Counseling (COU)

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.