Triad Training Model (TTM)

The Pedersen Triad Training Model:
Hearing the pro and anti-counselor in multicultural counseling

Each counseling interview contains three simultaneous conversations. The first conversation is the verbal exchange between the counselor and the client. The second conversation is the internal dialogue of the client. The third conversation is the internal dialogue of the counselor.

The counselor can hear the verbal exchange and the counselor’s own internal dialogue. However it is difficult to hear what the client is thinking but not saying. The more cultural differences there are between the counselor and the client the more difficult it will be to hear the client’s internal dialogue. However the counselor can expect that some of the client’s internal dialogue will be negative and some will be positive.

The Triad Training Model is based on a role played cross-cultural interview between a counselor and a client. In addition, a third role player is the anticounselor, articulating the negative things a client is thinking but not saying and a fourth role player is the procounselor articulating the positive things a client is thinking but not saying.

By hearing the anticounselor and procounselor the counselor can imagine more clearly what a culturally different client is thinking but not saying. The goal of the model is to train multicultural counselors in four skill areas:

1. Articulate the problem from the client’s cultural perspective.
2. Recognize resistance in specific rather than general terms
3. Reduce the counselor’s defensiveness
4. Practice recovery skills for getting out of trouble.

The following interviews will demonstrate examples of The Triad Training Model in a series of brief role played interviews followed by a group debriefing discussion with the Therapist (T), Procounselor (P), Anticounselor (A) and Client (C).

A more complete description of The Triad Training Model is available in the book by Paul Pedersen published in 2000 titled Hidden Messages in Culture-Centered Counseling: A Triad Training Model, by SAGE Press in Thousand Oaks, California.

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Scenarios:

Interview 1: Black Female Counselor	[SCRIPT1]	[DEBRIEF1]	[QUESTION1]
Interview 2: Asian American Male Counselor	[SCRIPT2]	[DEBRIEF2]	[QUESTION2]
Interview 3: Caucasian Female Counselor	[SCRIPT3]	[DEBRIEF3]	[QUESTION3]
Interview 4: Hispanic Male Counselor	[SCRIPT4]	[DEBRIEF4]	[QUESTION4]
Interview 5: Caucasian Male Counselor	[SCRIPT5]	[DEBRIEF5]	[QUESTION5]