Counseling Violence and Abuse Issues
CNS 544
3 credits in San Jose and Sacramento, 2 credits in Portland
Western Seminary – Portland
Carolyn Kohlenberger, M.A., LMHC, LPC
Ph: (360) 448-1732, Email:
Syllabus – Summer 2014
COURSE SCHEDULE
Mondays, 3:10 – 5:10 p.m., May 5th – August 11th 2014, Room 203.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The purpose of thisclass is to prepare counselors to recognize and respond to some of the most
pervasive, emotionally and physically damaging, yet hidden behaviors in oursociety.
Prerequisites: CNS 501, CNS 505, CNS 506, CNS 507.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
1)Develop skills for recognizing and assessing for possible abuse.
2)Know the procedures for mandated reporters and how to apply them and basic intervention strategies for clients who are in crisis.
3)Know how to determine the appropriateness or inappropriateness of working with certain clientele based on counter-transference issues and their level of experience.
4)Develop a personal and theological perspective on domestic violence
5)Understand the complexities that create and maintain a violence cycle, and be better equipped to intervene.
6)Know the legal, forensic, and ethical issues in of their profession, and how they are applied to working with children and adults dealing with violence issues.
TEXTBOOKS
Centers for Disease Control (2011) The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.
Online at: n/c
Donald Dutton,The Batterer, (1995) ISBN 978-0-465-03388-1 $11.71 (Kindle—9.99)
George K. Simon, In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People (2010) ISBN 978-1935166306 $12.79 (Kindle—$9.79)
David Johnson and Jeff VanVonderen, The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church (2005) ISBN 978-0764201370 $13.84, (Kindle—$9.99)
God’s Protection of Women: When Abuse is Worse than Divorce. Published by RBC Ministries. PDF can be accessed at: Booklet provided free of charge by instructor.
Francine Shapiro, Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy (2012) ISBN 978-1594864254$10.99 (Kindle—$9.99)
You are encouraged to purchase these titles through the Amazon.com associate program; you may use the links provided above, or the search option found on the Western website under “Current Students/Portland”: .
ONLINE CLASSROOM
This class has an online classroom. Your first class assignment is to access this website during the first week of the semester and take a simple quiz confirming your participation in the course. You may also be asked to use the learning center to download handouts and submit assignments.
To access the site, go to Click on ‘login’ (on the right above the calendar), use your student number for your username, and the password you received from the school. For a replacement password, click on ‘forgot your password’ or contact Jon Raibley: . The on-line classroom will go live no later than the first Monday of the semester.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Online Orientation (15 min.)
Before the end of the first Friday of the semester, you need to log onto the web classroom, download the syllabus for the course, and complete the report indicating that you have read and understand the course requirements. By federal law, we now need to ensure that students participate in classes for the full length of the semester. So failure to complete the online orientation on time may result in a grade penalty and may impact your financial aid eligibility.
Domestic Violence in the News Project (12 hours)
You will participate in creating a class archive of domestic abuse articles. You will be required to choose two states on the first day of class. Your task will be to find a newspaper article on the internet from a city in each of your two chosen states that describes an incident of domestic violence. This article must be current—dated no earlier than January 1, 2014. Then:
1)Download the Domestic Violence in the News Form from the online classroom. You will need one for each article. Fill out the data on the form for each of your two articles. (This includes: State name, city, article title, type of abuse, demographics, etc.)
2)Summarize your reaction/response to each article.
3)Create PDF documents of your two articles and email them to your instructor. Do not turn in hard copies or print-outs of your articles.
4)Either scan and electronically submit your two Domestic Violence in the News forms or submit them in paper form to the instructor in class on the due date.
5)Articles contributed by all students in the class will be posted on the online classroom by your instructor.
6)Download the Reading Report form from the online classroom. Using the state article section of the reading report to document your reading, you will then read a total of 20 articles over the course of the semester from 20 different states. You do not have to fill out the Domestic Violence in the News form for any other states—just the first two articles that you contributed to the archive.
