Counselor Education and Expressive Arts

This course is an introduction to the profession of counseling including professional identity, history, accreditation, licensure, organizational structure, advocacy, and use of technology. The class also focuses on cultural considerations and the ethical problems in counseling with specific attention given to the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics. This course should be taken in the beginning portion of the students program of study. Non-matriculating students are permitted to take this course.

The course is designed to address the understanding of human growth and development across the life span. The course emphasizes the interwoven nature of development domains (physical, cognitive, social, spiritual, and emotional) and the contextual factors influencing each. The critical nature of cultural implications within human development are explored. Theoretical, practical, and research perspectives will be examined as they apply to the counseling professions. This course should be taken in the beginning portion of the students' program of study. Non-matriculating students are permitted to take this course.

This course should be taken towards the beginning portion of students' program. It explores a wide variety of issues within counseling from an intrapersonal to a systemic level and asks students to examine the lens through which they see themselves and others, especially when working in a counseling environment. The class investigates how human intersectionality, privilege, and oppression impact the counselor/client relationship. This course focuses on counselor-in-training awareness and understanding around cultural elements, the importance of meeting clients where they are, gaining skills in working with a variety of clients, and understanding the role of a professional counselor.

This course includes the conceptual study of the theoretical underpinnings of selected historical and modern counseling theories. These theories will be explored related to personality development, cultural relevance, client maturation, and the change process. Specific theoretical interventions within various theories will be explored. Students will begin to conceptualize how theory, personhood, and cultural development are intimately connected in an effort to identify the theory(ies) that resonate with their counseling style.

This course discusses the foundations and importance of trauma-informed methodology in the counseling profession. Students learn how neurobiological, environmental, biological predispositions, and psychological stressors contribute to the experience of trauma and how trauma impacts various processes, such as grief. The class will also discuss cultural considerations; accessing community support; and self-care for clinicians who treat these populations.

Using a culturally competent approach to research, students explore various research techniques and apply that knowledge to an analysis of existing research in order to design and implement their research projects. The course includes preparing appropriate research questions, a literature review, qualitative and quantitative approaches, research designs, threats to internal and external validity, sampling techniques, data collection methods, and ethical considerations. A basic overview of the application of research methods to program evaluation is provided. Ethical and cultural issues are explored in some depth.

This course focuses on the culture of intimate relationships, such as couples and families. It discusses theoretical frameworks, the structure and process, the systemic life cycle, and the relationship and dynamics between individuals in intimate systems. The impact of culture and society is discussed throughout the course. Students will gain an understanding of how the family system impacts the individual as well as larger systems. Ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and varying definitions of family are discussed.

Students learn about clinical interviewing methods, clinical diagnosing, clinical language, and treatment planning. Through reading, class discussion, and discussing case studies, Students learn how to set goals and make plans that integrate clinical and holistic models that address symptoms, support the whole person, and promote optimal functioning and well-being. This course introduces psychometrics and common assessment formats to enable a student to arrive at a DSM-5 TR diagnosis. This course increases clinical decision making through traditional evidence-based theories, body-centered psychotherapies, and process-oriented models for treatment.

This class explores the theoretical basis for assessment from a historical foundation and culturally aware perspectives. Students practice identifying and assessing the psychological, cultural, psychosocial, and behavioral factors that cause disruptions to mental health wellness. Specifically, this course will explore validity and reliability, psychometric statistics, and test construction. In addition, how tests are used to assess personality, behaviors, types of intelligence, aptitudes, achievement, and career choices will be explored. Students learn how to choose and implement appropriate assessments for individuals, couples, and families. This course will also address crisis intervention and how to use assessments to evaluate risk and implement clinical skills and resources.

This course will provide a framework to view group development as it applies to the field of mental health counseling. The course will provide practical experiences in group process, group interventions, and group facilitation. Students will learn to identify different group types, establish group norms, understand the evolution of a typical group, and become familiar with ethical issues and standards of practice in group work. Students will explore the various implications culture and society has on group development. Students will practice leading a group under supervision in the classroom.

