Pittsburg State University
College of Education
Department of Psychology & Counseling
Fall 2009
Psych 844 Diversity Issues in Counseling Th 3:30 to 6:20pm
Instructor: Harriet Bachner, Ph.D.
Office: 205F Whitesitt Hall Office phone: 620 235-4633
Office hours: MTW 11am to 1pm, Th. 1pm to 3:15pm, F 10am to 12pm. & by appointment
Description of course: The theory & practice of counseling & psychotherapy with special populations. Special emphasis is given to issues requiring diversity & multicultural awareness as related to counseling.
Course purposes & outcomes: After completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Describe their own level of multicultural development as that relates to the various counseling theories & educational practices.
2. Use sensitivity in discussing the issues affecting diverse individuals & families, such as: racial & ethnic diversity, effects of poverty, GLBT couples & their families, people with disabilities, & the elderly.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of their perceptions, assumptions, expectations, & behaviors towards social groups, including their own.
4. Describe the ways their cultural background affects their expectations in their professional endeavors & interpersonal contacts.
5. Analyze cultures & social/political context of several groups in the U.S. as based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity & orientation, age, & disability.
6. Identify & analyze topics of prejudice & discrimination, as well as cultural differences between & within these groups.
7. Ask appropriate questions to gain a cultural knowledge base about the client & his/her cultural background.
8. Identify & practice the counseling ethics as related to issues in cultural diversity.
9. Develop a body of knowledge regarding various cultures & contrast those to cultural stereotypes.
People are only influenced in the direction in which they want to go, & influence consists largely in making them conscious of their wishes to proceed in that direction. T.S. Elliot
Eligibility requirements & prerequisites: The prerequisite is Psychology 821 or permission from the instructor. Psych 844 may be used by graduate counseling students for licensure.
Instructional materials:
Sue, D.W. & Sue, D (2008). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory & practice, 5th ed.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Lecture notes on Angel in the Lessons tab
Various links to relevant sources on Angel in the Lessons tab
Selected assigned readings from professional journals & texts related counseling & diversity
Optional text:
Janzen, C., Harris, O., Jordan, C. & Franklin, C. (2006). Family treatment: Evidence-based
practice with populations at risk, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Instructional procedures & activities: The instruction involves a combination of lecture, discussion of readings, media, & activities in which students are expected to be active participants. Some of these activities use small group format, video, student presentations, & guest speakers.
Since this course is about diversity, this is your opportunity to gain insight into yourself & your own cultural dynamics. Class discussion is vital to the enjoyment of the class. Your participation & sharing of anecdotal examples help make this class lively & memorable. Come to class prepared to be active in discussing the readings, your ideas, & experiences that are relevant to the readings & the lecture.
Incomplete policy: The grade of incomplete is not given if students are unable to attend a substantial portion of the class meetings or to complete most of the assignments & tests. An incomplete grade is considered only if some urgent unforeseen event prevents the student from completing one of the assignments or the final exam & the student notifies the instructor before the final exam. See pp. 31 & 77 of the PSU Catalog for additional explanation of the incomplete policy.
Reminder to check the PSU course schedule & catalog for information on withdrawals, incompletes, & academic honesty. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, collusion, & falsifying academic records. See p. 39-40 in the PSU catalog for more information regarding academic honesty.
Regarding citation of sources: A direct quote is the use of 5 or more words in sequence from the source. When quoting or paraphrasing one must give credit (reference) to the source using APA style. Otherwise, it is considered plagiarism. Use APA style in the assignments, particularly when using sources.
Attendance policy: You are expected to attend class regularly & participate in class discussions & activities, to notify the instructor if you will have an extended absence, to make arrangements to complete any missed work, & obtain class notes. So if you are absent, I assume that you have a good reason for not attending class, otherwise you would be in class. Therefore, do not bring me any kind of written excuse. Attendance is considered in the calculation of the final grade. More than two (2) absences results in your grade being lowered by one (1) letter grade. Thus, the calculation of the grade begins at the total points for a B. It is recommended that you drop the course if you miss 4 or more classes. The last day to drop a course is November 6 & the last day to withdraw from the university is December 10.
Although there are some class activities completed in class & these cannot be made-up, it is each student’s responsibility to do the required work for this course in a timely & thoughtful manner.
Inclement weather and disaster policy:
The following are basic premises for the inclement weather policy at Pittsburg State University:
a. Classes are held if at all possible.
b. It is the student's responsibility to access the information when the weather is
questionable.
c. Neither students nor faculty are expected to risk life or limb.
d. During times of inclement weather, decisions concerning classes are made based
on the ability of the students & faculty to arrive safely to class.
e. If class is going to be cancelled, an email message will be sent to students & a message
may also be posted on GUS.
Students with disabilities: If any member of the class has a disability & needs special accommodations, please advise the instructor of such disability on the first class attended. Learning Center director is Kelly Heiskell and her email is .
Student evaluation of course & instructor: At the conclusion of the semester, the students have an opportunity to evaluate their instructor & the course PSYCH 844. This is completed anonymously & used as a means to improve instruction, course content, & the PSU Counseling program. The suggestions, comments &/or criticisms from students are taken seriously & hopefully contribute to the improvement of the course & PSU’s academic program.
A pupil from whom nothing is ever demanded which he cannot do, never does all he can.
John Stuart Mill
Evaluation of student performance & achievement: Students will demonstrate the following CACREP Clinical Mental Health Counseling Standards through class activities, assignments, presentations, use of media, readings, & accessing sources as posted on Angel.
1. Advocate on behalf of the role & process of the professional counselor in the profession.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the cultural context of relationships, issues, & trends in a multicultural society through activities designed to foster understanding of self & diverse clients.
