Former Professor, Educational Psychology, Counseling & Special Education, Penn State University
Carlos Zalaquett is an internationally recognized expert in therapeutic outcomes assessment and mental health counseling, with deep expertise spanning psychology, biofeedback, and neurofeedback. Across decades in clinical practice, teaching, supervision, and leadership—including serving as President of the Pennsylvania Mental Health Counselors Association, Past President of the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicología, and President-Elect of the American Psychological Association’s Division 52: Society for Global Psychology—Carlos has focused on one thing: improving training and interventions by measuring what works and why.
In this episode, Carlos makes the case for video as a core component of counselor education—not as a “nice to have,” but as the backbone of supervision, skills development, and outcomes-based research. He shares how recording sessions transforms training from vague, memory-based reflection into precise review: students and supervisors can revisit specific moments, identify strengths and growth areas, and track progress from the first session through termination. Carlos also explains how secure, consent-driven video capture supports ethical practice and removes barriers compared to earlier “shoulder camera” approaches—making review immediate, practical, and far less disruptive to the therapeutic relationship.
The conversation goes deeper into how video plus client self-report data can strengthen decision-making and fairness in supervision—evaluating performance with evidence rather than assumptions—and how clinics can evolve into applied research training clinics that demonstrate clinical impact to stakeholders. Carlos also looks ahead to what’s next: AI-enabled transcription and analysis, nonverbal synchrony research, and faster insight generation that could accelerate both supervision and outcomes research. He closes with the leadership principle that guides his career—“lift as you climb”—and why building others up is the real legacy of effective education and clinical work.