Professional Counsellor

Students will actively participate in the college’s in-house counselling clinic and will be expected to act as a regular practitioner in order to gain the valuable real world experience

This course will cover the basic information needed to assist the new counsellor in starting a small business. Topics addressed will be developing a business plan, effective marketing techniques, required documentation and legal requirements, designing a website, and strategies for a successful practice.

Students will learn a strength-based approach that assists clients who are experiencing various levels of grief. Theories of grief are reviewed, and various cultural perspectives are viewed with a focus on the cognitive, emotional, behavioral physiological aspects that clients experience. Students will also explore and reflect on their personal values and beliefs within their own culture.

This course outlines the basic issues and key concepts of group process and shows how counsellors can apply these concepts in working with a variety of support groups in the community. The course will explore a multicultural perspective and overview various types of groups, effective leadership skills, ethical and legal issues, stages of group development, critical incidents within each stage, and application of various theoretical techniques.

Students will actively participate in the college’s in-house counselling clinic and will be expected to act as a regular practitioner in order to gain the valuable real world experience

The course will cover symptoms of traumatic stress that are experienced by employees or first responders such as firemen, police, and paramedics, as well as bank tellers, and other community members facing extreme emergencies. Specific debriefing skills will be covered for first responders and counselling approaches for psychological first aid, when supporting individuals that have experienced traumatic stress in the workplace.

This course provides the tools necessary for helping professionals resolve conflict within the business setting and describes various approaches on how conflict is viewed. Mediation is explored within the family dynamic, and negotiation strategies are reviewed on small and large scales problems. Conflict theory, styles of conflict, case studies and practical exercises are included to hone skills for handling complex situations.

This course helps the beginning counsellor to become familiar with the basic terms and concepts related to substance dependency, substance abuse and addiction. The various models of addiction that are reviewed provide philosophical groundings for clinical interventions. Given the increasing rise of addictions, the textbook covers additional knowledge of ethical and legal codes specific for substance abuse counselling that all counsellors must be acquainted with.

This course will give students opportunities to further develop their counselling skills beyond basic skills by integrating models of therapy, including the interventions or techniques that are used with that model. The students will receive feedback from fellow peers and have clinical supervision with the instructor at two separate times. To gain increased proficiency, the student will need to integrate the appropriate model for each client and demonstrate the appropriate intervention. Students will also observe role plays and learn to give constructive feedback as well as reflect on how they will respond and adjust counselling procedure.

This course will cover the assessment of children and youths. It will review the issues and situations children and youths are faced with in our present-day society and how they present these issues in the counselling session. Since talk therapy is limited, the course will look at a variety of expressive therapies that help individuals tell their stories, and assist counsellors in using a variety of interventions that assist with the process.

The course will cover major theories of the couple relationship and the dynamics of the family. Current research in adult attachment formation, personality and complicated dynamics within the family structure will be reviewed. Assessments will include the family as a unit and include specific group interventions within major family therapies, treatment plans, and ways in which to evaluate change.

Students will actively participate in the college’s in-house counselling clinic and will be expected to act as a regular practitioner in order to gain the valuable real world experience.

This course is designed to give the student an introduction to case management, documentation and report writing in the human services field. It covers factors affecting case management and delivery of service. The processes behind intake interviews, service delivery planning, building case files, and service coordination are also covered. Various roles in case management are explained. The 12 core functions of social service workers and the 2012 core competencies are explored

This course is an introduction to counselling survivors of sexual abuse, various forms of trauma and understanding family violence. The techniques and skills focus on ways to work with traumatized individuals, create a safe environment and integrate different therapeutic models. Specific methods are focused on to assist the client to recover from trauma and move towards post traumatic healing. The course also includes information on family violence, domestic violence, elder abuse, vicarious trauma, and self-protective procedures for the counsellor working in this area.

This course is designed to provide the student with the structure to complete a variety of assessments from a specific topic to a full historical assessment that includes many psychosocial factors of the client’s life experience. Students will demonstrate specific models as well as the language and intervention associated with each model of counselling. Peer feedback will be given, and each student will be given the opportunity to practice through role plays and to be evaluated twice by the instructor.

This course addresses the paradigm shift that reflects many breakthroughs in assessments and combined treatment strategies of personality disorders. The course examines over 11 different styles of personalities and disorders of personality that require specialized treatment approaches. It covers various classifications, looks at normal and pathological functioning, interventions, and treatment approaches.

This course explores many interventions to assist counsellors to develop treatment plans using the cognitive behavioral model to assess and treat depression and anxiety. Various exercises and techniques will be explored to support counselling with individuals as well as members in group counselling.

This course reviews two major cases from each theoretical point of view and then applies the techniques and interventions to each. To avoid a valuable dimension of human behavior being omitted, with the application of one model, the course will focus on a personal synthesis to use as a framework to increase the student’s effectiveness and knowledge. The application of various models will be studied to demonstrate an integration of concepts and techniques from the various approaches is possible.

In this course, students will have the opportunity to integrate and apply the skills taught previously. They will practice these skills through assessments, case studies, role plays, ethical decision making in group discussions and receive feedback from their peers and from the instructor. They will be evaluated by demonstrating the foundational skills which they practiced in the class.

This course is an overview of human development from conception through death examining both traditional areas of the field and more recent innovations. The course specifically describes the psycho-emotional-social needs and stages in human development and what life experiences result in loss or unmet needs. The course includes descriptions of the challenges and needs of infancy, childhood, latency, adolescence and adulthood, and examples of life experiences that interrupt or support normal development.

This course reviews and covers the major theories of counselling and psychotherapy and interventions. Each theory provides a comprehensive picture of the major treatment approaches. It provides students with an in-depth understanding of the fields of counselling and psychotherapy and how they can apply these theories in the counselling situation. Students will also be able to practice role playing to incorporate the theory into practice.

This course is designed to provide students with the foundational knowledge and skills necessary for entry level counselling practice. The course familiarizes students with the field of counselling and key contributors as well as common factors in counselling that attend to basic diversity competencies in helping relationships. The course covers beginning stages to termination stages of counselling, intake interviewing, goal setting, writing case notes, and self-reflection. Students will also learn to apply ethical standards that are relevant to issues in this course (e.g., informed consent, confidentiality, dual relationships).

Students will gain a better understanding of themselves through an exploration of their personal attributes, transferable skills and learning styles. This course will introduce techniques for time, conflict, and stress management and develop interpersonal communication skills. Fundamental study and motivation skills will be covered, preparing students to excel in their program of choice. Students will also prepare a professional resume and learn how to write effective cover letters.