Course Description:

This course is designed to provide an introduction to the counseling profession and an overview of counseling theories, concepts and strategies. It provides opportunities for beginning graduate students to review the nature and scope of counseling, to develop areas of special interest, and to gain a fuller appreciation for the wide range of activities performed by professional counselors in agencies, schools, the community, and private practice. The course will also assist students to determine whether the counseling profession is compatible with their career interests and goals. Students are expected to participate actively in a variety of experiential activities designed to meet course objectives.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, students will be expected to:

1. Be familiar with the history and development of the counseling profession;

Required Texts:

Neukrug, E. (1999). The world of the counselor: An introduction to counseling. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Neukrug, E. (1999). The world of the counselor: An experiential workbook for developing professional competencies. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Egan, G. (1998). The skilled helper: A problem-management approach to helping (6^th edition), Pacific Grove. CA: Brooks/Cole.

Egan, G. (1998). Exercises in helping skills (6^th ed.)/ Pacific Grove. CA: Brooks/Cole.

American Psychological Association (1994) Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4^th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Course Evaluation/Method of Obtaining Course Credit:

Each student will have the opportunity to earn course credit through a variety of required tasks and activities. Credit will be earned by accumulating points, with a specific point value attached to each task. The student's total points will relate to a specific course letter grade.

1. Reaction Journals: The student will select two articles from professional journals as discussed in class. The topics should address areas of counseling of special interest to the student. A brief report will be written for each article to include the following:

Name of Article and Authors (Reference)

Overview of Content of Article

Relationship of Article to Class Material (theories and concepts)

Personal Viewpoint and Critique

Each student will select a different special problem from the list distributed in class. This selection should be made early in the term. The written report will consist of the following components:

Due weekends 2, 3, and 4.

3. Facility Visit Report:

Students will receive a handout with guidelines for this visit and write-up. Agencies will be identified in class, and the student will complete a paper on their visit.

This report is due Saturday, 16 September.

4. Audio/Video-taped Role Counseling Sessions:

Students will practice counseling skills during and outside of class. Video and audio-taping will allow small groups to critique student performance. More details on this available in class. Please bring an audio-tape recorder to each class with a blank tape. Two written transcripts, summaries and critiques will be due.

Due second and fourth weekends.

5. Attendance and Participation:

The course will require a good deal of experiential participation in the form of discussions, role-playing, simulated counseling interviews, skills practice, and personnel/professional development exercises. Although specific class activities will not be graded, the overall performance and participation of each student will form a part of the final class grade.

Grading:

The points attached to each assignment which the student can accumulate are as follows (total = 1,000 points):

Critique of Two Journal Articles (200 points)

Special Population Report (200 points)

Facility Visit Report (200 points)

Counseling Skills Transcript and Analysis #1 (100 points)

Counseling Skills Transcript and Analysis #2 (100 points)

Attendance and Participation (200 points)

A = 900 - 1,000 pts.

B = 800 - 899

C = 700 - 799

D/F = below 699.

Confidentiality:

This course will encourage the sharing of personal information as a necessary component of professional counselor development. It is each student's responsibility to create and maintain a climate of safety and respect for personal privacy rights. Appropriate limits of confidentiality will be discussed during the first class weekend.

Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all class times. In cases of unavoidable absences, it is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor in advance and to make-up for the loss of class time by proposing an appropriate make-up project.