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct career counseling to provide insight and direction to clients' vocational goals. Students will examine career development theories, sources of occupational and educational information, life-style and career decision-making processes, and assessment instruments.

Students will be provided with a foundational understanding of substance use disorder counseling and will engage with the historical and systemic dynamics that contribute to substance use disorders. Theories and etiologies of substance abuse are reviewed, along with pertinent information regarding commonly abused substances. Effective, evidence-based substance use disorder assessments, treatment modalities, and treatment settings are reviewed as a relevant part of the treatment continuum. Students will challenge commonly held biases and beliefs regarding substance use and abuse, and apply an equitable, wellness-based, and socially just approach to substance use counseling. There will also be discussions of commonly used psychopharmacological drugs within mental health and rehabilitation counseling.

This is the capstone course for the Counselor Education Program and students in both specializations will take this course. The focus of the course is integrating concepts and skills from previous courses related to one's identity as a counselor and the integration of meaning in the work of counseling professionals. Students will incorporate awareness, meaning-making, assessment. knowledge, and skills from a holistic, systemic, developmental, accessible, and wellness perspectives into counseling practice.

The course focuses on the emergence of an integrative perspective as it applies to the development of Western science and philosophy within counseling and leadership as distinct disciplines. It examines how attitudes, beliefs, and epistemological have influenced professional practice in counseling and leadership. The course further traces how recent changes in scientific assumptions have affected a shift in both research and professional practice and considers the implications of this shift. Ethics and a holistic or integrative orientation related to these professions are introduced.

The course experience provides the opportunity to explore ones basic communication style of interacting with others both verbally and non-verbally. Through practice in dyads. and/or the whole class, students learn and apply basic interpersonal helping skills such as listening, primary accurate empathy, immediacy, the art of challenging, and appropriate self-disclosure - effective professional skills in the helping professions.

This course will focus on defining, experiencing, and working with the body-mind connection. Current research findings in neuroscience, modalities, and techniques that affect the body-mind connection and somatic therapeutic processes will be explored. This course is essential for holistic clinical mental health counselors and holistic leaders to integrate the mind-body perspective into their work.

This foundation course serves as an introduction to the uses of the expressive arts as an educational and therapeutic vehicle for self-awareness, personal growth and transformation of consciousness. Through experiential exercises and discussion, this course will explore how a variety of arts-based modalities can be utilized to support the learning and healing pathways for individuals and groups. The in-class experiences will draw upon various expressive arts modalities, including: visual imagery, sound, movement, and writing, as part of an inter-modal expressive arts approach. Students will further develop their understanding of the material with responses to readings and other educational resources on the theories, research and approaches to working with the arts as a transformational process and practice. This course also introduces ways to begin to adapt and utilize these holistic practices with others, in a variety of professional settings, including in counseling, psychotherapy, education, healthcare, the arts, and community settings.

Students learn how neurobiological, environmental, biological predispositions, and psychological stressors contribute to the experience of trauma. This course presents the latest research in traditional and body-centered counseling modalities, cultural consideration; accessing community support; and self-care for clinicians who treat this population.

This foundation course serves as an introduction to the uses of Expressive Sound and Music as a vehicle for growth and transformation. Through exercises and discussion, the course will explore how Expressive Sound can be utilized to help release tensions, express emotions, and calm the nervous system. The in-class experiences will draw upon various sound-based modalities, including: breathing practices, vocal toning, deep listening, rhythm explorations, and improvisation as part of an intermodal expressive arts approach. This course also introduces ways to begin to adapt and utilize these practices with others in a variety of professional settings, including counseling, psychotherapy, education, healthcare, the arts, and the corporate environment. This course is one of the prerequisite foundation courses for the CAGS/CGS in the professional application of the expressive and creative arts.

