of behavior & communication on others. Unable to regulate interpersonal style to fit situations or personalities. 3. Ability to interact with others without inappropriate intrusion of personal ego needs The student is aware of own emotions & thoughts & motivations. The student is able to monitor these emotions & thoughts & motivations to behave in socially appropriate ways. The student does not act out inappropriate ego needs onto others or project own unresolved emotions onto others. Demonstrates excellent social skills in interacting with both clinical & nonclinical situations. Has excellent awareness of own emotions & thoughts & motivations. Is able to monitor these emotions & thoughts & motivations in socially appropriate ways. Does not act out inappropriate ego needs onto others or project own unresolved emotions onto others. Demonstrates appropriate social skills in interacting with both clinical & non-clinical situations. Understands responses from others. Rare moments of acting out inappropriate ego needs onto others or projects own unresolved emotions onto others, & is aware of it when it happens. Is working on improving even further on these skills. Demonstrates some difficulty in the use of appropriate social skills in interacting with both clinical & non-clinical situations. Has some understanding of the responses of others. Has beginning awareness of own emotions & thoughts & motivations. Beginning to monitor these emotions & thoughts & motivations in socially appropriate ways. Periodically acts out inappropriate ego needs onto others or projects own unresolved emotions onto others, but is aware of this & is committed to improve. Demonstrates poor social skills in interacting with both clinical & non-clinical situations. Limited awareness of own emotions & thoughts & motivations. Struggling to monitor these emotions & thoughts & motivations in socially appropriate ways. Often acts out inappropriate ego needs onto others or projects own unresolved emotions onto others. Has beginning awareness of this. 4. Ability to be a supporter as well as a leader in collaborative teamwork The student has the ability to be a Team player. She/he is able to work in a group setting, collaborate & be supportive of others in groups as well as one on one. He/she is also able to take a leadership position when appropriate, e.g., she/he can present helpful ideas or initiate activities that contribute & advance the task of the group. Is extremely collaborative & works extremely well with others & is very supportive of other team members. Is a natural leader & often takes on leadership role when appropriate. Often presents helpful ideas & initiates activities that contribute & advance the task of the group. Is collaborative & works well with others most of the time & is supportive of other team members. Can be more present & participate more fully in the group. Can improve in presenting helpful ideas & initiate activities that contribute & advance the task of the group. Beginning stages of collaborating appropriately with others. Is still often anxious & uncertain in groups. Beginning to be more aware of others points of view & learning how to work with differences. Attempting to be more assertive in appropriate ways without dominating others in the group, however, this is still difficult. Not able to collaborate & work adequately with others. Is nonsupportive of other team members. Can be critical & even hostile to others. Is insensitive to social cues. Struggles to participate in groups appropriately, but still tends to either withdraw (isolate self) from group or inappropriately dominates & takes over group. Has some awareness of this & wants to improve. Clinical 2. Awareness of one's Aptitudes impact upon others (continued) The student has the ability to be aware of the impact of one's physical presence, verbal & non verbal communications upon others. page 3 1. Unacceptable Extremely self centered, is unaware & unconcerned about impact of one’s physical & verbal impact on others. Demonstrates extremely poor social skills interacting with clinical & non-clinical situations. No awareness of own emotions, thoughts & motivations. Not able to monitor emotions & thoughts & motivations in socially appropriate ways. Often acts out inappropriate ego needs onto others or projects own unresolved emotions onto others. Is extremely defensive & gets extremely upset when others point out these tendencies. Very hostile & negative toward colleagues & team members. Very critical & judgmental towards others. Is very self centered. Either withdraws (isolates self) from the group or inappropriately dominates & takes over the group. Is extremely contentious & negative. Has a cooling effect on the group. Professional Disposition and Clinical Aptitude Qualitative Evaluation Area Clinical 5. Willingness to take Aptitudes appropriate risks & accept (continued) the challenges of new learning The student has the ability take appropriate risks. This may involve doing things that are new, challenging & difficult, to face fears & handle one's anxiety that can be generated by stressful situations, e.g. Videotaped practice sessions in Micro I & II, discussing countertransference issues during clinical supervision, & conducting therapy with difficult clients. 6. Understanding of cultural & diversity factors as they impact counseling & human interactions Student has the ability to understand the influence of cultural, sociopolitical, economic factors that impact the counseling situation & other human interactions. She/he understands that people of different cultures, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, life styles, disabilities, & ages all bring unique issues to any social interaction The student has the ability to understand & work with these issues when they arise. The goal is to become culturally competent in counseling & other social interactions. 