| PRC 701 Human Growth and Lifespan Development
This course explores the nature and needs of individuals across the life span, including theories of individual and family development and transitions across the life span, theories of learning and personality development, human behavior including an understanding of developmental crisis, disability, exceptional behavior, addictive behavior, psychopathology, spirituality, and situational and environmental factors that affect both normal and abnormal behavior. Strategies for facilitating optimum development over the life span; ethical and legal considerations are also addressed. 3 credits
PRC 702 Social and Cultural Foundations
This course explores the social and cultural contexts of relationships and issues that surface in a multicultural and diverse society related to such factors as culture, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental and physical characteristics, education, family values, religious and spiritual values, socioeconomic status and unique characteristics of individuals, couples, families, ethnic groups, and communities. Topics include individual, couple, family, group, and community strategies for working with diverse populations and the counselor’s roles in social justice, advocacy and conflict resolution, cultural oppression and discrimination, and other culturally supported behaviors that are detrimental to the growth of the human spirit, mind, or body. Ethical and legal considerations are reviewed within the context of social and cultural diversity. 3 credits
PRC 705 The Helping Relationship
An introductory skills-focused course for the graduate student pursuing a career in one of the helping professions. Basic counseling/helping skills will be explored with emphasis on experiential learning. Students will be expected to acquire and demonstrate basic counseling and helping skills using classroom demonstrations, role-play, peer consultation and videotape. Students will be introduced to the therapeutic relationship. Reflecting skills, challenging and goal-setting skills as well as techniques for enhancing self-efficacy, lowering and raising emotional arousal, and evaluating the helping relationship are included. 3 credits
PRC 708 Ethics and Professional Orientation
This course addresses the ethical standards of the American Counseling Association and related organizations (i.e., APA, NASW), and ethical and legal considerations in professional counseling. Examples of common ethical issues in professional counseling are presented and discussed. Professional roles, functions, and relationships with other human service providers, as well as the impact of professional organizations on the counseling profession, are explored. Requirements for professional credentialing such as NBCC certification and licensure in Pennsylvania as a Professional Counselor will be discussed. The role of the professional counselor as an advocate for the profession will be explored. 3 credits
PRC 710 Counseling Theory
Counselors and other mental health professionals use a number of different theories to explain personality, understand the development of psychopathology, and explain the process of change. This course provides the student with an opportunity to critically examine the predominant theoretical approaches to counseling, the assumptions underlying the theoretical approaches, and the basic principles necessary to understand the role of the counselor from the perspective of each theory. Throughout the course, students will be provided with opportunities to apply each of the theories to case studies in an effort topromote a greater understanding of the material. Students are expected to make significant progress toward developing a personal model of counseling. The course will address multicultural and gender issues as they pertain to the subject matter. 3 credits
PRC 711 Advanced Abnormal Psychology
This course provides an in-depth review of mental health disorders as described within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition. Current etiological explanations for the disorders are examined, and diagnostic considerations including structured and semi-structured interviewing techniques and mental status exams are reviewed. An in-depth exploration of bio-psycho-social treatments for these disorders is considered. This course also reviews the practices of community intervention programs and facilities for inpatient, outpatient, partial treatment, and aftercare, and the human services network in local communities. 3 credits
PRC 712 Couples and Family Counseling
This course offers an in-depth exploration of systems theories of the family and other systems that include marital, couple, and family life-cycle dynamics, healthy family functioning, family structures, and development. Other topics include family of origin intergenerational infl uences, cultural heritage, socioeconomic status, human sexuality, and working with diverse family systems (e.g., families in transition, dual career couples, and blended families). Ethical and legal considerations related to the practice of marital, couple, and family counseling/ therapy (e.g., the ACA and IAMFC Code of Ethics) will be addressed. 3 credits
PRC 716 Addiction and Co-Morbidity
An integrative and interdisciplinary approach is taken toward the structures, dynamics, etiologies, and treatments of substance and behavioral addictions and abuses. The purpose is to help students learn to diagnose and be therapeutically effective with addicts and co-addicts. While emphasis is on alcohol and other drug dependence and abuse, other addictions as manifested in work, sexuality, Internet, gambling, eating, and love, along with dual diagnoses and premorbid treatment modalities, are also presented. Students are expected to articulate personal and cultural assumptions about addictions and coaddictions and about factors that impede and/or foster individual and communal recovery. Students will also understand and critically analyze the theoretical and empirical findings of addictive behaviors and treatments as well as demonstrate therapeutic procedures that foster recovery and ongoing health in individuals and society. 3 credits
