Syllabus Higher Education 579 Counseling/Group Dynamics in Post-Secondary Settings Fall 2012

Transcription

1 Syllabus Higher Education 579 Counseling/Group Dynamics in Post-Secondary Settings Fall 2012 Robert D. Reason N239A Lagomarcino Hall (515) Office hours: By appointment Course Description/Rationale This course is designed to cover the basic counseling concepts and applications essential for effective Student Affairs practice. The Masters degree program in Student Affairs in Higher Education is not designed to prepare professional counselors. However, it is important that student affairs professionals understand and demonstrate well-developed helping skills in order to effectively perform their duties and responsibilities. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate: basic helping skills, including o active listening skills o empathy, integrity, and compassion in interactions with others cross-cultural communication skills, group facilitation skills, crisis intervention skills, mediation skills, understanding of and adherence to applicable professional ethical standards, self-understanding and commitment to ongoing development. TEXTS: Reynolds. A. L. (2009). Helping college students: Developing essential support skills for student affairs practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Harper, R., Wilson, N. L., & Associates (2010). More than listening: A casebook for using counseling skills in student affairs work. Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. 1

2 Methods and Activities This course is focused on proficiency development and skill building, and much of the work will be experiential. Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the information and ideas presented in the assigned readings and to integrate material offered by the instructor. In class, we will spend a great deal of our time learning and practicing helping skills. In addition, students will be expected to practice these skills outside of class. As students learn to be skilled helpers, it is expected that they will reflect on their strengths and struggles, engage in introspection, and work on self-understanding. This process is expected to be both intrapersonal and interpersonal, both internal and collaborative. In other words, students are expected to think about their development and to share their insights with classmates and instructors, and they are expected to provide honest and constructive feedback to each other. This means that we are all expected to work to create a classroom that is safe to learn and grow, one where we treat each other with respect, honesty, and dignity while challenging and supporting each other. Initial reflection paper (no points): You will write an initial reflection paper that describes your understanding of what it means to be a helping professional. Specifically the role(s) that student affairs professionals do/should play in the lives of college students (related to helping). The paper can include discussion of your own experiences with helping professionals and how those experiences influence your understanding. This paper must include a self-assessment of your current comfort levels related to helping skills, including discussion (appropriately masked) of times in which you have demonstrated such skills. This can include discussion of what it was like to get feedback from and to give feedback to those with whom you ve worked, successful and not-so-successful experiences leading group(s), and experiences serving as a referral agent/helper of other college students. Practice sessions (150 total points possible): This on-going assignment will be completed in triads. Students will engage two 30-minute practice sessions as helping professionals, two 30- minute practice helping sessions as clients, and two 30-minute practice sessions as observer/feedback provider for a total of six sessions. The sessions are to be real sessions, not role plays, so that each participant can experience what it is like to be in a helping relationship. The sessions must be audio and/or video recorded. Each triad will schedule time with the instructor toward the end of the semester to review tapes and debrief sessions. Helper (100 points possible): For the second session in which you are the helping professional, you must submit a tape as well as a transcript and a session analysis. For the transcript, you should transcribe the middle 15 minutes of the tape. The transcription should be verbatim, which means word for word, including repeats, um, er, laughing, sighs, and extended pauses. The transcript should note when the helper is speaking and 2

3 when the client is speaking and should be done as a chart with three columns. In the left column, there should be a direct transcription of the dialogue. In the middle column, the helping skills being used should be indicated for each helper comment. In the right column, next to the skill, there should be a brief assessment of the effectiveness of using that skill at that place and how the helper knows how effective it was. For the session analysis, you should submit a paper that provides a thoughtful reflection of the session including a brief summary; your goals for the session; the flow of the session; the quality of the relationship; helper and client factors; external factors; cultural factors, and value/ ethical conflicts experienced by you; what you experienced; what you think the client was experiencing; and the effectiveness of the session. In discussing the effectiveness of the session, describe at least three helpful strategies/techniques used and explain how they were helpful. Also, describe three less helpful strategies/techniques used, how you know they were less helpful, and what you might have done differently. You must address how you incorporated/learned from the feedback provided by the observer from the previous session. Observer/Feedback provider (25 points possible): For the two sessions in which you serve as an observer, you will provide a short summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the student serving as helping professional. This summary should be constructive and focused on improving the skills of the helper. The summary should be turned into the student-helper, who will include them as appendices to the final session analysis. Client (25 points possible): For each of the two sessions in which you are a client, you are expected to submit a one-to-three page reflection paper discussing what it was like to be a client. The paper should address such issues as: What was the experience like for you? What did the student helper do that was helpful? (Be specific and describe at least two examples and discuss how each was helpful.) What did the student helper do that was not helpful? Give two specific examples. Even if you felt that the session went well and the helper was generally helpful, provide at least two examples of areas that could be improved. Blanket statements such as It was a good session, and everything was fine or We just weren t working well together are not acceptable and will result in the paper being returned for revision. These papers are to be turned in to the instructor, but will be returned to the helper. The helper will include these as appendices to the final session analysis. 3

