The Use of Counseling Skills Within Evaluative Contexts

Abstract The use of non-therapeutic counseling skills within evaluative contexts can be of great utility, particularly when lack of trust can lead to challenges in design, data collection, analysis, and contextualization. Because counselors and program evaluators share commonalities in their competencies, counselors can leverage their mastery of interpersonal skills to facilitate a depth of connection and understanding among stakeholders that supports evaluation validity. This article describes how counselors’ training and experiences focused on using empathic communication, becoming aware of and accounting for bias, broaching differences in identities and sensitive conversations with clients, and connecting with clients using basic attending skills can ground evaluation activities in ways that promote representation of experiences and utility of findings.