COUC 667 Clinical Diagnosis and Treatment Planning

Students become knowledgeable of the principles and practice of clinical diagnosis and the development of treatment plans using the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Emphasis is also placed on mental status, substance use, and risk assessment. Consideration is given to ethical, dimensional, relational, multicultural, and systemic issues important in diagnosis and treatment planning.

The Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies is committed to preparing the student to become someone who can adequately meet the demands of a world that is becoming more and more impaired by sin, dysfunction, and pathology. We desire a student who can interview, evaluate, and treat clients professionally, effectively, and ethically without violating their biblical worldview and in a way that integrates that worldview into his or her work. The intent of this course is to prepare the student for the pragmatics of his or her clinical work in practicum and internship environments. The Christian counselor should be competent in all areas of clinical work regardless of the setting in which he or she works. Being able to conduct an appropriate, professional, and clinically sound interview is the basis of all counseling. Based upon the data obtained in the interview counselors must be able accurately diagnose and plan a course of treatment for clients, essential skills for all counselors.

Method of Instruction: This 16-week course is delivered using an in-person, synchronous format. The student attends 36-40 hours of classroom-based instruction at our campus in Lynchburg. In addition to the one week of in-person class time, the student is expected to complete additional work digitally both pre- and post-intensive over the duration of the semester.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Pre-Intensive Work

Because this intensive meets the first week of the semester, there is no pre-intensive work to complete. However, the student should have his or her DSM-5-TR and the Schwitzer and Rubin text with him or her during the intensive as resources. Also, as the student uses them during the intensive, he or she can begin completing the required reading for the course.

Intensive Week

Class Attendance: Since this is a week-long intensive, missing one day is the equivalent of missing one-fifth of the classes. Class attendance is expected since adult learning results from interaction with peers. Attendance will be taken each class as well as throughout the day. Arriving late and not remaining in attendance will be noted; two of either of them will result in a lower grade. (CLO: B, C, D)

Class Participation: Each student will be evaluated on his or her contributions to class discussion (i.e., keeping up with the readings and actively participating in class role playing). The graduate student bears a responsibility for active and considerate participation in class activities. An open, curious, and honest attitude toward learning from others will facilitate development for all participants. During class time the student’s focus should be on class work (CLO: B)

Role-Playing: The student will role play as a counselor and client using a variety of mental disorders throughout the week. The student will need to be prepared in advance of each class to portray an actual client so that another counselor may attempt to make an appropriate diagnosis and design a treatment plan. The student must make sure that he or she is consistent to the diagnosis and provide sufficient information in his or her responses for the counselor to make the diagnosis. The student does not have to be obvious in his or her responses. The student’s ability to imitate a real life client and ability to be a professional interviewer will demonstrate the student’s understanding of diagnostic criteria and interviewing skills. Moreover, the student’s ability to write a professional report will demonstrate his or her ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize client data into an accurate diagnosis, develop appropriate treatment goals, apply relevant treatment strategies, and write a formal report. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Post-Intensive Work

Quiz: Live Discussion

The student will participate in one live discussion. This Quiz: Live Discussion will focus on ethical considerations in diagnosis and treatment planning. The student will need to be on camera and present for the entire scheduled time to receive credit. The student must also present to the discussion prepared to engage. Any sources referenced must have been published within the last five years unless it is deemed a seminal work in the field. Acceptable sources include textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, government websites, biblical sources (Bible, Bible dictionary, commentary, theological textbooks, etc.). (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, G)

Treatment Plan Assignment

In this assignment, the student will develop a treatment plan, based on the previous data collected, from the Case Conceptualization and Diagnostic Mock and Treatment Planning Case Not Mock Sessions, (e.g., assessment, diagnosis, and case conceptualization, that is ethically, culturally, and evidenced/theory based. The treatment plan has a number of components, such as behaviorally-defined problems, goals, interventions, and outcome measurements. (CLO: B, D, E, F, G)

Case Presentation: Part I Assignment

The Case Presentation Assignment is where the student will bring together a final document in two stages: Part I and Part II. For this first assignment, the student will use the data collected from Session 1 clinical interview completed in a previous week to write up a case presentation, assessment summary, diagnosis, and case conceptualization. Over the length of the course, the student will have received feedback via his or her instructor and peers. The student will take the feedback along with any other resources, e.g., textbooks, to assist in finalizing his or her Case Presentation. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

Case Presentation: Part II Assignment

The Case Presentation Assignment is where the student will bring together a final document in two stages: Part I and Part II. For this second assignment, the student will use the data collected from the Session 1 and Session 2 mock clinical interviews completed in previous weeks to write up a case presentation, assessment summary, diagnosis, and case conceptualization. Over the length of the course, the student will have received feedback via his or her instructor and peers. The student will take the feedback along with any other resources, e.g., textbooks, to finalize his or her Case Presentation. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

Benchmark Case Presentation: Final (CP-F) Assignment

This assignment is the culmination of the student’s efforts across the course.  Students have completed the assessment, diagnosis, case conceptualization, treatment plan formative, and case note (draft) assignments based on client interviews. Students have also received feedback on each of those assignments from the instructor. Now it is time to pull this all together into a single document evidencing your skills as a counselor. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

Quiz: Intensive Attendance and Participation

The student will upload a grading rubric of his or her attendance and participation of the intensive week. The quiz contains 1 file-upload question and has no time limit.

Quiz: Session 1 — Case Conceptualization and Diagnosis Mock and Quiz: Session 2 — Treatment Planning and Case Note Mock

During the clinical interview role-play assignments (2), the student will take on 3 roles: counselor, client, and supervisor using Microsoft Teams video recording. As a counselor, the student will practice the essential skills (e.g., open-ended questions, empathy, reflect emotions, probing) to collect information necessary for a diagnosis and treatment planning. As a client, the student will role play a case study given to the student by the instructor. As a supervisor, the student will use a clinical observation form to provide feedback to the counselor on his or her use of clinical interviewing skills. This assignment has two components for points in the form of two quizzes where the student posts his or her video as a counselor. Both quizzes are open-book/open-notes, contain 1 file-upload question, and have a 30-minute time limit. The student will use information from these two sessions to complete the Treatment Plan Assignment and both Case Presentation Assignment (Part I and II). (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

Quizzes (6)

These quizzes are based on course textbooks, readings, videos, and other media required for each module. The quizzes are comprehensive. The quizzes will cover topic such as clinical interviewing, assessment, diagnosis, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and Christian integration. The student will have unlimited attempts for each quiz. The quizzes are not timed. They can be taken repeatedly over the course. The pedagogical rationale is that the student needs to have repeated attempts, “practice,” in recalling and recognizing the course material for application in professional counseling and preparation for state exams for licensure. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

Quiz: Diagnosis

The student will complete a quiz in which he or she is presented with 4 client cases and need to identify the correct diagnoses for the client. The quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 4 essay questions, and have no time limit. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F, G)

Quiz: Dispositions Reflection

This Dispositions Reflection quiz will ask the student to rate himself or herself on the nine dispositions required for this program by our accrediting bodies. The quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 9 multiple-choice and 1 essay questions, and have a 60-minute time limit.