CSL - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
This course will review topics and problems of current concern in counseling, research, and evaluation, including: design strategies, instrumentation, data analysis, significant studies, and other research is- sues. Students will propose a counseling research project as part of the course.
This course will present theories and research on the nature and needs of individuals at all levels of development, including intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of development. The development of normal and abnormal behavior, personality theory, and learning theory will also be discussed.
In this course, students will study the professional codes of ethics and standards of practice of the American Counseling Association (ACA). Students will become familiar with the licensure requirements and legal responsibilities of counselors.
This course entails an in-depth study of the role of the counselor, the theory, and the techniques of the major models of individual counseling. These models include the phenomenological-existential, behavioral, psychodynamic, social-psychological, reality, and rational emotive approaches to counseling.
This course will involve an in-depth study of the role of the counselor, the theory, and the techniques of marriage and family or systems approaches to counseling. These approaches include the structural, strategic, multi-generational, and other models.
This skill development course is based on a "beginning, middle, and end" model of the counseling process that will be examined from different theoretical perspectives. This experience is intended to serve as an introduction to the basic and trans-theoretical skills and methods for initiating, maintaining, and terminating therapeutic relationships. Students will be required to explore and demonstrate basic counseling skills that are associated with each of these three stages. Emphasis will be given to skills associated with initiating, structuring, attending, listening, encouraging, supporting, confronting, influencing, problem solving, and termination.
This introduction to basic appraisal techniques will focus on diagnostic interviewing; the use of rating scales; intelligence, personality (objective and projective), aptitude, and achievement measures in psychological and educational testing; and the interpretation of psychological reports. The process of mental status examinations and the use of the DSM and ICD-9 & 10 classification systems will also be presented.
This course is designed to equip the student with the necessary knowledge, skills, techniques, attitudes, and ethical standards for counseling clients regarding lifestyle and career decisions.
This course introduces students to a Catholic-Christian understanding of the person as a foundation for mental health counseling that is committed to a holistic, developmental, relational, and valuing perspective on the person. Students will explore theological/scriptural texts; philosophical ideas, including virtues; and psychological concepts that shape a Christian view of the person and influence approaches to treating human problems. The course explores how these wisdom traditions serve as a foundation for understanding the professional counselor vocation and identity and inform dispositions appropriate to the counselor role. The course is designed to help students describe how psychological theories and mental health principles reflect a partial reality that is both useful and necessary to clinical practice but also limited in light of a Christian anthropology. Finally, the course will provide students with an opportunity to apply a Catholic-Christian understanding of the person to the clinical counseling context and tasks.
This course involves studying the theories and techniques of prominent Christian counselors. An evaluation will be made of these theories from the perspectives of psychology and theology.
This course will survey theories and techniques of group counseling to enable the counselor to work effectively with groups from a variety of client populations. Participation in a training group and experiences necessary to co-lead a therapeutic group are also provided.
This course is devoted to the study of various social-cultural counseling populations or problems such as: divorce, single-parent and remarried families, gender issues, minority counseling, teen pregnancy, child and spouse abuse, and other social issues.
This practicum involves supervised counseling experience involving a minimum of 100 clock hours in a counseling field placement for the development of individual and group counseling skills. Graduate faculty will be the primary supervisors. Supervision will be provided both in small group and in one-to-one settings. This course is evaluated on a pass/fail system.
Notes
A passing grade is equivalent to a B or better on a letter grade scale.
CSL 504 and
CSL 621 (or their equivalents) and permission of the Counseling Department.
This internship involves the first semester of a two-semester field placement, including a minimum of 300 clock hours per semester at a public or private counseling setting. Students are expected to perform all of the counseling and related activities of a regularly employed (half-time) staff counselor. Supervision will be given by both an agency supervisor and a faculty supervisor. Faculty supervision will include small group and one-to-one supervision. This course is evaluated on a pass/fail system.
Notes
A passing grade is equivalent to a B or better on a letter grade scale.
