Key readings (which are starred *) from the text book and other sources will form the basis for the unit discussion board where students will be encouraged to comment.  Discussion should relate not only to readings, but also to the thoughtful comments of other class participants.   They should add to the overall conversation on the discussion board.  While all the readings should be read, only 8 (2 starred for each of the first four workshops) will be posted on the unit discussion board.

Due Date:           There will be an opportunity for comments to be made over a two week period:  Thus comments need to be made from one week prior to one week past each of the first four workshops.  These will be assessed according to the following criteria.    

For this major project, you will focus on key learning objectives and conduct an experiment upon yourself in terms of improving your therapeutic skills using a self assessment schedule.  Your self assessment schedule is a personal report of your self evaluation of how well you met the learning objectives you set for yourself which were documented in your learning journal.  During the unit, you will need to do two things:  1. Select key counselling skills being taught and focus on developing these specific skills, including some assessment of your level of development.  2.  Engage in a path of self reflection that will help you identify areas of your own personality or life experience that may impact on the therapeutic alliance in your work with clients.  You will need to identify some issue that may require further intervention through awareness or development and include some plan for dealing with this issue.  Your assessment schedule should document your path of learning of counselling skills and contain critical reflection in relation to the therapeutic alliance.  It should also include the learning objectives and track the changes in these objectives over the course of the unit.  You will need to think of ways of demonstrating achievement of the objectives that you set, so therefore it will be important to have criteria upon which to assess your development.  In assessing you progress towards your learning objectives, you should note areas of strength and weakness as well as ways that you may address the learning deficiencies.  Apart from your reading, thinking, participation and observing, you should collect evidence for achieving your learning objectives through discussion and role play with your learning partner, through role plays during unit workshops, and through any other activities that you may design to help you reach your learning objectives.  Obtain whatever feedback you are able to do through fellow classmates or friends and family and incorporate this as part of your assessment.  As a student in this unit (and all units) you have the dual role of being a student AND being a psychologist-in-training.  Thus, for the first time in your university training, you must move beyond the student role to the psychologist role, which has ethical implications.  With your assignments, you are required to practice under the ethical guidelines of a psychologist in terms of integrity and honesty. 

For this assessment you will review the basic counselling skills and demonstrate these skills in a 15 minute role play situation.  Following a review of these skills and practice with your learning partner, the two of you will book a time at the Psychology Clinic to demonstrate these skills to two members of staff who will be observing your sessions.  At the beginning of the session, both you and your learning partner will draw a brief role play scenario and take turns role- playing the client for your partner to demonstrate these skills.  Each of you will have 15 minutes in order to demonstrate these skills.  The following skills will be assessed:  engagement of your client, reflecting back content, reflecting the underlying feeling, asking questions to explore the presenting problem in a neutral way, exploring the problem rather than solving it, using process comments to demonstrate immediacy and authentic communication with your client. 

Due Date:     Demonstration:  Wednesday 26 March 2pm to 6 pm, 2014

And Wednesday 2 April, 2 pm to 6 pm, 2014..