Helping Skills

In this course, we will discuss common factors theory with an emphasis on the role of the therapeutic alliance in successful therapy. We will cover in roughly equal parts the theory, research findings, and basic clinical skills surrounding the attitudes and skills necessary to engage in effective helping relationship.

Class schedule

• March 4 (Friday):  9:00 - 12:00, lunch break, 13:30 - 16:30
• March 5 (Saturday):  9:00 - 12:00, lunch break, 13:30 - 16:30

Room: U33

Lecturer: Benjamin Ogles, Ph.D.

Ben Ogles is a clinical psychologist and professor at Brigham Young University. He worked at Ohio University for the first 20 years of his career where he served as both a faculty member and administrator serving as the chair of the Psychology Department and later the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He then returned to his alma mater in 2011 where he worked for 10 years as dean of the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences before returning to the faculty in 2021. His research focuses primarily on assessing the clinical and statistical significance of psychotherapy outcome, but he is also interested in other aspects of psychotherapy research including common factors, motivational interviewing, and ethics training among others. In his free time he enjoys golf, tennis, cycling, and chess. He and his wife Maureen have 7 children and 7 grandchildren.