Counseling Courses & Methods of Instruction

Introduction to Guidance Systems is designed to introduce students to the counseling profession. Broad general discussions will take place rather than the in – depth treatment of particular areas. The principles and practices in this course will be guided by professional organizations such as the Florida Counseling Association (FCA), the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), and the Florida Department of Education (FDOE).

This course is designed to study the nature and significance of career choice and development, basic current and new theories, and models of the career decision making process. Students will be able to relate career theories and research to the practice of career counseling while working with children, adolescents, and adults.

This course is designed to study the major theories and techniques of counseling. Psychoanalytic, behavioral/cognitive, existential/humanistic, multicultural, family, feminist, postmodern, and integrative theories will be discussed. In particular, special emphasis on analyzing concepts, practices, applications, and issues in the helping relationships will be covered.

This course is an examination of the evolution of three major classes of theories, namely 1) Theories of Learning, 2) Theories of Life Span Development, and 3) Theories of Personalities. Numerous explanations of learning have emerged since 1980; some have come and gone while others have stood the test of time. This course also focuses on three perspectives of learning: Behaviorism, Cognitive Psychology, and Social Learning Theory as well as principles that have relevance for counselors and other helping professionals.

This course is designed to help graduate students study the basic issues and key theoretical concepts of the group process and shows how group leaders can apply these concepts in working with a variety of groups. In particular, students will become familiar with the various stages of group development related to children, adolescents, and adults.

Legal and Ethical Issues in the Counseling Profession acknowledge that school counselors function in a complex legal environment. In recent decades, a variety of laws and regulations apply to them in their work. Some of these laws emanate from our national constitution and federal laws, many from state laws and constitutions, and some from local ordinances and school board regulations; further legal constraints derive from administrative rules and regulations and a myriad of judicial decisions. Counselors who work with students cannot hope to be intimately familiar with all laws relating to students. In addition to this obligation, counselors guiding legal principles controlling their work and the processes whereby our legal institutions address and resolve conflicts, and know when to seek advice from lawyers.

Personality and counseling practices will provide students with a broad framework from which to examine and evaluate theories of personality in terms of their scientific and practical value in explaining and predicting human behavior. Students will be given the principles of developing psychological constructs, and a survey of classical and contemporary theories of personality. This course is designed to enhance the professional counselor’s ability to recognize the existence of differences among people and develop skills needed to become effective helpers. Lastly, students will exit this course with a better understanding of their personalities.

This course is designed to train graduate students in the professional use of various mental tests and related psychological assessments. There is training in test administration, scoring, and interpretation. This course meets certification requirements (assessment area) for school counseling, school psychology, all exceptionalities, and reading.

This course focuses on clients of various cultural backgrounds that bring to the counseling relationship problems related to their culture, lifespan stage or the frustrations and challenges often facing minority groups struggling to cope in U.S. society. Counselors will develop expertise and sensitivity in working with various cultural groups. Also, multicultural and pluralistic trends including characteristics and concerns of diverse groups based on such factors as age, race, religious preference, physical disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, cultural family patterns, gender, socioeconomic status, and intellectual ability are discussed. Candidates will become exemplary professionals in the areas of multiculturalism, technology, values, problem solving, professionalism, and urban education.

This course is designed to help professionals acquire knowledge and basic skills in marriage and family therapy. In particular, the course focuses on the family as a system; it will be studied from psychodynamic, cognitive/behavioral, humanistic/existential and transpersonal perspectives. Upon completion of this course, students will have developed the professional skills inherent in an effective model to use in counseling families. In addition, students will become exemplary professionals in the areas of multiculturalism, technology, values, problem solving, professionalism, and urban education.

This course provides an overview of what students and practicing consultants in the human services professions need to know about consultation practice and theory. It presents a generic model for application, surveys the various approaches to consultation, discusses the organizational context of consultation, and reviews the many ethical and professional issues consultants face.

This course is clearly focused on teaching students how to help others with “real life problems.” Students are placed in realistic settings where they actually learn how to do something of concrete value with others. The practicum provides an opportunity for students to implement and practice skills learned during academic coursework, while obtaining close supervision on and off site. Experiential activities are required of each student, including role-playing of counseling theories and techniques. All students must complete videotapes of the helping model and must demonstrate knowledge of an application of specific counseling theories including rationale, basic assumptions, procedures used, and counselor’s role. An electronic portfolio must be developed that documents the professional growth and development of the student and all documentation must be tied directly to the Accomplished Professional Competencies.

Practicum Requirements: A minimum of 100 hours is required and placements are made through the University Supervisor. Students are expected to observe the schedule of the practicum site, including their vacation and break schedules.

This supervised internship in school guidance provides a realistic setting for the demonstration and observation of those knowledge, skills, and abilities that are inherent in the training and eventual performance of a professional guidance counselor in the schools. It is the integration of practical and research knowledge of practicing students that allows them to operationalize many of the theories they have studied. It is through this type of experience that the student can understand the implications of training as it relates to other individuals, especially within the school environment.

Internship Requirements: A minimum of 300 hours is required for those students from an educational program and 600 hours are required for those from a non- educational program. Placements are made through the university internship supervisor. At times, a student’s work setting may be an appropriate work placement for the guidance internship. The university internship supervisor will make contact with various schools to ensure a proper and diverse placement.

This supervised internship in school guidance provides a realistic setting for the demonstration and observation of those knowledge, skills, and abilities that are inherent in the training and eventual performance of a professional guidance counselor in the schools. It is the integration of practical and research knowledge of practicing students that allows them to operationalize many of the theories they have studied. It is through this type of experience that the student can understand the implications of training as it relates to other individuals, especially within the school environment.

Internship Requirements: A minimum of 300 hours is required for those students from an educational program and 600 hours are required for those from a non- educational program. Placements are made through the university internship supervisor. At times, a student’s work setting may be an appropriate work placement for the school guidance internship. The university internship supervisor will make contact with various schools to ensure a proper and diverse placement.

This course focuses on the major issues in administration of programs designed to serve English language learners in public schools. Specific legal, sociological, psychological, and philosophical issues related to program development, administration and maintenance to serve English learners is addressed. Emphasis on the roles of psychologist, guidance counselors, social workers, and administrators is addressed via content.

This course is designated to acquaint students with the fundamental concepts and knowledge for teaching reading in the content areas. The concepts in this course will develop awareness, understanding and appreciation of literacy practices that foster reading across the curriculum. Students will gain knowledge of teaching reading by integrating curriculum across all subjects including social studies, science, and math.