D. Syllabi are distributed at the beginning of each curricular experience, are available for review by all enrolled or prospective students, and include all of the following:
1. Content areas.
2. Knowledge and skill outcomes.
3. Methods of instruction.
4. Required text(s) and/or reading(s).
5. Student performance evaluation criteria and procedures.
All of the components in II.D.1-5 are addressed in all courses required for the clinical mental health, marriage, couples, and family, and school counseling programs. This includes the following core courses that are required for all students in the department, regardless of program emphasis (all syllabi below are hyperlinked for immediate review):
COUN 501: Introduction to Counseling
COUN 515: Statistics and Research in Counseling
EPSY 520: Fundamentals of Human Growth and Development
EPSY 643: Measurement and Evaluation
COUN 530: Multicultural Counseling
COUN 535: Career Counseling and Placement
COUN 670: Counseling Theory and Techniques
In our institution, the master course syllabi are kept in a permanent file in the Department of Counselor Education. The information contained in the course teaching syllabi parallels that contained in the master course syllabi. The teaching syllabus for any particular course is provided to all students enrolled in that course. Upon request, students are also provided a copy of the master course syllabi. Prospective students also may obtain copies of course teaching syllabi and master course syllabi if requested.
Clinical Mental Health Counseling Emphasis Syllabi:
The following are additional, specified course requirements of students in the clinical mental health counseling program:
COUN 545: Community Agency Counseling
COUN 551: Substance Abuse and Addiction: Individual, Family, and Society
COUN 555: Differential Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
COUN 600: Introduction to Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy
COUN 605: Ethical, Legal and Professional Issues in Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy
Syllabi for Specialized Studies in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: General Practice and Substance Abuse and Addiction
Within the CMHC emphasis students select one of two specialized areas depending on their area of interest and career goals:
CMHC General Practice
In this area students select four electives (12 credits) from an array of general practice, substance abuse and addiction, and marriage, couple and family counseling and therapy courses. These courses prepare students to work with a range of populations in diverse clinical mental health settings and include:
COUN 560: Counseling Girls and Women
COUN 561: Counseling Boys and Men
COUN 552: Substance Abuse Education and Prevention
COUN 553: Treating Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders
COUN 601: Theory and Development of Family Systems
COUN 602: Assessment and Intervention in Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy
COUN 604: Couples in Relationship
EPSY 661: Counseling Exceptional and At-Risk Children and Adolescents
COUN 697: Independent Study in Counseling: COUN 697 is an in-depth exploration of a topic within a specific area of the discipline of counseling involving supervised reading, research, and regular conferences with the faculty adviser.
COUN 698: Department Project in Counseling: COUN 698 provides opportunities for in-depth study in an area of interest to the student and/or participation in an activity related to counseling and personnel services.
In addition, each May the Department of Counselor Education offers a series of one week, one credit, COUN 597 Special Topics in Counseling courses which may be taken as electives. Recent Special Topics courses have included:
COUN 597: Wellness Counseling
COUN 597: Crisis Management in Counseling
COUN 597: College Planning & Preparation
COUN 597: Counseling for Domestic Violence
COUN 597: Eating Disorders Treatment
COUN 597: Mindfulness-Based Practices in Counseling
CMHC Substance Abuse and Addiction Counseling
Specialization courses required for Substance Abuse and Addiction Counseling include:
COUN 552: Substance Abuse Education and Prevention
COUN 553: Treating Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders
These courses help the student to understand the philosophy of treatment modalities and to develop a direct knowledge of the resources available to the substance abuse and addiction counselor on a local, state, and national level. Further, students learn and practice the techniques and interventions that are needed to work effectively with the behaviorally and/or chemically dependent person.
Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy Emphasis Syllabi:
The following are additional, specified course requirements of students in the marriage, couple and family counseling and therapy program:
COUN 545: Community Agency Counseling (3 credits)
COUN 600: Introduction to Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy (3 credits)
COUN 601: Theory and Development of Family Systems (3 credits)
COUN 602: Assessment and Intervention in Family Systems (3 credits)
COUN 603: Laboratory in Couple and Family Systems (3 credits)
COUN 604: Couples in Relationship (3 credits)
6 credits Elective coursework
The following represent popular elective courses marriage, couple and family counseling and therapy program students frequently take and that are offered through the Department of Counselor Education:
COUN 551: Substance Abuse and Addiction: Individual, Family, and Society
COUN 552: Substance Abuse Education and Prevention
COUN 553: Treating Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders
COUN 560: Counseling Girls and Women
COUN 561: Counseling Boys and Men
EPSY 661: Counseling Exceptional and At-Risk Children and Adolescents
COUN 697: Independent Study in Counseling: COUN 697 is an in-depth exploration of a topic within a specific area of the discipline of counseling involving supervised reading, research, and regular conferences with the faculty adviser.
COUN 698: Department Project in Counseling: COUN 698 provides opportunities for in-depth study in an area of interest to the student and/or participation in an activity related to counseling and personnel services.
School Counseling Emphasis Syllabi:
The following are additional, specified course requirements of students in the school counseling program:
COUN 545: Community Agency Counseling
COUN 660: Organization, Administration, and Supervision of School Counseling
EPSY 661: Counseling Exceptional and At-Risk Children and Adolescents
6 credit hours in Elective coursework
The following represent popular elective courses school counseling program students frequently take and that are offered through the Department of Counselor Education):
COUN 551: Substance Abuse and Addiction: Individual, Family, and Society
COUN 552: Substance Abuse Education and Prevention
COUN 553: Treating Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Disorders
COUN 554: Substance Awareness Coordination in the Schools
COUN 560: Counseling Girls and Women
COUN 561: Counseling Boys and Men
COUN 600: Introduction to Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy
COUN 601 Theory and Development of Family Systems
COUN 602 Assessment and Intervention in Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling & Therapy
COUN 605: Ethical, Legal and Professional Issues in Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy
COUN 697: Independent Study in Counseling: COUN 697 is an in-depth exploration of a topic within a specific area of the discipline of counseling involving supervised reading, research, and regular conferences with the faculty adviser.
COUN 698: Department Project in Counseling: COUN 698 provides opportunities for in-depth study in an area of interest to the student and/or participation in an activity related to counseling and personnel services.
In addition, each May the Department of Counselor Education offers a series of one week, one credit, COUN 597 Special Topics in Counseling courses which may be taken as electives. Recent Special Topics courses have included:
COUN 597: Wellness Counseling
COUN 597: Crisis Management in Counseling
COUN 597: College Planning & Preparation
COUN 597: Counseling for Domestic Violence
COUN 597: Eating Disorders Treatment
COUN 597: Mindfulness-Based Practices in Counseling
E. Evidence exists of the use and infusion of current counseling-related research in teaching practice among program faculty and students.
The use of research data permeates the instructional experiences provided in the program. The practice of keeping current regarding recent trends in counseling research is modeled by program faculty who attend a variety of workshops and conferences and conduct a number of scholarly research projects. The professional development and research activities of each of the program faculty are listed in their respective curriculum vitae and presented in Section I.W. The information learned by program faculty through these activities is infused into courses taught in the program. Thus, the instructional content of program courses is guided by the findings of current research.
The scholarly activities and clinical practices of program students are also shaped by relevant research data. Students in the program are required to conduct research throughout their enrollment in the program. Students use their research findings to develop an understanding of cutting-edge approaches to counseling and then they apply these approaches in their respective clinical experiences.
The following subsections contain descriptions of how faculty and students engage in the exploration and utilization of relevant research findings in particular courses taught in the program. These descriptions are illustrative rather than exhaustive accounts of the research utilization in the program. To view the course syllabi below, simply click on the course name.
