Criswell CollegeSPRING 2016
CSL 505L02.A Counseling Theories
Instructor:Mark Weston, Ph.D., LPC-S
Contact Information:The best way to communicate with your professor is email, . It is best to use your school email account when emailing your professor, for he will not open emails if he cannot clearly identify the sender of the email (i.e., no non-English fonts and no nick names). The email subject line should include your class and section (e.g., CSL505) and be businesslike and brief (i.e., make a request the provide support for this request). If you think a longer conversation is needed, you may arrange a telephone or Skype appointment.
Course Description:Counseling Theoriesintroduces students to theories of counseling from a historical, chronological,and theological perspective. The psychoanalytic, Adlerian, person-centered, humanistic-existential, cognitive-behavioral theories of counseling are identified and analyzed. Students examine each theory in light of theirpersonal Christian worldview.
Goals, Objectives, and Recognitions
1)Goals:
a)The primary goal of this course is to introducethe major counseling theories. This includes the origin, development, and nature of these theories, research that supports or fails to support these theories, the practice of these theories in counseling, and the evaluation of these theories.
b)The secondary goal is to help students understand the nature of theories so that they may increase their ability to learn additional theories through their professional and academic life.
c)The tertiary goal is to help students will learn to acquire and distribute information about these theories in an intellectually virtuous manner.
2)Objectives:
a)Students will be able to answer questions about the theories that reveal a graduate level understanding of the theories.
b)Students will develop a more complex and nuanced view of humans.
c)Students will be able to discuss theories intelligently with others.
d)Students will become better prepared to inter practica.
e)Students will gain the foundation necessary for preparing for the state exam after graduation.
3)Recognition: This course recognizes that everyone brings assumptions (cultural, philosophical, and theological) to thinking about humans and counseling. Thus, this course is designed to help students recognize the assumptions that they bring to understanding and helping humans.
Text and Reading
1)Required Textbooks:
a)Corey, Gerald.Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy ,9th ed. Belmont, CA. Brooks/Cole, 2013.
2)Additional content, some of which is require reading (e.g., written lectures, citation of relevant journal articles and handouts), will be provided on Blackboard.
3)Recommended Textbooks:
a)Rosenthal, Howard. Encyclopedia of Counseling: Masters Review and Tutorial for the Notional Counselor Examination, State Counseling Exams, and the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination, 3d ed. New York: Routledge, 2008.
b)Tan,Syang-Yang. Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011.
Methods of Instruction: This is an online course in which take quizzes and exams, hand in assignments, and interact with the instructor and other students online.In online courses, the student must initiate the learning and the instructor must become a facilitator of the student’seducational activities and progress. Since the student must take the initiate, the student should become familiar with an overview of the course material by examining all of the documents posted on Blackboard. For each Section (and subsection) students should read the lecture notes, the assigned reading (e.g., textbooks and handouts), and then test their knowledge of the material read by taking a quiz and participating in a discussion group.Because this is an 8 week course (instead of the traditional 15 to 16 week course), the student cannot afford to get behind. The instructor, because the course is online, can easily monitor the student’sactivities in the course.
Course Outline and Tentative Schedule
Date3/21/16 / Topic
Introduction and Overview
The Counselor as Person and Professional
Ethical Issues in Counseling / Reading Assignments:
TPCP text, Chapter 1
The Case of Stan(Session #1: Intake & Assessment)
TPCP text, Chapter2
TPCP text, Chapters 3 / Assignment Due:
Discussion Board
Discussion Board / Exam:
3/28/16 / Adlerian Therapy
Existential Therapy / TPCP text, Chapter 5
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session #3: Adlerian Therapy)
TPCP text, Chapter 6
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 4: Existential Therapy) / Discussion Board
Discussion Board
4/4/16 / Person-Centered Therapy
Gestalt Therapy / TPCP text, Chapter 7
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 5: PCT)
TPCP text, Chapter 8
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 6: Gestalt Therapy) / Discussion Board
Discussion Board
4/11/16 / Behavior Therapy
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy / TPCP text, Chapter 9
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 7: Behavior Therapy)
TPCP text, Chapter 10
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 8: CBT) / Discussion Board
Discussion Board / MID-TERM
4/18/16 / Psychoanalytic Therapy
Reality Therapy / TPCP text, Chapter 4
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 2: Psychoanalytic )
TPCP text, Chapter 11
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 9: Reality Therapy ) / Discussion Board
RESEARCH PAPER
Discussion Board
4/25/16 / Feminist Therapy
Postmodern Approaches / TPCP text, Chapter 12
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 10: Feminist Therapy)
TPCP text, Chapter 13
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Sessions #11 and 12) / Discussion Board
Discussion Board
5/02/16 / Family Systems Therapy
Integrative Perspective / TPCP text, Chapter 14
TPCP text, Chapter 15
Theory in Practice: The Case of Stan(Session # 13: Integrative Approach) / Discussion Board
5/13/16 / FINAL / FINAL
Theories Available for the Term Paper
1)Classical Psychoanalytic
2)One of the more contemporary developments in psychoanalytic (e.g., Attachment Theory)
3)Behavioristic Theory
4)Existential Theory
5)Humanistic Theory
6)Reality Therapy
7)Gestalt Theory
8)Cognitive Theory (either Cognitive-Behavioral or Rational-Emotive-Behavioral)
9)One of the Family Systems Theories
Style Manual: The term paper should follow the Criswell College Manual of Style, which students can find online at Criswell.edu.
