As an estimate - and depending upon your workplace context - a third of your clients you will do great work with, a third you will help in some way, and a third will be resistant to change. This unit is devoted to those clients who are often described as challenging to work with, as exemplified by three cohorts: (1) the neurodiverse; (2) those with addictions; and (3) people suffering with personality disorders. It is hoped that by the time you complete this unit you will not only have gained specialist knowledge about how to work with these client cohorts but have also: (1) recognised resistance to change as normal, if not also clinically useful; (2) developed ways to minimise the chance of a therapeutic rupture; and (3) gained specialist knowledge to help facilitate change. By engaging in this unit, you will also learn to manage your own clinical expectations, thereby lowering your frustration, and so become more able to meet a diversity of clients where they are at.
Unit code: CO3002Z
Unit status: Approved (New unit)
Points: 18.0
Unit level: Undergraduate Level 3
Unit discipline: Counselling
Delivery Mode: Blended
Proposing College: School of Professional Practice - Counselling
Show when this unit is running| 1. | Recognise various presentations of neurodiversity, addiction, and personally disorders. |
| 2. | Engage the contemporary literature pertinent to the bio-psycho-social factors which contribute to neurodiversity, addiction, and personality disorders. |
| 3. | Generate insightful case conceptualisations and from this develop realistic treatment plans. |
| 4. | Use a variety of counselling skills to: (1) develop a strong therapeutic alliance; (2) overcome resistance to change; and (3) achieve client goals. |
Offering: This unit is to be taught in year 3, semester 1 (term 1).
Prerequisites: CO1005Z Introduction To Counselling CO1007Z Introduction To Psychology CO2006Z What Is Abnormal?: The Individual, Diagnostics, And Society
Prohibited combinations: NA
Scaffolded learning In practice: This is a collaborative way of learning that takes note of the learner’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). By repeatedly extending the learner’s ZPD they develop a comprehensive and integrated system of knowledge/skills. Scaffolded learning is achieved through the provision of online modules which clearly guide a student’s learning; through activities of increased complexity during intensives; by face-to-face seminars which are tailored to induce academic/professional growth in an ordered and coherent way; and by assessments which not only seek to identify that key knowledge/skills have been learnt, but that the student is developing an integrated understanding of counselling.
| Type | Description | Word count | Weight (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton Argument | For 5 different module “Activities” across the unit provide either: (1) a response of approx. 100 words to the question posed; or (2) a response of approx. 100 words to another student’s post. Each response will be marked as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. |
500 | 5.0 |
| Personal Reflection | For 5 different module “Reflection questions” across the unit provide either: (1) a response of approx. 100 words to the question posed; or (2) a response of approx. 100 words to another student’s post. Each response will be marked as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. |
500 | 5.0 |
| Case Study | For one of the three client cohorts studied in this unit either watch a documentary or read a text of lived experience. Identify the bio-psycho-social drivers of your subject and any impediments to change. Now develop a case conceptualisation and realistic treatment plan. |
1500 | 30.0 |
| Case Study | For another one of the three client cohorts discussed in this unit read a therapeutic case study. How did the therapist gain their client’s trust and so prevent a therapeutic rupture? What was helpful in allowing the therapist to make progress with their client? How much progress, and of what type, was possible? |
1500 | 30.0 |
| Portfolio | Although we may want to do depth psychotherapy with each client to create lasting change this is not always possible. Much work in counselling is practical, and therefore skills-based. For neurodivergent clients, clients with addictions, and clients who suffer from personality disorders, create a folio of relevant counselling skills. These may be counselling skills that you enact and/or skills for your clients to practice. For each skill briefly note with whom it is to be used, when to (not) use it, how it is to be done, and a relevant success metric. |
1000 | 30.0 |
Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 7 Nov, 2024
Unit record last updated: 2024-11-07 14:44:31 +1100