M.S. in Career Counseling

Students in this course are introduced to Walden University and to the requirements for successful participation in an online curriculum. Students work toward building a foundation for academic and professional success as scholar-practitioners and social change agents. They assess the relationship of mission and vision to professional goals, and they develop a program of study, a professional development plan, and strategies for online success. Students also explore resources used throughout the program, such as the online Walden University Library. They engage in course assignments focused on the practical application of professional writing, critical-thinking skills, and the promotion of professional and academic excellence.

In today’s unstable economy and fluctuating job market, individuals must contend with a gambit of challenges, including forced early retirement, working past retirement, changing jobs, and seeking further education to start new careers. For these reasons, counselors are often needed to help such individuals work through these issues. Through this course, students are introduced to the career counseling profession, including the history, philosophy, and theoretical foundations. They also explore the scope of practice, credentialing, and other professional issues. Through written assignments and other application-focused activities, students assess theories and issues specific to the career counseling role and consider their future in a professional context.

Students in this course are provided with an introduction to the field of professional counseling and the foundations of counseling. Students explore the history, philosophy, cultural dynamics, and trends in professional counseling. They examine consultation as well as client and counselor advocacy, focusing on the counselor’s role as social change agent. Students also examine and apply ethical standards of the counseling profession, including the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and counselor ethical decision-making processes. Through a final reflective project designed to influence their future ethical framework, students define their ethical perspectives, including influences, values, and goals.

There are hundreds of therapeutic theories and techniques available to frame the practice of counseling and psychotherapy. An important skill for mental health counselors is to understand the strengths and limitations of these theories to determine which are most appropriate and work best in their own personal practice. In this course, students explore the history of counseling and psychotherapy theories. They examine the major approaches to counseling and psychotherapy in current use, including empirical foundations, advantages, and limitations. Students assess examples of theory-based applications and develop a personal theory of counseling based on theories and techniques assessed in the course.

Personal attitudes, values, and beliefs often affect a counselor’s ability to establish an appropriate relationship and rapport with clients. In this course, students learn to evaluate their personal attitudes and beliefs to positively influence their counseling approaches. They explore principles and skills related to interviewing and observation, and they examine related legal, ethical, and cultural issues. Students gain practice in conducting interviews, making behavioral observations, collecting and interpreting data during an interview, and developing written reports of findings. Synthesizing concepts, skills, and personal reflections, students demonstrate their ability to engage in a counseling session using techniques learned throughout the course.

Through this course, students gain a comprehensive overview of the history, theory, process, and methods in the field of career counseling consultation and assessment as well as the qualifications required of the career counselor to consult in a variety of settings. Students learn the techniques that career counselors may employ within different models of consultation, and they explore the different types of assessments used in clinical, educational, and organizational settings. They also engage in an in-depth examination of the principles of assessment used to evaluate and employ assessment instruments. Students gain practical insight into the field as they explore and discuss the ethical, legal, and sociocultural issues in consultation and assessment.

Assessments are important tools that counselors use to gain information about clients and to aid practice. Therefore, counselors must know what assessment tools are available; have the ability to read, interpret, and analyze results of tests; and keep abreast of changing trends in working with assessments as well as new assessment tools and changes in technology. Students in this course are provided with an overview of assessments used in counseling and education as well as the responsibilities of counselors using assessments. Students learn about the different types of tests used in clinical, educational, and organizational settings, and they examine the psychometric properties used to develop and evaluate these instruments. They also explore normative sampling and standardization, reliability and validity, test score interpretation, and test development. Additionally, students assess and discuss ethical, legal, and sociocultural issues, including cultural bias and fairness. Professional standards for testing provide a foundation for the course.

Students are provided with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of multicultural counseling and the delivery of psychological services as well as related skills needed in professional practice. Students explore diversity and identity issues and discuss their impact on the therapeutic relationship. They examine the application of traditional theoretical orientations and current multicultural theories to culturally diverse groups. Through a variety of assignments designed to provide practical application of content, students also investigate counseling concepts related to race and ethnicity, sex and gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, and ability. (Prerequisites: Counseling Residency I.)

Students in this course are provided with an advanced overview of human development through the lifespan, including prenatal, childhood, adolescent, adult, and late-adult phases. Students examine and apply basic processes and theories to developmental milestones that occur within these phases of development. They explore factors of heredity and environmental elements on human development, and they consider ethical issues, research considerations, and global perspectives as they assess strategies to promote optimal development. Students also engage in coursework and discussions that highlight themes of diversity and social change.

