Personal and Professional Development Group

PP7080--P&PD Spring 2001 Asay 1

PP 7080

Personal and Professional Development Group

Fall 2009

INSTRUCTOR:

Penelope Asay, Ph.D.

PHONE:

312-777-77713

EMAIL:

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Title / Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
Author(s) / Yalom, I.. & Leszcz, M.
Copyright / 2005
Publisher / Basic Books
ISBN / 0465092845
Edition / 5th

This Course Requires the Purchase of a Course Packet:NO

Argosy University

COURSE SYLLABUS-DRAFT

PP7080

Personal and Professional Development Group

Fall 2009

Mondays, 3:30-5:00

Faculty Information

Faculty Name: Penelope Asay, Ph.D.

Campus: Chicago

Contact Information: (best contact); 312-777-7713

Office: # 1339

Office Hours: TBA

Short Faculty Bio: Penelope Asay, Ph.D. received her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Asay also earned an M.A. in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland, College Park, and she has extensive experience working in university settings in a variety of capacities. Dr. Asay’s interests include LGBT issues, multicultural issues, women’s issues, social justice, career issues, groups, and college student mental health.

Group Co-Leaders:

Course Pre-requisites: None

Required Textbook:

Yalom, I. & Leszcz, M. (2005) The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (5th edition). New York: IUP. ISBN: 0-465-092845

Recommended Reading:

The Gift of Therapy by Irvin D. Yalom

Course Description: (from Argosy catalogue)

This course offers a group experience which focuses on increasing knowledge, enhancing skills, and examining attitudes and values involved in interpersonal and group interaction. In this experiential approach, students are facilitated to increase self-awareness and empathic understanding of others, to practice more effective listening and communication skills, and to work on developing greater interpersonal competency in order to guide their development as clinicians and professional psychologists.

Course Objectives:

This course is designed for student to learn about group process through theoretical readings, the experience of group participation, self-reflection and the integration of the three. The students’ experience will allow them to gain insight about group process in addition to their own process. In this manner, they may learn more about how they react to various group dynamics and how they influence various group dynamics. The students are given the opportunity to understand better their own interpersonal dynamics with greater depth through their interactions, and reflections upon these interactions, with individuals in the group. The process of the group itself may be categorized as “here and now.” Students are encouraged to be emotionally and thoughtfully present to the interpersonal interactions in the moment as they occur. Additionally, emphasis will be placed on creating and maintaining a sense of safety in the group along with respect, confidentiality, acceptance, and striving for authenticity in interactions with others. The underlying goal of this class is to facilitate the students’ ongoing growth both personally and professionally with the recognition that both are essential to becoming an ethical, conscientious and skilled clinician.

Format:

1 1/2 hour meetings Fall and Spring terms;Spring Weekend in Lake Geneva, WI.

The group will be facilitated by Penny Asay and the two student co-leaders.

The Community Retreat Weekend is at the George Williams Conference Center, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, June 4-6. Here the students will have opportunity for larger group experiences, structured and unstructured group activities and also have the opportunity to meet on numerous occasions with their group/class from the year.

Class Time:Mondays 3:30-5:00

Course Assessment:

Group process is affected by each student’s presence. Therefore, attendance at all meetings is required. There will be a short paper at the beginning of the course and a paper due after the group weekend. Readings will be required as the course begins in September. Readings will focus on group process and related concepts to the group experience. Each week students will write reactions/reflections with respect to the group session. Students are asked not to discuss the group process with one another outside of the group meeting itself. Students are expected to be active participants in the group. However, except for poor attendance, behavior in sessions will not have an effect on the students’ grades. Hence, attendance and the papers will be the only factors influencing the student’s grade.

Required Papers

Initial Paper: Due Monday, September 21

Students are required to write a brief paper addressing any initial expectations, hopes, and/or fears they have for their P&PD experience. Students should feel free to include reflections on any previous experiences with groups of any type.

1-3 pages; due at the beginning of class.

Weekly reflection papers: Due at beginning of each class, beginning Sept 28

Students are required to hand in papers that reflect on their experience in the group each week. Students should focus on their thoughts, feelings, and observations about whatever seems most relevant, pressing, or important for them. It is most helpful if these reflection papers are completed as soon as possible after the class. It may also be helpful to think of these as weekly journals.

Minimum 1/2 page each week; due at the beginning of class

End-of-semester papers

A brief (3-5) page paper which ties the class readings with the students’ group reflections will be due the last class of the fall. In the spring, a paper will be due after the weekend retreat. More information about these papers will be provided in class.

Required Reading:

The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Fifth Edition, Yalom & Leszcz

Recommended Reading:

The Gift of Therapy by Irvin D. Yalom

Confidentiality

All material discussed within the time boundaries of the group is to be regarded as confidential by co-leaders, faculty and students. If, however, any member of the group shares information within the group that indicates a risk of harm to self or another or that suggests evidence of child or elderly abuse, this material would not be held to the same rules of confidentiality. Additionally, as this is a course in and educational setting, group progress or group issues may be discussed with other PPD faculty. Such discussion would not include an individual’s performance unless there is a specified problem that would always, as with any course, be addressed first with the student.

As members of this group, it is required that you do not, at any time, share information about any member with any people outside of the group. Failure to perform this requirement will be construed as a lack of academic honesty. Laptops are not allowed in the group during class time. All cell phones, pagers, Palm Pilot alarms, and anything else that could potentially beep are to be turned OFF during group.

Library

All resources in Argosy University’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and passwords.

Library Resources: Argosy University’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at

In addition to online resources, Argosy University’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.

