Theories in Counseling and Psychotherapy – PSYC 371

Course Description

Students are introduced to the theoretical approaches that guide the practice and disciplines of counseling and psychotherapy.

Rationale

The purpose of this undergraduate course is to give students an understanding of current theories that guide human behavior as used in counseling and psychotherapy settings. Such an understanding will aid in the development of their own personal eclectic approach. This will be accomplished by studying the origin, history, processes and techniques, and empirical evidence of all major theories used and studied within counseling and psychotherapy. Emphasis will be placed on the common truths within these theories as derived from empirical and biblical principles and how these principles are applied in secular and Christian settings.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

As the first activity in this course, please read the syllabus and Student Expectations.  After reading the syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will then complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview

Discussion Assignments

For each of the seven discussion assignments, students will write a substantive thread of a minimum of 250 words in response to questions posed by the instructor. Students will also complete two replies of a minimum of 150 words each.  All posts must be academic in nature, meaning they must include citations and references in APA format. You are welcome to use outside resources to make your points and encouraged to do so. Threads are to be completed by Thursday night each week and replies are to be completed by Monday night of the same week. L.O. 1-5

Each student will write a paper on one of the common factors of the HCAP model and discuss its use and fit within a theory of your choice. Your paper must consist of the following areas and you must use these as level 1 or 2 headings. L.O. 1-6.

Review of Factor

Here you will describe and define the factor and discuss the research surrounding it.

Theory

Here you will give a brief discussion of your theory of choice and its major tenets and process of change.

Use of Factor within (Name theory)

Discuss how the factor is used. The factor may be displayed implicitly or explicitly. Your job is to articulate how the factor is used with that theory.

Conclusion

The body of the paper must be 6-8 pages long (not including the required title and reference pages), and formatting from the most current edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is to be utilized. This means that the entire paper will be 8-10 pages long. This paper is to be submitted by the end of Module 7: Week 7. 

Quizzes

Students will complete five quizzes, each consisting of multiple-choice questions covering the textbook readings and presentations. All quizzes are open-book/open-notes. All quizzes will have a 105-minute time limit. L.O. 3, 5