Course Descriptions

COUN 701 – Advanced Psychometrics (3 hours)
Candidates will gain knowledge of the development of techniques for creating and administering various types of assessments; as well as techniques for collecting, organizing, interpreting, and using relevant information from existing assessment instruments. Candidates will analyze information to assist individuals in understanding themselves and in making life and career decisions. Candidates will analyze instruments and inventories including established paper and pencil tests, established group administered tests and established inventories, and newly created tests and inventories.

COUN 702- Advanced Counseling Theory (3 hours)
Candidates will develop an advanced understanding of counseling theories and methods of intervention, prevention, and treatment of mental and emotional disorders. This advanced understanding includes the principles and practice of individual counseling, focusing on systems and consultation and their effectiveness in treatment. Candidates will demonstrate this understanding through research, role play, and selection and demonstration of appropriate theories and techniques applicable to counseling in a diverse society. 

COUN 703-Advanced Group Counseling and Leadership (3 hours)
Candidates will investigate the impact of counseling theory on group structure and leadership techniques. They will develop advanced therapeutic techniques as they interact with a pre-selected group of Master’s level candidates in the role of group leader. In addition, candidates will be expected to develop two group models: (1) a comprehensive, structured group model and (2) an unstructured, non-themed group model. Both groups will be modeled for the counseling setting in their particular area of practice.

COUN 704-Advanced Career Counseling and Development (3 hours)
Candidates will have the opportunity to integrate career development theory and practice within the context of career counseling and will develop an understanding of contextual (i.e., intrapsychic, social, and cultural) processes influencing career development from a life span perspective. Candidates will analyze current theories, research, practices, and resource materials in the fields of career development, career counseling, and career information.

COUN 705- Advanced Ethical & Legal Issues in Counseling (3 hours)
Candidates will examine contemporary ethical and legal issues in counseling, counselor education and supervision, and school counseling and will obtain an in depth knowledge of historical incidents which have shaped current ethical and legal practice in the profession. Candidates will articulate the process of ethical of decision making within a variety of contexts, including integration of world views in a diverse society.

COUN 706-Advanced Issues of Diversity and Social Justice (3 hours)
Candidates will gain an understanding that multiculturalism, the fourth force in counseling and psychotherapy, is a direct challenge and alternative, inclusive approach to the dominant, traditional models for providing psychological interventions. Candidates will participate in a seminar that allows advanced to enhance and apply self-awareness, knowledge, and skills of specific multicultural competencies with diverse populations. Candidates will apply theoretical and practical aspects of multiculturalism, including applicable theories, research, needs assessments, effective implementation and evaluation of models of multicultural counseling and social justice.

COUN 707-Advanced Clinical Practicum (3 hours)
Candidates will be in clinical placement as they develop and refine advanced counseling skills that should conceptually link counselor practice to teaching, consultation, and supervision.

COUN 708-Advanced Techniques in Marriage and Family Counseling (3 hours)
Candidates will investigate the fundamental assumptions and ideas of general systems theory and the basic premises of theoretical orientations within family therapy. Candidates will explore the application of course material to their own family, work setting, and future teaching coursework.

COUN 709–Learning Theories (3 hours)
Candidates will perform a critical analysis of the major theories of learning, including the works of Thorndike, Pavlov, Guthrie, Tolman, Skinner, Mowrer, Bandura, Walters, and Perry. In addition, candidates will demonstrate the application of learning theories in the counseling setting.

COUN 710-Advanced Exceptionalities: ASCA applied to counseling exceptional students (3 hours)
Candidates will study and critique relevant research pertaining to the physical, mental, emotional, and social traits of all types of individuals who are exceptional and will recognize major current problems and practices in the development of exceptionality programs and develop a plan to address the needs of P-12 students with exceptionalities, including the needs of gifted students. Candidates will participate in a required field experience.

