Issue link: http://ncumarketing.uberflip.com/i/1205139
Elaine Willerton, PhD Assessment Director, SSBS MFTMixed-RealitySimulationPilot NCU's Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT) program received a grant from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) to pilot the use of a Mixed-Reality Simulation training. Two simulation trainings were held in Fall 2019. A small number of students who are in the clinical training portion of the MAMFT program volunteered to take turns serving as a therapist in a simulation exercise with avatar clients. The avatar clients were remotely controlled by an actor who could speak for the avatars and adjust their movements. The trainings were facilitated by the Director of Clinical Training. The trainings were open to all MFT students and faculty to attend. Following the simulation training, all volunteer therapists and attendees were invited to complete a short survey to share feedback on the experience. Some of the goals of the pilot were to: 1. Assess how conducive the virtual (online) format is for conducting the simulation training 2. Garner student and faculty impressions of simulation training 3. Identify the capabilities and limitations of simulation training Results from the follow-up survey indicated agreement that the simulation training was well-designed, engaging, involved technology which worked well, and seemed like an effective training method for therapist trainees. In the follow-up survey, we listed ten fundamental clinical skills which are part of the AAMFT core competencies. The majority of respondents indicated that the simulation presented opportunities for all of these skills to be used. Respondents overwhelmingly indicated an interest in seeing mixed-reality simulation become part of the MFT curriculum and training. Here are just a few of the reactions of students and faculty who participated in the simulation. 13