EDCP 610 - Professional Orientation

Term 1 - August-October 2001 - United Kingdom

Credit: 3 semester hours credit. Required course for EDCP 619, and for the Master of Education and Master of Arts in Counseling and Personnel Services.

Instructor: Dr. Jim Calvin, who: took over 100 undergraduate semester hours (and got B.A. degree) and took two graduate EDCP courses, from UMUC, on Okinawa; got Ph.D. at Kent State; is a Board Certified licensed clinical psychologist; served 27 years in the United States Navy - 9 years enlisted and 18 years as a clinical psychologist and health care manager; and has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses since 1990.

Dr. Calvin's e-mail - jcalvin@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

Class Location - Mildenhall -

In addition, a Web Board will be used. Please check, by August 21^st, to ensure that you are enrolled in the Web Board.

Class Hours: Weekends - Saturdays/Sundays, 0900 - 1600, on the following weekends: Aug 25-26, Sept 15-16, Sept 29-30, Oct 13-14

Office Hours by appointment

Required Texts:

Course Goals and Purpose. This course is designed to provide an overview of counseling as a profession and as an orientation to graduate study in professional counseling. Students are provided a definition and overview of counseling as a distinct helping profession and academic discipline, working collaboratively with other health and human service providers in myriad settings. Students are provided with the standards, ethics and credentialing process of counseling as a regulated profession. Students are introduced to the helping relationship in individual, family, group, consultation and supervision contexts; and practice appropriate counseling skills in those contexts. Students review counseling's developmental framework and apply that to lifespan and career development. Students are introduced to multicultural and diversity issues and the counseling profession's clear commitment to multicultural competency development. Students review the work of counselors in a broad array of professional setting, including community agencies, schools, and private practice - through readings, site visits, and panel discussions and presentations involving counseling professionals, faculty, field site supervisors, and students. Students are oriented to vital future trends in professional counseling, particularly the increasing role of technology in delivery of counseling services and counselor education. This course assists students in determining if the nature of the counseling profession, and pursuing a graduate counseling degree, are compatible with their individual strengths and motivations. Therefore, enhanced self-awareness is also a clear goal of this course. The summary goal is individually seeking and optimizing personal and professional growth.

Course Objectives. The objectives of this course are for students to gain and demonstrate an understanding of:

1. The historical antecedents and current definition of the counseling profession;
2. The standards of counseling as a regulated profession;
3. The theories and skills associated with the counseling relationship;
4. The developmental and strengths model of counseling;
5. The multicultural and diversity focus in counseling skills and advocacy;
6. The specialty areas of counseling - in various settings;
7. Skillful research in counseling, including accessing and using quality web sites; and
8. Counseling's future trends, particularly the expanded role of technology.

Evaluation - Grades will be given based on mastery of course objectives, class participation, Workbook assignments, Web Board work (including 3 Reaction Papers), Journal/web site reviews/presentations, and a research paper.

Mastery of objectives will be tested by a Final Examination, on Sunday, October 14^th; it will be worth 20 points, and will consist of essay, true-false, multiple choice, and definition questions - based on readings AND lectures.

Because we have only eight class sessions, attendance and class participation are significant!! If you miss a portion of class, you are responsible for making up work as appropriate. Participation in in-class activities is worth 20 points.

Workbook assignments - Numerous Workbook assignments will be made - to be turned in (and often, discussed) during class sessions; these will count for 15% of your grade.

Web Board assignments - There will be assignments to be posted on the 610 Web Board. Primary amongst these are "Reaction Papers": at the end of each of the first three weekends, each student will write a reaction paper of the weekend experience. The paper is to be approximately one page in length and is to focus on what the student has learned in that weekend, and how that learning will be personally and professionally beneficial. This can also be a critical reaction to the weekend, identifying what has been useful or not been useful, and what would be useful in future classes. The Reaction Paper is to be posted on our Web Board by the Wednesday fol1owing each weekend. Web Board Assignments will count for 15% of your grade.

Journal/web site reviews and presentation - Each student will be responsible for reading one journal article and researching one web site, prior to each of the last three class weekends. These articles and web sites should be related to an area that relates to topics discussed during the upcoming weekend, or of personal interest in their field of counseling. For each journal article, students must write a short paper, following APA guidelines. The paper should be divided into two major parts: the first summarizing the contents and the second providing personal insight and evaluation of the ideas in the article. The article is to be presented orally for discussion during the weekend.  This will count for 15% of your grade.

