Faculty Contact Information:
Scott Edward Borrelli, EdD, ABPP, MP
E-mail: sborrell@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Military Post: University of Maryland, PSC 802, Box 77, FPO AE 09499
Tel: (London, UK) 44-7802 290 247 | |
Consultation:
| Available via e-mail and telephone, after each class meeting, during class breaks, and by appointment. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, APA.
Neukrug, E. (2003). World of the Counselor. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Neukrug, E. (2003). World of the Counselor Workbook. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. | |
Supplementary Readings:
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/.The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students’ research and writing skills.
Strongly Recommended:
Greenberger, D., Padesky, C.A.(1995). Mind over mood: Change how you feel by changing the way you think. NY: Guilford Press.
Servan-Schreiber, D. (2004). Healing without Freud or prozac: Natural approaches to curing stress, anxiety and depression without drugs and without psychoanalysis. London,UK: Rodale.
(published in the USA under the title: The instinct to heal).
Yalom, I.(2003). The gift of therapy: An open letter to a new generation of therapists and their patients. NY: Perennial/HarperCollins. | |
Recommended Journals:
A variety of full-text, online, free-of-charge and pay-per-view academic journals are listed on the Counseling Webboard at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/graduate/webboards/
Students are strongly encouraged to acquire student membership in the American Counseling Association. The many benefits include subscription to the Journal of Counseling and Development, and the Counseling Today newspaper. See: www.counseling.org. | |
Course Description:
| Historical, philosophical, psychological, and sociological basis of counseling in different settings(school, agency, and community) and with different populations will be explored. Intervention strategies, theoretical models, working contexts, relationships to other professions, ethics, obstacles to service delivery, and personal qualities of counselors are reviewed. Students may receive credit for only one of the following courses: PSYC 502 or EDCP 610. | |
Course Goals:
| This course introduces students to the field of counseling including specializations, professional ethics, relevant credentialing legislation, and current issues. It also provides an introduction to the basic counseling theories and skills. | |
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are for students to gain an information base and demonstrate competence in:
1. The historical antecedents and current definitions of the counseling profession.
2. The standards of counseling as a regulated profession including awareness of professional issues, ethics, and credentialing.
3. The theories and basic counseling and interpersonal skills of communication associated with the counseling relationship.
4. An understanding and appreciation of various populations with whom counselors work and a multicultural and diversity focus in counseling skills and advocacy.
5. Familiarity with appropriate assessment procedures, community resources and intervention strategies and skills, and awareness of the specialty areas of counseling and their various settings.
6. An awareness of future trends, particularly the expanded role of technology, and emerging concepts and theories in counseling.
7. Enhanced self-awareness of personal strengths, interests, and abilities. | |
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 92%
B 80 – 91%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog, available in your local Education Center or online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, you are required to:
The following assignments for this course, with their
respective contribution toward the students' grades, are:
• Autobiographical Statement----------(20%)
• In-class and Webboard Exercises-----(20%)
• Article Reviews---------------------(20%)
• Special Population Report-----------(20%)
• Reaction Papers & Final Self-Assess-(20%) | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Course Assignments and Descriptions:
I. Autobiographical Statement. Students are responsible for developing a detailed autobiographical statement that relates important developmental, personal and situational dimensions of their lives to their desire to explore the professional career of counseling. The paper will be developed in two stages. Included is the following demographic information: your name, age, relational status, children, and the names, ages and occupations of your parents and siblings. Include your educational and physical history, as well as anything else that you deem relevant. The paper will be due the final Saturday of the class and will include information that corresponds with the lecture material.
II. In-class and Webboard Exercises. Numerous assignments will be made for the purpose of discussion, both during class and in the class Webboard. Many of these assignments will come from Neukrug's workbook and two assignments will include in-class simulations of counseling. Completion of these tasks and participation in both settings will be necessary for receiving credit for the exercises. Assignments in the Webboard will often include a requirement that students provide commentary or feedback regarding other students' contributions.