3. Discuss personal & diverse groups’ cultural identity development & social justice theories.
4. Identify strategies & competencies for working with & advocating for diverse populations.
5. Discuss counselor’s role in eliminating biases, prejudices, & processes of oppression & discrimination.
6. Identify strategies to meet needs of persons with exceptional abilities who need differentiated interventions.
Course outcomes and CACREP standards are accomplished through the following learning activities, required assessments, & assignments:
1. Class participation: You are encouraged to participate in class activities, including group activities, simulations, discussions, or individual class assignments. Your attendance & participation also are considered in the final calculation of your grade. For example, if you are just a couple points away from an A & you have perfect attendance & you have participated in discussion & class activities, you will receive an A.
CACREP standards numbers 2, 3, 5, & 6
2. Midterm & final exams: These exams are composed of multiple-choice, true-false, matching, & essay questions. The exams cover material from the text, notes, & class discussions. See the catalog for statement on academic honesty.
CACREP standards 2, 4, & 6
3. Completion of one of the following: genogram, personal diagram, family map/tree, or poster with pictures, quotes, illustrations of the statements or messages (both implicit & explicit) that you received during your childhood & adulthood from your family, friends, & school settings. The format for this is your choice. Some students prefer a schematic family tree or genogram with remembered statements quoted on the tree & others use poetry, a narrative, or letters to/from various members. Significant people, not in the family, can be included, as can memorable experiences & events. The idea of this assignment is to help you identify how your views of others, who are from diverse backgrounds, are formed & how you as a counselor must be aware of the positive & negative voices & perceptions that helped shape your present client/world view. You will share what you feel most comfortable in sharing with the class.
CACREP standards 1, 2, 3, & 5
4. Research paper: By the 2nd class you are to select a topic related to diversity counseling from the text, readings, or the course schedule that you would like to investigate further. You are required to write an 8 page report (not including title page or reference page) in APA style on your topic, reviewing the literature & research on that issue & to explore other possible directions for investigation on your topic. You can propose what you think is an important area for future research in your concluding remarks & summary of the information available thus far. You are to include at least 5 references from professional journals & publications, not including your textbook. Refrain from using your textbook as a reference, but you can locate the sources cited in your textbooks & use those. There is a list of diversity sources on ANGEL that may be useful. You may check out several of these sources from Dr. Bachner.
CACREP standards numbers 2, 4, 5, & 6
5. Minority experience: You are to place yourself in a situation in which you are the
minority & then reflect on the feelings & perceptions that experience has evoked (i.e. attending a worship service conducted by a racial group outside one’s own or attending a cultural event of an unfamiliar cultural, racial, ethnic, or sexual orientation group, or sharing a meal or an activity with someone from a different culture). If you were raised in a Christian denomination, attending a worship service in a different Christian denomination from yours is not considered to be a minority experience. Attending a Buddhist worship service if you are Christian would be considered a minority experience. You will present this experience in class & prepare a 2-3 page written report of the experience.
CACREP standards numbers 1, 2, 3, & 5
6. Critical analysis of a diversity film: You will view a movie that portrays a diverse culture or minority group. After watching this movie, you will select a clip to be shown in class that exemplifies a diversity issue. You can show your movie clip at the same time that you present information from your research report. So therefore you could select a movie that is consistent with the topic/theme of your research paper. There is no written report required, just inclusion in your class presentation. Some examples of recommended movies are the following:
Business of fancy dancing Crash Himalaya
At 5 in the afternoon (Afghan) Travelors & magicians (Buddhist) Turtles can fly (Iraq)
Down in the Delta The joy luck club My family-Mi familia
Smoke signals What’s cooking? Monsoon wedding
Spring, summer, fall, winter Story of the weeping camel Osama
Milk Thunderheart Running Brave
Whale rider Three seasons Run Lola run
The horse thief Shower Talk to her
Married late Y tu Mama tambien Burnt by the sun
Antonia’s line Bhagdad cafe Brokeback mountain
Ballroom Harry & Tonto Up & down (Czech)
Mississippi Masalo (India, Uganda, & U.S.) Spanglish My big fat Greek wedding
My left foot El norte When we were colored
The wedding banquet The education of Little Tree Japanese story
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of movies or documentaries. There are many & you are certainly welcome to share some film that is not on this list.
7. Annotated log of selected media: You will view 4 videos or DVDs as indicated on the supplied list of those in the IRC or the PSU library & write a brief summary & review of each of the media that you viewed.
CACREP standards 3, 4, 5, & 6
Student evaluation is determined by the accumulation of points from the above
described assignments & exams with the following point values
Assignment/exam Total Points Possible Points earned
Cultural Genogram/Family tree/poster 25 ___________
Midterm exam 65 ___________
Final exam 65 ___________
Research paper & class presentation 100 ___________
Reflection/critical analysis of film 10 ___________
shown in class
Minority experience 40 ___________
Annotated media log 30 ___________
Total 335 ___________
A = 335 - 301 B = 300 - 268 C = 267 - 235 D = 234 – 201
Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning. Maya Angelou
Course schedule: Please note that this course schedule is an optimistic projection of what I would like to cover during the semester. Because we may spend more or less time on a particular topic, this schedule & the assignments may be changed to fit the needs & interests of the class members & time constraints.
Date Topic Assignment &/or Readings due
Aug. 27 Introductions & overview of the course Enthusiastic attitude
Explore biases & prejudices Chap. 1 & 2
Cross cultural emotional display rules Select topic for research
Take at least one of the assessments on https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ There are several from which to choose, so select the one(s) in which you are most interested. Bring the results to class on Sept. 3 & be prepared to discuss your results or perceptions of the tests in class.
Sept. 3 Discuss hidden biases, cultural competence, Chap. 3& 4