5. Exemplary 4. Proficient 3. Developing 2. Marginal Demonstrates excellent ability to take appropriate risks. Thrives on taking on new challenging & difficult situations, faces fears & handle her/his anxiety that can be generated by stressful situations, e.g. Videotaped practice sessions in Micro I & II. Fully able to discuss very difficult counter transference issues during clinical supervision, & clinical situations. Mostly able to take appropriate risks. Shows some signs of distress when she/he is required to or asked to do things that are new, challenging & difficult, but able to handle this distress. Copes effectively with anxiety that can be generated by stressful situations. Has some ability to discuss very difficult counter transference issues. Beginning to take appropriate risks. Still shows signs of significant distress when she/he is required to or asked to do things that are new, challenging & difficult, but beginning to develop coping strategies to effectively handle this anxiety. She/he is aware of this & is actively working on improving. Tends to be very anxious with taking appropriate risks. Shows signs of distress when she/he is required to or asked to do things that are new, challenging & difficult, & is having problems in handling her/his anxiety that can be generated by stressful situations. Is defensive, resistant, & avoidant. Has beginning awareness of this & is working on improving. Views difference as positive & embraces diversity. Committed to seek out knowledge & understanding of different cultures, ethnicities, life styles & other forms of diversity. Is extremely skillful in using this knowledge to work effectively with diverse clients. Has heighten awareness of own background & upbringing & biases & is able to put aside these biases in clinical work. Has outstanding ability to “Enter the Client’s World”. Demonstrates the understanding that different cultures, etc. may have different styles of communications, values, etc. & is able to adapt to these differences in interacting with diverse peoples. Values diversity & is open to learning about these differences & then to make use of this knowledge to work effectively with clients of diverse backgrounds. At times own biases emerge in interactions but is able to put analyze these biases and work through them in clinical work. Still working on continued improvement. Demonstrates some ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds & life styles. Is still learning about the complexities of how differences in the areas of culture, sociopolitical & economic factors can impact the counseling process & social interactions. Demonstrates some biases toward diverse people but is aware of having biases & is working to overcoming these biases. Has some difficulty working with people of diverse backgrounds & life styles. Is somewhat naïve & believes that people should be the same & that cultural differences are minor: being genuine & sincere can overcome all differences so there is no need to understand the differences. At times can demonstrate strong but unconscious bias. Has limited awareness of this, but wants to improve. page 4 1. Unacceptable Is paralyzed with fear when encountering stressful situations, such as presentations or videotaping of counseling techniques. Anxiety is acted out in inappropriate & maladaptive behaviors, such as lying about his/her performance, making excuses for why performance was below standards. Has severe difficulty interacting with people of diverse backgrounds & life styles. Has strong belief that all people are or should be the same. Is very judgmental & views differences as "negative". Demonstrates strong bias in interacting with others. Is extremely defensive & resistant to examine these biases. Area Clinical 7. Active engagement in Aptitudes personal & professional (continued) growth The student actively embraces personal & professional growth. This involves the desire & willingness to learn & accumulate knowledge both personally about oneself & others as well as about academic & professional matters. Strive to be the best counselor possible. 8. Reflection The student has the ability to not react immediately & directly to the client's behaviors, but to mentally & emotionally step back & reflect & ponder the meaning of the communications & the student's reactions to the communications. 5. Exemplary 4. Proficient 3. Developing 2. Marginal Demonstrates insightful application of feedback to form growth-focused goals & plans. Efforts to change/grow are evident in personal/professional interactions, professional knowledge, or interpersonal interactions. Consistent, ongoing effort to improve. Demonstrates clear goals for personal/professional growth. Initiates plans toward goals & demonstrates good efforts (e.g., gathering materials, seeking support, participating in training, etc.). Could carry out more follow through. Beginning to set goals for personal/professional growth. Struggling to clarify these goals & how to carry them out. Beginning to seek appropriate assistance in the pursuit of this task. Demonstrates some awareness of need for growth. Sets initial goals, yet shows minimal effort to pursue goals. Does not react immediately & directly to the client's behaviors, but is able to mentally & emotionally step back & reflect & ponder the meaning of the communications & the student's reactions to the communications. Is able to explore thought processes related to the events. Has excellent insight into his/her own process as well as that of the client’s. Restrains self from reacting immediately & directly to the client's behaviors. Periodically has strong emotions that are activated by the client, however, is able to explore own thought processes related to the event. Has some awareness of own feelings & is able to discuss these. Beginning to restraint self from reacting immediately & directly to the client's behaviors. Frequently has strong emotions that are activated by the client & struggles to understand them. Is beginning to explore own thought processes related to the event. Has beginning aware of own feelings & is beginning to discuss these. Periodically impulsive in expressing & acting out own feelings with clients. Frequently can over identify with the clients' processes, tending to become overly emotionally connected with clients. Has limited awareness of this, but wants to improve. page 5 1. Unacceptable Unaware of, or resistant to, need for change. Resistant to goal setting. Very defensive when discussing this. Reacts immediately & directly to the client's behaviors. Is often impulsive in acting out feelings. Own thoughts & feelings often intrude on the therapeutic process. Is extremely defensive & resistant to examine her/his own reactions.