PRC 719 Advanced Crisis Management
Advanced Crisis Management is an advanced theory and skills-focused course for the graduate student pursuing a career in one of the helping professions. The course is intended to introduce crisis theory, principles, concepts, and intervention techniques. Emphasis will be placed on areas causing distress such as loss, psychiatric emergencies, substance abuse, victimization, and crisis related to AIDS and HIV. Assessment techniques and in-depth interviewing skills will be covered, as well as the actual practice of crisis intervention. Upon course completion, students should be able to predict the need for crisis intervention services and demonstrate the provision of first-order crisis intervention. 3 credits
PRC 721 Career and Lifestyle Development
This course focuses on career development and related lifestyle factors that include career development theories, sources of occupational and educational information, approaches to career decision making processes, and career development exploration techniques. Assessment instruments and techniques that are relevant to career planning and decision making are reviewed and the use of technology based career development applications and strategies and appropriate Internet sites are presented and discussed. Ethical and legal results are explored. 3 credits
PRC 733 Research Methods and Program Evaluation
This course reviews descriptive and inferential statistics, examines research methods commonly used by counselors, needs assessment, and program evaluation. An introduction to computer based statistical analyses used in conducting research and program evaluation will be provided. Emphasis will be placed on research methods used to improve counseling effectiveness. Ethical and legal considerations will be explored. Prerequisite: An undergraduate or graduate course in descriptive and inferential statistics. 3 credits
PRC 735 Psychological Assessment
This course examines individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation, including basic concepts of standardized and non-standardized testing and other assessment techniques which include norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessment, environmental assessment, performance assessment, individual and group test and inventory methods, behavioral observations, and computer-managed and computer-assisted methods. Issues include age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, language, disability, culture, spirituality, and other factors related to the assessment and evaluation of individuals, groups, and specific populations. Emphasis will be placed on the use of strategies for selecting, administering and interpreting assessment and evaluation instruments and techniques in counseling. Ethical and legal considerations in the assessment of clients will be examined as will the ethical guidelines for the use of psychological assessment instruments. 3 credits
PRC 740 Counseling Practicum with Seminar
The Practicum with Seminar is designed to support graduate level professional counseling students in their ongoing development as counseling practitioners. To that end, students will be provided with a variety of experiences, both on and off campus, that will promote an increased awareness of the various roles and clinical skills required of the professional counselor. Course objectives will include increasing the graduate student’s understanding of the operations of a counseling organization (e.g. clinic, college counseling center, etc.), helping the students identify other skills that contribute to their effectiveness as professional counselors and providing experiences that enhance students individual and group counseling skills. Students are required to complete 100 contact hours in a counseling setting, which includes 40 hours of direct counseling experience. Students will be challenged to become increasingly aware of personal qualities relevant to the effective practice of professional counseling and to acquire insight into the supervision process and the role of the supervisee in the counseling process. Ethical and professional behavior will be emphasized. Students are required to carry malpractice insurance while participating in the practicum. 3 credits
PRC 744 Advanced Integrative Approaches to Counseling
This skills-based course guides the student toward an integrative and holistic approach to the counseling profession. The student will be challenged to develop a working model(s) of the process of change within the helping relationship that can be empirically supported but cognizant of the “human condition.” Students will be challenged to integrate varying counseling approaches that are most congruent to the student’s aptitudes, skill level, and interests. Issues important to the process of change will be explored, including holistic care, spirituality, and strengths-based approaches to intervention and treatment. 3 credits
PRC 755 Supervised Research Project
The student will participate in a one to three credit research project supervised by a member of the graduate faculty in Professional Counseling, in consultation with the clinical field placement supervisor. The course will typically be taken along with the internship. The student will develop a research project at the internship site that promotes the student’s research skills within the professional setting. Examples of projects might include outcome studies and program evaluations. Students will demonstrate their research knowledge and skills through the preparation of a review of the pertinent literature on the topic in question, development of a method for studying the research question or hypothesis, the statistical analysis of the collected data, and the preparation of the results, conclusions, and discussion of the statistical analysis. It is hoped that the student will develop an appreciation of and an interest in empirically supported research as well as the role of the counselor as a vital contributor to that endeavor. 1 to 3 credits
