HPC 5900-102: Practicum in Counseling Fall 2011
Instructor: Elizabeth Graves, NCC, NCSC, NCLPSC, LPC-S, ACS
Office: RCOE 306 on Thursdays 2:00-3:30
Phone: 828-262-8376
Email:
Office hours: Please make contact via email to make an appointment or as posted on office door.
Course Description:
An in-depth study of the counseling and therapeutic process and the nature of the counseling relationship. These factors will be examined in relationship to the application of basic theoretical principals. Prerequisites: HPC 5220, specific program requirements, and prior approval of department chairperson.
Course Content:
Practicum content is necessarily dependent upon the nature of clients’ concerns and issues and also related to the student’s need for remediation in those areas of concern where knowledge and/or skill are in need of enhancement.
Course Objectives, Goals, and Competencies:
The objectives of the counseling practicum are to learn how to initiate counseling contacts, how to encourage clients to disclose their concerns and establish goals, and how to assess goal attainment and effect termination. To achieve these goals the students are expected to:
1. Demonstrate the ability to establish and maintain effective individual and group helping relationships in accordance with ethical standards;
2. Demonstrate the skills to discern when individual, group or referral procedures are most helpful to the client;
3. Demonstrate the ability to utilize feedback from supervised counseling to facilitate growth in professional competence;
4. Demonstrate the ability to function effectively in the professional environment assigned;
5. Demonstrate the ability to give and receive feedback during group supervision to facilitate professional and personal growth of oneself and of others in the group;
6. Demonstrate an understanding of counseling dynamics and the stages of development that the counseling relationship progresses through;
7. Identify and demonstrate client-tailored counseling styles and problem-solving strategies;
8. Demonstrate knowledge, understanding, and adherence to all the appropriate ethical guidelines in working within a counseling/therapeutic relationship, both within your setting and pertaining to your interventions (e.g., individual work vs. group work);
9. Demonstrate knowledge of counseling/therapeutic strategies and interventions for working with diverse populations and developmental stages of the client;
10. Demonstrate increased self-awareness with regard to personal opinions, assumptions, beliefs, and viewpoints – and the impact of those upon the counseling relationship and the direction sessions take. Demonstrate personal cognitive strategies designed to curtail or frame these appropriately for oneself.
CACREP Curricular Experiences for Practicum:
Complete supervised practicum experiences that total a minimum of 100 clock hours. The practicum includes all of the following: (each student is to consult with their program handbook for details regarding the below):
a. Forty (40) hours of direct service with clients that contributes to the development of counseling skills [including individual counseling and group counseling];
b. Weekly interaction that averages one (1) hour per week of individual and/or triadic supervision throughout the practicum by a program faculty member;
c. An average of 1 1/2 hours per week of group supervision that is provided on a regular schedule throughout the practicum by a program faculty member;
d. The development of program-appropriate audio/video recordings for use in supervision of the student’s interactions with clients;
e. Evaluation of the student’s counseling performance throughout the practicum, including documentation of a formal evaluation after the student completes the practicum.
Methods of Instruction:
A variety of approaches will be utilized including discussion, role play, brief lectures, and audio/video taping. All topics in this course are taught from a multicultural perspective which emphasizes the differing experiences, cultures, histories, and perspectives of people from a variety of ethnic, gender, racial, and social class backgrounds.
Materials /Resources:
Required Text: Remley & Herlihly, (2010). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in
counseling. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Additional Readings: May be assigned in accordance with issues that arise with clients.
Purchased Items: Preference is for a digital audio recorder, though cassette are acceptable
Downloaded Items: YouSendIt program (free download). Preference is that students
submit digital recordings to the supervisor via the encrypted and password-
protected YouSendIt site’s email system that are saved in either WAV or
similar iTunes-friendly format before sending. You may sign up for a free
account at YouSendIt.com.
Program-Provided Items: Handouts and evaluation forms are accessible through the
department’s website and/or the department’s handbook on Practicum/Internship.
