Required Core Courses – All Specialty Tracks
(3 credits/ea. X 11 courses = 33 hours)
COUN 6600 Professional Orientation & Ethical Standards in Counseling:
- • Provides an introduction to professional, ethical, legal, theoretical, and practical aspects of counseling. Students will examine the roles and responsibilities of counselors, professional organizations, and associations. Historical and social contexts along with emerging professional issues and directions are included.
COUN 6610 Research and Assessment:
- • This course provides a basic introduction to psychometric issues related to assessment, evaluation and research in a multicultural society.
COUN 6630 Counseling Theories:
- • Introduces students to the major theories in counseling and associated techniques. Summaries of applicable research are covered.
COUN 7620 Lifespan Developmental Issues:
- • Students will analyze and conceptualize human developmental themes from the perspective of various learning and personality theorists. The counseling process, interventions, and strategies will be addressed in relation to the topical issues presented in the class.
COUN 7720 Social and Cultural Foundations:
- • Study of the nature and needs of diverse groups in the context of societal changes and trends. Socioeconomic, multicultural, and subgroup changes and conflicts are considered. Social issues and trends in multicultural and diverse societies are examined.
COUN 7725 Family Systems: Theory and Practice:
- • Introduces students to the theory, skills, and major approaches of family counseling, emphasizing the role of family systems in the maintenance of problem behavior. The decision of whether or not family counseling is the treatment of choice and the implications for intake methods are considered. Students will apply the concepts learned to a study of their own family that describes the dynamics involved. Ethical and training considerations are discussed.
COUN 7730 Lifestyle and Career Development:
- • Examines career development theories; occupational and educational information sources and systems; career and leisure counseling guidance and education; lifestyle and career decision-making; and career development program planning, resources, and evaluation.
COUN 7810 Beginning Counseling & Human Relational Skills:
- • Provides students with experience in human relations laboratory, focusing on basic communication skills and the development of beginning counseling skills.
COUN 7847 Group Dynamics and Intervention:
- • Application of basic knowledge of the roles, functions, and dynamics among group leaders and group participants; covers group process theory and the research pertaining to group process; students analyze the interaction within a group.
COUN 7855 Assessment and Treatment Planning:
- • Covers interviewing and intake skills, including diagnostic assessment, psychosocial history, case notes, case summary, treatment format and planning, and evaluation of treatment effectiveness. Students are required to work with actual client(s).
COUN 8811 Interventions w/Children & Adolescents:
- • Trains students in the knowledge, skills, and techniques of individual and family play therapy to treat various problems that affect children, adolescents, and families. Students will practice techniques in class and with healthy volunteer children/families.
School Counseling Specialty Courses
(3 credits/ea. X 9 courses = 27 hours; Courses are Hybrid)
COUN 6638 Intro to School Counseling (3)
- • Provides an overview of School Counseling. The developmental model of school counseling will be introduced along with state and national standards. Students will learn counselor roles in advocacy, prevention, personal/social growth, academic development, and career development. Various issues relevant to today’s children and adolescents will be explored.
PSYCH 7650 Crisis Preparedness, Prevent & Interventions in Schools (3)
- • This course is an introduction to the research, policies and practices of school-based crisis, trauma and disaster prevention response. Candidates will gain core knowledge related to preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from crises impacting school-aged children and schools. Issues related to crisis prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals in an educational setting will be addressed.
COUN 7722 Applied Sch Counseling w/Diverse Students (3)
- • Applied School Counseling with Diverse Students will focus on the developmental interventions across the ASCA National Model Framework, covering the ASCA mindsets and behaviors as they pertain to the three domains (academic, career, and personal/social). This course will include a survey of exceptional students, classroom management techniques, and an introduction to pedagogical strategies school counselors can implement in the classroom. Additional topics will include (but are not limited to) current and pending state legislation, FERPA, student discipline, sexual abuse prevention training, sex education, suicide warning signs and clear and present danger, transgender pupil privacy/school policy, and undocumented students.
COUN 8844 Practicum School Counseling (K-12) (3)
- • This course focuses on the development and refinement of counseling skills required for working with children, with particular emphasis on career, academic, and personal/social development. Students will work in a K-12 school setting; attend individual supervision, and group supervision. The minimum requirement for the practicum course is one hundred (100) hours in a K-12 school setting.
COUN 8851 Consultation & School Staff Development (3)
- • Examines theories, functions, and skills required of consultants in schools and other settings. Students will use consultation skills with client.
COUN 8852 College Career Coaching Academy (3)
- • Focuses on experiential learning and your development and implementation transformative school counseling activities to help you become acquainted with skills and techniques needed to assist students during their school years and during their transition from school to work/college.
COUN 8858 Develop of School Counseling Prog (3)
- • Study of rationale and program for guidance services. Special attention to analyzing, evaluating, and integrating administrative theory.
COUN 8968 Counseling Internship I (3)
- • The internship takes place in a P-20 school setting. The intern will provide selected services in each of the four Delivery Systems delineated in the ASCA Developmental Guidance Model. A minimum of 300 on-site hours is required which should extend over the period of one full semester. (A minimum of 120 of the 300 must be spent in direct services to clients (students). Direct service is generally considered to consist of activities identified in the delivery systems of individual student planning and responsive services).
COUN 8969 Counseling Internship II (3)
- • The internship takes place in a P-20 school setting. The intern will provide selected services in each of the four Delivery Systems delineated in the ASCA Developmental Guidance Model. A minimum of 300 on-site Hours is required which should extend over the period of one full semester. (A minimum of 120 of the 300 must be spent in direct services to clients (students). Direct service is generally considered to consist of activities identified in the delivery systems of individual student planning and responsive services).
Program Contact Information
School Counseling Track Lead:
Ahmet Can, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Psychology & Counseling
Governors State University
1 University Parkway, G324
University Park, IL 60484
708-534-4974
acan@govst.edu
Counseling Program Coordinator:
Leonis S. Wright, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Division of Psychology & Counseling
Governors State University
1 University Parkway, G326
University Park, IL 60484
708-534-4906
lwright11@govst.edu
Naomi Fenton
Academic Advisor
Division of Psychology and Counseling
Governors State University
1 University Parkway, Rm G304
University Park, IL 60484
708-534-4973
nfenton@govst.edu