COUN 501: Introduction to Counseling
COUN 501 is designed to provide students with an up-to-date orientation to the counseling profession. Consequently, recent trends in counseling, which are noted in publications such as Counseling Today and Journal of Counseling and Development, as well as the newsletters of the New Jersey associations of professional counselors, are covered in class lectures. For example, during the Spring semester, 2012, students were apprised of data regarding national trends in licensure and third-party reimbursement for professional counselors.
Students enrolled in COUN 501 are taught the writing conventions of APA style. Students are also given an orientation to the college library and taught how to use the library’s on-line catalog, LibGuides (described in Section I.E. & F.), CD-ROM and Web-based data bases, periodicals, and reference and government delivery services to locate research data pertaining to topics in counseling and related fields. Students then are required to use these data as the basis for writing a term paper on a current topic in counseling.
COUN 515: Statistics and Research in Counseling
The purpose of COUN 515 is to teach program students skills for understanding and conducting research in counseling. Instructors of COUN 515 have emphasized practical applications of research design and statistics – a strategy that enhances the palatability of the course content for the students. The course assignments are complemented by the scholarly research activities of the students enrolled in COUN 515. Building upon the foundation of library research and writing skills taught in COUN 501, students in COUN 515 are taught how to critically evaluate empirical research in counseling. Students are required to write a term paper consisting of a critical review of the research literature on a current topic in counseling and a proposal for an empirical research project on that topic.
COUN 530: Multicultural Counseling
The central objective of COUN 530, Multicultural Counseling, is to increase students’ multicultural sensitivity in a compassionate, culturally sensitive and respectful manner through the examination of their own culture and the cultures of others. Research on cultural oppression, social justice, and counselor advocacy strategies are required readings for this course, and are augmented with classroom content delivery, exercises, and discussion in these areas. To ensure that COUN 530 reflects emerging trends, research findings and instructional innovations specific to diversity and multicultural counseling issues, the instructor regularly reviews and incorporates research data from a variety of multicultural text books and professional journals such as The Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, The International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling, The Counseling Psychologist, and The Journal of Counseling and Development.
Students enrolled in COUN 530 are also expected to learn about the major minority subgroups within the dominant Anglo-American culture that are served by counselors in the United States. Based on their personal and professional interests, and subject to instructor approval, students are required to identify and conduct an in-depth individual or small group (2-4 persons) “Cultural Research Project” focusing on an Ethnic (e.g. Arab American, Korean American), or a Non-Ethnic (e.g. transgendered persons, persons with a specific disability) cultural group. All Research Projects consider the following 3 major areas and related issues (as applicable):
I. Context, including:
a) Historical background, current social & political factors & societal trends
b) The implications of concepts such as cultural shock, identity development, acculturation, internalized oppression, cultural encapsulation, and institutional “isms” (e.g. racism, sexism, ageism, classism, heterosexism, ableism)
c) Cultural, economic, political, ethical, and legal issues surrounding this group
d) The impact of local, state, and national policies, programs, and practices on the quality & accessibility of counseling and other services for this group
II. Major Characteristics within and without, including:
a) Characteristics of this group and how living in a multicultural society affects this group
b) Community, environmental, & institutional factors that impede the wellness and growth of this group
c) Community, environmental, & institutional factors that enhance the wellness and growth of this group
III. Counseling Implications, including:
a) Adaptations, modifications, or changes at individual, group and systemic levels that are required to be culturally congruent with the needs of this group
b) Current theories, approaches, strategies, & techniques shown to be effective when counseling with and advocating for this cultural group
Through this activity students educate themselves and their fellow classmates regarding the most current and culturally sensitive approaches to working with culturally diverse populations. Each semester students are also provided a selection of current journal articles chosen to augment their required textbook readings and individual research for the course.