Grading System: The significance of letter grades is as follows:
A97-1004.0 grade points per semester hour
A-93-963.7 grade points per semester hour
B+91-923.3 grade points per semester hour
B 88-903.0 grade points per semester hour
B-86-872.7 grade points per semester hour
C+83-852.3 grade points per semester hour
C 80-822.0 grade points per semester hour
C-78-791.7 grade points per semester hour
D+75-771.3 grade points per semester hour
D 72-741.0 grade point per semester hour
D-70-710.7 grade points per semester hour
F 0-690.0 grade points per semester hour
The following grade symbols are also recognized for transcript evaluation:
AU Audited CourseCRCredit
EXExemptIIncomplete
NCNo CreditPPassed Non-credit Course
RCRepeat CourseSSatisfactory Progress
WWithdrawnWFWithdrawn Failing
WPWithdrawn Passing
Incomplete Grades
Students requesting a grade of Incomplete (I) must understand that incomplete grades may be given only upon approval of the faculty member involved. An “I” may be assigned only when a student is currently passing a course and in situations involving extended illness, serious injury, death in the family, or employment or government reassignment, not student neglect. Students are responsible for contacting their professors prior to the end of the semester, plus filing the appropriate completed and approved academic request form with the Registrar’s Office. The “I” must be removed (by completing the remaining course requirements) no later than 60 calendar days after the grade was assigned, or the “I” will become an “F:.
Grading Plan
1)70% of the grade will be earned on the two exams
a)35% will be earned on mid-term exam
b)35% will be earned on a comprehensive final exam
2)30% of the grade is earned on research paper
Institutional policies:
Academic Honesty: Students generally understand they are to be academically honest, but are occasionallysurprised that the College has a more rigorous definition of academic honesty than they do. See the college catalog for details.
Policy on Late Work
1)Basic Policy: Plan ahead and do not turn work in late! Turn in all papers on-time and through
Blackboard. You know that interruptions occur often so plan to finish early so these will not delay you.
2)Policy on late work for those who desire details:
a)Assignments should be turned in on the day it is due and the professor will reduce the grade of late assignments by ten points for each day it is late.
b)No assignments will be accepted that are more than one calendar week overdue
c)All written assignments should include a title page and all late papers should have the due date as well as the date it is handed in on the front cover.
d)If your assignment is late for some reason that makes your life completely and utterly different from the other students, then you may write an explanation and attach it to the assignment. That is, you may ask to be treated different only if your circumstances are truly different and thus it is not a disservice to the other students to offer an exception.
Distance education:
General: Students participating in course through Distance Education, whether with or without live interaction, must complete the academic requirements for those courses with the integrity and commitment necessary to participate in and benefit from all of the exercises provided by the professor for learning the subject matter of the course. Therefore credit for Distance Education courses is the same as credit for courses taken on campus.
Library: Distance education students can access information about Criswell College’s Wallace Library at The Wallace Library manual is available at
Student Life: Students needing education support or services should contact the Student Services at 214-818-1332 or .
Video and Other Property Rights: Unless otherwise specifically instructed in writing by the professor, students must neither materially nor digitally reproduce materials from any course offered by Criswell College for or with the significant possibility of distribution.
Bibliography
(underrevision)