Advanced Counseling Practicum

Advanced Counseling Practicum

PSY 493 Spring 2016

Instructor:Dr. Bob SwoapOffice: 103 Jensen

email: hone: 771-3706

homepage: (where you will find the online syllabus)

Office Hours: M W : 11 - 11:30; 1-2

T & Th: 1:45-3:00

Other times available by appointment

Prerequisites:

PSY 100 and PSY 326. PSY 312 is recommended. Permission of instructor

Course Description:

Students should come into this practicum with a reasonable understanding of theories of counseling and psychotherapy and should be conversant about the major therapeutic approaches to behavior change. This course expands on this knowledge. It entails a supervised advanced practicum in counseling designed to develop counseling skills that should link counselor practice to teaching and supervision. Group discussions, supervision, observation of and provision of feedback to fellow students, and readings will be utilized in the practicum experience. Students will write case conceptualizations of clients, treatment plans, and case summaries.

Student Outcomes: By the end of the semester, a student will be able to:

1. Integrate psychological science and clinical practice.
2. Demonstrate counseling skills in a clinical setting.
3. Describe how newly acquired skills link with teaching and supervision.
4. Write case conceptualizations, reports, and reflections.
5. Participate constructively in supervision, including use of supervisory feedback to modify subsequent counseling behavior.

Assignments:

• Conduct 12 weekly counseling sessions with a resident of StoneCreek Health & Rehabilitation
• Papers (Instructions for these are at the end of the syllabus)
• Initial Case Assessment
• Final Service Reflection Paper
• Final Case Report
• Participate in group supervision

The quality of our classes depends on your active participation in class. My expectation is that you will be at all of the class meetings, unless you have an unforeseeable emergency/illness or have cleared it with me ahead of time. You must contact me ahead of time if you are going to miss a day in which we go to Stone Creek. Please text me immediately (828.333.0594) if you know you can not go to Stone Creek. This should only happen if you are sick and contagious. Feeling down, anxious, out of sorts, etc. are not excuses for not going to Stone Creek. Your resident will depend on your weekly visit.Positive class participation involves arriving on time (for the car-shuttle to Stone Creek and for class on campus), being prepared for discussions, and being willing to share your thoughts and feedback. Excellent class participation includes staying focused on the issues even when the supervision is directed at someone else. Stay engaged!

• Keep a courseportfolio which will include:

Record of counseling sessions. This should be written as soon as possible after your Tuesday session with your client. Write the details of the session. What was the focus? How did you feel during the session? What strategies did you employ? What questions do you have?

Record of group supervision. What questions did you want to get answered? What did you gain from the supervision? What did you provide a classmate during the supervision?

Reactions/responses to any assigned readings

Expectations and Guidelines for Group Supervision

At the beginning stages of group supervision, students should set supervision goals appropriate for their stage of development as therapists. Sometimes supervisees will share “how-to” stories or spend time teaching each other. In the early stages of training, most supervisees struggle with lack of confidence and feelings of incompetence. Supervisees may anxiously ask, “What do I do?” or “What do I say?” Our primary task (yours and mine) is to create a safe environment where supervisees can expose their strengths and limitations, while growing in their ability and confidence as therapists. To create this atmosphere, we will conduct respectful feedback and have openness to each other. Further, it is far more beneficial and engaging when students talk with each other and not just speak to the professor/supervisor during class.

Your supervisor can also use time to teach about a certain theory, or demonstrate techniques through role-plays with other students. Group members can role-play client-therapist interactions to practice techniques. Supervisees can benefit from learning to present cases in a structured manner, giving background information, history of the problem, diagnosis, and treatment plan. Supervisees should bring audio recordings of sessions as part of thelearning and supervision process. You may use your phones for this recording.

Confidentiality

All information concerning clients, supervisees, and classmates must be kept confidential. Confidentiality is a crucial element in the counseling profession and should be upheld with clients, supervisees, and peers. Any discussion should be conducted in such a manner that persons are protected by the limits of confidentiality. Confidentiality will be broken if there is evidence that you or your clients pose a potential danger to self or others. You will follow ethical standards as established by the American Psychological Association. Be sure to respect confidentiality outside the session. Do not discuss sessions in public places where your conversation could be overheard. Do not discuss your clients with persons outside the class such as roommates, partners, friends, family members, etc.

