TPC Journal V8, Issue 4- FULL ISSUE

352 The Professional Counselor | Volume 8, Issue 4 There is agreement in the counseling profession that empathy is an important characteristic for counselors to embody in order to facilitate positive client outcomes and to meet counselor competency standards (DePue & Lambie, 2014). Yet scholars have grappled with how to identify the necessary skills to foster empathy in counselor trainees and remain torn on which approaches to use. Although empathy training programs seem effective, little is known about which aspects of such programs are the effective ingredients that promote empathy-building, and we lack understanding about whether such programs are more effective than simply engaging in clinical work or having life experiences. Thus, we encourage researchers to explore if counseling programs are effective at teaching empathy to CITs and to further explore mechanisms that may or may not be valuable in empathy development. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The authors reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript. References Badenoch, B. (2008). Being a brain-wise therapist: A practical guide to interpersonal neurobiology . New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Barrett-Lennard, G. T. (1986). The Relationship Inventory now: Issues and advances in theory, method, and use. In L. S. Greenberg & W. M. Pinsof (Eds.), The psychotherapeutic process: A research handbook (pp. 439– 476). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives . Psychological Inquiry , 2 (2), 107–122. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0202_1 Bayne, H. B., & Jangha, A. (2016). Utilizing improvisation to teach empathy skills in counselor education. Counselor Education and Supervision , 55 (4), 250–262. doi:10.1002/ceas.12052 Beder, J. (2004). Lessons about bereavement. Journal of Loss & Trauma , 9 , 383–387. doi:10.1080/15325020490491014 Bell, H., Hagedorn, W. B., & Robinson, E. H. M. (2016). An exploration of supervisory and therapeutic relationships and client outcomes. Counselor Education and Supervision , 55 (3), 182–197. doi:10.1002/ceas.12044 Bloom, Z. D., & Lambie, G. W. (in press). The Adolescent Measure of Empathy and Sympathy in a sample of emerging adults. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. Bohart, A. C., Elliott, R., Greenberg, L. S., & Watson, J. C. (2002). Empathy. In J. C. Norcross (Ed.), Psychotherapy relationships that work: Therapist contributions and responsiveness to patients (pp. 89–108). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Carré, A., Stefaniak, N., D’Ambrosio, F., Bensalah, L., & Besche-Richard, C. (2013). The Basic Empathy Scale in Adults (BES-A): Factor structure of a revised form. Psychological Assessment , 25 , 679–691. doi:10.1037/a0032297 Clark, A. J. (2004). Empathy: Implications of three ways of knowing in counseling. The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development , 43 , 141–151. doi:10.1002/j.2164-490X.2004.tb00014.x Clark, A. J. (2010). Empathy and sympathy: Therapeutic distinctions in counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling , 32 (2), 95–101. doi:10.17744/mehc.32.2.228n116thw397504 Connors, G. J., Carroll, K. M., DiClemente, C. C., Longabaugh, R., & Donovan, D. M. (1997). The therapeutic alliance and its relationship to alcoholism treatment participation and outcome. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 65 , 588–598. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.65.4.588 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. (2016). 2016 Standards. Alexandria, VA: Author.