Faculty Contact Information:
Thomas Sommerfield, Ph.D.
Assistant Collegiate Professor
Counseling Psychology/Guidance & Counseling
E-mail: tsommerfield@faculty.ed.umuc.edu
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Consultation:
| All class related issues should be addressed using WebTycho whenever possible as other students may have similar questions. Students are encouraged to contact the Instructor via E-mail anytime during the course with questions about individual progress, personal issues, and about any special circumstances which might make it difficult to complete assignments in a timely manner. The Instructor will respond within 24-48 hours. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
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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.
Sperry, L., Carlson, J., and Kjos, D. (2002). Becoming an Effective Therapist. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. | |
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:
| 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:
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The objectives of this course are for students to gain an information base and demonstrate competence in:
- The historical antecedents and current definitions of the counseling profession.
- The standards of counseling as a regulated profession including awareness of professional issues, ethics, and credentialing.
- The theories and basic counseling and interpersonal skills of communication associated with the counseling relationship.
- An understanding and appreciation of various populations with whom counselors work and a multicultural and diversity focus in counseling skills and advocacy.
- Familiarity with appropriate assessment procedures, community resources and intervention strategies and skills, and awareness of the specialty areas of counseling and their various settings.
- An awareness of future trends, particularly the expanded role of technology, and emerging concepts and theories in counseling.
- Enhanced self-awareness of personal strengths, interests, and abilities.
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Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 90%
B 80 – 89%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
GRADES AND GRADING: Students who wish to excel in this course must give evidence of critical thinking, and demonstrate an ability to thoughtfully compose and carry out the written assignments. Students should interact with their fellow students in WebTycho Topic Areas. Diversity of opinion is encouraged; it will serve our learning if we respect each other, and the values and opinions of each of us. If we cultivate an atmosphere in which we can challenge each other and ourselves supportively, we all learn and grow!
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade "F" is used to designate academic failure. "FN" 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.
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Course Requirements:
The following assignments for this course, with their
respective contribution toward the students' grades, are:
• Autobiographical Statement------------(20 points)
• In-class Exercises/Participation------(30 points)
• Special Population/facility Report----(25 points)
• Reaction Papers/presentations---------(15 points)
• Final Self-Exam-----------------------(10 points)
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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. Included in your paper 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 Exercises/Participation. Numerous assignments will be made for the purpose of discussion. Many of these assignments will come from Neukrug's workbook. Completion of these tasks and participation will be necessary for receiving credit.
III. 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.
IV. 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 (each entry) 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. You will present and share these thoughts with the class the last weekend.
V. Final self-exam. 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.
Other 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:
All readings refer to Neukrug’s text:
•20/21 August 2005: chapters 1-5
•10 September 2005: chapters 6-8 (One day)
•17/18 September 05: chapters 9-11, 14, & 15
•01/02 October 2005: chapters 16-20, 12 & 13,; presentations/close
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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. Tom Sommerfield earned his A.A. in General Studies, a B.S. in Psychology, and a M.Ed. in Counseling & Personnel Services all through University of Maryland programs. He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology with a specialization in Family Psychology with Capella University. His primary interests are with children, parenting styles, divorce issues, and children’s exposure to media and/or domestic violence.
Dr. Sommerfield has lived in the Heidelberg, Germany area for about 17 years since leaving high school and joining the U.S. Army. After four successful years as a soldier working in the Heidelberg military department of psychiatry, he has been working as a "civilian" in the Heidelberg military community since 1990. He is married and has a beautiful little family. His son Jerome Thomas is five and his daughter Sydney Joy is four.
When not working, he has "another side of life" while drumming in a very successful music project in the Heidelberg/Karlsruhe area. If interested in surprising him at a show, please visit their site to check the "termine" or schedule at: www.sammy-goes-nuts.
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