Instructors:        Yousry Armanios, M.D., M.A.

                        E-mail: yarmanios@hotmail.com

                        Phone: 614-777-1251

            
Course Prerequisites:

Course Prerequisites: Students who wish to join this course can only be qualified after their successful completion of all courses of Year One as well as all courses of the first quarter of Year Two on the Program.

Course Description:
“Practicum II” is a continuum of “Practicum I”, aiming at integrating the previously studied material on the Program into clinical practice. “Practicum II”, however, is more advanced since it should take students into higher levels of diagnostic skills and clinical sensitivity, working with individuals and couples as well. “Practicum II” also provides actual counseling supervision and practice. It starts with 6 introductory clock hours of a face to face, on-site didactic class with the Instructor. Thereafter, supervision has to be completed telephonically and electronically as students begin counseling in their churches or communities. There will be no final exam for this course. However, passing the course requires a grade of at least 80 out of 100% according to what is detailed below. A reading resources’ list, along with the Assigned Readings, shall be provided before the beginning of the course.


Course Objectives:
1. A student should begin to develop a sense of professional identity.
2. A student should know how to apply interviewing and counseling skills to develop a therapeutic relationship.
3. A student should gain self-awareness so that the counselor-client relationship is therapeutic, knowing how to identify transferences and counter transferences while in any counseling setting.
4. A student should be able to conceptualize the client’s problems, counsel from a theoretical perspective, and plan a course of treatment including specific interventions.
5. A student should acquire the Skills shown below.
6. A student should be able to demonstrate sensitivity to spiritual issues with clients, and to maintain Christ as a center while aware of all therapeutic boundaries and ethics
 

Course Requirements and Grading:
1. During the must-attend face to face 6 clock hours’ class in the beginning of the course, students shall be prepared to learn advanced clinical tools that they will need to apply during the course as well as in their future practice. Role playing, helpful handouts and other important forms shall be provided during the class. The Instructor shall also have at least one individual meeting with each student.

Failure to attend the class (Requirement Number 1) shall mean dropping this whole course.

2. Each student must complete 10 face to face contact hours of individual and couple counseling over the course period. At least TWO couple counseling sessions are required. The student must produce a record for each counseling session, either in the form of a written verbatim or an audible recorded audio tape, VHS videotape or DVD. Students must keep a copy for their records and send the original by mail or electronically to the Instructor in a timely manner. It is the student’s responsibility to meet all legal and ethical requirements in regards to confidentiality, consent for release of information, and record keeping. For that purpose, students may use the special forms that will be available during the face to face, 6 clock hour’s class. Upon receiving the recorded material of a counseling session, each student must have one-half hour of telephonic supervision from the Instructor. The student must set up the appointment to call the Instructor for telephonic supervision. Other forms of electronic supervision also apply, based upon individual agreement with the Instructor. A written verbatim should be concluded by the student’s clinical perception of whatever the counseled individual might need to proceed with the case in terms of specific referrals, therapies, follow-ups or else. Grading shall be based on the comprehensive evaluation of the verbatim, considering all therapeutic and case management skills. Examples of those skills are shown below.

This requirement (Number 2) represents 60% of the final grade.

3. By the end of this course, each student must write and submit a 5 page paper to outline the student’s counseling experience and what has been learned from clinical all their interactions. This requirement (Number 3) represents 20% of the final grade.

4. Assigned Book Reading: “To Be Announced” Students must write and present a 5 page critique of the book before the end of the course. This requirement (Number 4) represents 20% of the final grade.


Client Selection and Case Presentation Guidelines and Format:

Students shall have a wide spectrum of individuals or couples to undergo their counseling training with. Couple counseling sessions can be done individually or joined as long as there is a common issue to be addressed. Individuals and couples may be selected from relatives, friends, church members, community members …etc. It is very important to abide by all ethical and legal requirements and restrictions before, during, and after having any session. It is also advisable that all students are covered by some sort of liability insurance. All recorded material must be safely and completely destroyed at the end of the course, even when a student may have to repeat the same course. Students may have more than one session with the same individual or couple. However, it is preferred to include people belonging to different backgrounds or with different issues and concerns.

All written work must be typed to a near-thesis standard as defined below:

o One inch margin top, bottom and sides
o Double-spaced
o Indent paragraphs half an inch
o Underline section headings
o Staple papers sent by mail – no paperclips, folders, or fanfold, please
o Page numbers
o All papers sent by e-mail must include a title page as an attachment
o Written material must reflect at least a near-Master’s Level use of the English Language in terms of spelling, vocabulary, and grammar.
 

Any written verbatim should reflect the following besides all interactions with the client or the couple:
1. Student’s Name
2. Place and Setting: (Church; Home …etc.) – (Individual or Joined)
3. Client’s Name(s) (select assumed names, not the real names)
4. Session Number (out of a total of ten sessions)
5. All concerns presented by client(s)
6. Recommendations for further steps: A written verbatim should be concluded by the student’s clinical perception of whatever the counseled individual or couple might need in order to proceed with the case in terms of specific treatments, referrals or follow-ups
7. Anticipated Outcomes of Counseling: How the student believes the client will or will not respond to interventions, treatments or referrals
8. Evaluation of whether a session has achieved any goals for client or not
9. The students’ view of their own need to improve counseling skills in any specific area
10. How far the spiritual element has played a role, if any, during the session

Audio or audio-visual records should also include the same ten points shown above, to be recorded before the actual session starts (# 1 through # 5), and after the end of the session (# 6 through # 10).

Skills to be emphasized and acquired during Course 23, “Practicum II”:

1. Forming the Therapeutic Alliance (Relationship Building)
2. Concreteness
3. Fairness and Neutrality
4. Non-Judgmental Attitudes
5. Handling Self-Disclosures and Catharsis
6. Confrontation Skills
7. Crisis Management