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Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: THEORIES OF COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY II

Course Title: Department: Instructor:

Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy II Social and Behavioral Sciences Matthew D. Geyer, Psy.D. E-Mail -- Vita

REQUIRED TEXT: - Online Bookstore

Poorman, P.B. (2003). Microskills and theoretical foundations for professional helpers. . Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
ISBN #: 0205328156

Sommers-Flanagan, J. & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2004). Counseling and Psychotherapy theories in context and practice: Skills, strategies, and techniques. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. ISBN #: 0471211052

APA Code of Ethics: Available at www.apa.org.

Recommenced Resources:

I would recommend that you purchase and use the APA publication manual (Fifth Edition) for use in your graduate studies in psychology (ISBN: 1-55798-791-2). This book is widely available and can be purchased for around $25 from Amazon.com.

Please Note:

The Poorman text was required reading in my CS530 course starting in December 2003. You will not need to re-purchase this text.

GOAL OF THIS CLASS:

Upon completion of this course, the student will identify common practice issues and develop a greater sense of professionalism as a master's prepared counselor/psychotherapist. The learner will have a greater understanding of theoretical foundations of psychotherapy and techniques employed by therapists. This goal will be accomplished through lectures, examinations, required text readings, other readings as assigned, and the completion of major discussion paper.

METHODS OF INSTRUCTION:

This course will use a variety of instructional techniques employed in a distance learning format. These will include, but are not limited to the following methods:

1. Prepared lectures by the instructor on topics related to the subject area.
2. Required text readings and other assigned readings.
3. Use of message boards maintained by Canyon College when scheduled.
4. Use of chat rooms maintained by Canyon College when scheduled.
5. Use of e-chalkboards maintained by Canyon College when scheduled.
6. Use of e-mail messages from students to the instructor and from the instructor to the student.
7. Completion of the major discussion paper

Instructional Format:

The student is required to read the lecture material and the required readings before the mid-term and final examinations. Any questions that remain upon completing these tasks will be first addressed via e-mail by the instructor. If the student wishes to further discuss the matter, she/he will schedule a meeting time to meet the instructor in one of the virtual classrooms.

GRADES:

The student will be graded on the basis of their performance on the mid-term examination, final examination, and discussion paper. The mid-term and final examinations may be comprised of true-false questions, multiple choice questions, and short answer questions. Each examination will consist of 100 points thereby producing a possible 200 points for the class through examinations.
Please note that your final examination is COMPREHENSIVE and will therefore cover all information presented in your texts and the lectures. Your mid-term examination will not contain questions on the APA Code of Ethics. However, your final exam will cover this document.

Your mid-term and final examinations are considered to be open-text/notes and you are able to use any other resources you wish to assist you with the examinations except for another person! You will have one hour to complete each examination.
The other component of class which will be graded is the clinical skills presentation. This paper will be worth 100 possible points. The paper will be due before the student takes the final examination for this class.

Based on this point system, the following grading scale will be utilized in order to assign a letter grade for the student’s performance at the conclusion of the class.

300 - 270 = A
269 - 240 = B
239 - 210 = C
209 - 180 = D
Below 180 = F

Due to this being a graduate course, no opportunities for extra credit exist. There will be no exceptions made to this rule.

Paper Assignment:

For this class, you are required to complete a paper that will comprise one-third of your final grade (100 points). This paper is to be completed in APA format (fifth edition of the APA publication manual). There will be no exceptions to this format and papers submitted not using this format will automatically receive a grade of "0". APA format is considered the professional standard and it is used in all psychology graduate schools. Again I reiterate, only papers in APA format will be graded. Other formats will result in a point score of "0" effectively earning the student an "F" for this course. The APA manual can be purchased for about $25 from Amazon.com or any other reputable book store. Lecture four is devoted to writing a graduate school quality paper. This will help you to get your paper as good as it can be. Feel free to read this lecture at any time.

