November 13-15 & December 4-6
Fridays 1-9 p.m., Saturdays 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. & Sundays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Room NC500
Faculty:
Campus:
Suz Coan, PsyD, CDP
Seattle, Washington
Email: scoan@argosy.edu
Office Hours: By appointment
Course description:
This course provides an advanced exploration of the legal, ethical and professional choices faced by mental health practitioners. Basic ethical issues are first reviewed and extended into practical, case-oriented study of current demands and obligations for the mental health issues in ethics, professional liability, risk management and managed care service environments. Successful practitioners will recognize changes in the way employers provide mental health benefits and will modify and market their services accordingly, in order to offer ethical and effective treatments and consultative services.
Course Pre-requisites: None
Required Textbooks:
Koocher, G. & Keith-Spiegel, P. (2008). Ethics in psychology and the mental health professions:
Standards and cases (3 rd
Ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN: 978-0-19-514911-1
Other Materials:
Additional materials will be supplied by the instructor either as printed handouts or available for students to download.
In addition to your usual notetaking paraphernalia, please be sure to always have at least one #2 pencil and good eraser with you. Scantrons, if used, will be provided.
Course length: 7.5 Weeks
Contact Hours : 45 Hours
Credit Value : 3.0
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Mission Statement:
The Counseling Psychology program embraces a range of relevant theory and techniques applicable in the three major areas of counseling psychology: a) the remedial (assisting in remedying problems in living), b) the preventive (anticipating, circumventing, and forestalling difficulties that may arise in the future), and c) the educative and developmental (discovering and developing potentialities). Counseling Psychology focuses on a) a wide range of client issues, and developmental life stage challenges, b) assets, strengths, and positive mental health, c) relatively brief interventions, and d) context, sociocultural and political influences, diversity, and person-environment interactions, rather than exclusive emphasis on the individual.
Program Outcomes:
Doctor of Education in Counseling Psychology
Program Outcome One: Professional Practice
Competency 1 Assessment and Skills
Formulate assessments of psychological functioning and apply therapeutic intervention strategies when working with individuals, couples, families, and groups, toward the development of optimal mental health.
Competency 2 Theory
Synthesize and apply psychological and developmental theories to therapeutic intervention strategies.
Competency 3 Writing
Employ appropriate media and technology when presenting information orally and in writing, so that the presentation is concise, organized, well supported, professional, and appropriate to the audience.
Program Outcome Two: Research
Competency 1 Analyze research, translate research findings, and conduct research for improvement of counseling psychology services using statistics and evaluation methods.
Program Outcome Three: Interpersonal Effectiveness and Professional Development
Competency 1: Students will develop positive relationship skills that promote personal and professional development via effective communication, encouragement, empathy, respect for others, self-awareness, and otherawareness. a.
Apply active listening communication skills in interpersonal scenarios to establish empathetic relationships. b.
Analyze the importance of effective nonverbal communication skills in interpersonal relationships. c.
Solicit and utilize feedback to build and maintain interpersonal relationships.
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Competency 2: Participate in professional development activities in the discipline of counseling psychology to reflect lifelong learning.
Program Outcome Four: Ethics
Competency 1. Using the American Counseling Association’s Standards of
Practice /or the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Code, as well as, and local state law as it applies to the behavior of mental health professionals, identify ethical dilemmas, interpret the standards of practice to apply ethical decision-making strategies while engaging in professional activities.
Program Outcome Five: Diversity
Competency 1 Multicultural Skills
Develop assessment, counseling, and consultation services by applying counseling and multicultural theories and research to diverse populations, and modifying counseling interventions as needed to work effectively with diverse clients.
Competency 2 Multicultural Awareness
Reflect and integrate personal values, beliefs and biases in working with clients as well as in interpersonal relationships with others.
Competency 3 Multicultural Knowledge
Synthesize the complexity and multidimensionality of cultural/diversity issues in the field of counseling psychology while working with clients as well as interpersonal relationships with others.
Counseling Psychology Department information:
Counseling psychology students should be aware that since the program is clinically oriented faculty will create assignments that ask students to reflect upon aspects of their emotional reactions to clinical material, address aspects of their history or current life relationships, or to discuss personal reactions to a class. We believe such assignments are an essential component of professional development as a clinician. Such self observations are central in helping students gain a deeper appreciation of clinical theory and phenomena, and to develop empathy towards others.
At times students will find that such assignments create considerable personal discomfort. For this reason, we encourage students to monitor their reaction to such assignments and seek additional assistance when warranted.