COUN 711-Advocacy and Professional Development in School Counseling (3 hours)
Candidates will examine the new role of school counselors as agents of change, leaders, and advocates will be examined. Candidates will develop an understanding of the role of advocacy in breaking down barriers to educational access as well as the role of advocacy in promoting and maintaining the role of the professional school counselor in P-12 schools. Candidates will apply their understanding of advocacy to developing a personal agenda for professional development and systemic change.

COUN 712 – Addiction Prevention and Intervention with Youth and Families
(3 hours)
Candidates will understand related to the impact of addiction on school aged children, their families, and society as a whole.  They will examine prevention programs, the levels of prevention, and the ways that school aged children and families may benefit from early education and intervention. Candidates will participate in the design of an addictions prevention and intervention program for a selected group of school-aged children and investigate both addictions related to substance abuse and addictive behaviors, such as eating disorders, sexual addictions, and internet and gambling addiction.

COUN 713-Educational Leadership for School Counselors (3 hours)
Candidates will critically examine issues relevant to the development of school counseling programs while focusing on organization, implementation, and evaluation of a culturally relevant comprehensive developmental school counseling program. They will examine a selected P-12 school from among the surrounding districts and perform a needs assessment, establish program initiatives, and evaluate the efficacy of services rendered for one school counseling program.

COUN 714- Issues of Educational Law and School Counselor Ethics (3 hours)
Candidates will gain insight into the principles, practices, and application of educational law and the specialized ethical issues that are inherent to school counseling. Candidates will understand the laws that govern the operation and conduct of their organizations as they face a highly litigious society. They will engage in critical analysis of the relevant legal principles that affect the operation, organization, and administration of American schools and recognize how these principles effect their professional duties within the boundaries of constitutional, statutory, and case law.

COUN 715- Theories of Child & Family Counseling & Consultation (3 hours)
Candidates will engage in critical examination of theories of family and child-centered counseling. Candidates will apply knowledge of family systems theories to case studies and actual case examples. Candidates will gain knowledge and apply techniques inherent in theories of play therapy and filial therapy in both role play and in vivo situations.

COUN 716- Theories of Adolescent and Family Counseling and Consultation
(3 hours)
Candidates will critically examine family based treatment models for families with adolescents and will gain knowledge with an emphasis on the integration of family systems theory and the family life cycle with adolescents (i.e., prevention and intervention).

COUN 717-Seminar in Current Trends in School Counseling(3 hours)
Candidates will engage in scholarly discussions of the counseling profession and specialty practices as applied in schools with considerations of the nature of schools as well as school counseling programs that are comprehensive, developmental, and collaborative in nature. Candidates will present special topics of interest throughout the semester and will complete their Capstone Project, including their related field experience, as they progress through this course.

COUN 801–Leadership and Consultation (3 hours)
Candidates will investigate and practice theories of instruction which meet the developmental needs of adult learners. Candidates will analyze instructional methods in counselor education and formulate a personal instructional theory. Candidates will investigate models of counselor consultation and apply known models to the development of a model which fits with their career goals and areas of expertise.

COUN 802-Counselor Supervision  (3 hours)
Candidates will gain knowledge foundation regarding clinical supervision, including: (a) an overview of supervision theories and models, (b) an orientation to the supervisory relationship, (c) modes and methods of supervision intervention, (d) the evaluation of supervisees and supervisors, (e) legal and ethical considerations in the provision of clinical supervision, and (f) supervision research issues.

COUN 803-Internship in Supervision (3 hours)
Candidates will apply the theories and skills presented in COUN 7XX: Supervision. Candidates will have an opportunity to investigate and demonstrate the skills connected with various theories and models of supervision while they supervise Master’s level candidates who are participating in field experience.

COUN 804–Personality Development (3 hours)
Candidates will critically examine the major personality theories, including those proposed by Freud and his followers, learning theorists, trait theorists, social-learning theorists and humanists. Using current research methodology, candidates will apply current research to the historical theories of personality development,

COUN 805-Cognition and Intellect (3 hours)
Candidates will gain an understanding of how thinking and knowledge change with age. Candidates will investigate a variety of theoretical approaches in order to understand similarities and differences among children in the way they think. Candidates will develop the ability to critically evaluate research and to clearly communicate about the research in the field of cognitive development.