There is ONE written project, 10 pages ("double spaced") - a paper on your (tentative) chosen career field within counseling (school, occupational, addictions, prison, family, mental health, etc.). You should research libraries, the Web, AND arrange an interview (see Workbook p. 7) - on your chosen field. You should also (in conjunction with your interview, or separately) arrange for and visit a counseling agency and include in your paper information including: name, location and type of facility; range of services provided; responsibilities of the providers; physical description and emotional climate of the facility; clientele served and cultural diversity of the clients; clinical/therapy orientation most used; type of therapy/services provided; supervision of staff; funding/fee structures; recidivism rate; and overall impressions. Then summarize - job requirements and skills, settings, a self examination of your interest/aptitude/motivation to continue with that chosen subfield, licensing, what you would personally expect, etc. - your chosen field, in your paper. The project is DUE on Saturday, October 13^th; and is worth 15 points. Because effective writing is a critical part of your education, essay work should be clear and concise, with proper grammar and spelling. Your paper should also be in proper "APA" format and properly referenced. Questions? - ASK!

Summary:

%

Workbook Assignments

15

Web Board Assignments

15

Articles/Web Site Work

15

Participation

20

Paper due 10/13

15

Final Exam 10/14

20

Total

100

Course GRADES will be given as follows: 90-100 points - A; 80-89 - B; 70-79 - C

In addition to formal course requirements, the following are also components of 610: 1) Neukrug Workbook Projects - some will be done in class; some will be assigned as homework; 2) Personal journaling is strongly encouraged; and 3)Simulated Counseling - In class, students will be responsible for conducting two simulated counseling interviews - in the format of an interviewee who will assume the role of a client with a presenting issue, and a counselor who will assume the role of the professional conducting the interview (and an observer who will provide the feedback); roles will be alternated, then students will share their perceptions with the class. Degree of participation will be graded (and included in "Participation").

Students are reminded of UMUC's policies on academic dishonesty and plagiarism, and UMUC's penalties for same - including course failure and/or dismissal.

Students seeking accommodation for special needs are requested to discuss their situation with the Instructor well in advance, so that reasonable accommodation may be addressed.

CONFIDENTIALITY - Each week we will work as a group as a whole, experiencing membership in ongoing communications. There are opportunities to investigate your performance in the counseling roles. Further, this is a course that will involve self-examination and degrees of sharing personal information with the class. Therefore, students must be sensitive to the right to privacy of others. It is important to be discrete in terms of appropriate personal sharing in a classroom context. It is equally important to practice our professional responsibility of confidentiality throughout this classroom experience. 

COURSE CALENDAR

Note - students should read Neukrug text pages 1-44 by 8/25, and to page 106 by 8/26; "W" refers to projects in the Neukrug Workbook

DATE

TOPICS

ASSIGNED TEXT READING

Sat --8/25

Welcome to EDCP 610! Introductions (W 111-112) Syllabus, Plan for Semester, Self-Assessment (W 3-5), Overview of Counseling, History of Counseling, Why are you here? (W 136)

1-44

Sun -- 8/26

Occupational Preferences Project (W 85-86, 149-151), Counseling Standards and Ethics, Counseling Theories (W 24-26), Research - ILS & MdUSA

48-106

Wed, 8/29 -

Reaction Paper due on Web Board

Sat --9/15

Mentors visit! Self-Appraisal (W 37 & 38), Counseling Skills(W 43), Individual Counseling Exercise, TURN IN Exercises IV & V, W 51-52; Family Counseling

110-161

Sun --9/16

Family Counseling, Group Work, Consultation

163-205

Wed, 9/19

- Reaction Paper due on Web Board

Sat -- 9/29

Self-Appraisal (W 73 & 84-85), Development, Labeling(W 58), Diagnosis/DSM-IV & Psychopathology, Career Development

211-284

Sun 9/30

Career (cont.), Testing/Assessment (W 105-106), Research

289-340

Wed, 10/3

- Reaction Paper due on Web Board

Sat --10/13

Paper DUE! Self-Appraisal (W 117-118), Multicultural (W 115, 119, 123-125), School Counseling, Community Mental Health

347-444

Sun -- 10/14

Community (cont.), Student Affairs, Getting Counseling Jobs, Future of Counseling, SOCRATES, Wrap Up ***FINAL EXAM***

448-482

QUESTIONS??? - about the Syllabus, or anything: ASK!!!!!

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