This course examines major theories of counseling and psychotherapy and the interventions based on those theories. It includes an emphasis on knowledge, skills, and ethical standards needed to provide direct counseling and psychotherapeutic interventions for individuals, families, and groups.

This course discusses the major categories of psychological disorders, as well as theory and research regarding etiology, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Introduction to the use of the DSM.

This course addresses principles of human development and family processes that form the context for the study of human behavior. Special emphasis will be given to grand theories that have made important contributions, both historically and currently, to the study of human development, as well as recent discoveries in developmental science. Issues of separation, individuation, and integration in life patterns will be studied within the context of these major theories.

This course provides the student with an overview and consideration of family functioning. It includes family structure, family development, family health, family dysfunction, and family treatment. Particular emphasis is placed on acquiring a systems perspective and applying that perspective to an understanding of family functioning. Ethics and diversity are considered and included in the overall systemic view and thinking.

This consumer-oriented course focuses on broad concerns common to all forms of social research. Criteria for evaluation and interpretation of various statistical techniques and research designs are covered.

This is a foundation course that satisfies the undergraduate prerequisites but does not count toward the 48 or 60 credit hours needed for the master's degree.

This is a foundation course that satisfies the undergraduate prerequisites but does not count toward the 48 or 60 credit hours needed for the master's degree. The course introduces students to the latest research technology and databases for advanced work in their degree. Emphasis is placed on research and communication skills, including oral presentations and written reports.

This clinical skills course introduces the student to the nature and impact of psychotherapy as a change agent. It will incorporate consideration of the process of spiritual change as an element of therapeutic change. The focus will be on client-therapist interaction and how change is experienced and promoted in that context.

This course will provide students with an advanced understanding of grief, loss, trauma, and related counseling interventions for children, adults, and families. The basics of grief and bereavement will be explicated, as will specific disorders related to trauma. This course is designed to help students identify needs, resources and assets available to clients coping with grief and/or trauma related disorders, and research supported methods in improving client functioning.
Pre-requistites: PCMF 500 and PCC/PCMF 502.

This course builds on the basic skills practiced and developed in the first counseling laboratory--PCMF 502. It provides the student with an intermediate experience and opportunity (prior to field placement) to develop a range of additional counseling skills and strategies, with particular attention given to distinguishing between the content and the process of therapy. While it emphasizes those skills and techniques common to many, if not most, approaches, it also highlights those emphasized and represented in the respective concentrations of the program. Students are assigned to sections of this course according to their concentration. Case conceptualization, treatment planning, and progress notes will be covered. Personal safety concerns for the counselor/therapist is discussed and covered.

This course examines the variety of ways that human sexuality is expressed in attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in the context of the interplay between social, physiological, and psychological factors. Methods of studying sexual behavior, concepts of variation and difference, psychosexual development in life stages, and sexual dysfunctions and treatment are addressed.

This course is designed to provide an opportunity for students to engage in research. Students will be required to complete a literature review and design and complete a research project.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of working with children, adolescents, and their families. It will focus on treating a variety of presenting issues, as well as provide several theoretical perspectives for working with families with children and/or adolescents. We will explore many clinical interventions for working with youth of varying ages, and the course will include play therapy. Students will have many experiential opportunities to learn about play therapy techniques and interventions. Careful attention will be paid to ethical issues when treating children and adolescents, and cultural and diversity issues will be addressed as well.
Pre-requisites: PCMF 500 and PCC/PCMF 502

This course provides an exploration of the convictions, concepts, strategies, and techniques of contextual therapy, a resource-oriented, trust-based modality of healing interventions for individuals, couples, and families.

This course explores multicultural counseling theory as well as culture-specific counseling strategies for culturally diverse clients. It is designed to help students develop their multicultural counseling competence and increase their ability to work effectively and ethically in a complex and diverse social world.

This course is designed to provide the student with an understanding of the issues typically addressed in couples’ therapy and the ethical considerations when working with couples. Role playing is used to illustrate couples’ treatment dynamics and intervention strategies from initial contacts through the treatment process. Special issues in couples therapy, such as the relationship history, communication patterns, sexual intimacy, and the “couple” relationship vs. the “parenting” relationship, are addressed.

This course examines human relationships with particular reference to their various forms, functions, and patterns of development. The processes of attachment, separation, individuation, and differentiation are highlighted and are used in a contextual (systemic) framework to examine each relationship. Special emphasis is placed on the clinical applications of this knowledge to couples and families. The student is required to complete a study of one of his/her primary dyadic relationships.