Information Literacy: Argosy University’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at

Academic Policies

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy University requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). Washington DC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

Scholarly writing: The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” ( an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.

Americans with Disabilities Act Policy

It is the policy of Argosy University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.

Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.

The Argosy University Statement Regarding Diversity

Argosy University prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.

COURSE SCHEDULE: Spring 2010

Date / Schedule / Recommended Reading:
The Gift of Therapy by Irvin D. Yalom
Jan 11 / No Class
Jan 18 / No Class: Martin Luther King Day
Jan 25 / Here-and-Now / No reading
Feb 1 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 1-10
Feb 8 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 11-20
Feb 15 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 21-30
Feb 22 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 31-40
Mar 1 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 41-50
Mar 8 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 51-60
Mar 15 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 61-70
Mar 22 / Here-and-Now / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 71-80
Mar 29 / Discussion-There-and-Then / The Gift of Therapy, Ch 81-88
Apr 5 / No Class
Apr 12 / No Class
Apr 19 / No Class
June 4-6 / Retreat in Lake Geneva

If it is Not Group Therapy, What is it?

The Task, Role, and Boundaries of Personal and Professional Development:

The Personal and Professional Development (P&PD) course is a unique feature in the clinical psychology curriculum. Although there are readings and explanation of theory and practice as there are in other didactic courses, P&PD is primarily an experiential learning endeavor. Whereas a lecture format focuses on acquisition of a fund of knowledge through explanation, P&PD focuses on the exploration or discovery of knowledge by doing and experiencing.

As this is done in a group format, oftentimes the question of how P&PD is or is not like a group therapy experience is asked. Whereas there is a wide of breadth of potential learnings in the personal and professional domains that may occur, therapeutic outcomes are not a course task in a formal or informal sense. P&PD groups are experiential Learning Groups. Since an experiential group does have logistical and theoretical overlap with Encounter Groups, Training Groups, or Psychotherapy Groups, it is possible for a student to have a therapeutic experience as a by-product of their primary task when learning about the intersection or conflicts of person-in-role as they take up the clinician role. However, something like this may also occur in a Management and Leadership course in say a business administration program. A visual may help at this point:

Note that in this representation of the process, the practices and effects of the different group tasks are not mutually exclusive. There are obvious commonalities in practice, format, theory or application. The primary difference is task. Symptom reduction or character re-structuring is not a task of this group, as they may be for a therapy group. This course indeed makes the students’ interpersonal, psychological and/or emotional development the subject and domain of the class. The purpose, however is to mature these developmental lines as traditional classes develop their cognitive, academic or technical capacities. Students who have been part of other experiential groups may find those experiences helpful or applicable, in part. However, it is a novel experience to explore self-in-role as clinicians-in-training. For more specifics regarding frame, theoretical orientation, or format of the various P&PD course offerings, please see the registration guidelines.

Personal and Professional Development, Overview and Rationale Statement:

Personal and Professional Development (PP7080) is designed to give students the opportunity to increase awareness of their own style of interpersonal relating and its impact on others and to foster awareness of group process.

Self Awareness and relationship skills are central to the practice of clinical psychology whatever the nature of the clinical practice students ultimately undertake. At the same time, each person’s relational style is quite unique – grounded in his or her own personality, history, culture and values. A psychotherapist’s style of relating will only work well if it is authentic to him or her. For this reason, the Personal and Professional Development class is taught in the experiential format, allowing a great deal of room for personal exploration, trial and error, and difference of opinion about the “right” ways of relating.

Most P&PD sections are taught in an open-ended group format because we believe that open-ended groups provide a particularly fertile ground for this kind of relational learning. They take away a lot of the features of everyday life that distract from noticing reactions or from initiating personally meaningful actions in response to such reactions. They are a little bit paradoxical- groups whose only initial purpose is to be a group, finding purpose out of no-purpose. In the process they are often intensify qualities of everyday group experience. At different times they may be boring, maddening, thrilling, engaging, interesting, funny, terrifying or moving. The more fully a person engages in the process the more he or she is likely to get out of the experience.

While group experiences are often personally helpful, students should remain clear that these P&PD groups are not psychotherapy or a substitute for psychotherapy. Students should interact at a level of level of intensity and self-disclosure that they find personally comfortable and helpful to their own learning.

Personal and Professional Development: Informed Consent for Class Participation

I certify that I have read and understood the description of the Personal and Professional Development class and agree to participate in the group as described. In particular, I understand that while participation is encouraged in P&PD groups and these experiences are often personally helpful, P&PD groups are not psychotherapy or a substitute for psychotherapy. I understand that I am expected to monitor my own participation in the group so that the intensity and self-disclosures involved in my interactions remain at levels that are personally acceptable and helpful to my own learning.

I also understand that once I join a P&PD group, my participation will be an integral part of the group learning process of everyone else in the group. Unless personal emergencies arise, I will not drop out of a P&PD section after the third class. I understand that I will be expected to attend all group sessions unless some illness or personal emergency arises. I also understand that credit for P&PD class will only be given if the entire group is completed including the Lake Geneva Weekend.

I understand that Personal and Professional Development is a Credit/No Credit class. The frequency and quality of class participation will not be used as a basis for grading. If student participation is described on grade sheets, it will only done so in very global terms. Faculty teaching PP7080 will not discuss concrete details of group interactions with anyone other than student co-leaders or other P&PD faculty unless there is cause for concern about the student’s safety or his or her ability to handle tasks required of a mental health clinician. If faculty does have serious concerns, they would ordinarily speak to a student first before taking other action.

______

Signature Date