Dr. MO Yuen-han, KittyKittyDr. MO Yuen-hanDr. CHOW Kit Ling, LinaLinaDr. CHOW Kit LingDr. MOK Wai Kit, LindaLindaDr. MOK Wai KitWang, Chester Jun-yuanChester Jun-yuanWang2025-11-252025-11-252025Research on Social Work Practice, 2025.1049-73151552-7581http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11861/26210<jats:sec> <jats:title>Purpose</jats:title> <jats:p>This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of customized chatbots in enhancing counseling self-efficacy among social work students and to examine whether perceived ease of use influences this development.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Method</jats:title> <jats:p>A total of 41 participants engaged in simulated counseling practices using six role-play chatbots created on the Poe platform, each representing diverse client profiles and backgrounds.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>The findings showed statistically significant improvements in overall counseling self-efficacy scores from pretest to posttest and perceived ease of use was a strong predictor of counseling self-efficacy.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Discussion</jats:title> <jats:p>The results of this study demonstrate that chatbot-based role-play can effectively enhance counseling self-efficacy, providing valuable insights for future chatbot design in counselor training. Since ease of use strongly influenced learning outcomes, future chatbots should be simple to navigate and engaging to encourage consistent practice. Creating realistic characters with diverse backgrounds helps simulate real counseling situations.</jats:p> </jats:sec>enChatbotsCounseling EducationSocial Work StudentsArtificial IntelligenceCounselling Self-EfficacySocial Work EducationPeer Reviewed Journal Article10.1177/10497315251394310