COUN-612
COUNSELING STRATEGIES FOR HEALTHY
ADJUSTMENT
Summer 2010
SB=South Boston SVHED / FVL=Farmville Campus
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jennifer Apperson
PHONE: 434-395-2323
E-MAIL: appersonjm@longwood.edu
OFFICE: 303 Ruffner, Farmville, VA 23909
HOURS: before class or by appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
An examination of counseling issues and treatment strategies for a variety of personal and
interpersonal adjustment problems relevant for school and community based counseling.
Students will learn to plan effective individual treatment approaches based on interventions with
demonstrated effectiveness.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
Welfel, E.R. & Ingersoll, R.E., Eds. (2001). The Mental Health Desk Reference. John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.: N.Y., N.Y.
And choose the most appropriate ONE of the following:
Jongsma, A.E. & Peterson, L.M. (2004). The Complete Adult Psychotherapy Treatment Planner.
4th Ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
or
Knapp, S.E., & Jongsma, A.E. (2002). The School Counseling and School Social Work
Treatment Planner. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Students successfully completing EDUC-612 will demonstrate through written assignments,
class discussions, and essay examinations:
1. An understanding of personal and social problems as a set of life challenges and opportunities
for personal growth.
2. An understanding of the adaptive and maladaptive processes by which individuals attempt to
cope with and resolve significant life challenges.
3. A working knowledge of the counselor skills appropriate to facilitating the task of personal
growth in the face of adversity.
4. A familiarity with the assessment of, and counseling strategies specifically associated with the
following life challenges (and others as appropriate to the class):
(not in this order)
anger management
anxiety
behavior problems
depression and other mood problems
dissociative disorders
eating disorders
enuresis/encopresis
impulse control problems
loss
loss of contact with reality
school refusal
sexual and gender identity issues
situationally precipitated problems
sleep problems
somatoform disorders
substance abuse
other issues/problems
5. An understanding of growth and change through adaptation to life challenges as an ongoing
developmental process.
6. The ability to interpret and construct behaviorally oriented treatment plans reflecting evidence
based practices for addressing therapeutic issues.
COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENTS:
UNIT 1 (SB: May 2-3/FVL: June 11, 12, 18)
Lecture topics: Introduction, common counseling issues, review syllabus, what is healthy
functioning?, goals of counseling, healthy coping strategies, stress.
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 7, Stress, Coping, and Well-Being: Applications of Theory to
Practice, pp.44-50
In Treatment Planning: NA
Lecture topic: Writing behaviorally oriented treatment plans.
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 12, Effective Treatment Planning, pp. 83-87; (optional, Chapter 1,
pp. 3-9; Chapter 10, pp.69-76; Chapter 11, pp.77-82; Chapter 13, pp. 88-93)
In Treatment Planning: Introduction
Lecture topic: When coping fails: Effective counseling strategies for dealing with
situationally precipitated problems (adjustment disorders, stress).
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 3, Counseling the Unemployed and Underemployed Clients,, pp.
18-24; Chapter 4, Effective College Counseling, pp. 25-31.
In Treatment Planning: Financial Stress, Type A Behavior, Vocational Stress, Legal Conflicts,
Blended Family, Phase of Life Problems, Parenting, Poverty/Economic Concerns, Teen
Pregnancy, Family Conflict, Intimate Relationship Conflicts, Sibling Rivalry, Blended Family,
Conflict Management, Diversity/Tolerance Training
Lecture topic: Effective counseling strategies for dealing with Substance use/abuse
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 19, Clinical Practice Issues in Assessing for Adult Substance Use
Disorders, pp. 128-134; Chapter 33, Substance Abuse among Children and Adolescents, pp. 231238.
In Treatment Planning: Chemical Dependence, Chemical Dependence-Relapse, Substance Abuse
UNIT 2 (SB: May 16-17/FVL: June 19, 25, 26)
Lecture topic: Effective counseling strategies for dealing with anxiety problems
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 16, Treating Anxiety Disorders in Adults, pp. 106-111; Chapter
25, Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children, pp. 177-183; Chapter 36, Responding to Survivors of
Sexual Assault, pp. 252-258, Chapter 24, Child Maltreatment: Treatment of Child and
Adolescent Victims, pp. 169-176.
In Treatment Planning: Anxiety, Phobia, Panic/Agoraphobia, Social Phobia/Shyness, ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Sexual Abuse Victims, Sexual Abuse,
Separation Anxiety, Anxiety Reduction
Lecture topic: Effective counseling strategies for dealing with loss
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 6, Death and Bereavement, pp. 38-43
In Treatment Planning: Grief/Loss Unresolved Grief/Loss,
Lecture topic: Effective counseling strategies for dealing with disorders involving loss of
contact with reality.
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 21, Schizophrenia and Severe Mental Illness: guidelines for
Assessment, Treatment, and Referral, pp. 142-154.
In Treatment Planning: Psychoticism
Lecture topic: Effective counseling strategies for dealing with dissociative disorders
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: NA
In Treatment Planning: Dissociation
Discussion topic: Evaluating the effectiveness of treatments
Reading assignment: Internet sources on help groups, class discussion
UNIT 3 (SB: May 30-31/FVL: June 28 [9:00-5:00], July 2)
Midterm Exam Date: SB: Friday May 30/F: Saturday June 28 am
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with depression and other mood
problems
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 17, Diagnosis and Treatment of Adult Depressive Disorders, pp.
