Mental Health Counseling Capstone Project
Components of an Excellent Capstone
1) Transcription of one complete counseling session (30-45 minutes) and accompanying
videotape. The videotape MUST include both you and your client but can focus on your
face.
2) Annotations to the transcript that describe your thinking and feelings through this session,
illuminating you were trying to accomplish in different sections of the session,
explaining what you think the client was thinking of feeling at crucial moments, and
identifying moments where you think you may have made a mistake or didn’t live up to
your own hopes or goals for the session. This section shows us that the student can be
self-reflective about his or her work.
3) Signed consent form for taping. (You as the intern will keep a record of the consent in client’s
file at your internship site. Do not place a copy in the materials submitted).
4) A complete psychological assessment/ case study which may include the following subsections
(some of them may not apply to your client) If you do not have enough information for some of
the more important sections, explain why:
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BEGIN WITH a description of the client and presenting concerns/issues/problems
Family and developmental history
Current living arrangements
Psychosocial history (history of relationships other than family relationships, for
example, early friendships, romantic relationships, work relationships0
Educational history
Vocational history
Sexual/sexuality history if relevant
Medical history
Substance abuse history
Legal history
Psychiatric history of client and his/her family and mental status examination
Diagnostic formulation using DSM categories
Justification of diagnostic formulation and critique of these with regard to how they fit or
may not fit with this client’s individual history; as well as a consideration of what
repercussions there may be for the client (positive and negative) if given this diagnosis
5) Three clinical hypotheses using three theories (personality or counseling) to explain the
clinical status of the client ant the etiology of any current disorder or life stress situation. . For
example, you may use a counseling theory such as Rogerian theory to explain what lead to a
client’s current state of mind or situation, or you may use a personality theory such as Object
Relations to explain how the familial and relationship history of the person has led to his or her
current situation. Students should briefly (in a page or two) describe the theory and make
connections between the theory and the client’s current state of mind or life situation.
For example, if a student were to use Rogerian theory, the student would need to talk about
unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, and genuineness as essential components
in the development of self-worth. The student could then discuss family background in relation to
these components. Or, if a student were to use Kleinian Object Relations theory, the student
would discuss projective identification, the process in infancy where an infant moves through
several stages, from schizoid through splitting through the depressive position in relation to love
objects, and also discuss aggressive feelings, guilt, and reparation as they are enacted in later
relationships. Here is a list of possible theories to use. Try to avoid using theories that are simple
“how to do therapy theories” to explain a person. (E.g. while “motivational interviewing is a
wonderful style and evidence-based strategy, it may not have enough personality theory to
explain your client.) You are better off looking for theorists who have developed theoretical
models about persons as well as change: psychoanalytic (Freudian, Interpersonal, Object
Relations), Person-centered (Rogerian), Existential (Yalom, May, etc.), Social-Learning (Bandura
who is now more cognitive), Behavioral, Cognitive-Behavioral (Beck, Seligman, etc.), Medical
Model (brain-based theories like van der Kolk’s theory of PTSD and brain transformation, or
genetic theories), These are big theories. Feel free to also look at more specific theories such as
Winnicott’s theory of object relations, Eastern views of the person and development, theories of
stress and coping, or theories specific to abuse and neglect, like Judith Herman’s trauma theory.
There are also sociological theories that may help in terms of understanding the effects of
homelessness on the psyche. This is not an exhaustive list. Check out the theories you use with
your internship instructor. This section should connect to the transcript given in that examples
from that one session can be used to illuminate theoretical explanations. Please use original
sources. Do not depend on textbooks or overall descriptions of theory in secondary teaching
sources. Use these books (e.g. Corey books), to help you decide which theories to delve into.
6) Apply developmental theory and research to the life stages of the client; discuss how
development and context such as urban environment, race, gender, sexuality, and ability
influenced the development of this client and his/her current problems. Draw from developmental
theories such as attachment theory, theories of temperament, theories of cognitive development,
Steinberg’s theory on the adolescent brain, theories about friendship, theories about gender, about
racial identity development, about parenting styles and their effects on children, about
adolescence, moral development and emerging adulthood, about early adulthood and work
experiences, and about the aging process. This section should indicate how this person fits with
“normative” developmental movement and how the intersection of race, sexuality, gender, ability,
ethnicity, and environment (as well as his or her clinical issues) have had an influence or impact
on development. Please don’t go through Eriksonian stages unless you’ve done further research
into Developmental Psychology research that has been done since these have been published.
7) CLINICAL FORMULATION: BEFORE MOVING ON TO TREATMENT, YOU WILL
NEED A SECTION THAT SUMMARIZES WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CLIENT
THUS FAR, YOUR CONCLUSIONS, YOUR SUMMARY, BASED ON ALL THE
INFORMATION ABOVE.
8).Treatment Plan:
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Definition of the problem
Description of behavioral manifestations of the problem
Descriptions of reinforcers of the problem
Barriers to reaching objectives
Main and subsidiary goals of treatment
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Interventions needed (be specific and give a timeframe for when these might be enacted
in therapy and how you as a counselor would be able to measure if they were effective)
Identify other persons who will help client with the interventions
Discuss the timeframe for these interventions before some other strategy will be used
(even if the “intervention” is simply “listening”)
Weekly evaluation of treatment plan, if applicable
9). Applying the ACA ethical code, describe ethical conduct of the counselor in relation to this
particular client using citations from the professional literature and illustrating moments in which
ethical dilemmas have arisen or could arise. Please don’t use broad theories such as “virtue
ethics” or “utilitarian ethics”. Use the ethical code, speak to specific issues that arose in
counseling this particular client.
10) The relationship: Countertransference and Transference
The student should describe and discuss the relationship she or he has with the client and how
that has developed and changed over time. The student should show the capacity for selfreflection with regard to how her or his own history and reactions intersect with the client’s and
how he or she has worked with this in terms of countertransference issues that may have arisen.
Describe several times in the therapeutic relationship where the intersection of one’s own history
and/or feelings in relation to the client has possibly affected the therapeutic relationship or could
have affected the process during that session. Describe how those feelings and reactions were
dealt with in supervision or in the following sessions. The student should also write about the
client’s feelings towards him or her and how those transference reactions may have promoted
feelings and/or reactions in the student. How has the client’s relationship history been re-enacted
in the current therapeutic relationship and how will that help or interfere with healing? This
section can and should incorporate moments from the transcript described in 1) above.
11) The Capstone should end with a reflection with regard to what mysteries and unanswered
questions still exist with this case. These mysteries can stem from the literature (what we still
don’t know, for example, about schizophrenia and marijuana use), or from the student’s own
ponderings with regard to an ongoing relationship with the client.
WRITING STYLE:
The Capstone should follow APA style and include a reference list. There should be a minimum
of 15 empirical articles, chapter, and book references combining both readings from CSP courses
as well as additional readings. Websites may be used as additional sources and would not count
toward these 15 references.
The capstone should be your own work, but you can ask fellow students in your internship class
for feedback and editing help. Please don’t get outside help for this Capstone project outside of
your course or internship because the material in it is confidential.
An example of a completed capstone will be posted by your internship professor on Blackboard.
Please do not consider this sample to be flawless as the program constantly revises the criteria for
this project. Do not use the example as a template. You will be asked to revise any section that
uses the same framework as the model. The Capstone will be discussed in your weekly internship
seminars several times and your questions will be answered in class, during office hours or
through email.
All the best!