Your paper will consist of the following sections:

1. A review of the four theorists and their theories that appealed to you (or the aspects that appealed to you). Please discuss what elements of the theory appeal to you and how you envision using them in the therapy room.
2. A review of at least two theories (or elements of theories) that you did not appeal to you. Please discuss why you do not like these theories. What limitations could your practice experience as a result of you not liking these theories.
3. Pick one theory and provide at least a five page summary of the theory's major concepts. This should be a theory that you particularly like and could come to favor. Focus at least half of your discussion on psychotherapeutic techniques that you would expect such a therapist to utilize.

Paper Length:

One of the most annoying questions that I am asked by graduate students "is How long does my paper need to be?" My answer to that question has always been "as long as it takes, and no less." I would recommend a paper that is at least 15-20 pages, double spaced, with one inch margins, in Times New Roman 12 Point Font. This should be viewed as a minimum. If your paper exceeds 25 pages, please let me know ahead of time.

Grading Rubric for this Assignment:

100 - 90 points - Paper is in APA format. Fewer than two spelling or grammatical mistakes in body of paper. Paper uses more than ten references that are not used as the course texts and at least three of these references are source materials (written by the theorist).

80-89 points - Paper in APA format. More than two, but less than five, spelling or grammatical mistakes in body of paper. Paper uses over seven references that are not used as the course texts and fewer than three of these references are source materials (written by the theorist).

70-79 points - Paper in APA format. More than five, less than ten, spelling or grammatical mistakes in body of paper. Paper uses between five and seven references that are not used as the course texts and none are source materials (written by the theorist).

60-69 points - Paper in APA format. More than ten spelling or grammatical mistakes in body of paper. Uses less than five references that are not used as the course texts and none are source materials (written by the theorist).

1-59 points - Paper in APA format. Numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes that are characteristic of the paper. References are the course texts and none are source materials (written by the theorist)

0 points - Paper not in APA format or evidence of plagiarism exists.

Class Schedule
CS532

Week One Week Two Week Three Week Four Week Five Week Six Week Seven Week Eight

Lecture Topic - Introduction to Ethics Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Chapter1 Poorman: Chapters 1, 2, 3 APA Code of Ethics Lecture Topic - Continued Ethics Discussion Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Chapters 2, 3, and 4 (Analytic Theories) Poorman: Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11 APA Code of Ethics Lecture Topic - On Being a Good Psychotherapist Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Chapters 5 and 6 (Existential and Person Centered) Poorman: Chapters 8, 12 APA Code of Ethics Lecture Topic - Some Basics for Graduate School Writing Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Chapters 7 and 8 (Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral) Poorman: Chapters 9 and 10 APA Code of Ethics ** MID-TERM EXAMINATION IS TO BE COMPLETED!!! Please send me an e-mail requesting to sit for the examination at least 72 hours before you are wanting to take it. Lecture Topic - Motivations for Being a Psychotherapist Readings Sommers-Flanagan: Chapter 9, 10, and 11 (Reality Therapy, Feminist Therapy, and Constructivist Therapy) Poorman: Chapters 13 APA Code of Ethics Lecture Topic - Tricks of the Trade Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Chapter 12 (Multi cultural Theories) Poorman: Chapter 14 APA Code of Ethics Lecture Topic - More on Being A Good Therapist Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Chapter 12 (Integrative) Poorman: Chapter 15 APA Code of Ethics ** Your paper is Due before you request access to the final examination Lecture Topic - You've Only Just Begun Readings: Sommers-Flanagan: Review for Final Examination (Comprehensive) Poorman: Review for Final Examination (Comprehensive) APA Code of Ethics

NOTE: The instructor reserves the right to make any changes in this syllabus. All students enrolled in this class will be advised of the changes when they are made.

YOUR ASSIGNED READINGS: You have the majority of your readings before your mid-term examination. This was not meant to be cruel, but the goal was to get you into the materials fairly quickly so you can turn the majority of your attention to your paper after the mid-term.