WC research

As someone interested in coaching/therapy/psychology, I can't help but link a lot of what we do in the Writing Center to psychotherapeutic methods, especially when dealing with anxious, overworked, or sometimes antagonistic or closed-minded students.

I'd be curious in an interdisciplinary study researching a few groups over one semester: 1) control group of students working with WC tutors as usual, 2) group of students working with WC tutors who have had some kind of psychological/coaching training provided by the WC,* 3) group of students working with psychotherapy graduate students (who may or may not have any training in writing--would this make a difference?), 4) students who work in alternate sessions with both regular WC tutors (#1) & therapists-in-training (#3).

What might be some differences in their takeaways? How would the psychotherapeutic approach be different for students who are particularly anxious about the writing process vs. a more general student looking for writing improvement? I do think WC tutors shouldn't and have no need to replace real psychologists, but I wonder what the WC and psychology can learn from each other.

*especially modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which can work very quickly on the behavioral level and don't require deep psychoanalysis

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