Counseling — Courses

COUNSL 601
Research and Evaluation in Psychology

This course examines several research models and strategies with respect to their various rationales and methodologies. Relevant statistical topics are introduced conceptually, especially as they are applied in research about specific academic settings.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 602
Medical and Psychological Aspects of Disabilities

The course is designed to offer students with little or no exposure to advanced life sciences the opportunity to examine the physiological and anatomical basis for many chronic diseases they will encounter in a rehabilitation counseling setting. Students examine the etiology, progress, and potential resolution of a wide range of disorders, as well as the potential implications consequent on these disabilities.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 603
Foundations of Rehabilitation

This course seeks to provide students with basic information about the process of rehabilitation and its history and philosophy. Discussions also focus on the organizational structure of the rehabilitation system, the professional identity of the rehabilitation counselor, and legal and ethical issues in the practice of rehabilitation counseling.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 604
Foundations of Mental Health Counseling

The intent of this course is to provide students with basic information on the principles and practices of mental health counseling. Topics include the history and philosophy of mental health counseling, professional identity, the roles of the mental health counselor, professional ethics, managed care, various contexts of practice and organizational structures, mandated clients, crisis intervention services, prevention, consultation, and an understanding of how diversity influences the practice of mental health counseling. Particular attention is given to the practice of mental health counseling in a range of such urban settings as homeless shelters and outpatient centers.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 605
Principles of Vocational, Educational, and Psychological Assessment

The course provides a survey of standardized tests used in assessing aptitudes, interests, and personality traits. The course covers technical and methodological principles and social, ethical, and legal implications of psychological testing and assessment.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 606
Ethical Standards and Professional Issues in Counseling

The purpose of this course is to create awareness among counselors-in-training of their contribution in the therapeutic process and helping relationship. Topics include foundations for an ethical perspective; models for ethical decision making; ethical codes of professional organizations; client rights and counselor responsibilities; ethical concerns in multicultural counseling and with special client populations; ethical issues in specific modalities (i.e., group, marriage, and family counseling).
Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 607
Theories of Personality

This course is designed to lead to an understanding of the issues underlying the development of personality theory and personality constructs. Personality theory and current research are examined through three central perspectives: psychoanalytic theory, social learning theory, and cognitive development theory. Measurement, assessment, and validation issues are also addressed.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 608
Abnormal Psychology

This course provides students with information relevant to the diagnosis, etiology, and treatment of mental illness. Psychopharmacological interventions are addressed. The epistemological assumptions that ground traditional theories of psychopathology and diagnostic systems such as the DSM are discussed, and avoiding bias in psychiatric diagnosis is a major focus of the course. The following DSM categories are covered: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders including schizophrenias, disorders usually first evident in childhood, and personality disorders.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 610
Case Management and Planning in Rehabilitation

This course acquaints students with case management in rehabilitation counseling and with the range of community resources available to the counselor whose goal is the effective and comprehensive rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. Topics include case finding and case planning, service coordination, and client advocacy activities.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 612
Vocational Rehabilitation and Placement

This course seeks to provide students with information about the total vocational rehabilitation process, including follow-up services. Topics include the referral process; eligibility criteria; comprehensive (medical, psychological, vocational) assessment; vocational training; and placement.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 613
Vocational Development and Career Information

The vocational development component of the course concentrates on the theories of Roe, Holland, Ginzberg, Super, and Tiedeman. The career information component, a major emphasis, directs the student to locate and use sources of educational-vocational information. These sources will include but not be limited to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Guide to Occupational Exploration, information on local labor markets and on military careers, occupation-education information, college and vocational school guides and catalogues.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 614
Counseling Theory and Practice I

The purpose of this course is to provide grounding in the commonalities of counseling techniques and practice in the use of various techniques. The course covers the essentials of interviewing, note taking, and report writing, as well as the role of diagnosis. Tapes and role playing are required.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 615
Counseling Theory and Practice II

This course is an extension of Counseling Theory and Practice I. Major theoretical approaches (dynamic, humanistic, behavioral) are considered. The course also involves the exploration of some non-traditional approaches and the use of tape recordings, films, written records of interviews, and role playing.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 614.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 616
Group Counseling and Group Dynamics

This course provides an introduction to group dynamics that uses the group process of the class to provide experience of group membership and data for interpretation. Participation as a group member is required. Readings and lectures build a cognitive base for evaluating experiential learning.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 615 or 617.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 617
Child and Adolescent Counseling

This course focuses on facilitating the unique development and emotional growth of children through the counseling process. The course is designed to enhance students’ theoretical and practical understanding of the major schools of child psychotherapy. Emphasis is given to a multidimensional view of intervention, with attention to developmental, cognitive, behavioral, educational, multicultural, and environmental issues. Through lectures, videotapes, and structured exercises, students learn a distinct group of interventions, including play and communication skills, as integral components of the therapeutic process.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 614.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 620
Clinical Application of Human Development

This course provides students with a comprehensive view of lifespan development from childhood through adulthood from several perspectives: 1) the interaction of age with such factors as gender, cultural background, disabilities, and other significant issues encountered at particular stages of life; 2) how individuals at specific stages of cognitive development process information and experience; and 3) a structural approach to ego development.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 621
Introduction to Family Therapy

