Self-Designed Concentration

• Counselor Education Core Component – 33 credits
• 3
  CO 5010 Professional Orientation, Ethics and Advocacy
  This course examines the foundations of the counseling profession including ethics, advocacy, professional identity, and cultural competence. It emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and its relationship to effective counseling.
• 3
  CO 5050 Advanced Human Development
  Focuses on a life-span approach to human development and looks at the constancy and change in behavior throughout life, from conception to death. Students will study human development in the context of a multidisciplinary approach and the larger ecological context of developmental events in human behavior. This course will have four major concerns: to identify and describe the changes that occur across the life span; to explain these changes in the context of maturation, early learning, and societal factors impacting development; to review research and theoretical frameworks that have affected our way of thinking and, to study the interdependence and interrelatedness of all aspects of development. There is a 16-hour service learning/pre-practicum field experience as part of this course.
• 3
  CO 5040 Social Behavior and Diversity
  Recognizing that social behavior occurs within an intercultural context, Counselor Education and School Psychology students will develop the basic knowledge foundations necessary to understand and influence social behavior in a diverse society. Texts, readings and learning modules have been chosen and/or designed to facilitate the student's ability to understand the nature of social behavior cross culturally.
• 3
  CO 5070 Research Design for the Professions
  This course is designed for students in the Educational Leadership and Counseling programs. Students will gain knowledge of statistical concepts, including reliability and validity, scales of measurement, measures of central tendency, indices of variability, shapes and types of distributions, and correlations. Each student will develop a complete proposal for a program in their profession, including a needs assessment, data collection design, review of related literature, and plans for implementation and evaluation. Prerequisite SY 6010 or CO 5010.
• 3
  CO 5230 Career Counseling and Development
  An introduction to career development theories and their application to the counseling process. Students will understand and utilize career information and assessments as they pertain to counseling and career development. Students will apply theory and practice to current or potential work settings. There is a 20-hour pre-practicum field experience as part of this course.
• 3
  CO 5260 Counseling Theories
  Major counseling theories and their relationship to the counseling process are explored. Individual, familial, and systemic models are presented along with dynamics and issues that reflect and cross theoretical perspectives. Students will be required to compare and contrast counseling theories and strategies, consider appropriate application of these strategies in diverse populations, and develop a personal model for providing help and facilitating behavioral change.
• 3
  CO 5020 Counseling Skills
  The course is designed to help students develop basic counseling skills. Through role play, practice interviews, and tape transcriptions, students will have the opportunity to learn and practice basic counseling skills. The relationships among theory, case conceptualizations, and counseling interventions will be examined. Ethical and culturally responsive practices will be emphasized. Prerequisites: CO 5010 or SY 6010.
• 3
  CO 5460 Group Counseling
  This course provides a comprehensive understanding of theory, practice, and ethics in group counseling across the lifespan within clinical, school and other professional settings. This course provides students an opportunity to develop group counseling skills through classroom facilitation and supervision. In addition to the didactic portion of this class students will also participate as group members in an in-class 10-hour facilitated experiential group process. Prerequisite or corequiste: CO 5010 or SY 6010, and CO 5260.
• 3
  CO 5430 Assessment and Consultation
  This course will help the student understand and interpret the principles of assessing students with and without disabilities. It includes valid evaluations and their use in eligibility determination, development of individualized education plans and monitoring student progress. Standardized and non-standardized assessment techniques will be discussed in detail, including some state and national assessments. The range of assessments include: intellectual functioning, interest inventories, achievement tests, aptitude tests, objective and projective personality assessments and non-test techniques such as observations and self-reporting. There will be a special emphasis placed upon the role of the counselor as a consultant to staff and colleagues in schools and other agency settings. Discussion of federal and state rules and regulations as they apply to the rights and ethical responsibilities of the professional and the population served by the professional. Special consideration will be given to the treatment of minority populations and children with disabilities in the assessment and consultation process and in the inclusive educational environment. Every spring. Summer of even years. Prerequisite: CO 5010.
• 3
  CO 5100 Practicum in Counseling
  This course is a 100-hour field-based experience that focuses on developing competency in basic counseling skills through work with individuals and groups. Students will complete field experiences in approved community sites appropriate for their concentration and participate in group seminar as well as in required on-site and university supervision. Successful completion of at least 100 hours of field work, including 40 hours of direct service to clients and successful completion of the practicum course is required to be eligible for internship. Prerequisites: Completion of all courses in program contract and submission of Intent to Enroll form by departmental deadline. Selected courses may be allowed as co-requisites with prior approval of course instructor.
• 3
  CO 5800 Counseling Internship
  An internship for students in the Self-Designed concentration of the Counselor Education program. Students are expected to gain experience in the area of specialization chosen for the degree concentration. The internship is designed to be the culminating experience of the program. Prerequisite: Completion of all major required courses and permission of the instructor.

• Self-Designed Component – 12 credits
• 12

With your advisor, you’ll choose 12 credits of electives* appropriate for your program of study.

• Total for MEd in Counselor Education, Self-Designed Concentration – 45 credits