This internship involves the second semester of a two-semester field placement including a minimum of 300 clock hours per semester at a public or private counseling setting. Students are expected to perform all of the counseling and related activities of a regularly employed (half time) staff counselor. Supervision will be given by both an agency supervisor and a faculty supervisor. Faculty supervision will include small group and one-to-one supervision. Students will participate in a capstone experience project, including the completion of an integrated theoretical paper and an illustrative counseling case. This course is evaluated on a pass/fail system.
Notes
A passing grade is equivalent to a B or better on a letter grade scale.
CSL 625 and permission of the Counseling Department.
This course will present theories and research on the nature and needs of children and adolescents in the context of counseling. Consideration will be given to socio-emotional, intellectual, physical, moral, familial, and spiritual aspects of treatment. Common disorders that occur in this developmental range will be reviewed in conjunction with intervention strategies.
The purpose of this course is to increase understanding of administration, scoring, and the interpretation of tests and other data from clinical assessment. Attention will be given to major tests, inventories, and techniques and to the reporting of data from intellectual, achievement, and personality assessment.
CSL 520 and 21 semester credit hours
This course is intended to familiarize counselors with the basic terminology of pharmacology and to develop a basic understanding of psychopharmacology as applicable in their work as therapists. Emphasis is placed on anatomy and physiology of the brain, commonly used drugs (both legal and illegal), medications in the treatment of depression, anxiety, psychosis, mania, and their possible side effects.
24 semester credit hours
This course will examine the principles of humans sexuality based on foundational Catholic teachings in the Theology of the Body as well as from human development and diagnostic perspectives. Students will examine their own history, beliefs, and values around sexuality and sexual issues; become familiar with sexual development across the lifespan; and learn about treating and diagnosing sexual dysfunction. This course also will aid students in being able to deliver therapeutic interventions for improving intimacy, communication, commitment, and conflict resolution in marriage counseling and help them to apply the principles of marriage and family therapy in direct counseling skill applications. Finally, the course will explore advanced theories and techniques for use in counseling couples and families.
CSL 505 and 24 semester credit hours
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is a widely-used and highly respected approach to treatment. This course explores the contributions of major theorists/practitioners in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, with an accent on applications to planning and treatment of common mental and emotional disorders.
24 semester credit hours
Clinical psychopathology, personality, and abnormal behavior include studies that provide a broad understanding of abnormal behavior. Emphasis is placed on psychopathological conditions related to children, adolescents, young, middle-life adults, and the aged. The course also includes studies of specific personality theories and their application to mental health work.
24 semester credit hours
This course is an introduction to the professional identity, responsibilities, goals, and functions of pastoral counselors. Major course topics include the study of spiritual and pastoral care, the experience of caring for parishioners and the general population in a pastoral way, issues of social concern and social justice, and special population ministries. Theories and techniques of pastoral counseling will be addressed.
The course examines the relationships between historical and current trends in substance counseling, process, theory, and technique. Emphasis will be placed on assessment, diagnosis, neuro-physiology, and treatment of substance abuse disorders. The role of 12-step principles and practices as well as the spiritual/psychological nature of addiction will be examined to ensure a holistic understanding of substance abuse disorders.
24 semester credit hours
This course will examine counseling theory, research, and techniques associated with counseling-related roles, such as: supervision of counseling; consultation to agencies, community groups, and other organizations; and psychoeducation for professional and lay groups. Opportunities will be provided for students to develop skills in enacting these professional roles in classroom and/or public settings.
This course develops a framework for identifying the signs and symptoms of a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual that is considered a manifestation of behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction and that is associated with present distress or disability. It includes use of the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and methods for conducting Mental Status examinations.
24 semester credit hours
This course introduces students to the major theoretical approaches to crisis intervention and trauma counseling. The course seeks to provide an overview of the role of crisis intervention, de-escalation, and psychological first aid. Major topics in the content area of trauma include assessment, diagnosis, risk factors, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology, theoretical underpinnings of treatment, evidence-based approaches, and treatment planning.