Master of Arts in Counseling

This course provides students with valuable information to assist their transition into the graduate counseling programs. Students engage their cohort and faculty mentor; gain an understanding of program requirements, processes, and policies; and are introduced to various resources available, including technology, the learning management system (Sakai), and additional student services and support.

This course is designed to introduce students to the methods and design of qualitative and quantitative social science research. During the course, students will review American Psychological Association (APA) style of writing in graduate studies, review skills necessary for understanding primary research in counseling literature, and be introduced to the basic statistical analyses used in social science research and writing. Instruction will explore the role that research plays in increasing counselor effectiveness and the ethical and legal considerations pertinent to the professional counselor and researcher.

This course will engage students in the appropriate ethical integration of theology into the professional counseling relationship. Students will critique and evaluate multiple approaches to applied integration as these relate to scope of practice. Worldview and personal values of both the counselor and client will be considered, ultimately resulting in the formulation of a personal approach to addressing theological/spiritual issues in counseling.

This course consists of a survey of professional ethics and laws relative to the practice of marriage and family therapy/professional counseling and a study of Tennessee licensing laws in order to enable the student to understand the criminal and civil laws impacting counselors. This course focuses on the personhood of the counselor with emphasis on the cultivation and sustenance of emotional maturity, moral sensitivity, and moral decision-making skills integral to independent professional life and practice.

This course provides for an exploration of multicultural concerns related to the knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and skills of counselors. Through self-disclosure, individual experiences, group presentations, and class discussion, participants in this class will examine their own preferences, cultural biases, values and assumptions about culture and diversity issues. Strategies that promote understanding and effective intervention will be emphasized.

This course encourages students to examine theories and research on human development throughout an individual’s life cycle. The course will also focus on stages of development associated with the Family Life Cycle. Students will integrate understandings of development with the practice of counseling.

This course examines the physiological, psychological, socio-cultural, and spiritual aspects of human sexuality. Emphasis is placed upon sex education, sexuality issues in development and marriage, and the understanding and treatment of various sexual dysfunctions.

This course will examine major theories of counseling and their therapeutic implications. The class will focus on the following approaches to counseling: psychoanalytical theory, Adlerian theory, existential therapy, person-centered theory, Gestalt theory, Bowen family systems theory, strategic family therapy, experimental family therapy.

This course will examine major theories of counseling and their therapeutic implications. The class will focus on the following approaches to counseling: reality therapy, behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, feminist therapy, postmodern therapy (including narrative and solution-focused individual and family therapy), structural family therapy, and comparative analysis.

This course surveys major contemporary theories in reference to child and adolescent psychotherapy. Students will learn how to assess and diagnose a child or adolescent within the context of the multiple systems of which they are a part. Students will integrate the DSM-V into a comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment process that includes the development and implementation of a comprehensive treatment plan.

This course helps students gain an understanding of theories and techniques used to facilitate groups in both school and community settings. An emphasis will be placed on fundamental concepts of group dynamics and group leadership. Students will learn and employ strategies for developing, recruiting, maintaining, and leading a group to an effective outcome.

This course provides students with an overview of the theories and etiology of addictions and addictive behaviors. Topics to be covered include substance abuse and other addiction issues, diagnosis, comorbidity, treatment planning, and psychopharmacology. Students explore treating diverse populations from individual, family, and group counseling approaches.

This course is designed to explore and evaluate major vocational choice theories and decision-making models. Participants in the course will examine sources of occupational and educational information, career planning models, career assessment instruments, and career development exploration techniques. Participants will also be introduced to uses of technology in career counseling and examine trends in labor markets. Students will explore ethical and multicultural issues related to career counseling and direct administration and implementation of services within a K-12 school environment, university setting, and other professional contexts.

This course provides a broad understanding of historical perspectives concerning the nature and meaning of assessment; basic concepts of standardized and non-standardized testing and other assessment techniques; social and cultural factors related to assessment and evaluation; ethical guidelines for selecting, administering, and interpreting assessment and evaluation instruments; screening for addiction, aggression, and danger to self/others, as well as co-occurring mental disorders; and diagnostic interviews, mental status examinations, symptom inventories, and psycho-educational and personality assessments. There will be an emphasis on selecting, using, and interpreting assessment strategies and instruments. Students will have the opportunity to administer and interpret selected tests and inventories.

This course will provide the non-medical mental health clinician a basic overview of pharmacological concepts and neurophysiology to assist the counselor in understanding how medications function in the body. Content covered in this course will help prepare the counselor to provide valued input into the
medical and pharmacological approach and management of the patient/client while helping to integrate that treatment with other non-pharmacological modalities.

Through this course, students will become familiar with principles of disaster response, psychological first aid, and crisis intervention in both school and community settings. Students will become knowledgeable of resources available within a community and of the value of networking with other professionals in crisis situations. In addition, students will gain greater awareness of and coping strategies for the effects trauma work has on mental health professionals as well as other first responders.

This course provides essential interviewing and counseling skills including attending behavior, questioning, observation, active listening, reflection, confrontation, focusing, reflection of feelings and meaning, and influencing skills. It is appropriate for counselors who will work in a variety of settings and with a variety of task foci. It is aimed at helping counselors develop a foundation as strong, effective therapeutic agents.