Research Paper (15.5 hours)
Choose your topic from the list below.Follow the guideline for each paper as the requirements vary. Each paper should be at least seven pages.
Interventions in Violent Marriages: The Role of Extended Family, Friends, Church and Community
This is a classic research paper with footnotes and a bibliography. Discover how those outside the abusive relationship can intervene: What interventions work? What causes more harm?
A Sermon on Domestic Violence
Most pastors have never preached a sermon with a biblical perspective on domestic violence. The purpose of this sermon is to raise awareness while using scripture to explain God’s grief over violence in the home. You can choose one scripture to exegete or do a survey of appropriate texts. Use careful exegesis and reference books in preparation. You will produce a 20 minute sermon transcript to fulfill this assignment and provide a bibliography of your reference materials.
Interview with a Domestic Violence Victim
With confidentiality in mind, if you have a friend or family member who is willing to be interviewed and far enough along in the healing process to not be traumatized, this can be a powerful experience in understanding the impact of abuse in the life of an individual. You will need to devise questions to ask, plan how you will be supportive in the interview process and then report on the interview and your response to the experience.
Children who Witness Partner Abuse: Impact and Prognosis
This is a classic research paper with footnotes and a bibliography. What is the effect of watching adults abuse each other? How will the child be affected as an adult?
Domestic Abuse—Counselor Response Paper (12 hours)
My Plan for Recognizing and Addressing Domestic Violence/Abuse in My Clients and their Families. This is a seven page paper summarizing your plan for implementing the knowledge and theological perspective you have gained in this class. Include the following:
1)What does God think of domestic violence and abuse? What is your personal view of abuse? How will you use these perspective with your clients?
2)The population you expect to work with when you graduate.
3)How does abuse become part of a couple or family’s relationship? What are the various ways abuse can show up as patterns in their lives?
4)How will you screen for domestic violence? How will you decide who you can help and who you need to refer?
5)What resources will you have available and how will you use them?
6)What referral sources will you have on hand, how will you find them and how will you use them?
7)How will you handle reports of abuse that require immediate steps to protect vulnerable people? What criteria will you use when determining whether a report will need to be made to a state/county child protection agency?
Participation
Participating in this class includes interacting in general class discussions, asking questions for clarification, appropriate sharing of personal experience that enhances the learning experience for others present, and participation in any role-play therapy experiences.
Reading (20 hours)
Reading completion dates are listed below. You will be asked to fill out a reading report to turn in on the last day of class indicating the percentage of reading for each book/paper/pamphlet and the date completed. Your experience in this class will be greatly enhanced by reading the materials chosen by the instructor.
Final Course Evaluation (15 min.)
Before the end of the last Friday of the semester, you will receive an email with a link to the final course evaluation. By federal law, we now need to ensure that students participate in classes for the full length of the class. So failure to complete the final course evaluation on time will result in a grade penalty and may impact your financial aid eligibility.
GRADING
A+ / A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D+ / D / D-99-100% / 95-98% / 93-94% / 91-92% / 88-90% / 86-87% / 84-85% / 81-83% / 79-80% / 77-78% / 74-76% / 70-73%
Required Assignments / Points / Estimated Time to Complete
Online Orientation / 5 / 15 minutes
Domestic Violence in the News / 20 / 12 hours
Research Paper / 25 / 15.5 hours
Counselor Response Paper / 25 / 12 hours
Reading / 20 / 20 hours
Course Evaluation / 5 / 15 minutes
Totals / 100 / 60 hrs.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Date / Topic / Reading & Papers—Due DatesMay 5th / Introduction, defining abuse & domestic violence
May 12th / Duluth Model, power & control wheel and cycle of violence / National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
Reading Due
May 19th / Statistics & Etiology / News Articles Due
May 26th / MEMORIAL DAY—NO CLASS
June 2nd / Victims, perpetrators & their interaction / The Batterer
Reading Due
June 9th / Emotional & Verbal Abuse
June 16th / Emotional & Verbal Abuse / In Sheep’s Clothing
Reading Due
June 23rd / Communication & Abuse / Research Paper Due
June 30th / Communication & Abuse
July 7th / Spiritual Abuse / Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse Reading Due
July 14th / Theological perspective / God’s Protection of Women
Reading Due
July 21st / Children & Abuse/Safety Plans
July 28th / Treating Trauma / Getting Past Your Past
Reading Due
August 4th / Counseling clients
August 11th / Review and Counseling clients / Counselor Response Paper Due
Reading Log Due
COURSE POLICIES
Attendance and Late Assignments: Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Students who miss class are responsible for missed work. Absences and tardiness may impact a student’s grade. Students who anticipate an absence should discuss it in advance with the instructor. Students who miss more than 20% of the seat time for the class will not pass the course, without a request for and the completion of additional assignments. Assignments submitted after the due date and time will result in a reduction of the student’s letter grade for that assignment.
