G567 9 of 12
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Course Syllabus
EDUC G580 Topical Seminar in Counseling and Guidance:
Divorce, Remarriage, and Stepfamily Counseling
Spring, 2009
Instructor: Nancy L. Williams
Office: 1400 W. Washington Ctr. Rd.
Phone: (260) 490-8585
E-mail:
Office Hours: By Appointment Only
Class Schedule: Monday, 4:30 to 7:15, TBDNeff 278
Course description from the IPFW Graduate Bulletin:
“An intensive study of theory and research of selected topics in counseling.”
Overview:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the process of integrating counseling theories with practical application in the treatment and care of divorce, remarriage, and stepfamilies. The emphasis will be on moving beyond the rote memorization of theory to an understanding of specific counseling techniques and applications. Students will actively participate in their integration and practice of these theories and applications by participating in large and small groups, lectures, application papers, experiential exercises, exams, and APA-style papers.
Required Texts/Reading:
Brown, Marc. (1988) Dinosaurs divorce. Little, Brown Young Readers. ISBN 0316109967.
Deal, Ron. (2006). The smart stepfamily: seven steps to a healthy family. Bethany House Publishers. ISBN 076420159X.
Lee, Robert E. (2006) When marriages fail: systemic family therapy interventions and issues. Routledge. ISBN: 078902862X
Rich, Phil (2002). Divorce counseling homework planner. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 0471433195
Course Objectives:
1. To introduce students to the stages that exists in the process of divorce, remarriage, and stepfamily adjustment.
2. The student will be able to develop a cognitive-behavioral approach to addressing the challenges that exist in each of the stages of divorce, remarriage, and stepfamily adjustment.
3. Students will integrate counseling theory with practical application into their case planning and treatment implementation.
NOTE: Material from this course is not on the comprehensive examination.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Assignments Total Possible Points
1. Personal Reflection and Response Papers . (3 x 100 each)...... 300
2. Clinical Application Assignments (4 x 100 each)…...... 400
3. Annotated Bibilography …………………………………………...100
Total points possible: 800
Grading
All final course grades in the Counselor Education Program are assigned as delineated in the chart below.
Percentage Equivalent / Letter Grade / Grade Points94+ / A+, A / 4.0
90-93 / A- / 3.7
87-89 / B+ / 3.3
83-86 / B / 3.0
80-82 / B- / 2.7
77-79 / C+ / 2.3
73-76 / C / 2.0
70-72 / C- / 1.7
67-69 / D+ / 1.3
63-66 / D / 1.0
60-62 / D- / 0.7
< 60 / F / 0.0
Description of Assignments
1. Personal Reflection and Response Papers (300 points; 100 points for each of the three papers)
Students are required to submit a Personal Reflection and Response Paper (PRAR) for the following texts: Smart Stepfamily:The Seven Steps to a Healthy Family, Ron Deal (2006); When Marriages Fail: Systemic Family Therapy Interventions and Issues, Robert E. Lee (2006); Divorce Counseling Homework Planner, Phil Rich (2002).
The purpose of the personal reflection and response paper is to assist the student in their synthesizing and application of the required reading material for the course. RStudents should use the PRAR template provided below. Please note that you are to include the grading matrix below in your response papers. Use each of the four areas of the PRAR as section headings. Include the title of the section, the grading scale and the grading criteria before each section of the PRAR. This will allow me to grade your papermore efficiently, and will help you to see the grading criteria for each section. Each PRAR should be a minimum of 3-4 pages single spaced, 11 point font.
[0] Bibliographic entry: (Include full bibliographic entry for the book to which you are responding)
[1] Personal list of ‘most important’ reading insights.
0------1------2------3------4------5------6------7------8------9------10
Criteria: coherent--full proof of engagement, incisive, clear, documented to page, covers all the
reading, urgency driven
[2] Your story--personal experience or description of a ‘case’ you have known well--which
illuminates or otherwise connects with a major point in your reading.
