COURSE DESCRIPTION
“This course acquaints the student with current views of counseling principles and methods. Interviewing techniques are introduced and developed through a workshop approach.”

TEXTBOOKS AND REQUIRED READINGS
Required:

Interviewing in Action: Process and Practice, Bianca Cody Murphy and Carolyn Dillon, Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1998.
Interviewing in Action Video
Book/Video Learning Package available at MWCC Boolutore.
You will need to purchase a blank VHS Video Cassette.
Additional reading materials will be handed out in class.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS COURSE

1. To understand the field of counseling and the ethical principles that guide the profession.

2. To gain an understanding of the basic theories of psychology and the techniques
employed by psychologists and to learn about the interview environment.

3. To understand the nature and goals of helping and to gain an understanding of one’s self as you learn about the profession.

4. To become an effective counselor by practicing and implementing the following skills: attending, listening, understanding, support and empathy, and exploration and elaboration.

5. To learn to be effective in using interviewing techniques and helping clients tell their stories.

6. To learn to help clients focus, make decisions, set goals, and explore assessment and working, agreements.

7. To learn about how to counsel difficult clients including resistant, hostile and noncompliant clients.

8. To learn how to counsel clients from diverse populations including the elderly, the disabled and cultural and ethnic minorities. To help clients gain new perspectives and see things differently.

9. To learn effective note taking and record keeping.

10. To gain insight into the reality of the counseling field and learn how to deal with everyday problems with which a counselor is faced.

11. To practice and refine one’s counseling skills and develop one’s own counseling style. To understand the role of the counselor.

12. To explore professional issues including ongoing education, self care, boundaries, and endings and transitions.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
The classroom time will be composed of a combination of lectures, discussions, videos and student participation including role playing and practicing helping and interviewing skills in a workshop style setting. Our textbook is accompanied by a videotape which has been designed to enhance your learning. We will use the videotape in class, and you may also be assigned to watch sections of the tape at home or use a VCR on campus. We may use a video camera during class to record your practice counseling sessions. Since much of the course will be focused on skill building and becoming an effective counselor, class participation is not simply encouraged, it is expected. You are required to complete reading and homework assignments on time so that you can be an active participant in class. Active note taking is strongly suggested.

METHODS OF EVALUATION:
Your final grade will be based on the following:

Three exams: Two in class general exams, one skills evaluation video exam and a final. Each exam will cover assigned textbook readings, assigned articles and handouts, and classroom activities and lectures. The general exams will be a combination of objective questions (i.e. multiple choice, matching) and essayquestions. The skills evaluation exam will be a prepared videotaped format ofspecified counseling skills and techniques. Your grade will be based on teacherevaluation and self evaluation. You will receive a detailed handout about the videotape. The final exam will be a comprehensive exam which will include viewing a video of a counseling session and critiquing it. You will receive study guide handouts explaining the process and grading for the exams. Each exam will be graded on a scale of 0 to 100. The exams will be averaged, and will account for 50% of your final grade.

Research Project or Service Learning Experience/Project:

Research Project: You will be able to select a pertinent topic related to counseling special populations (i.e. counseling the elderly, counseling the physically disabled, counseling gay men and/or lesbians, multicultural counseling, dealing with the hostile/resistant client). You will research the Subject and write a seven to ten page paper (typed, double spaced) which highlights your research as well as your and perspective on the topic. You should have a minimum of three professional resources for your paper. As part of your research, you will need to interview a professional in the field (counselor, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, nurse) and include information from that interview in your paper. I will give you a detailed handout about the research project. Your grade will be based on the following: accuracy of your information, ability to express yourself in written form (including correct documentation and style/originality of your presentation), ability to integrate your own ideas into your research, and comprehensiveness of project.

Service Leariiing Project (maximum of 4 students): “Tell me. I’ll listen. Show me. I’ll believe. Involve me. I’ll learn.” – Native American Proverb
This activity will meet the following objectives: to develop or further develop citizenship skills, including building and fostering a sense of social responsibility and awareness of the needs of the community; to develop an understanding of the needs of clients who receive mental health and supportive services, and to be able, through service, to learn to recognize and respond to those needs; to make valuableconnections between classroom learning and real life situations in your communities: to gain valuable hands on experience working with special populations; to develop further the ability to reflect critically on your experiences.

You will meet with me to work on selecting a site. Before you will be allowed to do the service learning project, you will need to fill out an application, and otherpaperwork. I have a listing of potential sites which you may choose from, or you may select another site of your own choice. You must perform a minimum of twenty hours of actual service at your selected site, and keep time sheets documenting your attendance. As part of your experience, you will keep and pass in a reflective Journal. You will need to attend scheduled meetings with me and with your fellow service learning students. As part of the process, you will evaluate your experience. Your supervisor and I will meet and evaluate your performance. You will write a brief final paper, which highlights your learning and personal experiences. Over the semester, you may be asked to share your experience with your fellow classmates. I will provide you with a manual and with guidance during this component. Your grade will be based on: number of hours completed; site evaluation; depth of learning Journal, meetings, final paper, and ability to integrate and apply your learning. See me by September 17 if you select this option.

The Research Project or the Service Learning Experience/Project will account for 25% of your final grade. No late project will be accepted.

Journal:. You will be required to keep a journal for this class. You will write in your journal after classes where you have practiced your counseling skills and will critique your work as well as explore your beliefs and feelings about your progress as a counselor. You will also be required to write about specific topics as assigned in your textbook and as assigned by me. Your workbook submissions will be graded and averaged and will account for 25% of your grade. Your workbook will be graded on four scales: comprehensiveness, depth of understanding, accuracy, and self-awareness/understanding.

Participation: Participation is a vital part of the learning process. You will receive points added to your final grade, based on the frequency and quality of your participation.

I welcome you to this course and look forward to an exciting and interesting semester. Please do not hesitate to ask for help if you need it. I am always available for extra help and assistance. Good luck to all of you and I hope you have a productive and rewarding semester. I’m including a list of 10 personal qualities that effective counselors possess. (Corey, Corey and Callanan from Issues and Ethics in Helping Professionals). See how many qualities you have now. How many do you need to work on developing? Are you fitting together the “pieces of the puzzle” as you develop your skills and come to understand yourself?.

1. Good will: a sincere interest in the welfare of others

2. The ability to be present for others; the ability and willingness to be with them in their experience of joy and pain

3. A recognition and acceptance of one’s personal power; being in contact with one’s own strength and vitality; without need to diminish others or feel superior to them

4. The knowledge that one has found, his or her own counseling style, that style being an expression of one’s own personality

5. A willingness to be vulnerable and to take risks

6. Self-respect and self-appreciation; a strong sense of self-worth

7. A willingness to serve as models for their clients

8. A willingness to risk making, mistakes and to admit having made them

9. A growth orientation

10. A sense of humor