COUN 545: Community Agency Counseling
This course is designed to meet the needs of the counselor working in and with community agencies. Topics such as diagnosis (using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association), various counseling modalities, consultation, case management and documentation, and evaluation and advocacy roles of the agency counselor are covered. New up-to-date developments pertaining to these roles are regularly integrated into the course. Students enrolled in the course are provided with the latest differential diagnostic criteria used in agency settings, as well as the use of psychotropic medications and their impact on clients/consumers. The instructor regularly reviews mental health and counseling textbooks and journals (such as the Journal of Counseling and Development and the Journal of Mental Health Counseling) in order to incorporate current research findings pertinent to the work of community agency counselors.
COUN 670: Counseling Theory and Techniques
COUN 670 is an overview of a range of psychological theories as they apply to counseling. The instructor systematically reviews the research literature on counseling theory in order to address in class the efficacy of different theoretical approaches with different populations and clinical problems. The instructor also periodically attends workshops so that she can learn how to utilize, apply and demonstrate different theoretical approaches in class. The information learned in these workshops is integrated into lectures and demonstrations of counseling techniques that are a part of the course.
COUN 690: Practicum Seminar and COUN 693 or COUN 694/695: Internship
The clinical sequence of courses is the capstone experience for students enrolled in the program. Because these courses are highly focused seminars with a low student-to-faculty ratio, several faculty are required to teach different sections of the courses. Thus, this description of how research findings are utilized in these courses represents a synthesis of pertinent strategies used by several different faculty.
COUN 690, COUN 693, and COUN 694/695 are designed to provide students with supervised on-the-job counseling experience. An emphasis is placed on applying counseling skills, utilizing community resources, and developing consultation skills. Instructors have utilized numerous strategies to address each of these areas of emphasis. For example, the instructors have attended ACA-sponsored workshops on a broad array of topics that increase their knowledge to teach students skills that are necessary in their respective settings. Students use the most current research technology (hyperlink to LibGuides) and presentation technologies (PowerPoint/Poster Sessions) to develop topical presentations for their fellow students and instructor to review and discuss in class. In addition, instructors rely upon data reported in professional journals, such as Counselor Education and Supervision, Journal of Multicultural Counseling, Journal of Counseling and Development, Journal of Mental Health Counseling, and many other journals and books to guide their input to students’ questions about clinical cases. Finally, the instructors use information from books, such as ACA Ethical Standards Casebook, and professional journals as a framework for helping students to resolve the ethical dilemmas that emerge in their field placements.
An example specific to school counseling:
COUN 660: Organization, Administration, and Supervision of School Counseling
In this course, students are taught how to administer the major components of school counseling services. The instructor utilizes data from several sources to ensure that the course reflects current trends and research findings in the field. These sources include The ASCA Counselor and Professional School Counseling as well as a variety of textbooks on the subject of school counseling. Information from these resources has indicated, for example, that school counselors, particularly those employed in secondary schools, tend to continue to feel frustrated by the imposition of quasi- administrative responsibilities which interfere with their ability to deliver a balance of preventative and remedial counseling services. Thus, a major topic in the course pertains to the role of the school counselor as an agent of change. The ASCA National Standards for School Counselors and current strategies for transforming school counseling systems to meet the same are taught to students in the class.
Students enrolled in COUN 660 are challenged to review current research findings through a term-paper assignment in which they must address a topic that is germane to the practice of school counseling. This assignment teaches students to identify and evaluate current strategies employed by today’s school counselors.
An example specific to Clinical Mental Health and Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy:
COUN 600: Introduction to Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy
COUN 600, Introduction to Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy, is designed to examine family functioning and theories of family counseling. The instructor utilizes professional development workshops to learn about the clinical utility and application of different family counseling models and to address topics that are germane to counselors who work with families. Innovations in family counseling are included to update classes in contemporary modalities.
F. Evidence exists of the use and infusion of technology in program delivery and technology’s impact on the counseling profession.