Overview of Course Schedule (specifics and assignments to be discussed):

Week 1

Thurs 1/21

Introduction to the course; Ethical considerations; Assignment of clients / background information on each; How to most effectively keep a journal for this course; Establishing goals for yourself for this semester; Dress code for counseling days.

Week 2

Tuesday 1/26

Go to Stone Creek for a tour and to possibly be introduced to your client.

Please be dressed as per our dress code.

Thurs 1/28 Before today's class, read about self-care and wellness for therapists:

(1) This slide show from a conference (as a pdf file):

(2)

Meet as a class without Bob. Discuss the two readings. You should have notes about and reactions to both of these in your portfolio.You should take notes after class too about what you learned in your discussion with your classmates.

Weeks 3-8

Forming bonds, establishing rapport, & treatment planning

Individual counseling at StoneCreek (1st six sessions); Group supervision.

Each week we will go to Stone Creek on the Tuesday of that week, and we will have group supervision on the Thursday. These Thursday classes will be held in Mierke C (if available), so that we can meet for the full 100 minutes and eat lunch together.

Readings will be assigned as needed. Keep up your course portfolio. You should have at least two entries per week.

FALL BREAK

Weeks 9-14

Individual counseling at StoneCreek (2nd six sessions); Group supervision; Termination issues;

Writing case reports.

Weeks 15-16

Final service paper; Final Case Report

Assignments and Grading

(Papers #3 & #4 should be sent to me electronically.)

(1) Participation and Portfolio (40%).

Your portfolio may and will be examined at multiple points in the semester. Having it current and complete will help you earn an "A" for this portion of the course.

(2) Initial Case Assessment (10%)

We will go over this assignment early in the semester. I will provide an example and a template for this assignment.

(3) Service Reflection Paper (20%)

5-8 pages. This can be structured as a narrative in which you address the following prompts. (Don’t repeat the prompts in your paper.) Feel free to add reflections on topics not covered in the prompts, but which you feel are important to discuss.

1. What were your goals in taking this course?

2. In what ways did you achieve your goals as a therapist? In what areas did you struggle? Why? How did you feel during the therapy sessions? Did this change over the course of the semester? Be sure to describe the three areas of growth: personal, professional, and academic.

3.In what ways did you utilize group supervision most effectively? How did supervision help you improve as a therapist? What difficulties did you experience in the supervision process?

4. This was a “service-learning course.” Describe in your own words the community service you performed and the community need(s) you helped meet with your service.

5. How do you think taking this service-learning class might alter your future behaviors and/or attitudes and/or career?

6. What would you change about this (and other) nursing home(s) if you were in charge? What have you learned about this agency, these people, or the community?

7. Conclusions/Discussion (structure however you think works best).

(4) Case Study (30%)You will write a case study report on the person with whom you have been working. Use headings and sections throughout the paper, for clarity.Double-space, using Times New Roman Font (12 pt), with standard, one inch margins. No cover page is needed. This paper should be between 6-10 pages. The paper should be structured as follows.

A. Case History

1. Background Information The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, health status, family and social relationships, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills. (Save the detailed description of the problems for the next part, #2.)

2. Description of the Presenting Problem In the next section of your case study, you will describe in detail the problems or symptoms with which the client presented. These may have changed (reduced, increased, developed into different problems) over the course of the 12 weeks. Describe any physical, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, or sensory symptoms reported by the client or noticed by you. Use descriptive language, without relying on diagnostic terms per se. (You may use parts of your intake case report – being sure to update the relevant details.)

B. Intervention

The second section of your paper will focus on the intervention(s) used to help the client.

(Sections 1 & 2 following should comprise a significant part of your paper. You’ll need to review your journal and any other resources to help.)

1. Treatment. Did you utilize a particular theoretical approach? Explain. What treatments did you use? For example, if you used CBT, offer background information on cognitive-behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.

2. Impact. Describe the impact of the therapy sessions on your client. In what ways did he/she improve? Were there ways in which your client worsened? Provide specific moments and examples that illustrate changes/impact across the 12 weeks.

3. Recommendations. What recommendations can you make for continued treatment with your client? Are there specific therapeutic modalities that you think should be tried? Explain and justify your recommendations.

C. References: APA-style for any books/articles which you cite in your paper.

D. Journal Please turn in your portfolio and supervision notes with your final paper.