COUN 806-Psychotherapy I: Analytic Therapies   (3 hours) 
Candidates will engage in advanced study and application of analytic therapy techniques through practice and skill building activities with individuals, couples, groups, and families.

COUN 807-Psychotherapy II: Affective Therapies (3 hours)
Candidates will engage in advanced study and application of affective therapy techniques through practice and skill building activities with individuals, couples, groups, and families.

COUN 808-Psychotherapy III: Behavioral Therapies (3 hours) 
Candidates will engage in advanced study and application of behavioral therapy techniques through practice and skill building activities with individuals, couples, groups, and families. Discuss ethnocentric biases and ethical issues and how multicultural and gender issues can be integrated into counseling and consultation strategies.

COUN 809-Psychotherapy IV: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies(3 hours)
Candidates will engage in advanced study and application of cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques through practice and skill building activities with individuals, couples, groups, and families. Discuss research, current issues, and future trends of individual counseling, group counseling, and consultation in the treatment of and prevention of mental and emotional disorders using cognitive-behavioral therapies.

COUN 810–Tests and Measures I: Intelligence/Achievement/Personality Testing
(3 hours)
Candidates will engage in the development of techniques for creating and administering intelligence, achievement, and personality tests and using relevant information from these tests and use this information to assist individuals in understanding themselves and to make life and career decisions.

COUN 811 – Tests and Measures II: Projective Testing (3 hours)
Candidates will engage in the development of techniques for creating and administering projective tests and using relevant information from these tests and use this information to assist individuals in understanding themselves and to make life and career decisions.

COUN 812 – Qualitative Research (3 hours)
Candidates will examine the assumptions, theories, and practice of qualitative research. Candidates will design, conduct, and report a pilot study for a piece of qualitative research that demonstrates their observational and interviewing skills.

COUN 813-Advanced Special Topics in Counseling(3 hours repeatable)
Candidates will be provided with an opportunity for intensified study in a topic not generally offered within the regular course offerings.

COUN 814-Advanced Independent Study (1-3 hours repeatable)
Candidates will be allowed the opportunity to work on individual projects, research, or readings under faculty supervision.

COUN 830-Research and Statistics I (3 hours)
Candidates will take initial steps toward understanding of and modes of analysis involved in quantitative social science inquiry in this first of three available courses in Research. Candidates will use data sets from a limited number of studies to provide a vehicle for understanding key statistical aspects of research design, and for illustrating the application of widely-used statistical techniques.

COUN 831-Research and Statistics II  (3 hours)
Candidates will demonstrate the ability to apply simple and multiple regression analyses, analyses of variance, and analyses of covariance to various data sets, appropriately interpreting the results.  The student will do advanced work with SPSS.

COUN 832–Research Design (3 hours)
Candidates will examine research methods and design in counseling, including types of research as well as the process of selecting a topic, generating questions and hypotheses, and selecting samples for study. Candidates will generate a proposal for a research project related to their areas of interest.

COUN 901-Prospectus Design (3 hours)
Candidates will review various research designs and their corresponding methodologies in order to begin the process of deciding on and refining their own dissertation question. Candidates will engage in a critical analysis of their dissertation prospectus.

COUN 910-Doctoral Internship (3 hours repeatable)
Candidates will have the opportunity to practice and enhance counseling skills in a setting that mirrors the candidate’s career goals. Candidates will be provided with both group and individual supervision conducted by faculty and on site supervisors.

COUN 920 Dissertation (3 hours repeatable)
Candidates will register for dissertation credit after completion and successful defense of the prospectus. The candidate will then register each semester for dissertation credit until the dissertation is successfully defended and accepted by the dissertation committee. The dissertation is the culmination of the original research project required for the Ph.D. degree. Candidates will demonstrate mastery of the field in which the dissertation is completed.