Counselling Skills Fundamentals

Curriculum guideline

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Course
PSYC 4370
Discontinued
No
Course code
PSYC 4370
Descriptive
Counselling Skills Fundamentals
Department
Psychology
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start date
End term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
16
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Contact hours

Lecture: 4 hours/week

Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Learning activities

Lecture and skills demonstration/practice of specific counselling skills will be the primary methods of instruction.

The course may also involve other methods of instructions such as small group activities, group discussion, computer simulations, digital recordings, and guest lectures.

 

Course description
This course provides an introduction to counselling interviewing skills. The topics covered include the helping relationship, the helping process and the communication skills required in the therapeutic dialogue. Students are expected to self-disclose and engage in self-exploration, as the bulk of the course will focus on using counseling skills with fellow classmates. This course is recommended for students who are interested in human service professions such as criminal justice, teaching, coaching, nursing, human resources, social work, and counselling/clinical psychology.
Course content

1.The helping relationship

  • The components of an effective helping relationship
  • Values that drive the helping relationship
  • Professional ethics/code of ethics 
  • Diversity as part of client/counsellor interactions

2. The helping process

  • Clarifying the key issues
  • Engaging the other
  • Overcoming reluctance and resistance

3. Communication skills in the therapeutic dialogue

  • Non verbal behaviour 
  • Active listening
  • Empathic listening and responding
  • Basic and advanced empathic listening and responding
  • Probing and summarizing
  • Challenging client assumptions and moving to new perspectives
Learning outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the successful student should be able to:

  1. Delineate the key elements of successful helping.
  2. Analyze personal values that could impact the helping relationship.
  3. Outline ethical principles that guide helping relationships.
  4. Explain how stereotyping and being judgmental hinders helping.
  5. Demonstrate how to clarify key issues.
  6. Explain how reluctance and resistance operate in helping relationships.
  7. Demonstrate attending skills.
  8. Demonstrate active listening skills.
  9. Demonstrate basic and advanced empathic listening and responding skills.
  10. Demonstrate the skill of probing.
  11. Demonstrate the skill of summarizing.
  12. Demonstrate the skill of challenging client assumptions.
Means of assessment

Assessment will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. Evaluation will include some of the following:

Exams - 25%

Three video recordings of skill demonstrations and transcripts - 20%, 25%, 25%=70% (No recording should be assigned less than 15% or more than 30%). 

To attain a passing grade in this course, students must demonstrate professional conduct and complete all recording assignments within the semester and as outlined in the course syllabus. To attain a passing grade, students must also demonstrate counselling skills by successfully completing at least 80% of in-class counselling practice sessions.  

Attendance - 5%

Total - 100%

Textbook materials

Textbooks will be updated periodically. A typical example of a text is:

Egan, G. and Reese, R.J. (2019). The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping. (11th ed.) Boston: Cengage.

 

 

Prerequisites

PSYC 1100

AND

PSYC 1200

AND

One of PSYC 2150 or PSYC 2207 or PSYC 2300 or PSYC 2301 or PSYC 2315 or PSYC 2341 or PSYC 2360 or PSYC 2901 or permission of instructor