Faculty Contact Information:
1. Phone numbers: work (01423) 7777812, home (01423) 867 303
2. Email: jbeechingpieper@faculty.ed.umuc.edu or pieperfamilyuk@aol.com
Email will only be checked on days when there is not class, so if the need to communicate is urgent please phone. | |
Consultation:
| Available by appointment. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Corey, G. Corey, M.S. and Callanan, P. (2003). Issues & Ethics in the Helping Professions. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Swenson, L.C. (1997) Psychology & Law for the Helping Professions. 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. | |
Recommended Journals:
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Course Description:
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This course is designed to provide the helping professional with the knowledge of the major ethical and legal issues in counseling and psychotherapy today. Students will be exposed to such topics as ethical theory, laws and court decisions, incompetence, malpractice, licensure and certification, privileged communications, DSM IV and Family Therapy, legal liabilities affecting psychologists, and legal obligations of psychotherapists. Ethical standards for individual practitioners will be examined in detail. Participants will be involved in case research, group discussions, group reports, and individual presentations of ethical and legal issues in the field of counseling and psychotherapy. Prerequisites: All undergraduate foundation courses. | |
Course Goals:
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The profession of counseling is both sanctioned and censured by aspects of the individual practitioner, the professional community, and the broader American society. The overall goal of this course is to acquaint students with moral, ethical, and legal issues that affect the practice of counseling. Such issues include individual moral development, ethical decision-making models, the ethical guidelines for professional practice of counseling described by the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association, the roles played by counseling experts within the American legal system, family protection laws, legal issues pertaining to regulating mental health treatment, professional licensure, and practice issues. | |
Course Objectives:
- To become familiar with the distinctions between moral, ethical, and legal behavior, as applied to the practice of counseling.
- To acquire experience using ethical reasoning skills to apply professional ethics within case scenarios to resolve potential counseling problems.
- To discuss some of the major professional activities faced by mental health professionals working within the legal system, including their potential ethical conflicts.
- To become familiar with statutory and case law as it impacts the mental health practitioner.
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Grading Information:
| Students' perfomance will be graded based upon a percentage of 100 total possible points obtained during the course. In general, it will be necessary to obtain a minimum of 90% of the course points to achieve an A, at least 80% of the points for a B, at least 70% of total possible points for a C, and anything below 70% is an F. | |
Course Requirements:
The distribution of points are as follows:
1. Research Paper (30 points)
2. Student Presentation (25 points)
3. Exam (30 points)
4. Participation (15 points)
5. An optional, extra credit paper will be available and explained in class. It will be due July 1 at 1700 hours. (Maximum 5 points.) | |
Description of Course Requirements:
The following course tasks will include:
1. Paper (1 total; 30% of total points). Students will explore a particular ethics topic of personal interest. The paper must be 10 pages in length and presented in a double-spaced, typed manuscript with one-inch margins. It should be in the style of a submission to a professional journal using the guidlines of the journal as its template. It is expected that this will be a "review of the literature" paper (as opposed to a scientific research project paper). APA writing style is expected. I am interested that you know where to place the margins and page numbering and how to cite references properly. If this is your first attempt at using APA writing style, you can go to websites for help. Students will be expected to present their paper topics and preliminary research to the class on the last class date.
2. Student Presentation (1 total; 25% of total points). Each student will be involved in researching and facilitating a class discussion on a topic of legal and ethical behavior and understanding. The list of topics and dates will be available at the first class and students may chose the topic they are interested in presenting. If there is conflict in the choice the instructor will assign the topics. If the topic is the same as that for the paper it will be expected to be in a different style, i.e. inviting class discussion or role play.
3. Exam (30%). This will be a take-home essay type examination regarding the readings and/or case material with one or two choices among the items. Students will be given one week to complete the exam. Usually this will consist of 3-4 essay items.
4. Class Participation (15%). Since the intention of this course is to help counseling students improve their ability to reason about ethical issues, learn tolerance for the ambiguity in ethical decision making, and to instill the determination to act in ethical ways, all students are expected to participate in class discussion, presentations, and written work. Students are expected to have done the reading and to arrive in class, including the first class, ready to participate.
5. Optional Extra Credit Paper. 1 page evaluation of one of the following films for ethical implications in the field of counseling: "Prince of Tides" or "Don Joan DeMarco". | |
Course Schedule:
Tuesday, June 7
Introduction to regulating the profession of counseling: Differences between moral, ethical, and legal action.
---Corey: Chapters 1, 2, & 10
---Swenson: Chapter 3
Professional codes of ethics for counselors: Introduction to the ethical guidelines of the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association
---Swenson: chapter 4
Thursday, June 9
Overview of the American legal process. Roles played by social scientists and mental health practitioners within the American legal system. Paradigm differences between the legal system and the helping professions.
---Swenson: Chapters 1 & 2
Saturday, June 11
Moral development: Values and Effectiveness
---Corey: Chapter 3 & 9
Ethical Decision Making Model: Professionalism
---Corey: Chapters 4, 7, 8, 9
---Swenson: Chapter 5
Sunday, June 12
Client Welfare: Counselor Responsibility
---Corey: Chapters 4, 5, 6
---Swenson: Chapter 16
Expert Testimony: Assessment Issues, Risk Assessment
---Swenson: Chapters 8, 9, 17
Tuesday June 21
Special Populations
---Corey: Chapters 10, 13
Thursday, June 23
Issues in Marital and Family Therapy
---Swenson: Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
---Corey: Chapter 11
Saturday, June 25
Multicultural Perspectives and Diversity Issues
---Corey: Chapter 4
Malpractice
---Swenson: Chapter 7
Group Counseling
---Corey: Chapter 12
Sunday, June 26
Present research topics and preliminary research
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July 1st
Exam and Extra Credit Due
July 8th
Research Paper Due
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Academic Policies:
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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:
| My professional background includes a variety of counseling experiences. I first worked as a career counselor in the Washington Opportunities for Women program of George Washington University working primarily with women returning to work after a break in their career usually for raising children. I worked with adolescents in the Hopkins Bayview outpatient adolescent unit. I have taught previously in the University of Maryland undergraduate program and for the past 13 years have been a counselor in the Employee Assistance Service of our sponsoring agency. I attended George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University earning my MS in 1981 in an overseas program much like this one. I went on to earn a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) from Johns Hopkins University. I am a Licensed Clinical Professinal Counselor (LCPC) in the State of Maryland, and am also a Certified Alcoholism Counselor (CAC) and an Accredited Financial Counselor (AFC). | |