Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Supervised clinical experience for students enrolled in the MEd or MA Counselling Psychology Program. Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.

COURSE DETAILS:

By working with clients in a community or school site, students in this practicum course will concentrate on developing sound and consistent case management that includes implementing theoretically based counselling strategies and assessment skills. The SFU seminar portion of the course provides students with opportunities to:    

(1) Develop and practice counselling strategies through instruction, discussions, role play, and demonstration by instructor;
(2) Receive supervision and feedback from instructor and peers through client case presentations and/or videotaped demonstrations with clients;
(3) Become familiar with a team approach to case management;
(4) Develop fundamental supervisory skills that include such activities as offering appropriate feedback, skills practice in dyads or triads, and the use of visual recordings as a supervisory tool.
(5) Develop your professional counsellor identity by researching professional memberships, affiliations, licensure options, and other practice and research activities relevant to your career and professional goals. By working with clients in a community or school site, students in this practicum course will concentrate on developing sound and consistent case management that includes implementing theoretically based counselling strategies and assessment skills.    

The SFU seminar portion of the course provides students with opportunities to:    

(1) Develop and practice counselling strategies through instruction, discussions, role play, and demonstration by instructor;
(2) Receive supervision and feedback from instructor and peers through client case presentations and/or videotaped demonstrations with clients;
(3) Become familiar with a team approach to case management;
(4) Develop fundamental supervisory skills that include such activities as offering appropriate feedback, skills practice in dyads or triads, and the use of visual recordings as a supervisory tool.
(5) Develop your professional counsellor identity by researching professional memberships, affiliations, licensure options, and other practice and research activities relevant to your career and professional goals. 

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Counselling Psychology Program Policy: Practicum    

We apply a competency-based approach to counsellor training. Students who are demonstrating satisfactory progress in competency towards the following goals by the end of EDUC 801 will progress to the second semester of the Practicum. At the end of the practicum first semester, we expect students to demonstrate progress towards these outcomes/competencies:    

1. The student is capable of demonstrating the purposeful use of all the basic counselling skills at a level of a beginning professional.
2. The student is able to implement and evaluate an appropriate range of intervention strategies; is able to demonstrate client changes resulting from the deployment of these strategies.
3. The student is able to develop and continually refine hypotheses and to design interventions that are integrated combinations of appropriate strategies matched to the client’s unique situation. The student is able to maintain a close coordination between the working hypothesis and all aspects of the intervention.
4. The student’s theoretical and philosophical approach to counselling has become consistent. They are able to articulate this position in various situations, both with respect to client and with respect to self.
5. The student demonstrates consistent self-monitoring. Strengths and weaknesses in counselling are consistently evaluated. The student shows a high degree of commitment to professional development and self-reflection.
6. The student is aware of ethical guidelines for counselling and behaves in accordance with such guidelines. This includes identifying and bringing ethical issues to the attention of the site supervisor and practicum class instructor. Students who attain the competency levels described above by the end of EDUC 802 will complete only two semesters of Practicum. Other students may require additional supervised practice in order to achieve the outcomes described. It is our practice to inform students at the earliest time possible that their performance may not reach a satisfactory level by the end of the Practicum and that an extension may be warranted.        

Assignments Course Evaluation    

1. Statement of learning and professional development goals. Following discussions in our first class and self-reflection the following week, each student will identify 4 to 6 professional goals. For each goal, please indicate why this is important to you. Also, please indicate how you will know you are moving forward towards this goal over time, and what you anticipate may be obstacles to achieving the goal.  Please state how far along you would like to be towards achieving this goal, by the end of the term.  Finally, please state two or three (more if you wish) actions you can take to move towards each goal. This brief paper should not exceed three pages. You can write your goals and proposed activities in point form.  Please clearly identify the area/domain and goal statement as it is provided in the Competency Profile. Please write your narrative comments (e.g., relevance, how you know you will be moving forward, obstacles) succinctly, in support of each goal. This paper is due 4:30 pm, at the second class.    

2. Class Activities: Students are expected to participate in all activities, including giving/receiving feedback, presenting and observing teaching demonstrations, requesting feedback from the class regarding examples from casework (i.e., challenging session materials/interactions and/or choice and application of specific interventions).  

3. Brief Theory Presentation on your chosen framework    

4. Theoretically-based Case conceptualization and analysis: Students will present an oral conceptualization to the class and submit a written report to their SFU instructor for evaluation and feedback.    

5. Field Experience: Evaluation will take place with the practicum SFU instructor and Field supervisor(s) and a written evaluation (template provided) will be submitted by student and site supervisor to the course instructor. The instructor will visit sites or meet by case-conference at the end of each semester.  Students are responsible for arranging visits to ensure site supervisor and student are present for the end of term meeting. Students must be evaluated as being prepared and ready to work with the public in a skilled, safe, and ethical manner in order to pass the course with a satisfactory rating.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: