Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An initial clinical course where students develop their basic and beginning counselling skills and increase their conceptual understanding of theoretical perspectives of counselling through practice, including counselling processes and case conceptualizations. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

COURSE DETAILS:

The Clinic course focuses on continuing development of counselling and case conceptualization skills, increased understanding of their theoretical bases/underpinnings, and practice of professional and ethical awareness and standards. Students provide counselling services to a maximum of three community clients per evening. Learning and supervision activities include reviewing session recordings, receiving and providing feedback among peer students, feedback from the Clinic instructor, and assignments. Group supervision is the primary medium for supervision. The Clinic course focuses on continuing development of counselling and case conceptualization skills, increased understanding of their theoretical bases/underpinnings, and practice of professional and ethical awareness and standards. Students provide counselling services to a maximum of three community clients per evening. Learning and supervision activities include reviewing session recordings, receiving and providing feedback among peer students, feedback from the Clinic instructor, and assignments. Group supervision is the primary medium for supervision.      

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

The following expectations apply to all counsellor trainees:

• Participate in a maximum of 3 client counselling sessions per week.

Development of counselling skills including conducting intake and assessment interviews; consistent and appropriate use of foundational counselling skills (e.g., reflecting, summarizing, paraphrasing, using questions appropriately); consistent, accurate and high level of empathy; beginning formulation of appropriate responses to clinical and ethical situations; cultural sensitivity in skill usage; structuring sessions and using session time productively; beginning to select and implement appropriate interventions, aligned with client need, theoretical orientation and case conceptualization.   

• Review recordings of your counselling sessions.  

Development of case conceptualization skills including session planning, treatment planning, theoretically informed use of interventions and skills, monitoring of client progress and response to counselling.    

• Identify ethical issues emerging in your work.  

Development of ethical awareness and ethical conduct; practice of ethical decision-making, ethical practice in the context of diversity. 

• Participate in group supervision in class (and individual supervision as requested or needed).

• Keep clinical records for each case (to be completed at the end of each evening). Complete assignments.

• Conduct yourself in a professional and ethical manner. 

Induction into professional counsellor role, including professional conduct within the Centre and with supervisors and peers; supervision and learning may include informal presentations of your cases and recorded work, observing peers conducting counselling sessions, participating in discussions of your own and your peers’ clinical work, sharing materials and resources as relevant to cases and supervision discussions, receiving feedback on your work in the centre from your peers and from the course instructor, practicing skills and interventions, etc; learning how to create clinical records and complete and up to date case-related documentation; maintaining strict confidentiality regarding information shared by clients and peers; developing knowledge of community resources and how to make referrals; productive engagement in supervision; knowledge of relevant ongoing commitment to professional development, especially as relevant to cases at the Centre; engagement in reflective practice (reviewing recordings of sessions, contributing to group supervision, appropriately seeking, receiving, and implementing feedback); demonstrating awareness of diversity, including awareness of own social positionality and values, respect for diverse clients, and ability to foster a culturally informed working alliance; complete all course assignments.