Student Performance Evaluation Criteria:
1. Proof of professional liability insurance. Required. As a student at ASU, a portion of your student fees are automatically allocated for student liability insurance. However, if you wish to purchase a second tier of coverage, please see ACA or ASCA websites for direction as to how to obtain this.
2. Professional Disclosure Statement: Due to the supervisor no later than the second week of the semester – before clients are seen. Samples of PDSs are posted on the course’s AsULearn site.
3. Practicum Site Information Form: Due to the supervisor no later than the second week of the semester.
4. Class attendance. The expectation is held that students will attend each weekly individual supervision session and each weekly group supervision session. As counselors, students will meet professional expectations of the setting and keep appointments with clients at the scheduled time and place for counseling interviews. Failure to attend supervision meetings will result in dismissal from the Practicum site and course.
5. Appropriate and timely documentation. Students will submit to the instructor each week copies of their Daily Logs of all practicum hours and copies of their Weekly Practicum Reports. Students should maintain original copies for their own records. Also, short written case notes of all counseling sessions (individual and group) will be submitted to the university supervisor each week (use SOAP note format). Likewise, proper documentation must accompany all case presentations. Formats for daily logs, weekly reports, case notes, and case presentations are provided in this syllabus and/or on the course’s AsULearn site. Reminder: Each student must complete the appropriate forms for their program; it is the student’s responsibility to check your program handbook for the most current forms. (a) Clinical Mental Health Counseling forms include - pre-selection site and Practicum Agreement forms need to be completed and turned in by the end of the first week of the semester. (b) Professional School Counseling forms include permission to register form, background check, verification of TB test, data selection sheet for the site, and practicum contact. (c) Each student must maintain accurate records of direct and indirect contact hours via Record of Practicum & Supervisory Data form.
6. Direct service counseling interventions/sessions. Students will complete a minimum of forty (40) hours of direct client contact, 10 of which should be in group work or classroom guidance. Note: Within the CACREP standards, direct service has been defined as “face-to-face” interaction and includes the application of counseling, consultation, or human development skills (assessment, training, classroom guidance).
Note: Practicum students are placed in an educational institution or community agency,
serving as counselor to selected clientele of the institution or agency under the direct
supervision of a counselor at the site and according to procedures acceptable to the site
supervisor. The counseling opportunity is voluntary for the clients, who may be self-
referred or referred by agency personnel. Supervision is provided by a university
supervisor as well as the site supervisor. The practicum student, site supervisor and
university supervisor will jointly agree to a written practicum contract describing
practicum responsibilities/duties which will enable the practicum trainee to achieve
required competencies., and tapes are played only for supervision, with strict confidentiality being maintained in the setting.
Professional expectations regarding the rights of clients (e.g., privacy) are strictly
maintained utilizing school or agency procedures. The types of problems brought to the
counselors in these settings can be described usually as within the normal range of
situational and developmental problems. Students are asked to inform their site and
university supervisors of current developments in all cases. Parental consent for taping of
counseling sessions with minors is required.
7. Recorded submissions of sessions. Audio recording of all client sessions is expected. Each student is required to submit one tape (average 30 minutes) each week to the supervisor at least 48 hours before the individual session is to take place. Tapes should be reviewed by the counselor-in-training prior to submission, brought with them to the session, and cued to the section they would like feedback on during the individual session. Tapes of individual and group counseling may be submitted – with the majority of the sessions being individual counseling. Tape review feedback forms should accompany each recording. For school counselors, one videotape or live observation of a classroom guidance lesson by the university supervisor is required.
