Counseling
Program Information
A career in community counseling provides you with a broad opportunity to work with children of all ages, adolescents and adults in community agencies. Counselors must be equipped to work with both individuals and groups.
The school counselor is involved in personal counseling, career guidance, vocational and educational counseling, family counseling, and consultation on classroom problems with teachers and administrators. Much of the school counselor's work is carried out in classrooms with teachers and students. The school counselor also is active in working with community agencies.
Requirements and Courses
First Semester Courses (Fall)
COUN 501 Counseling Theory and Techniques 1 introduces students to basic counseling skills and techniques and to some of the main theories in counseling. Students learn about counseling techniques and how to use them and see demonstrations of counseling. Also students get the opportunity to practice implementing the techniques they are seeing and reading about in their text books.
COUN 536 Lifespan Human Development. This course covers physical, cognitive, affective, and social development
of individuals across the human lifespan. Students are introduced to normative aspects of development from infancy to old age, as well as factors that contribute to the development of psychopathology.
COUN 608. Organization/Development: School Counseling Services covers the many aspects of being a school counselor. Design and conduct of a school needs assessment, development of an annual guidance program, and review of current professional legal issues are discussed in this course. (ONLY FOR THOSE IN THE SCHOOL TRACK)
COUN 622. Community Counseling focuses on the role and function of the community agency counselor. How to diagnose and use the DSM, how to conduct intake interviews and how to handle difficult case situations will be demonstrated and discussed. (ONLY FOR THOSE IN THE COMMUNITY TRACK)
COUN 634. Cultural Issues emphasizes the importance of the counselor being aware of the impact of cultural differences on the counseling process. Issues specific to ethnicity, gender, race, socioeconomic status are discussed. Different counseling styles and cross cultural counseling methods are demonstrated. Group and experiential activities are required.
Ed Psychology 612. Research This course is taught by the Educational Psychology department and focuses on understanding research design and basic statistical applications that apply to research and testing.
Second Semester (Spring)
COUN 606. Counseling Theory and Techniques 2 is a continuation of Counseling Theory and Techniques 1 with greater emphasis on the study of many of the major counseling theories that are commonly used in public schools, colleges, agencies, and rehabilitation centers. Students learn how to apply the different theories to different case situations.
COUN 630. Counseling Children and Adolescents focuses on practical application of the principles of counseling to children and adolescents. Students are required to practice implementing the major concepts presented in the course.
COUN 632. Counseling Adolescents and Adults covers techniques, theories, and models that apply to the counseling of adolescents and adults. Emphasis will be given to stages of adolescents and adult development and the various problems that face adolescents and adults. Demonstration of counseling with adolescents and adults is required.
COUN 640. Addictions Counseling. Specific techniques and models that apply to counseling the addicted client will be explored. Chemical addictions, food addictions, relationship addictions, sexual addictions, and ethics will be addressed. Demonstration of counseling clients with various addictions is required.
COUN 660. Field Experience in School Counseling is for those enrolled in the Alternate School Counseling Certification Program. Students are involved in various learning activities centered around teaching and curriculum development. Most of the class time is spent at a school observing or interviewing teachers or principals. (ONLY FOR THOSE IN THE SCHOOL TRACK AND WHO ARE COMPLETING THE ALTERNATE SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAM)
Summer
COUN 505. Theory and Practice of Human Appraisal provides an overview of standardized evaluation methods commonly utilized in educational, agency, and rehabilitation settings. Experience is provided in selection, administration, ethical standards, and interpretation of selected testing instruments.
COUN 665. Abnormal Behavior. PR: COUN 606 and COUN 536. The course is designed to explore the range of personality and behavioral disorders as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Focus will be on: diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders: the descriptive criteria, etiology, assessment, diagnosis, multicultural issues, and psychotropic considerations.
Third Semester (Second Fall)
COUN 609. Group Counseling Theory and Techniques focuses primarily on development of group leadership skills. Different kinds of groups and leadership styles will be demonstrated and practiced.
COUN 620. Lifespan Career Counseling Principles and methods involved in career counseling starting in the schools and going through mid-life changes and retirement are presented. Emphasis is on theories of career development and life-style planning, career choices, and lifelong work adjustment.
COUN 645. Couples and Family Counseling focuses on the many different theories, techniques, and methods of couples and family counseling. Demonstration of counseling skills for couples and families is required.
COUN 685. Practicum is an intensive, one or two day supervised practical experience in public schools or agencies. Students are required to engage in individual and group counseling.
Fourth Semester (Second Spring)
COUN 664. Ethical Issues in Counseling. Surveys the legal and ethical issues and professional ethics codes in the counseling profession. Ethical principles applied to schools, agencies, and private practice. Many states require a course in ethics in order to be licensed in that state.
COUN 686. Counseling Internship is a full-time supervised field experience where the student is on site five days a week seeing clients and working with the supervisor in all the aspects of counseling.
Alternative School Program
Two other courses are required but may be waived due to undergraduate course work. See information regarding the School Counseling Program.
Electives
Even though there are no required electives, we do offer some elective courses for one and three hours credit.
COUN 662. Grief Counseling is an overview of grief counseling. Stages and kinds of grief will be discussed. Techniques for counseling with adults and kids will be shown, practiced, and discussed. Videos of actual grief counseling sessions will be presented. (Block I)
COUN 694. Crisis Intervention Strategies is an overview of the many different kinds of crisis counseling situations that a counselor may face. Suicide calls, other desperation calls, community crisis situations, disaster crisis situations, and school crisis situations will be discussed, demonstrated, and practiced. (Block II)
PLEASE NOTE: There are specific dates by which students must withdraw to receive reimbursement of tuition money. The information is located on Refunds.