We encourage ongoing interpersonal reflection of how students respond to the world around them. It is expected that students will develop social and therapeutic support networking that allows for personal growth.
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Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course students will be able to:
1.
Integrate higher levels of ethical behavior into their practice.
2.
Relate APA code sections to the practice of counseling psychology as well as to the teaching and supervisory roles of practicing psychologists.
3.
Identify the challenges to ethical practice and the use of an ethical decision making process.
4.
Identify personal and professional options in working (or not working) within the current mental health counseling environment.
5.
Explain the ethical and legal considerations in counseling practice and supervision grounded in the APA Code of Ethics.
Assessment of Learning / Course Requirements:
Attendance (CR/NC)
Students are expected to attend all class meetings and to be on time for class. Attendance is considered an important aspect of the learning experience. Because this class is taught in a weekend intensive format, any absence or tardiness may result in your being required to retake the class.
In truly extenuating circumstances (illness, death in the family, etc.), you are requested to inform the instructor at the earliest opportunity that you will not be present. As soon thereafter as possible, please arrange to discuss with the instructor the impact of your absence, and what, if any, steps must be taken either to withdraw or if possible, to remediate any missed work. In all cases, the decision on whether or not you may continue following an absence is at the sole discretion of the instructor, based upon her understanding of the course requirements and your ability to complete the course. The student is responsible for remaining current with the class (making arrangements to obtain class notes from another student, keeping up with the assigned reading and assignments).
Participation (15%)
Participation is based on students showing evidence of having read the assigned material before class, asking appropriate questions, and participating fully in class discussions. Respect for others should be demonstrated by respectful listening and honoring the right of everyone to be heard.
There will be group discussions with reflection assignments that will weigh heavily on your participation grade.
Quizzes (25%)
There will be several multiple-choice quizzes to help solidify the content from the text. There will be no make-up quizzes. Bring a #2 pencil and eraser to each class.
Final Exam (25%)
There will be a final exam on the last day of class covering the breadth of the course.
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Presentation / Paper (35%)
Each student will write a paper and present to the class regarding ethics in a psychology practice.
This assignment will be discussed in detail the first day of class.
Course Readings:
Prior to Weekend One
Text: Chapters 1 through 12
Text: Appendix A
Prior to Weekend Two
Text: Chapters 13 through 19
Washington State laws related to Psychologists—to be assigned in class
Grading Criteria:
Grading Requirements
Grading Scale
Attendance
Participation
Quizzes
Final Exam
Presentation/Paper
A
A-
B+
100 – 93
92 – 90
89 – 88
CR/NC
15%
25%
25%
35%
100%
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
87 – 83
82 – 80
79 – 78
77 - 73
72 – 70
69 – 68
67 – 63
62 – 60
59 and below
Rubric
A: Exemplary: The student has demonstrated a quality of work and accomplishment far beyond the formal requirements and shows originality of thought and mastery and application of knowledge, skills, and attitudes presented in the course.
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B: Proficient:
The student’s achievement reflects expectable achievement by demonstrating a proficient grasp and application of course concepts, skills, and attitudes presented in the course.
C: Marginal: The student has only partially demonstrated an inconsistent and correct grasp and application of the basic concepts, skills, and attitudes presented in the course.
F: Unacceptable: The student has failed to demonstrate grasp and application of course concepts, skills, and attitudes either through insufficient and incomplete presentations, or consistently incorrect and unprofessional presentations.
Inclement Weather:
For information regarding school closures/late starts due to inclement weather, follow the opening times of the Art Institute of Seattle posted on www.schoolreport.org
.
Email:
I will use your Argosy student email address for sending updates to the syllabus, class information, and lecture note outlines. YOU MUST CHECK YOUR ARGOSY EMAIL
REGULARLY.
Library:
All resources in Argosy University’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and passwords.
Library Resources
Argosy University’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business &
Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science,
Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at http://library.argosy.edu
.
Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at http://library.argosy.edu/misc/onlinedblist.html
.
In addition to online resources, Argosy University’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.
Information Literacy
Argosy University’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at http://library.argosy.edu/infolit/
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Academic Policies:
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism
In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy
University requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, 5 th
Edition (2001). Washington DC: American
Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5 th
Edition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Scholarly Writing
The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” ( www.turnitin.com
), an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty.
Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.
Americans with Disabilities Act Policy:
It is the policy of Argosy University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services.
Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.
Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student
Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.
The Argosy University Statement Regarding Diversity:
Argosy University prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
Note: The instructor reserves the right to make syllabus and assignment adjustments that in her judgment are appropriate and are supported in terms of learning objectives.
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