This course is predicated on research indicating a direct correlation between physical and mental health and one's sense of personal meaning and connectedness to a larger purpose. Students gain awareness of how various world views, cultures, backgrounds, and personal perspectives define meaning and purpose and of how to respectfully practice culturally competent skills for work with clients and/or within a family or place of employment. The course also provides practical tools and techniques with which to assist others to explore similar questions of meaning in their lives, work, organizations, communities, and world-wide. This course is to be taken in the final semester for students in the Holistic Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program and Leadership Dynamic and Practice Program.

This course is an elective and explores best practices for counselors when clients discuss their spiritual and religious identities. Students will develop awareness of the impact of their own values, gain knowledge in the foundational concepts of spirituality and religion in counseling, and will learn skills to help clients process their spiritual and religious experiences and values. Further, students will understand the boundaries of a counselor's role in this realm and be able to help clients process spiritual and religious content in a way that promotes optimal well-being for a culturally diverse clientele. The most up-to-date ethical codes, professional guidelines, equity-based frameworks, and best practices of the counseling profession will be used to engage with this course.

This course is an elective. The course will provide students more advanced skill training with specific focus on theory integration, skill development, clinical language, and assessment. Students' will gain practice refining their counseling skills, providing feedback, and conceptualizing more client cases. Increasing attention is paid to the student's self-awareness and emotional responses. This course should not be taken before Interpersonal Skills in the HCMHC specialization or Motivational Interviewing in the CRBC specialization.

Practicum is the student's first clinical field experience. The requirements for this course are fulfilled in a community-based counseling facility and a weekly university seminar. Students begin to develop and apply their counseling skills and abilities in clinical settings. The in-the-field experience consists of approximately 10 hours a week of direct and indirect field experience for a total of 100 clinical-hours and a weekly seminar class. The clinical placement site must be approved by the program. Students will work with a qualified on-site supervisor who will provide site supervision and evaluate the student's counseling skills, preparation, and professionalism in the field. The course instructor will provide a weekly seminar, supervision, assessment, and support. The primary supervision will come from the on-site supervisor. Qualifications for appropriate Site Supervisors are found within the Practicum Agreement. Students are expected to participate in the program's pre-requirements before starting practicum.

This course emphasizes the potential for every human being to heal and change. The course will examine scientific and anthropologic writings on healing as well as how professionals can act as supportive agents in the change process.

This course will explore the relationship between archetypal images, the body and personal myth. Based on the work of Carl G. Jung, the course will introduce and expose students to a basic understanding of depth psychology through the use of myth and metaphor.

This course is an elective and discusses current information, skills, and strategies for counseling interventions specific to various aspects of the grief process. This will include acute, sustained, and ambiguous grief.

Special topics course offered periodically during the academic year.

This foundation course explores the use of the expressive and creative arts as a therapeutic and educational tool for transformation, self-discovery, physical healing, and the evolution of consciousness. Using the body-mind's inner language of imagery, students will learn how to access, release and transform nonverbal sensate impressions of feelings and emotions through a variety of integrative arts processes, including drawing, image-making, and collage. As students experience the energetic shifts that occur in the body-mind when imagery is used to express inner states of awareness, they will begin to understand how thoughts, feelings and emotions can affect the body/mind/spirit. Through hands-on exercises, students will begin to recognize how the expressive arts can help support intra-personal and inter-personal development on many levels. This course also introduces ways to begin to utilize the transformative process with others in a variety of professional settings including, counseling, psychotherapy, education, medical caregiving, the arts, and the corporate environment. This course is one of the prerequisite foundation courses for the CAGS/CGS in the expressive and creative arts.

This two-credit course will introduce a variety of experiences to help students to develop a clearer understanding of the body/mind/spirit connection; to increase awareness of the creative, psychological and spiritual potential as revealed through the body; and to begin to develop an understanding of each person's unique resources and responsiveness through movement. Movement as an expression of a path toward increased somatic awareness will be explored as part of an intermodal expressive arts approach. Students will also begin to explore ways of working with others in the fields of counseling, education, psychotherapy, and other helping professions to help individuals and groups integrate more embodied modalities into their work. This course is one of the prerequisite foundation courses for the CAGS/CGS program in the professional applications of the expressive and creative arts.

