RELEASE, REFRAME, REFOCUS, AND RESPOND: A PRACTITIONER TRANSFORMATION PROCESS IN A REFLECTIVE CONSULTATION PROGRAM

This article presents findings from a qualitative research study exploring the experiences of early intervention practitioners in a reflective consultation program. Fifteen licensed early childhood special education teachers and speech, occupational, and physical therapists as well as a psychologist from an urban school district participated in interviews discussing their work stressors and involvement with monthly reflective consultation groups. They described a loosely temporal, iterative process which transformed how they thought and felt about both themselves as practitioners and the children and families with whom they worked. These practitioners also shared ways that their participation in reflective consultation changed some of their intervention strategies with young children and families. Analysis of themes from their descriptions led to the creation of a change process model defined as release, reframe, refocus, and respond. These findings contribute the practitioners’ voices and experiences in a structured way to a growing body of evidence about the efficacy of reflective supervision and consultation.