III. Article Reviews. Students will select five articles to review from journals specified in class. The topics should address areas of counseling that may be of some interest to the student and can be used for the reference list required in the Special Population Report. The reviews must include the title and source of the article, an overview of its content, its relation to the class material, and your personal conclusion. It must also include an APA-style reference at the end of the review. Three of the reviews will be presented in class.
IV. Special Population Report. Early in the term, students will select a different population that may require a form of counseling intervention. A list of potential topics will be distributed in class and students are encouraged to choose a population that they may expect to encounter in their professional counseling career. Students will prepare an 8-10 page report to present during the last day of class. Included in this report will be a description of the population and the evidence of need for counseling intervention, an identification of the available community counseling sources, and a list of ten references that pertain to this topic. A significant portion of this report includes a description of a specific facility that the student will visit.
V. Reaction Papers. The last half-hour of the second day of the first three weekends will be devoted to each student writing a reaction paper of the weekend experience. The paper is to be at least 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 useful. This can also be a critical reaction to the weekend, identifying what has been useful; what has not been useful and what would be useful in future classes.
VI: Counseling Practice. Audio- and video-taping of interpersonal and basic counseling skills (ungraded).
VII. Final self-assessment. Students will write a final essay paper in class consisting of their self-interests, aptitude, and motivation to continue with the academic, professional, and personal preparation necessary to become a professional counselor.
Additional Class Policies:
I. A word about what is an appropriate degree of experiential activity in a graduate counseling course. This course is very experiential, as one of the major assumptions of professional counseling is that it depends upon creating an environment where self-examination is possible. Many efforts will be made to allow students to both experience self-exploration and develop skills to foster self-exploration within others. To accomplish this, it is important to create and maintain a climate of safety for self-disclosure, yet demonstrate a respect for personal privacy rights. Even a graduate class in counseling, however, is not counseling. Appropriate limits of confidentiality will therefore be discussed during the first class weekend. Should personal issues arise during the class that warrant further assessment or counseling, students will be encouraged to seek non-university professional assistance.
II. Attendance. Students are expected to attend every weekend class. It is also understood that unavoidable circumstances may make absences necessary for some students. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the student to inform the instructor ahead of time and to compensate for the loss of classroom time by proposing appropriate alternatives to make up the lost opportunities.
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Course Schedule:
This class will be held on the following weekends:
October 23/24; November 6/7; November 20/21; December 11/12.
Classes will be held between 0900 and 1600 hours.
Initial meeting:
Introductions
Review of syllabus
Clarification of goals, objectives and requirements
Orientation to subject
All readings refer to Neukrug’s text, and should be completed prior to the class in order to promote worthwhile discussion:
•Weekend One: chapters 1-3, 12, & 13, plus corresponding workbook exercises.
•Weekend Two: chapters 4-8, plus corresponding workbook exercises. Professional Articles Reviews due.
•Weekend Three: chapters 9-11, 14, & 15, plus corresponding workbook exercises. Special Population Report Due.
•Weekend Four: chapters 16-20, plus corresponding workbook exercises.
Autobiographical Statement due.
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Academic Policies:
Note: Any written assignment in this course may be submitted to TurnItIn.Com. This statement constitutes prior notice.
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
Dr. Borrelli is a Collegiate Professor in Counseling Psychology with the University of Maryland. As a licensed counseling & clinical psychologist and National Certified Counselor and School Counselor (NBCC), he has worked in a variety of professional roles and with many different populations: hospitals, clinics, schools, businesses. He has additional qualifications including Board Certification in clinical and in counseling psychology (ABPP), in clinical hypnotherapy, and in psychopharmacology. He also specializes in trauma treatment, is an EMDR consultant (www.emdr-practitioner.net), and recently published research on international perspectives on family violence and abuse, a cognitive ecological approach.
Dr. Borrelli has been a counselor educator for the past 15 years, first with Boston University, and now with the University of Maryland. His preference for an integrative and eclectic model of counselling coincides with his special interests in diversity and multi-culturalism. He lives in London, England. | |