8. Group supervision. Students will meet for an hour and a half (1 ½ hr) of group supervision sessions every week. The expectation is held that students will be appropriately prepared for the group supervision sessions by bringing questions and cases, victories and quandaries they face to each group session to share with peers. Additionally, each student will prepare two (2) case presentations which include playing a segment of tape spanning 20 minutes for peer review. Tape scripts must be provided for recordings that are difficult to follow. Students will provide context for these sessions to group members via a brief overview of the client’s demographics, concerns/issues and goals for the sessions portrayed in these recordings. Case Presentation outline forms will guide the student in preparing the presentations; each person in the class will receive a copy. The student who presents the case is responsible for keeping the client’s records confidential (i.e. the form, and any tapes). All case presentation forms need to be shredded at the end of the case presentation. Students will solicit and receive feedback from the group regarding the taped sessions, as well as regarding any concern they have about working with their clients. The expectation is held that all students will provide feedback to group members to facilitate each student’s growth and development. Case presentations and discussions typically last 45-60 minutes to allow for adequate review. Confidentiality and ethical principles will be followed as client and counselor-in-training concerns are discussed. Group supervision dates (every Thursday) are provided on the course calendar.
9. Individual supervision. Students will meet weekly for individual supervision with the university supervisor. During this time, students will review their tapes, discuss personal growth goals for their counseling, general concerns pertaining to clients and/or their settings, updates to all their client histories and cases, and any challenges they are concerned about. Tapes, logs, and case notes will be submitted each week to the supervisor. Students are to bring their personal recorders and tapes to individual and group supervision. Individual supervision time/dates to be scheduled at the first meeting.
10. Learning goals. Develop and submit a statement of individual learning goals for the semester. These should include short term goals (first month of prac) and long term goals (first semester of prac), a brief rationale for each goal, and a plan for working on each goal. Statements should include:
a. Responses to the self-evaluation questions (see end of syllabus)
b. A list of specific and measurable goals for yourself for the semester. You may wish to consider site-specific and university supervision specific goals (e.g., with your site supervisor you may wish to set a goal of learning internal referral resources, while for university supervision a goal might be to focus on reflecting more feeling or becoming more comfortable working with diverse clients; may include specific counseling skills or techniques, conceptualization skills, self-awareness, and/or professional behaviors)
c. A brief (2-3 sentence) rationale for each goal (i.e., why you have selected this as an area of focus)
d. A statement of how the goal will be evaluated (i.e., how will we know when we’ve attained it)
Note: Learning goals are an agreement between the student and the university supervisor about the focus of the supervision sessions. It is wise to choose these intentionally, as these will become the basis of tape review, supervisory feedback, and evaluation. Please be as specific as possible regarding your goals. They are open for modification during the semester.
11. Readings. Students will complete assigned reading in the text and any additional readings required by the supervisor.
12. Self-Evaluation. A significant component of practicum is the trainee’s ability to critique and assess one’s skills. In addition to a self-evaluation form that is to be completed at both the midterm (October 17-20) and final (December 5-8) weeks, the student will submit a typed self-evaluation paper (minimum of five pages, maximum of eight) due the week of December 5-8. Final evaluation sessions with the university supervisor will be scheduled during that week.
13. Tape scripts. Should the supervisor feel it beneficial to improving the awareness or skills of the student, it may be required that one to two verbatim tape scripts of 15 minutes of individual counseling sessions each be submitted to the supervisor. Tape scripts will be critiqued by the supervisee prior to submitting the tape script to the supervisor. (See further in this document).
Professional Behaviors:
Each student is to respect each other’s comments and differences, approaching each other with a display of professional attitudes and behaviors characterized by civility and humility. It is important that, both as a class and as individuals, we maintain confidentiality of one another as well as that of the clients of whom we speak during case presentations. Further, because of the critical nature of supervision to the development of your clinical skills, attendance at and participation in all scheduled supervision meetings is mandatory. Only in the most extreme of circumstances, crises, or emergencies will absences be permitted (in accordance with university policies). Should this rare circumstance arise, notify me with as much advance warning as possible. The session will need to made up as soon as feasibly possible.
Furthermore, being on time—not only for supervision meetings but for your counseling sessions with clients allows for sound and reflective practice. Allow 10 to 15 minutes before the scheduled time of your sessions and supervision meetings to collect your thoughts, review case notes, and generally prepare for your session.