Copyright Violation and Plagiarism: Research in secondary sources for the written project is permitted and welcomed. However, any appropriation of either ideas or wording taken from other sources, whether print or electronic, must be properly footnoted. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism which can result in substantial grade reduction or failure. Any unauthorized copying or use of copyrighted materials, including downloaded files of various kinds, can result in criminal charges and fines. For a fuller explanation of these issues or WS's copyright policy, see the Copyright Issues and Cheating" section of the Student Handbook:
Incompletes/Extensions: The final deadline for submitting all course work is the last day of the semester as noted in the Academic Calendar and in the class schedule. In the case of serious illness, family emergency, or similar extenuating circumstances, the student may request an extension. A 1-3 week extension is typical in all except the most extreme cases, and some penalty for late work may apply. Under no circumstances will the student be given more than 5 weeks to complete all required coursework except by petition and approval of the Administrative Committee. (Extensions longer than 5 weeks are rare and should only be requested under extreme circumstances.)
If students face a personal emergency that requires requesting an extension going beyond the end of the semester, it may affect their ability to receive financial aid in the next semester, and they may face the possibility that their next semester’s course registrations will be cancelled. Please contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance.
Audit/Enrichment Students: Enrichment students are encouraged, but not obligated, to participate in assignments and class discussions. Professors are not obligated to grade participation for these students, but may opt to do so depending on class size.
Statement on WiFi Services: Our community at Western Seminary is defined by our membership in the body of Christ. As we share common resources, we wish to do so with respect and consideration for others. Our IT department has created a strong and secure wireless internet network at each of our campus locations to enhance the student learning environment. Some of the considerations in developing our wifi networks have included providing excellent security (better than you’ll find at the local coffee shop) and doing so within a budget that does not significantly impact tuition costs. Keeping costs low means that we don’t have an endless supply of bandwidth. We ask that you use the wifi network for academic purposes and avoid downloading large files or streaming video. Please be mindful that your internet use (both in class and on campus) can distract others or prevent them from accessing resources they need for their studies. We appreciate your participation in promoting thoughtful, considerate internet use on campus.
The Availability of Disability Services at Western Seminary: Western Seminary is committed to responding to the needs of students with disabilities as outlined in both the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Western students are assisted individually as their needs dictate. It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to identify themselves and the nature of the disability. Any student who has a disability should contact the seminary’s Disability (Section 504) Coordinator, Ashley Mitchell, at 503-517-1819/1-877-517-1800, ext. 1819. Her office is at the Portland campus. Students at the northern California campuses may contact Director of Student Services – San Jose or Director of Student Services – Sacramento, or they may contact Ms. Mitchell directly. Appropriate forms will be provided and must be submitted to the Disability Coordinator’s office.
Confidentiality: Consistent with a God-controlled life, students are expected to conform to the highest standards of conduct and professionalism, both on and off campus. Students are routinely evaluated by counseling faculty incorporating information from classroom interaction, clinical placement, and incidental social contact. In addition to state reporting laws with regard to child abuse, vulnerable adult abuse, or harm to self or other, information regarding student integrity and character may also be shared among faculty or with the Office of Student Development to promote continued academic and professional growth.