Professional Counsellor

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.

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.

In addition to learning career-oriented skills, students learn how to get a job in their chosen profession. Our Employment Services department will assist the graduate in resume writing, as well as preparing for job interviews. Our staff is sensitive to current job market trends and the needs of employers in each local market. Our graduates receive guidance and training to use career tools that help job seekers build a better resume and cover letter, manage an online portfolio, hone interviewing skills, and develop a personal brand online. Students will have the use of a computer lab which has unlimited Internet access, as well as job search resources. Facilitators will also be made available to advise on job finding resources, interview skills and techniques and to carry out mock interviews. This course also looks at the planning, preparation, execution, and follow-up stages of an interview:
-How people find jobs
-Employer expectations
-Presenting an enthusiastic attitude
-Focusing on the right job and the hidden job market
-Transferrable skills
-Thank you letters
-Effective telemarketing
-Handling objections, self-confidence, and self-esteem
-Individual counselling and coaching 

Students will be placed in actual work places related to their field of study 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 be placed in actual work places related to their field of study and will be expected to act as a regular practitioner in order to gain the valuable real world experience.

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 be placed in actual work places related to their field of study and will be expected to act as a regular practitioner in order to gain the valuable real world experience.

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.