PRC 760 Internship with Seminar I
The internship provides the student with a supervised experience in the practice of counseling in a setting similar to that in which the student wishes to work. Each internship session includes a minimum of 300 hours of supervised experience within the internship site plus an additional seminar session that meets on campus weekly. Students are required to carry malpractice insurance while participating in the internship and are required to participate in two sections of the internship experience (PRC 760 and PRC 761). 3 credits
PRC 761 Internship with Seminar II
This internship is a continuation of Internship with Seminar I (PRC 760) and continues to provide the student with a supervised experience in the practice of counseling in a setting similar to that in which the student plans to work. Each internship session includes a minimum of 300 hours of supervised experience at the internship site plus an additional seminar session that meets on campus weekly. Students are required to carry malpractice insurance while participating in the internship. Prerequisites: An overall GPA of at least a 3.0, approval of the instructor, and successful completion of PRC 760. 3 credits
Elective Course Descriptions
PRC 714 Introduction to School Counseling
This course provides an overview and orientation to the practice of school counseling. The course explores the history and fundamentals of school counseling practices and trends, the bio-psycho-social concerns of school-aged children, legal and ethical concerns and multicultural issues pertinent to the practice of school counseling. Emphasis is placed on evidence-based approaches to practice that relay on outcome research to inform decision making. 3 credits
PRC 715 Child Psychopathology
Child Psychopathology explores the symptoms, explanations, DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria and treatments for the most common psychological disorders which first appear in childhood. The etiologies of the disorders are examined from relevant perspectives and the interrelationships among these perspectives are explored. Special attention will be given to evidence-based bio-psycho-social treatments. Emphasis is placed on student participation and collaborative discussion. Videos that depict the major psychological disorders, casebook summaries, and the instructor’s personal clinical vignettes will be used. Elective 3 credits
PRC 722 Spirituality and Counseling
This course offers the opportunity to deepen one’s understanding of spirituality and to learn therapeutic skills that foster spiritual growth in oneself and in others. The approach is phenomenological, not theological or religious. Among others, topics include differential theories of spirituality, dynamics of spiritual growth, spiritual displacements, spirituality and sexuality, the relationship between psychology and spirituality, therapeutic ways to engender and nourish spiritual growth, and the results of living a spiritual life. Elective 3 credits
PRC 723 Adolescence
Adolescence is a graduate level course that explores the current theories, research and issues related to physical, cognitive, psychological, social, and sexual development of adolescents. The course will provide the graduate student with a comprehensive overview of adolescence for application in counseling and education settings. Elective 3 credits
PRC 724 Organization and Administration of School Counseling Programs
This course is designed to prepare students for effective leadership and direction of K-12 school counseling programs. Students will develop knowledge and skills needed to plan, design, implement, and evaluate school counseling programs. An organizational framework is utilized for both improving existing programs and establishing new programs. 3 credits
PRC 725 Interventions with Children
This course explores the counseling and consultation processes used with children. Specific problems/disorders presented by children will be explored with emphasis placed on the use of cognitive behavioral counseling techniques, non-directive play, and the use of games, activities and expressive arts in addressing those problems. Additional emphasis will be placed on skills needed to work with and educate parent(s) regarding their child’s emotional and behavioral needs to ensure that the parent(s) become “part of the solution,” rather than “part of the problem.” Factors that infl uence the helping processes with children, including age, gender, and ethnic differences, and verbal and nonverbal behaviors, will be explored. Elective 2 credits
PRC 729 Overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The Overview of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Theory and Technique is designed as a second tier course within the Professional Counseling Program. Students will explore current theoretical perspectives with CBT and learn to apply them through hands-on experiences conducted within the classroom. Elective
PRC 737 Gender Issues in Counseling
Gender Issues in Counseling is an elective course designed to support the graduate professional counseling student in competent practice with both female and male clients. Students will develop an awareness of the social and cultural basis of psychological distress. Gender identity and gender roles, and implications for practice with individuals, couples, families, and groups will be examined. A feminist framework will be used to consider selected social issues as they relate to mental health. Throughout the course, students will be provided with opportunities to apply course information to case studies in an effort to promote a greater understanding of the material. Elective 3 credits |
