Examination of the relationship between the empathic tendency and communication skills of guidance and psychological counseling students in terms of educational programs

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between empathic tendencies and communication skills of guidance and psychological counseling undergraduate program students in terms of education programs. In this context, it is aimed to determine the relationship between students' empathic tendencies and communication skills, to determine whether they differ according to gender, grade level and type of high school graduated, and to determine how empathy and communication examined in the study are included in the current guidance and psychological counseling undergraduate program. A total of 304 second, third and fourth grade students in the Guidance and Psychological Counseling undergraduate programs of Kırşehir Ahi Evran University and Yozgat Bozok University participated in the study. Since the study includes both quantitative and qualitative data, a mixed method model was used. In the study, the relational survey model, one of the general survey models, was used quantitatively. Qualitatively, the document analysis method was used. In the study, data were collected through the Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher, Empathic Tendency Scale developed by Dökmen (1988), Communication Skills Scale developed by Korkut Owen and Bugay (2014), and YÖK 2018 Guidance and Psychological Counseling undergraduate program. Quantitative data obtained in the study were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 program. After it was decided that the data showed a normal distribution, Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between empathic tendency and communication skills, independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance were applied to determine whether there were differences according to gender, grade level and type of high school graduated, respectively. The data obtained qualitatively in the study were analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. As a result of the findings obtained in the study; It has been determined that there is a positive and moderately significant relationship between the empathic tendencies of the guidance and psychological counseling students and their communication skills. While it was determined that the empathic tendencies of the students differed significantly according to their genders; It has been determined that there is no significant difference according to the grade level and the type of high school graduated from. While it was determined that the total scores of students' communication skills differed significantly according to their genders; It has been determined that there is no significant difference according to the grade level and the type of high school graduated from. While it was determined that there was a significant difference between all sub-dimensions and genders of the communication skills scale; It was determined that all the sub-dimensions of the communication skills scale did not differ significantly according to the grade level, and it was determined that only the communication principles and basic skills sub-dimensions of the communication skills scale differed significantly according to the type of high school graduated. In the study, it was concluded that empathy is included in the course content in the guidance and psychological counseling undergraduate program, and communication is included in the course content and as a course. At the end of the study, suggestions were made on how to include empathy and communication in the Guidance and Psychological Counseling training program.