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to develop a knowledge base regarding the theories and research about gender, biological sex, affection, and sexuality and how that impacts the work of counselors. Biological, cognitive, psychological, spiritual, and emotional components related to gender, sex, and sexual and affectional orientation will be explored. Historical and cultural contexts will also be examined. The course is offered periodically at the program's discretion.

This course utilizes counseling and developmental theories, creativity, and research to cultivate therapeutic skills in assessing and treating young people. In doing so, the course discusses cultural and systemic factors that impact child development and growth. The course is offered periodically at the program's discretion.

Student interns will practice clinical counseling skills in clinical field placements approved by the internship coordinator. The requirements for this course are primarily fulfilled in a community-based mental health counseling facility. Students begin to develop and apply their counseling skills and abilities in clinical settings. This class is the first part of a two-semester clinically supervised experience. This class requires 300 direct and indirect field hours and an on-campus weekly seminar. Students are required to obtain professional liability insurance coverage to participate in this course and their site supervisor must meet the program's supervision requirements. Requirements for this class are subject to change based on RI LMHC licensure requirements.

In the second semester of clinical internship, student interns will practice clinical counseling skills in clinical placements approved by the internship coordinator. The requirements for this course are primarily fulfilled in a community-based mental health counseling facility. At this level of training, students work on the more advanced and nuanced skills and various professional responsibilities in their clinical field placement settings. This class requires 300 direct and indirect field hours and an on-campus weekly seminar. Students are required to obtain professional liability insurance coverage to participate in this course and their site supervisor must meet the program's supervision requirements. Requirements for this class are subject to change based on RI LMHC licensure requirements.

The Arts, Nature and Eco-Consciousness is an integrative learning course, presented in an experiential-learning, workshop format. The class presents foundational material on Deep Ecology, Eco-Psychology, and the role of the creative process in renewing our connection with the environment. The class will emphasize a holistic approach to embodied creative arts processes that reflect the interconnectedness of all life within the earth's community. It will also encourage self-exploration through image making and creative expression (visual arts, sound, movement & theatre arts). The class also presents foundational material on the philosophies of important visionaries in the field of human-nature relationships. Through a hands-on approach to self-expression and reverential ecology, participants will be able to apply the concepts presented in their personal and professional life, in a variety of settings including counseling, education, coaching and community organizations.

This course is designed to provide students with experiential opportunities for creative self-discovery using various integrated expressive arts modalities, focusing primarily on image-making and visual arts. In addition, it offers discussion segments that explore the importance for our time and culture of engaging our connection to our own individual creativity and inner wisdom, and the effect doing this can have on the growth of personal as well as collective consciousness. One key premise of the course is that each of us is born creative and that being creative is the nature of being alive. Another key premise is that, in order to be effective in integrating the use of art, creativity and image-making in any educational, therapeutic, business or other professional settings, it is critical to explore one's creative process, development, and style. Accordingly, the principal emphasis of the course is on individual work using personal process, in-class discussions, outside assignments and an independently designed project to develop a self-discovery creative/visual journal. This course is offered in a hybrid format, involving weekend experiential intensives along with guided study time for personal and professional integration. This course is required for the CAGS/CGS in the professional applications of the expressive and creative arts. Any student who would like to register for this course prior to acceptance into the CAGS/CGS expressive and creative arts program would need specific permission of the program coordinator.

In this course, students have an opportunity to do hands-on experiential work in the expressive and creative arts as applied to a variety of fields including counseling, education, healthcare, and other helping professions. The emphasis will be on the modalities of expressive movement and theater arts, with the integration of visual arts and writing interwoven as part of the multi-modal approach. A fundamental premise of this course is that the embodied practices of movement and theater arts provide a vital avenue of expression for the inner self. In addition, the multi-modal approach will create opportunities to reflect upon the ways that one mode of expression informs another, so a deeper understanding of the interplay of modalities, as an intermodal process, will be another area of learning. This course is offered in a hybrid format, involving weekend experiential intensives along with guided study time for personal and professional integration. This course is required for the CAGS/CGS in the professional applications of the expressive and creative arts. Any student who would like to register for this course prior to acceptance into the CAGS/CGS expressive and creative arts program would need specific permission of the program coordinator.