0------1------2------3------4------5------6------7------8------9------10
Criteria: Clear and explained connection to reading, cited to page, clear case story no
generalizations or ‘lessons.’ Story has people, places, actual words and feelings.
[3] Reflective questioning--personal reflecting on ‘most troublesome’ or ‘most challenging.’
0------1------2------3------4------5------6------7------8------9------10
Criteria: Cited to text, visibly energized and focused, convictional--not flat or fluff, exclusively
working in reflective questions which promise depths of wisdom for your life and vocation. No attack or insult on the author. No questions of fact or clarification as if the author owed you an answer. No show-off through cynicism.
[4] Action descriptions or decisions to act.
0------1------2------3------4------5------6------7------8------9------10
Criteria: Proof of engagement of concepts--now turned into action or planned and promised action, specific, personal--not generalizations about what people should do.
2. Application Assignments (group) (400 total points possible for this assignment; 100 points for each of the three papers and 100 points for the video.)
Paper (100 points for each paper)
For each of the major elements of this course (divorce, remarriage, and stepfamily counseling) you will produce an application paper, which must be done in a group of about four students. The purpose of these papers is to demonstrate your understanding of the systemic challenges and therapeutic approaches to divorce, remarriage, and stepfamily counseling with a case study of an individual client, couple, or family. While the format or writing style may vary based on how you conceptualize this assignment, you must at least integrate/cover each of the three aspects of therapy listed below. This paper does not need to follow a strict APA formatting style. The paper needs to be at least 15 pages and no more than 20 pages will be read. The paper will be graded on comprehensiveness and effective demonstration of the model in application.
· Describe how you would conduct an assessment (what would you be looking for and how would you gain access to this information) to determine what issue related to divorce, remarriage, or stepfamily you would begin addressing in a particular client’s case.
· Describe your plan of treatment for at least five sessions: what would be your goals, intended interventions, and anticipated reactions/results? How would it look it if went right? What might go wrong? Describe what hurdles or resistances you might anticipate ahead of time and how you would deal with these issues within that treatment plan.
· Describe how you would know if your pacing was on track and both how and when to terminate or change models.
Video (100 points)
Working with your group you will produce a role-played video demonstrating the application of a homework assignment (using a different assignment for each student) to a particular issue related to divorce, remarriage, or stepfamily counseling. Each student must have at least one turn as the therapist. This can be done using the clinic equipment and does not have to be specially edited. The DVD should be “finalized” to allow playback on other DVD players. The video will be graded on the accuracy of the intervention, how well it fit the given situation, the quality of the delivery, and the clarity of the explanation (at the beginning) and the analysis (at the end).
The video will focus on the application of specific homework assignments and therefore each vignette may be about 20 minutes in length but no longer than 30 minutes.
1. The video should start with the therapist explaining to the camera:
a. what the homework assignment is (define it)
b. why the assignment was chosen for this particular moment
c. what the intended result of the assignment is for this client
2. Proceed immediately into the role-play:
a. Start with enough dialogue to place the assignment in context
b. Deliver the assignment to or debrief the assignment with the client(s)
c. Continue with the role-play long enough to demonstrate its impact or follow-up sequencing of assignments.
3. The video should end with the therapist explaining to the camera:
a. His/her opinion on how appropriate the assignment was to the identified issue, as well as how well the issue was targeted and the assignment was chosen.
b. An analysis of what went well and what s/he would do differently.
c. A brief reflection on how the assignment would be adapted to meet the needs of diverse clients.
4. Finalize the video. On the remote for the DVD recorder in the clinic, push Functions, Disk Settings, Finalize, Yes, Start. When done, press Enter to escape back to the menu.
