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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

Cullari, S. (2001). Counseling and psychotherapy: A practical guidebook for students, trainees, and new professionals. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN #: 0205294251

Waters, D.B. & Lawrence, E.C. (1993). Competence, courage and change: An approach to family therapy. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. ISBN #: 0393701395

Ethical Code for Psychologists. Available at www.apa.org.

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. This goal will be accomplished through lectures, examinations, required text readings, other readings as assigned, and the completion of a master’s level clinical skills presentation.

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.
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 clinical skills presentation 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.

The student is encouraged to send sections of their paper to the professor as indicated. This is an optional portion of class and you do not have to send rough drafts to me. That is at your discretion.

GRADES:

The student will be graded on the basis of their performance on the mid-term and final examinations. The mid-term examination may be comprised of true-false questions, multiple choice questions, and short answer questions. The final examination is available only from the instructor and is entirely in essay format. The student will have one week to complete the final examination. Each examination will consist of 100 points thereby producing a possible 200 points for the class through examinations.

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.

Clinical Skills Presentation

This class is designed in order for the student to prepare a "Clinical Skills Presentation." This is a comprehensive paper which outlines the students’ view of personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. The purpose of this paper is for the student to form a solid base of knowledge for clinical practice. Although this base of knowledge is expected to grow over the course of professional development, this paper will serve as the starting point for this professional growth process.

This paper shall be researched and the student is expected to present their references at the conclusion of the paper. This paper is expected to be in APA format. No exceptions to this format will be permitted. There is no required length for this paper, however it is assumed that each section will be complete. The instructor will provide guidance throughout this process, if requested.

The paper will consist of the following sections: Theory of Personality, Theory of Psychopathology, and Theory of Psychotherapy and Change. Each of these sections will be clearly marked in the text for easy reference. A brief discussion of each of these sections follows:

Theory of Personality - This component of your paper will reflect how you believe that personality is made. Is it all considered the result of nature? Or is it nurture? Or is it a combination of both? Is development based on psychosexual gratification? Or is development based on cognitive abilities? Are there stages to development? Or is development a smooth process? You also need to address family variables and cultural variables as either relevant or irrelevant.

Theory of Psychopathology - In this section of the paper you are to describe how a person becomes "mentally ill." You need to briefly address the roles of genetics and family processes in the development and maintenance of psychopathology. If these are not areas of concern for your theory, you need to address the reasons why they are not important. This does not have to cover each diagnosis, but rather should be general.

Theory of Psychotherapy/Change - In this section of the paper, you are to present how you intend to do psychotherapy. You need to address the process of change and discuss any techniques that you find to be appealing. You will need to reference your theory of personality and psychopathology sections in order to demonstrate their utility.

I do not expect you to have a paper that is perfect. Again, the purpose of this is really to demonstrate that you have an idea of what is going on in the therapy room. The paper is not meant to take over your life! When I completed my master’s equivalent for this task, I would estimate that the paper was about 30 pages. When I completed the doctoral equivalent of this task, it was knocking on 100 pages (including the annotated transcript). You do not need to be this comprehensive if you do not want to be!

I do expect that you submit the required parts of the paper on time and in order, if you wish. I will provide you with as much assistance as possible during this task. This requirement is designed so that your finished work will come as no surprise to me when I grade it.

One final word about this paper.... Some people have set up Internet businesses that complete a student’s papers for them. This practice, while legal, is incredible unethical. If you are caught using one of these services for this class, I will recommend to the faculty of Canyon College that termination of your degree pursuit is crucial. In addition, you will receive a failing grade for the course. This is simply unethical behavior which would indicate you are not appropriate for the position of a counselor/psychotherapist. But the reality is that it would be hard to determine if you did purchase a paper from one of these sources. So I rely on your personal integrity while completing this examination.

Class Schedule:

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

Lecture One - Ethics; Introduction to the Professional Relationship One Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: First half of the book Cullari Text: Chapter 1 and 2 PAPER: Review your old psychology text books for ideas for your paper. Write down the key components for each of the sections. Try to do a little bit of additional research on your theory of choice. Be careful not to "re-invent the wheel" with your theory. Lecture Two - Ethics Two Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: First half of the book Cullari Text: Chapter 3, 4 and 5 PAPER: Write your theory of personalty section. Make certain that you have addressed as many relevant details as possible. Read it, re- read it, and have a friend read it. Make all necessary corrections. Send me a copy if you would like some feedback on it. Lecture Three - Being a Good Therapist Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: First half of the book Cullari Text: Chapters 1 - 5 again PAPER: Write your theory of psychopathology. Make certain that you address as many relevant details as possible. Again.... Read it, re-read it, and have a friend read it. Make all necessary corrections. Send me a copy if you would like some feedback on it. Lecture Four - A Breath of Relaxation? Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: First half of the book Cullari Text: Chapters 1 - 5 review. Read Chapter 6 TAKE THE MID-TERM!!! PAPER - Write your theory of psychotherapy. Again, pay attention to the details. Read it, re-read it, and have a friend read it. Make all necessary corrections. Send me a copy if you would like some feedback on it. Lecture Five - Another Brief Lecture Required Readings Courage, Competence and Change: Second half of the book Cullari Text: Chapters 7 and 8 Lecture Six - Tricks of the Trade Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: Second half of the book Cullari Text: Chapters 3, 5, and 10 You should have the final draft of your paper ready to turn in at this point. Read it over and double check for spelling and grammar errors. Have a friend review it for you. Lecture Seven - On Being A Good Psychotherapist Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: Second half of the book Cullari Text: Chapters 11 and 15 Turn your paper in! It is due this week. You must turn in your paper and I must have time to grade it before you are permitted to take the final examination. Lecture Eight - The End? Or Just the End of the Beginning Required Readings: Courage, Competence and Change: All of the book Cullari Text: 1 - 8; 10, 11, 15 When you are complete, drop me an e-mail for your final exam. I will mail it to you. It is all essay and you will have one week to take it.

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.