This course will explore central concepts and approaches to using the expressive and creative arts with groups and individuals along with the integration and application of this work, applied to a variety of fields including counseling, education, healthcare, and other helping professions. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the application of experiences with the expressive and creative arts in various settings, and will consider applications for a variety of group, individual and community levels. Students will learn how to design and implement a program with appropriate uses of various arts modalities, as part of an intermodal arts approach, including movement, sound, writing and the visual arts. In a specific area of professional interest, students will develop a proposal for a program demonstrating the benefits to a specific group or community. This course is offered in a hybrid format, involving weekend experiential intensives along with guided study time for personal and professional integration. This is designed to be one of the final required courses in the CAGS/CGS program and it is advised to have completed at least several other 600-level courses in the Expressive and Creative Arts. To register for this expressive and creative arts CAGS/CGS course requires permission of the Program Coordinator.

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the principles and applications of expressive writing as a transformational tool that can facilitate emotional, physical and spiritual healing as well as self-discovery, personal growth and conflict resolution. The course will focus on how expressive writing can be used with others in counseling, psychotherapy, healthcare, the arts, education, and the corporate environment. In this course, students will learn how to adapt and integrate expressive writing into their own professional areas of specialization through class discussions and in-class writing exercises that emphasize an intermodal expressive and creative arts approach to writing. This course is offered in a hybrid format involving weekend experiential intensives along with guided study time for personal and professional integration. This course is required for the CAGS/CGS in the Professional Applications of the Expressive and Creative Arts. Any student who would like to register for this course prior to acceptance into the CAGS/CGS Expressive and Creative Arts Program would need specific permission of the program coordinator.

This expressive arts course will deepen one's understanding of the realms of expressive sound, music and rhythm as a means of personal growth, community-building and healing. The specific focal points for the course will include: vocal explorations and toning, elements of music for self-discovery and community-building, creativity and music, and recreational music making. We will also incorporate the practice of deep listening and mindfulness as a touchstone for the explorations. The course combines theory with practical exercises that demonstrate how to integrate them into programs for healing and education, as utilized in a variety of settings. Students will learn how to adapt and integrate elements of expressive sound and music into their professional areas of specialization, including counseling, psychotherapy, medical caregiving, the arts, education, and the corporate environment, through discussions and the utilization of sound and music-based exercises that emphasize an intermodal arts approach. This course is offered in a hybrid format, involving weekend experiential intensives along with guided study time for personal and professional integration. This course is required for the CAGS/CGS in the professional applications of the expressive and creative arts. Any student who would like to register for this course prior to acceptance into the CAGS/CGS expressive and creative arts program would need specific permission of the program coordinator.

This course will allow students to explore ethical questions in areas such as boundary issues, general communication rules and regulations, utilization of electronic communications, cultural competence, professional competence, risk management, and other ethical and confidentiality considerations related to working with those who have substance use disorders.

This course will focus on developing students' competency in Motivational Interviewing (MI). Emphasis is placed on the development of basic listening and reflecting skills. The impact of age, gender, disability, and ethnic diversity on the counseling process is explored. MI is a method of guided conversation designed to enhance motivation for positive change. Students learn how to help clients examine and resolve their ambivalence to make change. Through triadic work, students practice the techniques of MI and adopt its spirit as a facilitative style for developing interpersonal relationships. Motivational Interviewing is recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as an evidence-based practice. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have developed proficiency in a SAMHSA evidence-based practice.

