This course provides knowledge and skill competencies to facilitate play therapy as a therapeutic intervention for children and families. This course provides students with the philosophical basis for play therapy, including a review of the history of play therapy, how to develop a relationship with a child through a (child-centered, Prescriptive, Adlerian, Ecosystemic, etc.) theoretical framework, and an introduction to various theoretical applications and play therapy best practices. Students will become familiar with play therapy micro-skills, the purpose and application goals of play therapy, therapeutic stages and themes, ethical issues, cross-cultural/ diversity implications, basic developmental and neurological implications, treatment planning in play therapy including development of treatment goals and assessment of treatment progress and applications to a variety of populations and therapeutic contexts.

This course provides advanced knowledge and skill competencies in play therapy as a therapeutic intervention for children and families. This course provides students with learning on special topics such as divorce, incest, family death, illness, ethnic and racial issues, and cultural impacts through a variety of assessment measures, such as individual supervision in play therapy, group supervision in play therapy, peer consultation in play therapy, reflection papers, etc. This course prepares students to provide play therapy services in school and community settings.

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

Small- and large-scale disasters of all types continue to abound. Communities need trained individuals who are prepared to respond to such incidents and who can help plan for future disasters as well as train others to plan and respond. In this course, students learn the fundamentals of crisis management and crisis leadership. They develop an understanding of the theories and models related to crises, disasters, and other events caused by trauma. Students also learn about ethical, legal, and diversity considerations in crisis and trauma response. Through analyses of topical literature, applications, and discussions, students gain a practical understanding of the models for training and supporting other counselors in the areas of crisis response applicable to community, national, and international crises. Employing concepts learned in the course, students develop a crisis management plan for their own community

As client advocates, counselors rely on knowledge of psychotropic medications to inform treatment. This course introduces a spectrum of psychotropic medications used in the management of mental, behavioral, and addictive disorders. Students explore medication classification, drug interaction, and side effects. In addition, students distinguish between medical and psychopathological conditions that present in similar ways to addictive disorders. As part of a professional learning community, students collaborate with peers in written scholarly dialogue to explore psychopharmacological intervention in the treatment of addiction and other psychopathologies that may coexist. Students analyze factors that increase the likelihood for a person, community, or group to be at risk for disorders and examine the cultural and contextual factors considered in the ethical treatment of clients. Across counseling specializations, this course builds foundational clinical knowledge of the intersection of counseling and psychotropic medical treatment.