Students in this course are provided with the opportunity to develop practical skills in career and vocational assessment as well as functional knowledge of how career assessment can assist in the exploration and understanding of the interrelationship among work, family, and life roles. They examine major sources of career and work information available on the Internet as well as through printed material and computer-based guidance systems. Gaining practical career counseling experience, students administer, score, and interpret printed and computer-based assessments of career interests, beliefs, and values. Students learn how to integrate career development theory and assessment results with career clinical interventions. They also examine clinical and assessment issues, devoting attention to computer-based applications and multicultural implications.

The meaning of work is vast and comprises a wide array of images, ideas, values, and definitions, depending on age, gender, culture, and other factors. In this course, students examine the critical role of work and vocation from multicultural and global perspectives as well as from a developmental perspective spanning childhood through late adulthood. Students explore and integrate into coursework major theories of vocational psychology. They also examine the meaning of work for individuals, groups, families, and societies as well as the interrelationship of work with family and other lifestyle roles, economic factors, and conditions. Additionally, students examine issues impacting work performance, such as crisis, substance abuse, and mental health challenges.

Group work is an increasingly popular, effective counseling method that allows group members to share perspectives and provide useful feedback and information in a structured setting. Students are provided with a comprehensive review of counseling approaches to group therapy in this course. Students examine the theoretical bases of different approaches to group therapy, including psychoanalytic, existential, person-centered, gestalt, transactional, behavioral, rational-emotive, and reality therapy. They engage in a variety of practical application assignments and discussions, focusing on counseling of different types of groups, the efficacy of using group therapy as the treatment method with multicultural and diverse populations, and the stages of group development.

Academic and career counselors are concerned with student life on all levels to support the personal and educational development of each student. This course examines educational, developmental, and counseling theories related to academic and career counseling. This course will focus on academic and career development from elementary school through college. The course will explore intellectual and emotional intelligence, multicultural issues, attitudes, values, and psycho-social needs of the life-long learner. Students will gain skills required to assist a highly diversified student body in academic planning, career exploration, decision making, and personal growth.

Students in this course are introduced to evaluation research and provided with a foundation in the design of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches to counseling research and evaluation. Students learn the strengths and limitations of each method and under what circumstances each design would be most appropriate. They consider the importance of scholarly writing and learn how to identify a topic for research and how to conduct a literature search. Students explore the history and theory underlying program evaluation, approaches to evaluation, and techniques used to perform the evaluation and demonstrate program effectiveness. Additionally, students explore the procedures involved in offering their evaluation services to a specific group or organization. They also examine strategies to gain stakeholder interest in developing appropriate standards, research progress, and evaluation outcomes.  Students gain hands-on experience developing a research proposal in which they address key elements, such as collecting and analyzing data, writing an introduction, stating a purpose for the study, identifying research questions and hypotheses, using theory, and communicating the significance of the study. Additionally, students consider the legal and ethical issues associated with human subjects’ protection.

Students in this course focus on experiential learning, which is an essential component of applied professional training. Students complete a supervised practicum experience at an approved site for a minimum of 100 hours, allowing them to develop their counseling skills and professional knowledge while under supervision. Students communicate with the class and the practicum faculty members at least twice a week during the quarter to discuss cases and present videos of student-client sessions.  Through these exchanges, students demonstrate learning and acquire feedback and additional knowledge in regard to clinical practice. This course requires students to engage in a face-to-face residency. (Prerequisites: Approval of the field experience coordinator.)

Students in this course focus on experiential learning, which is an essential component of applied professional training. Students complete a supervised practicum experience at an approved site for a minimum of 100 hours, allowing them to develop their counseling skills and professional knowledge while under supervision. Students communicate with the class and the practicum faculty members at least twice a week during the quarter to discuss cases and present videos of student-client sessions.  Through these exchanges, students demonstrate learning and acquire feedback and additional knowledge in regard to clinical practice. This course requires students to engage in a face-to-face residency. (Prerequisites: Approval of field experience coordinator.)

This course is a continuation of COUN 6682a Internship I. During this second term of internship, students focus on refining clinical and professional skills while working to complete their 600 hours of clinical instruction. Under clinical supervision, students continue to perform a variety of counseling activities, including but not limited to counseling individuals and groups, keeping records, writing reports, and administering referrals. Students also complete weekly assignments and attend weekly group supervision teleconferences to further refine their clinical and professional skills. (Prerequisites: COUN 6682a.)