Courses for Master of Education in Counseling

This course is designed to ground M.Ed. students in their professional counseling identity by examining the multiple professional roles and functions of counselors in a variety of settings and specialty areas. Legal and ethical standards of the profession are applied as students learn skills and characteristics of effective counseling considering levels of risk/crisis, developmental level and cultural context. Increased awareness of personal beliefs and values are integral to each student's development as a counselor.

A range of intervention strategies, both cognitive and behavioral, are studied and practiced. These include contingency management, desensitization, modeling, reality therapy, motivational interviewing, and various types of cognitive therapy.

Foundational affect-oriented theories are compared and built upon: person-centered and gestalt therapies with additional focus on transactional analysis, narrative therapy, solution-focused, and emerging approaches emphasizing mindfulness. These theories are philosophically rooted in the humanistic-existential school of thought and provide experience in major modes of therapeutic intervention: reflection, confrontation, interpretation, awareness and experiment.

This course provides students with the foundation for all practicum and internship experiences. Through course content, case conceptualization, and focused practice, students develop and demonstrate core communication and interpersonal skills essential for the counseling field: building relationships, conducting initial assessments, setting goals, implementing interventions, and evaluating outcomes. Students examine attitudes, values, and beliefs that enhance the helping process and acclimate to their future practicum sites. In progress pass/fail grading.

This course is structured as a 100-hour clinical experience that offers students introductory exposure to and supervised practice in the broad scope of activities engaged in by counselors. Students work with clients and hone their basic counseling and case conceptualization skills developed in COUN 620. Weekly supervision is provided by site supervisors and program faculty. Students present and review recordings and give and receive feedback on counseling skills. Successful completion of COUN 620 AND 621 is required in order to advance to internship placements. In progress pass/fail grading.

This course is designed to provide a foundation in basic social science research methods, particularly as they pertain to counseling. Issues in research design, basic statistics, qualitative interviewing, and systematic evaluation are stressed. Students will learn how to read and understand research studies in order to develop an evidence-based practice and how to gather and use data in their own practices.

This course assists counselors in making accurate diagnoses and developing treatment and planning skills. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association provides the framework of study.

Students learn the theory and practice of group leadership by participating in and leading a growth-oriented group. Students practice skills and receive feedback on performance.

This course orients students to the school setting by building competence in and understanding of the varied roles counselors take in K-12 comprehensive counseling and guidance programs.

This course examines the psycho-bio-social tasks in human developmental stages through the life span from a culturally responsive counseling perspective. Developmental counseling recognizes there are normative patterns of human development that can be impacted by a range of contextual variables--for example, abuse and neglect. Understanding development is important when assessing client functioning and in designing developmentally appropriate helping strategies.

This course orients counselors to the complexities of working with clients from diverse backgrounds and considers race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and religious/spiritual affiliation as well as discrimination related to age, poverty, gender, and disability. Students will have opportunities to reflect on the development of personal beliefs and attitudes and to develop skills for providing culturally competent communication and interventions.

The critical evaluation and selection of psychological and educational instruments are studied. Psychometric theory is emphasized and major representative instruments are surveyed.

This course examines the ways in which counselors and other helping professionals assist people of all ages in their career development. Emphasis is on understanding and applying theories and related assessments, activities, and techniques to foster career awareness, exploration, decision-making, and preparation. Historical and emerging career theories are covered. The intersectionality of multicultural perspectives and identities with work, family, and other life roles are examined.

This course is part of a 600-hour internship in a mental health or school setting. Interns apply their clinical skills under the supervision of an on-site mentor from who they receive guidance and supervision. Interns meet weekly for group supervision and discuss professional issues they are encountering. Interns are expected to demonstrate professional conduct at all times.

This course is the first part of a fall-through-spring, 600-hour internship in a school setting. Interns apply their clinical skills under the supervision of an on-site mentor from whom they receive guidance and feedback. Interns meet weekly for group supervision on campus and discuss professional issues that they are encountering. They review recordings and give and receive feedback on counseling skills and activities. Interns are expected to demonstrate professional conduct at all times. In progress pass/fail grading.

This course is the spring semester continuation of the 600-hour internship experience (COUN 660). Interns apply their clinical skills under the supervision of an on-site mentor from whom they receive guidance and feedback. Interns meet weekly for group supervision on campus and discuss professional issues that they are encountering. They review recordings and give and receive feedback on counseling skills and activities. Interns are expected to demonstrate professional conduct at all times. In progress pass/fail grading.

This course is the first part of a fall-through-spring, 600-hour internship in a mental health setting. Interns apply their clinical skills under the supervision of an on-site mentor from whom they receive guidance and feedback. Interns meet weekly for group supervision on campus and discuss professional issues that they are encountering. They review recordings and give and receive feedback on counseling skills and activities. Interns are expected to demonstrate professional conduct at all times. In progress pass/fail grading.

This course is the spring semester continuation of the 600-hour internship experience (COUN 662) in a mental health setting. Interns apply their clinical skills under the supervision of an on-site mentor from whom they receive guidance and feedback. Interns meet weekly for group supervision on campus and discuss professional issues that they are encountering. They review recordings and give and receive feedback on counseling skills and activities. Interns are expected to demonstrate professional conduct at all times. In progress pass/fail grading.

This course is designed to build an understanding of (1) the complex processes of deliberate normative change in schools, (2) the expanded definitions of leadership within the roles of principal, counselor, and teacher in regard to school transformation and (3) the nature of 'interactive professionalism' among educators that is inherent in the emerging definitions of effective school leadership. Research on and examples of effective strategies and school transformations models are examined.

This course offers an introduction to the understanding and clinical practice of family counseling. It also provides insights for school counselors into how family dynamics affect student learning, performance, behavior, and classroom management.

In this capstone course in the counseling program, students prepare for and pass a comprehensive examination and complete a summative e-portfolio demonstrating their ability to synthesize and reflect their professional counseling identity and achievement of key performance indicators.