The counseling practicum in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling fosters professional growth, knowledge, and skills development along with an awareness of the counseling process and issues that affect service delivery for clients. It is the student's first immersion experience in a clinical setting. Students are expected to complete an average of 10+ hours per week in the field as a clinical counselor in training, supervised by an on-site counselor approved by the University. Students are required to complete 100 hours by the end of the semester. There is a seminar class that accompanies the clinical component where students will also participate in a class presenting clinical cases, submitting recordings for review, and journals reflecting their experiences. Evaluations that indicate a student is not at skill competency in this course will require the student complete a Professional Development Plan. This is to provide additional direction and assistance in gaining skill competency. For CRBC students, this replaces RHB 521: Practicum II and Seminar.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of past and current psychotherapeutic approaches with the primary focus being placed on the cognitive behavioral, evidence-based therapeutic intervention, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Therapy (DBT) used for the treatment of people with Borderline Personality Disorder {BPD) as well as other mental health related issues. Students gain insight into the practical application of this intervention through discourse and subsequent practice with fieldwork application in their clinical courses. Additionally, this seminar addresses principles of crisis intervention for people with mental health disabilities during crises, disasters, and trauma-causing events. Students learn to implement effective crisis assessment tools for clients that are in overwhelming emotional turmoil and recommend the appropriate clinical intervention(s) based on the aforementioned.

Counselors need expertise concerning the medical aspects of disabilities when working with clients with mental health issues. Clients typically experience a variety of co-occurring medical and functional issues that impact their ability to achieve wellness, independence and have a good quality of life. Major types of disabilities are examined and explored in relationship to the psychosocial impacts of a disability for the clients. The implications of chronic illnesses on clients' functioning in their personal, social, occupational and independent living are examined. Students acquire working knowledge of the use of community resources and the medical knowledge to work with interdisciplinary teams to assist in the development of appropriate individualized rehabilitation treatment plans. Students develop an understanding of the basis for the diagnostic and prognostic judgments in assessing a client's functional capacity.

Rehabilitation counseling is a critical specialization within the counseling profession. Within this course, students will learn about the rich history including major disability laws that have impacted attitudes and practice; a philosophy of rehabilitation counseling; the professional identity, roles and settings of rehabilitation counselors; the standards of practice, legal and ethical issues and responsibilities of rehabilitation counselors; various models for understanding disability with specific attention to the biopsychosocial model; assessment; rehabilitation relevant research; vocational rehabilitation systems and practice; assistive technology; major concepts that guide rehabilitation counseling {including independent living, universal design, functional capacity and inclusion}; self-assessment; and counselor awareness related to disabilities and how it can impact counselor/client relationships.

Internship I and Seminar is the second (out of 3) course in the Rehabilitation Counseling clinical sequence. Student interns will practice clinical counseling skills in clinical field placements approved by the internship coordinator. Students will complete 300 direct and indirect clinical hours in community organizations and attend a weekly seminar to discuss and process experiences, examine ethical practice, and further develop counseling skills and knowledge for professional practice. The agency experience must be primarily focused on providing direct rehabilitation and mental health counseling services. The experience should include group work as well as individual one to one counseling services. The internship must be supervised for an average of one hour per week by a MA level counselor who meets the University requirements for a supervisor. Seminar requirements for this class are subject to change based on RI LMHC licensure requirements.

Internship II and Seminar is the final course in the Rehabilitation Counseling specialization clinical sequence. Student interns will continue to hone clinical counseling skills in clinical field placements approved by the internship coordinator. Students will complete 300 direct and indirect clinical hours in community organizations and attend a weekly seminar to discuss and process experiences, examine ethical practice, and further develop counseling skills and knowledge for professional practice. The agency experience must be primarily focused on providing direct rehabilitation and mental health counseling services. The experience should include group work as well as individual one to one counseling services. The internship must be supervised for an average of one hour per week by a MA level counselor who meets the University requirements for a supervisor. Requirements for this class are subject to change based on RI LMHC licensure requirements.

Special topics courses related to rehabilitation and addictions counseling content are offered on an annual basis.

This course will examine the fundamentals of drug pharmacology and drug interactions. Lectures will review current psychotropic medication protocols as well as herbal and nutraceutical complements to psychotherapy and therapeutic interventions.