This course focuses on an understanding of how addictive processes interact with social and family contexts. This allows more effective treatment interventions to be designed. The current research on family dynamics and treatment of codependence, adolescent substance abuse, and children of addicts will also be reviewed

This course explores a range of psychological disorders in children and adolescents, with a special focus on the role of developmental and social contextual factors, in addition to biological and psychological influences. Each class will focus on a specific disorder or class of disorders, specifically its characteristics, developmental course, diagnostic criteria, protective and risk factors, and implications for prevention and treatment. Students will be encouraged to apply knowledge to current issues in the news and popular culture, as well as their own clinical experiences and lives. This is expected to lead to thoughtful discussions that can be generalized to their development as marriage and family therapists and professional counselors.

This course examines the variety of ways that human sexuality is expressed in attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in the context of the interplay between social, physiological, and psychological factors. Methods of studying sexual behavior, concepts of variation and difference, psychosexual development in life stages, and sexual dysfunctions and treatment will be addressed. Models of sexual response, general theories of sex therapy, and modes of sex therapy will also be explored. Students will learn to take detailed sexual histories, sexual assessments, and applications of sexuality within a clinical framework with consideration of multicultural diversity.

This course presents the students with a client-centered approach, using directive methods in order to enhance clients’ intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence. Motivational Interviewing is appropriate in all stages of counseling and therapy; however, it is most appropriate for individuals who are in the engagement and persuasion stages of treatment. Motivational interviewing principles and the skills are used in different combinations to build a client-centered environment that incorporates rapport and trust.

This course is individually designed by a faculty member for a student who has been recommended for enhanced professional or skill development. The intent of the course is to assist the student in improving their academic ability, clinical skills, and professionalism in order to be successful in the overall program. The student must agree to the professional or skill development plan once it has been established, and continue in the course until it has been determined by the faculty member that the student has passed with a B grade or higher. Students may have to take this course for more than one semester.

This course is individually designed by a faculty member for a student who has been recommended for enhanced professional or skill development. The intent of the course is to assist the student in improving their academic ability, clinical skills, and professionalism in order to be successful in the overall program. The student must agree to the professional or skill development plan once it has been established, and continue in the course until it has been determined by the faculty member that the student has passed. Students may have to take this course for more than one semester.

An internship takes place in a supervised experience at an approved field placement site for approximately 200 hours per term. By the conclusion of the internship, PCC students are required to accrue a minimum of 600 clock hours, half of which are direct client contact. MFT students are required to accrue a minimum of 700 clock hours, 500 of which are direct client contact. Prior to beginning Internship, students must have completed PCC/PCMF 502, 602 and one additional skills course; PCC students must also have completed PCC 660; and practice in clinical skills with individuals, couples, families, and/or groups. Includes on-campus case seminar. (Continued with PCC 681, 682 or PCMF 681, 682, 683. Each semester is two credits.)

An internship takes place in a supervised experience at an approved field placement site for approximately 200 hours per term. By the conclusion of the internship, PCC students are required to accrue a minimum of 600 clock hours, half of which are direct client contact. MFT students are required to accrue a minimum of 700 clock hours, 500 of which are direct client contact. Prior to beginning Internship, students must have completed PCC/PCMF 502, 602 and one additional skills course; PCC students must also have completed PCC 660; and practice in clinical skills with individuals, couples, families, and/or groups. Includes on-campus case seminar. (Continued with PCC 681, 682 or PCMF 681, 682, 683. Each semester is two credits.)

An internship takes place in a supervised experience at an approved field placement site for approximately 200 hours per term. By the conclusion of the internship, PCC students are required to accrue a minimum of 600 clock hours, half of which are direct client contact. MFT students are required to accrue a minimum of 700 clock hours, 500 of which are direct client contact. Prior to beginning Internship, students must have completed PCC/PCMF 502, 602 and one additional skills course; PCC students must also have completed PCC 660; and practice in clinical skills with individuals, couples, families, and/or groups. Includes on-campus case seminar. (Continued with PCC 681, 682 or PCMF 681, 682, 683. Each semester is two credits.)

An internship takes place in a supervised experience at an approved field placement site for approximately 200 hours per term. By the conclusion of the internship, PCC students are required to accrue a minimum of 600 clock hours, half of which are direct client contact. MFT students are required to accrue a minimum of 700 clock hours, 500 of which are direct client contact. Prior to beginning Internship, students must have completed PCC/PCMF 502, 602 and one additional skills course; PCC students must also have completed PCC 660; and practice in clinical skills with individuals, couples, families, and/or groups. Includes on-campus case seminar. (Continued with PCC 681, 682 or PCMF 681, 682, 683. Each semester is two credits.)