This course introduces the professional issues and practices of family therapy. Family therapy is presented as a respectful and contextual therapeutic intervention that attends to diverse client populations and their social environments. The family therapy profession is discussed as an innovative discipline that is responsive to societal changes. The course introduces human communication and system theories that are applicable for family and larger systems interventions and that are distinguished from other counseling paradigms. The course also addresses the ethical implications of societal norms and changes in the delivery of human services care systems for family therapy.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 615 or 617.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 622
Family Therapy Theories

This course is focused on general concepts of systems theory and on theoretical frameworks that inform family therapy. Family therapy theories and interventions and the feasibility of family therapy will be discussed within a historical context. Students will be given the opportunity to integrate family therapy theories with their experiences and perceptions of their families-of-origin. The influence of culture, race, social class, and gender on families and family therapy theories will be highlighted. Experiential exercises and videotapes of therapy sessions will be used to demonstrate the impact of family therapy theories on client-family interactions and family therapy sessions.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 614 or 621.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 624
Sexuality and Intimacy in Families and Family Therapy

Sexuality and intimacy are major issues for couples and families in therapy. This course explores various approaches to understanding sexual functioning and intimacy and family therapy clinical interventions. Participants analyze and critique historical approaches to sex and marital therapy. The course examines an array of family therapy models, including object relations, intergenerational, purposive, solution, narrative, and larger systems approaches. Within a multicultural framework, it focuses on specific topics related to issues of sexual diversity, gender identity, sexual offending, and victimization. The course includes literature review, lectures, and discussions, experiential exercises (sexual genogram construction), and role plays.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 625
Family Therapy Assessment and Intervention

This course focuses on the practice of systemic and ecosystemic family therapy techniques. Major family therapy models will provide the frameworks for assessment and ethical intervention procedures. Their effectiveness will be critiqued by using criteria set forth by research articles and from clinical practices. In class discussions and role plays, various factors such as race, ethnicity, social class, and the personal profile of the therapist will be shown to have a direct impact on therapeutic interventions. In-class exercises will give students an opportunity to be witnesses and observers of the therapeutic process and to experience therapy as a team effort.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, 621, and 622.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 626
Collaborative Consultation and Larger Systems

How do individuals and families interface with larger systems, and how do therapists intervene collaboratively? How do larger systems structure the lives of individuals and families? Relationally-trained practitioners are attempting to answer these questions through collaborative and interdisciplinary, team-focused projects in mental health, education, the law, and business, among other fields. Similarly, scholars and researchers are developing specific culturally responsive models: outreach family therapy, collaborative health care, multi-systemic school interventions, social-justice-oriented and spiritual approaches, organizational coaching, and consulting, among others. This course explores these developments and aims at developing a clinical and consulting knowledge that contributes to families, organizations, and communities within a collaborative and social-justice-oriented vision.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 622 or permission of instructor.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 627
Couples Therapy

This course will focus on principles, theory, and methods effective in therapy with couples. Family therapy theories from a variety of perspectives, from modernism to postmodernism, will provide the basis for understanding and implementing couples therapy. Topical issues such as domestic violence and biracial and same-sex couples will be interwoven into classroom discussions and role-plays. The influence and impact of socioeconomic and sociocultural factors (including issues of gender and power) on couple relationships will also be examined. Students will gain knowledge of the content and methods of couples therapy through selected readings, classroom discussions, videotapes, and role-play exercises.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, 621, and 622.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 628
Contemporary Family Therapies

This course is an advanced seminar that reviews current trends in family therapy and examines postmodern psychotherapies as they are applied in clinical, school, and larger systems contexts. Theoretical concepts and clinical applications will be drawn from feminist, constructionist, and poststructuralist theories. Special attention will be given to the relationship between larger social contexts and contemporary family configurations. Topics for discussion will include: gay and lesbian families, family violence, and postmodern ideas in work with children, outreach family therapy, and factors affecting the therapist’s role.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, 621, 622, and 625, or permission of instructor.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 629
Psychology of Gender

The purpose of this course is to examine contemporary meanings of gender within the field of psychology and to examine the lived experience of gender for men and women. Participants discuss the ways in which the social categories of gender (along with race, class, ethnicity, and culture) play key roles in determining psychosocial realities. An additional focus includes examination of theoretical questions such as: In what ways have psychology’s assumptions contributed to sexist epistemologies? What epistemological framework is needed in order to understand the complex relationship among social injustice, gender, and emotional distress?
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 630
Principles of Guidance Counseling

The basic philosophy, scope, and techniques of guidance counseling in schools are reviewed and analyzed. Discussion covers practical issues relevant to school counseling: the school as an institution; relations among counselor, administrators, teachers, and parents; developmental education; sex education; counseling standards and legislation; roles of the school counselor; professional development.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 631 (Subject to final University approval)
Foundations of School Adjustment Counseling

The basic philosophy, scope, and techniques of school adjustment counseling in schools are reviewed and analyzed. Discussion covers practical issues relevant to school adjustment counseling: the school as an institution; relations among counselor, administrators, teachers and parents; developmental education; sex education; counseling standards and legislation; roles of the school adjustment counselor; professional development.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 635
Behavioral Counseling