4 Class facilitation of special topic and/or population (50 points possible): Students will prepare an in-class facilitation on a special topic or population of importance to student affairs helping professionals. As a group, we will determine both the facilitators and the dates during our first or second class meeting. The facilitation should be minutes long and should engage the class in an in-depth discussion about the identified special population. A short academic paper will accompany the class facilitation. The paper should be no more than 8-10 pages long and address the existing understanding of (by reviewing the literature related to) the topic being addressed. This is a short paper and must be focused and succinctly written, synthesizing the available information in a meaningful way. The paper will be turned into the instructor on the day of the presentation; further, a one-page brief should be made available to all classmates as a handout for the presentation. Final reflection paper (50 points possible): Students will write a final reflection paper that describes their development as helping professionals throughout the course. The paper should include a discussion of what students think has gone well in the process of working on helping skills, how they feel about their skill levels as they complete this course, what areas need continued work, and what attitudes and biases caused the greatest struggles throughout the semester. Students should also reflect on the process of learning helping skills, including discussion of what it was like to get feedback from and to give feedback to those with whom they worked. Students should focus on changes they see in themselves, both in terms of helping skills and personal awareness and growth during the semester. Additionally, students should focus on what the areas they will continue to work on as they move through their programs. The final reflection paper should be 6-8 pages in length. Grading Assignments Points Due Initial Reflection Paper ungraded Due August 27 th Session Feedback 50 varies Helper reflection 100 October 29th Class facilitation 50 varies Integrative Reflection Paper 50 Due December 3th Total Points 225 4

5 Grading Scale A = A- = B+ = B = B- = C+ = C = C- = D = F = 59 & Below *Note Regarding Letter Grades: Simply meeting the instructors expectations constitutes B work; going above and beyond is A work; and failing to meet the minimum expectations will result in a grade of C or lower. Academic Integrity All students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. Academic integrity includes a commitment to not engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation, or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the university community and compromise the worth of work completed by others. Students charged with a breach of academic integrity will receive due process and, if the charge is found valid, academic sanctions may range, depending on the severity of the offense, from F for the assignment to F for the course. Students with Disabilities Please address any special needs or special accommodations with me at the beginning of the semester or as soon as you become aware of your needs. Those seeking accommodations based on disabilities should obtain a Student Academic Accommodation Request (SAAR) form from the Student Disability Resource (SDR) office (phone ). SDR is located on the main floor of the Student Services Building, Room

6 Course Outline Date Topic Assignment 8/20/11 Introduction to Course Syllabus Student Affairs Professionals Reynolds Chapters 1 & 10 as Helpers Harper Introduction 8/27/11 Mental Health Issues on Campus Ethics Reynolds Chapters 2 & 3 ACPA, NASPA, Ethics Codes Initial Reflection due 9/3/11 No Class Labor Day 9/10/11 Theories Reynolds Chapters 4 & 5 Counseling Center Harper Chapters 1 & 2 9/17/11 Helping Skills: Reynolds Chapter 6 Practice: Attending, listening, Open questions, probes Practice: Restatement, reflection of feelings, Integrating skills Harper Chapters 3 & 4 9/24/11 No Class Schedule first helping session 10/1/11 Theories Reynolds Chapters 4 & 5 Harper Chapters 1 & 2 Depression: Suicidality: 10/8/11 Insight stage Harper Chapters 5 & 6 Theoretical underpinnings, challenge, interpretation Autism Spectrum: Psychotropic medications: 10/15/11 Insight stage Harper Chapters 7 & 9 Self-disclosure, immediacy Integrating skills American with Disabilities Act Learning Disabilities: 6

7 10/22/11 No class schedule second session 10/29/11 Integrating the stages Harper Chapters 10, 11, 12 Tape and analysis due 11/5/11 Conflict and Crisis Reynolds Chapter 7 Management Harper Chapter 13 Returning Veteran Students: Coming Out processes: 11/12/11 Sexual Assault Readings TBA Alcohol Issues Internet Addictions: 11/19/11 No Class Thanksgiving break 11/26/11 Group facilitation Reynolds Chapter 8 Readings TBA 12/3/11 GROUP MEETINGS Final reflection paper due 12/12/11 Wrap Up 7