Course Project Counseling

Course Project Counseling © 2014. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited without express written permission. Students are expected to maintain the integrity of the assignment by refraining from reproducing or posting the assignment or their completed work where it can be viewed by current or future students. COURSE OBJECTIVES Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: 1. Summarize the origins and goals of professional counseling 2. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of major counseling theories 3. Select the appropriate counseling theories to apply in a given scenario 4. Explain the role of ethics and research in professional counseling 5. Develop personal theoretical frameworks for counseling BACKGROUND INFORMATION For this project, you will choose a character from a book, movie, or TV show (e.g. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games series, Spiderman, Jack Bauer from 24, etc.) or a real person from a high-profile news story (e.g. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, etc.) and imagine that character or person is seeking help from a professional counselor. The person or character you choose can be anywhere on the spectrum between someone having general troubles with living to someone with a clinical disorder. When choosing the character or person, make sure that you have enough information to fully analyze them and complete the sections listed in the instructions. Successful completion of this project will allow you to demonstrate your ability to identify strengths and weaknesses of counseling theories and methods, select the appropriate counseling theories to apply in a given scenario, explain the role of ethics and research in professional counseling, and develop personal theoretical frameworks for counseling. PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS Write an 8-10 page case examination where you: 1) Perform an initial assessment on the character or you newsmaker you are going to analyze in this project. Your initial assessment should be two to three pages and include the following: a. Demographic description. Describe the client in terms of age, gender, cultural background, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, religion, occupation, marital or family status, and education. Identify multicultural considerations of a counseling relationship with this client. b. Presenting problem. Briefly describe why the client would seek counseling. Do you think the client would refer him or herself or would they be referred by someone else? Explain your reasoning. c. Appearance, Behavior, and Mental Status. Describe the client in terms of dress, grooming, tone/communication style, and mood. Course Project Counseling © 2014. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited without express written permission. Students are expected to maintain the integrity of the assignment by refraining from reproducing or posting the assignment or their completed work where it can be viewed by current or future students. d. History. Present your client’s history as objectively as possible. Be sure to include elements of: i. History of presenting problem. How long has the problem existed? When did it start? How often does it happen? ii. Family history. Include marital status of parents, dates of family structure change or deaths. Describe relationships with family members, living arrangements, and occupations. iii. Social relationship history. What are the client’s relationships like with friends? Peers? Coworkers? Teachers? Did the presenting problem affect any of these relationships? iv. Academic and/or work history. Describe the client’s school or work situation. How was the client’s performance before the presenting problem began? How is his/her performance now? v. Medical history. Include any hospitalizations, medications, past or present medical conditions, and problems with eating, sleeping, weight control, or substance abuse if applicable. vi. Counseling history. Has the client used counseling services in the past? For what issues? Was it voluntary or involuntary? Only include if applicable. 2) Once you have written the initial assessment, research current counseling methods that address your client’s specific issues. Present a summary of these practices. Cite a minimum of five scholarly resources. 3) Identify aspects of at least three different theoretical models that apply to the presenting problem. Be sure to include strengths and limitations of each perspective. 4) Articulate your own theoretical framework for counseling. Drawing from your review of counseling theory and current theoretical research, explain how you would develop an effective therapeutic alliance. Be sure to include any ethical considerations and challenges to maintaining a professional relationship that may pertain to your case. PROJECT SUBMISSION 1. A title page is not required for project submissions. Because evaluators do not see student names when reviewing student work, it is important that students not include any personal identifiers in their project submissions. 2. If your project requires a video, you should post the video to a free video hosting site like www.youtube.com, www.photobucket.com, or another free web hosting site. The following website maintains a list of video hosting sites: http://www.videohostings.com. In the written materials that you submit as part of the assignment, you should include the title of the video and a link for the evaluator to use to grade your submission. Please make sure that the privacy settings on your video are set to allow third parties to view it. Course Project Counseling © 2014. Any unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited without express written permission. Students are expected to maintain the integrity of the assignment by refraining from reproducing or posting the assignment or their completed work where it can be viewed by current or future students. 3. When you are ready, click on the Upload Files button in the Project tab of your course to submit your assignment. Your project should be graded within 7 days. Please contact your instructor if this is not the case. 4. Your assignment will not be returned to you, so keep a copy for your files.