This course provides a rigorous examination of social learning theory as a basis for practice of therapeutic behavioral counseling. Through lectures, readings, demonstrations, and discussions, students become familiar with fundamental techniques of behavioral counseling, including operant, classical, modeling, and cognitive methods.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, and 615 or 617.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL G 650
Group Counseling for Children and Adolescents

This course studies group counseling and group process with children, adolescents, and their families. Participants acquire knowledge and skills through critical and reflective readings, lecture, discussion, role-plays, interviews, and films. Emphasis is given to theoretical and experiential perspectives, as well as multicultural counseling competence, to enhance participants’ growth and training as thoughtful and responsive practitioners in diverse urban settings. Discussions address such themes as group dynamics, group composition and management, stages of group empowerment, and leadership styles.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, and 615 or 617.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 653
Perspectives in Cross-Cultural Counseling

This course addresses the role of culture in counseling and psychology by looking both at history and at current issues. Discussions use an interdisciplinary framework to approach the question of counseling in a multicultural society. The course seeks to contribute to both the personal and the professional development of its participants.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, and 615 or 617.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 664
Child Abuse and Neglect

This course addresses the growing problem of child abuse and neglect in American society, exploring the psychodynamic and sociocultural factors that contribute to child abuse. Emphasis is given to prevention, intervention, treatment, and the legal aspects of abuse and neglect.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 670
Substance Abuse in Modern Society

This course surveys the broader problems caused by substance abuse in modern society, both presenting and analyzing data. Part of the course is devoted to a study of the physiological consequences of substance abuse. Consideration is also given to the family of the substance abuser, to various treatment modalities, and to the relationship between the criminal justice system and substance abuse rehabilitation.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 672
Substance Abuse and the Family

This course focuses on families with members who are substance abusers and the ways in which these families function. The course explores the methods and resources available for helping such families.
Prerequisite: COUNSL 614.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 674
Psychopharmacology

This course considers the nature of alcohol and narcotics and the ways they affect addicts in mind and body before, during, and after treatment.
Prerequisites: COUNSL 614, and 670 or 672.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 680
Family Therapy Supervision and Consultation

This course reviews the state of the art in consultation with and supervision of family therapists. Students explore the context, philosophy, relationships, and pragmatics of supervision. They also analyze such major systemic supervision models as inter-generational, integrative, Post-Milan, and constructionist. A central focus of the course is the emphasis given to a “hands-on” experience. In addition to studying the models, students experience an ongoing relationship as both supervisee and supervisor. The course frames the supervisory process as a conversation embedded in the interplay of race, class, gender, and institutional politics. As a result, discussions focus on issues of sexual orientation, cultural sensitivity, the mandate to educate urban practitioners, and changing clinical and economic realities. The course involves face-to-face supervision, genograms, videotapes, and other family therapy supervisory techniques. Consideration is given to the life experiences of course participants, as well as to ethical and legal issues. Other topics include the differences between supervisor and consultant stances and the potential use of family therapy techniques in organizational settings.
3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 688 (A, M, R, S)
Practicum

The purpose of the practicum is to expose the student to his/her particular field in counseling through actual placement in a facility where appropriate supervision is provided. Class discussions include a review of onsite observations and experiences and discussions of current issues in the field.

• COUNSL 688A: Adjustment Counseling Practicum
  Prerequisites: COUNSL 604, 608, 614, and 617.
• COUNSL 688M: Mental Health Counseling Practicum
  Prerequisites: COUNSL 604, 608, 614, and 615 or 617; for Forensic Services Concentrators, also PSYCH 614.
• COUNSL 688R: Rehabilitation Counseling Practicum
  Prerequisites: COUNSL 603, 614, and 615.
• COUNSL 688S: School Counseling Practicum

3 Lect Hrs, 3 Credits

COUNSL 696
Independent Study in Counseling

This course allows for the comprehensive study of a particular topic or a field work experience under the direction of a faculty member. A detailed proposal must be submitted to the faculty member prior to registration.
Hours by arrangement, 3-6 Credits

COUNSL 697
Special Topics in Counseling

This advanced course offers intensive study of a selected topic in counseling psychology. Course content varies according to the topic and will be announced prior to registration.
Hours by arrangement, 3-6 Credits

COUNSL 698 (A, F, M, R, S)
Internship in Counseling

Students are placed as apprentice counselors in schools or agencies under the direct supervision of qualified professionals. Students meet weekly for a three-hour seminar.

• COUNSL 698A: School Adjustment Internship (may be taken twice for credit)
• COUNSL 698F: Family Therapy Internship (may be taken three times for credit)
• COUNSL 698M: Mental Health Counseling Internship (may be taken twice for credit)
• COUNSL 698R: Rehabilitation Counseling Internship (may be taken twice for credit)
• COUNSL 698S: School Counseling Internship (may be taken twice for credit)

Prerequisites: Advanced standing, practicum (all programs except Family Therapy), and approval of coordinator.

3 Lect Hrs, 6 Credits