Counseling and Psychotherapy

Fall, 2008

Textbook: Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (8th Edition), Gerald Corey.

(A Student Manual/Study Guide with the same title and written by Corey is available for this textbook, but it is not required.)

Companion Website: A student-learning center is available featuring online quizzes pertaining to your textbook, as well as interactive activities.  To get to the site, go to www.thomsonedu.com/counseling/corey  Your textbook, as I write this, is the third one listed.  Click on “Student…Companion Site.”  You will find tutorial quizzing for each chapter that is different from the quiz questions contained in the Student Manual, as well as other learning resources, such as flash cards.

Date:                         Class Topic                    Textbook Reading                               

Aug. 25            Everything you wanted to                                                          

                        know about psychotherapy

                        but were afraid to ask.

Sept. 1              A model of helping                    Chapter 1                                 

Sept. 8              Helping skills                             Chapter 2

Sept. 15            Ethical & legal issues                 Chapter 3                                                 

            September 24 (Wednesday):  Exam 1

Oct. 1               Person-centered therapy            Chapter 7                                 

Oct. 6               Gestalt therapy                          Chapter 8

Oct. 13             Rational-emotive therapy (Ellis)  Chapter 10

            Oct. 15: No class (Mid-Semester break)

Oct. 22             Cognitive therapy (Beck)                  “

           October 29 (Wednesday): Exam 2

Nov. 3              Reality therapy                          Chapter 11                               

Nov. 10            Behavior therapy                       Chapter  9

Nov. 17            Multimodal therapy                    Pages 252-254

Nov. 19            Object relations therapy             Chapter 4                            

     Nov. 24-26: Thanksgiving break

Dec.                 Transactional analysis                Chapter 15

             December 8 (Monday): Exam 3

             Dec. 10 (Wednesday) – Annual Meeting of “Pink Freud: The Dead Therapists Society” [This meeting is merely an excuse to have a last day of the semester party.]

Grading Policy

Your final grade in this course will be based on three exams plus a series of extra-credit options.  It should be noted that this is primarily a participation class.  In order to participate, you must attend.  Attendance will be monitored, and I reserve the right to lower your grade due to persistent lack of attendance.  The grading distribution is as follows:

A   = 93%

A-  = 90%

B+ = 87%

B   = 83%

                        B-  = 80%

C+ = 77%

C   = 73%

                        C-  = 70%

                        D+ = 67%

D   = 63%

D- =  60%

I do not round-up when calculating grades (89.99% is a B+, not an A-). 

Grade Insurance: “You don’t round-up?  You mean I could wind up 1/100 of a percent from the next higher grade?  I just know it will happen to me.  That’s not fair.  You must be a mean, cantankerous, curmudgeon.  Please tell me what I can do to avoid this ignominious fate.”

The mean, cantankerous, curmudgeon is surface only.  Behind the gruff exterior lies a sweet, cuddly, teddy-bear of a professor (but who told you that life is fair?)  If you want to protect yourself from falling 0.5% or less from the next higher grade, then the following project is available.  Write a 1-2 page reaction paper (typed and double spaced) on five of the nine therapeutic approaches that we will examine in class (Person-centered therapy, Gestalt therapy, Rational-emotive therapy, Cognitive therapy, Reality therapy, Behavior therapy, Multimodal therapy, Object-relations [Psychoanalytic] therapy, & Transactional analysis).  Each paper is due at the beginning of the class period immediately after we finish discussing the approach.  Possible questions to consider in your paper are:

     * What key concept(s) do you find most useful and why?

     * What are some of the ideas or techniques that you would most want to include in your counseling style and why?

     * What are the major limitations, as you see it, and why?

What is not desired is a summary of what you have read except for what might be necessary in presenting a given reaction.  Rather, your paper should be your reaction to the approach; it should contain your views on the issues raised and your thoughts on key topics you select for exploration.  You need not respond to each (or any) of the questions listed above.  If you complete this project and are within 0.5% of the next higher grade, I will round-up.  Doing this project will not help you unless you are within 0.5% of the next higher grade. 

Double Grade Insurance: “Oh thank you; thank you very much.  You are a sweetheart. But what if I am between .5% and 1% from the next highest grade?  Is there anything I can do to insure against this?  Please?”

You’re pushing the limit, but OK.  You will be given a brief take-home quiz (on the textbook) for six of the theory chapters in your textbook (Chapters 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11).  You must complete five of these quizzes.  Each quiz will be given to you on the class-day prior to the class we begin discussing the counseling approach, and will be due at the beginning of the next class, the day we begin discussing the approach.  The purpose of these quizzes is to make sure you keep up with your reading and to provide you with information that will enable you to better participate in class discussion.   If you do the above-mentioned “reaction papers” and average at least 85% on the five take-home quizzes, I will raise your grade in the class by 1%.  Please do not ask me to raise your grade by more than this as I will reject your request which will make you sad and cause me to be extremely distressed.

Grade Boost:   “Are you sure there is nothing else I can do to improve my grade?  I am willing to do anything…absolutely anything.”

“Anything?”  “Absolutely anything?”  Really?  Are you busy at night?  No?...well then, have you considered using this time to study?  [That was meant to be a little curmudgeonly humor.]  OK, because I like you, I will provide you with two additional options to improve your grade one level (e.g., from A- to A or C+ to B-).  Option A:  Take an optional final exam that will cover each of the assigned chapters in your textbook.  If you score at least at the level above your current grade (e.g., if your grade entering the final is 83% [B] and you score 87% [B+] or higher, I will raise your grade one level (in this case, to a B+).  Option B:   Get me a date with Salma Hayek.

Writing Option:

Write an integrative paper (7-10 pages in length) that expresses your personal theoretical orientation to counseling.  Attempt to integrate several of the counseling approaches discussed in class.  Your paper should deal with:

key concepts

view of your role as therapist

therapeutic goals

relationship issues

central techniques and methods

Your approach may be humorous or serious.  Examples of both styles will be available for you to read in the psychology office later in the semester.  Your paper is due on Tuesday, December 2.  I will edit your paper and return it to you.  You are to revise the paper and turn in the revision, along with the original paper with my comments on it.