3. Annotated Bibliography(100 points)
Students should prepare an annotated bibliography of at least thirty resources pertinent to divorce, remarriage, and stepfamily counseling. Each resource should contain a two-three sentence description that provides the reader with an indication of what type of resource it is (therapeutic, application, research, etc.), which area(s) for which the resource provides the best help (divorce, remarriage, or stepfamilies), and a brief statement highlighting a strength of the resource. Students should plan to have an equal number of resources (10) in each of the three areas (divorce, remarriage, and stepfamily counseling). The resources should demonstrate a breadth of the types of resources available (e.g., journal articles, websites, digital resources, and printed text). The bibliography should be presented in APA format.
SCORING RUBRIC FOR COUNSELOR EDUCATION PROGRAM
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
Description Percentage
of Points
The project meets all the major and minor project requirements. 100%
The project contains no more than one or two grammatical or
spelling errors. The project design and organization is clear, coherent,
and easy to follow. Much critical thought and analysis is evident.
Strong evidence is present of scholarly research. The project topic
is highly relevant and material to the learning needs of counselors
and therapists. 90%
The project meets all the major project requirements, but may not 89%
meet one minor requirement. The project contains very few grammatical
and/or spelling errors. The project design and organization is clear, coherent,
and easy to follow. Critical thought and analysis is evident. Some evidence
is present of scholarly research. The project topic is relevant and material to
the learning needs of counselors and therapists. 80%
The project substantially meets all of the major project requirements but 79%
may not meet minor requirements. The project may contain some grammatical
and/or spelling errors. The project is designed well and organized well. Some
minimal critical thought and analysis is evident. Some, but not significant,
evidence is present of scholarly research. The project topic is somewhat
relevant and material to the learning needs of counselors and therapists. 70%
The project meets most, but not all, of the major project requirements. Only 69%
minimal evidence of scholarly research is present. The project may contain
several grammatical and/or spelling errors. The project is not well-designed
and organized. Minimal critical thought and analysis is evident. Little evidence
of scholarly research is present. The project topic is not in a significantly and
meaningful way relevant and material to the learning needs of counselors and
therapists. 60%
The project does not in a substantial way meet most of the major project 59%
requirements. The project may contain numerous grammatical and/or spelling
errors. A lack of intelligent design and organization is evident. No critical
thought and analysis is evident. No evidence of scholarly research is present.
The project topic is not relevant and material to the learning needs of counselors
and therapists. 0%
Student Name: ______Course: ______Instructor: ______
Counselor Education Presentation Rubric0 / 3 / 6 / 9 / Total
Subject Knowledge / Student has very limited grasp of information; cannot answer questions about subject. / Student has superficial understanding and is able to answer only rudimentary questions, may fail to elaborate. / Student understands most information and answers most questions with explanations and some elaboration. / Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) and answers class questions with explanations and elaboration.
Critical Analysis/
Application / Student only repeats source material, no analysis, synthesis, evaluation, or application of the material through his/her perspective / Student provides limited analysis, synthesis, evaluation, or application of the material through his/her perspective / Student provides some analysis, synthesis, evaluation, or application of the material through his/her perspective / Student provides a professional and complex analysis, synthesis, evaluation, or application of the material through his/her perspective
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Organization / Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information. / Audience has difficulty following presentation due to limited sequencing. / Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow. / Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.
Visual Aids / Student uses superfluous visual aids or no visual aids. / Student occasionally uses visual aids that offer limited support. / Student's visual aids relate to the presentation. / Student's visual aids explain and reinforce the presentation.
Mechanics / Student's presentation has three or more spelling and/or grammatical errors. / Presentation has two misspellings and/or grammatical errors. / Presentation has no more than one misspelling and/or grammatical errors. / Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.
Eye Contact / Student makes no eye contact and only reads from notes. / Student occasionally uses eye contact, but still reads mostly from notes. / Student maintains eye contact most of the time but frequently returns to notes. / Student maintains eye contact with audience, with limited dependence on notes.
Verbal Techniques / Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, or speaks too quietly for audience in the back of class to hear. / Student's voice is low. Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation. / Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation. / Student uses a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience members can hear presentation.
TOTAL POINTS
Scoring: A= 30-33 B= 26-29 C= 23-26 D=20-22 Adopted: 4/08