112-118; Chapter 28, Assessment and Treatment Recommendations for Children and
Adolescents with Depresion, pp. 199-204; Chapter 37, Suicide Risk Assessment, pp. 259-263;
Chapter 38, Counseling Interventions with Suicidal Clients, pp. 264-270.
In Treatment Planning: Depression, Mania or Hypomania, Suicidal Ideation/Attempt,
Depression, Suicidal Ideation/Attempt
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with eating disorders
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 8, The Fat Client, pp. 51-59; Chapter18, Eating Disorders:
Guidelines for Assessment, Treatment, and Referral, pp.119-134.
In Treatment Planning: Eating Disorders
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with impulse control problems
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: NA
In Treatment Planning: Conduct Disorder/Delinquency, Fire Setting, Oppositional Defiant,
Anger Management, Impulse Control Disorder, Attention-Seeking Behavior, Anger
Management/Aggression
UNIT 4 (SB: June 6-7/FVL: July 3, 9, 10)
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with childhood behavior
problems
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 26, Interventions for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder,
pp. 183-190; Chapter 27, Bullying: Counseling Perpetrators and Victims, 191-198; Chapter 29,
Counseling Interventions for Children with Disruptive Behaviors, pp. 205-212; (optional,
Chapter 22, pp. 155-161; Chapter 23, pp. 162-168; Chapter 30, pp. 213-218; Chapter 31, pp.
213-224).
In Treatment Planning: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant
Disorder, Parenting Skills/Discipline, Responsible Behavior Training, Social
Maladjustment/Conduct Disorder
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with school refusal
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: NA
In Treatment Planning: School Refusal, School Refusal/Phobia
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with enuresis/encopresis
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: NA
In Treatment Planning: Enuresis/Encopresis
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with somatoform disorders &
physical problems
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 2, Counseling Clients with Underlying Medical Problems, pp.
10-17.
In Treatment Planning: Somatization, Chronic Pain, Medical Issues, Physical
Disabilities/Challenges
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with sexual & gender identity
issues
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: NA
In Treatment Planning: Sexual Abuse Perpetrator, Female Sexual Dysfunction, Male Sexual
Dysfunction, Sexual Abuse
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with sleep disturbance
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: NA
In Treatment Planning: Sleep Disturbance
Lecture topic: Counseling strategies for effectively dealing with personality disorders/traits.
Only if time permits
Reading assignment:
In Welfel & Ingersoll: Chapter 20, Management of Personality Disorders, pp. 142-154.
In Treatment Planning: Antisocial Behavior, Borderline Personality, Paranoid Ideation
Cumulative Final Exam: SB: June 7/FVL: July 10
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Obtain and read the required texts.
2. Two short answer/essay EXAMINATIONS based on class discussions, lecture, and text book.
35% each.
3. CLASS DISCUSSION: From the following list of resources to which people in need
sometimes turn (and which counselors might be tempted to use as referral sources), select a topic
and conduct a brief Internet search to find information about the resource. Be very careful to
screen your Internet sources for accuracy and for legitimacy. Working in groups, tell the class
what the group or treatment is all about (no formal presentation is necessary). State what you
would need to see to determine if it is a beneficial source of help or an effective treatment
strategy and therefore a legitimate referral source, or strategy for you to use, potentially harmful,
or neither. Examples: Scientology, The Forum (EST), AA/Alanon, EMDR, DBT, hypnosis,
others? Part of the 10% participation grade. Due - SB: May 17/FVL: June 25.
4. CASE STUDY AND TREATMENT PLAN: The focus of this class is on identifying
counseling issues and planning the most appropriate counseling strategies for those issues.
Select one counseling issue of interest to you (and relevant to the age with which you wish to
work). Locate and review 3-4 professional sources written in the past 5 years that identify the
most effective way, according to the research, that a counselor can deal with that issue. Focus on
evidence based treatments available. Construct an annotated bibliography of your sources. In
some cases, the author will supply an excellent summary of their article (abstract). In these
cases, copy the author’s summary and clearly state that you have copied the author’s abstract or
summary. If the abstract is very short, give me enough to understand the author’s methodology
and conclusions. Construct or find a detailed case study (approximately 1 page in length) of an
individual exhibiting that counseling issue (again, if you copied from another source, cite the
source). Using the format for treatment plans distributed in class construct a treatment plan
according the guidelines used in this class. Your treatment plan should reflect the counseling
strategies presented in the literature you reviewed. Prepare copies of the case study and
treatment plan for the class. Be prepared to present the case, treatment plan and a brief
justification for the intervention strategies to the class. Grades will be based on the quality of the
sources, annotated bibliography, and treatment plan. Due the week we plan to cover similar
concerns. 20%.
HONOR CODE:
The Longwood Honor Code indicates that students are on their honor not to lie, cheat or steal.
Each student is to pledge that they have not done so, nor that they know of anyone else who has
done so on each exam and on all written material. Students may study together and share
material but may not receive assistance during the exams. Plagiarism, including direct copying
of an author's work or paraphrasing the work too closely, is a violation of the Honor Code. The
exams from this class or any of my classes are not to be taken from the area at any time.
Possession or knowledge of the possession of one of my exams is in violation of the Honor
Code. The Honor Code is based on the need for trust in an academic community and will be
observed in this and all of my classes.
GRADING:
Grades will be based on 2 essay exams worth 35% each; class participation worth 10%;
bibliography, case study and treatment plan worth 20%. A seven-point scale will be used for
determining the letter grade. An "F" will be assigned for the entire course if a student missed a
total of 25% of scheduled class hours (excused and unexcused).