The Department of Counselor Education is supported by an Education Librarian, Ms. Claire Clemens, who each semester provides a thorough orientation for our graduate students in COUN 501, “Introduction to Counseling,” about the technology related to scholarly resources in counselor education that are available through the TCNJ Library to support their work as beginning scholars and counselors-in-training. Students use this technology for counseling-related research projects as a method of inquiry and discovery. Because COUN 501 is a foundational course that provides the underpinning for their developing abilities to work as student-scholars in counselor education throughout their program of study, Ms. Clemen’s work is essential and impactful in terms of their development as graduate students in counseling.
Also of significance is an additional resource that was created by Ms. Clemens during AY 2011-2012. In consultation with the Department Chair about our needs in terms of scholarly resources for students, specifically related to accreditation standards for infusing technology into program delivery, Ms. Clemens created online LibGuides (described in Section I.E. & F.) for all of the subject areas that are addressed in our programs and for our CACREP-accreditation standards and processes. Specifically, these online guides that she created have replaced our paper bibliographies that were previously distributed by the department. These LibGuides take advantage of Web 2.0 technology and provide focused access to research resources. We have added links to all of the LibGuides through our Counselor Education website and all of our SOCS webpages for our courses. Our department faculty believes that these LibGuides make library resources easily available to students both on and off campus whenever and wherever they need to work. This fits well with the lifestyle of graduate students that populate our programs in Counselor Education.
Additionally, the Department has a state-of-the-art three-room observational and practice laboratory used by the instructors of courses with counseling practice components, i.e., Introduction to Counseling, Group Counseling, and Practicum/Internship classes. Each of these laboratories is equipped with two-way vision glass, a table, and chairs to accommodate individual, family, and group counseling, as well as DVD-taping capability. The same facilities are used by the CMHC, MCFCT, and SC programs.
In COUN 535 Career Counseling and Placement students learn about career information systems and in particular, The College of New Jersey Career Services Program, Focus 2. As part of their course requirements students complete part of Focus 2 and have in class discussions on its uses in counseling. In addition, students utilize internet sources of career information, such as O*NET and OOH, and other informational and assessment resources, such as those available on the National Career Development Association web site, in their course project in which they interview a volunteer over three sessions and develop a career plan of action. As part of their course requirements students also complete online assessments such as the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers Briggs Type Indicator.
Lastly, TCNJ has an online course delivery system, called “SOCS” (which is an acronym for “Simple Online Course Software”) that is available for 24 hour-a-day use by students. With SOCS, students have the opportunity to use discussion boards and review course resources that have been uploaded by course instructors (hyperlink to an example). For example, Dr. Marion Cavallaro uses the SOCS course webpages in COUN 535 Career Counseling and Placement, COUN 670 Counseling Theories and Techniques, and COUN 693 Internship Seminar, where she creates online discussion boards as a means for students to share resources with one another and to post their power point presentations for full class access. In COUN 535 and COUN 670 students have access to the SOCS secure and confidential gradebook. In COUN 535 student presentations are graded via a SOCS rubric and comment box. Also through SOCS, students in COUN 535 and 670 post all of their assignments in an electronic drop box. These uses of SOCS occur in other courses as well, with the potential for setting up Chat rooms and Wikis.
G. Common core curricular experiences and demonstrated knowledge in each of the eight common core curricular areas are required of all students in the program.
In order to create a method to view where the core curricular experiences in Section II G are covered in the counselor education coursework, a Core Standards Matrix Crosswalk was created. For the convenience of the reader, this crosswalk matrix indicates which courses meet standards of the eight common core curricular areas that are required of all students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling and Therapy, and School Counseling programs (please click on the Core Standards Matrix Crosswalk hyperlink to access the core standards matrix). The core course syllabi listed in the Core Standards Matrix Crosswalk, and required for all students in the department regardless of program emphasis, are hyperlinked below for immediate review:
COUN 501: Introduction to Counseling
COUN 515: Statistics and Research in Counseling
EPSY 520: Fundamentals of Human Growth and Development
EPSY 643: Measurement and Evaluation
COUN 530: Multicultural Counseling
COUN 535: Career Counseling and Placement
COUN 545: Community Agency Counseling