Course of Study

Core Courses

  • This course explores the legal, ethical and professional choices faced by practicing counselors and human service professionals. A wide variety of issues and topics will be covered, including program orientation and overview of academic and clinical requirements, academic integrity, ethical decision-making models, professional standards, counselor values and attitudes, counselor competence and supervision, client rights and confidentiality, dual relationships and ethical issues in research and testing.

  • Research methods, statistical analysis, needs assessment, and program evaluation. Methods of evaluating counseling process and program effectiveness; review of descriptive statistics; study of inferential statistics; legal and ethical considerations; and fundamentals of writing the research report.

  • Sociological studies on cultural context of relationships, issues, and trends in a multicultural and diverse society; factors such as culture, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental and physical characteristics, education, family values, religious and spiritual values, socioeconomic status, and unique characteristics of individuals, couple, families, ethnic groups, and communities. Studies also include interpersonal communication among staff, schools, and community.

  • Philosophical foundations of counseling with concentrated study of counseling theories; historical and contemporary theories; diversity issues relevant to counseling theories and student's personal philosophical and theoretical beliefs.

  • Individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation. Topics include historical perspectives on assessment; standardized norm-referenced, criterion.

  • Theories of group counseling and principles of group dynamics. Historical developments, diversity issues, and contemporary research findings. Participation in an ongoing group required. Group guidance concepts as a significant component of the educational and prevention aspects of a counseling program.

  • The nature and needs of individuals at all developmental levels, including theories of individual and family development; theories of learning and personality development; human behavior including an understanding of developmental crises, disability, exceptional behavior, addictive behavior, psychopathology, and situational and environmental factors affecting behavior; and strategies for facilitating optimum development over the life span. Cultural, legal, and ethical considerations.

Specialization Courses

  • The elementary and secondary school counselor's role. History, trends, professional identity, and cultural, legal, and ethical influences. ACA and ASCA ethical standards. Coordinating program components; program development; individual and group guidance; peer facilitation; and consultation.

  • This course will provide an introduction to career development and educational planning in K-12 settings and across the life span. Students will explore career theories and decision-making models, career assessments and technology, program planning, education tools, resources, strategies, post-secondary planning, and other life roles. The focus in this course will be on applying career counseling in a school context through clinical experiences and case studies.

  • The skills necessary to planning and implementing effective school counseling programs. Topics include needs assessment, program planning, and program evaluation.

  • Comprehensive overview of all types of exceptionality. Fulfills requirements of Illinois House Bill 150. Exceptional characteristics of mentally, physically, or emotionally disabled chidren; the special instructional programs, practices, and facilities that help them realize their potential more fully.

  • The literature of child and adolescent counseling, including disorders and delays that affect social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. How childhood difficulties are defined, diagnosed, and treated. The influence of multiple and interacting events that shape adaptive and maladaptive childhood development. Intervention strategies relevant to childhood disorders and developmental needs.

Courses for Licensure as a Professional Counselor (LPC)

  • Training in diagnosis and treatment methods for mental and emotional disorders. Skills in completing assessment interviews, establishing short- and long-range goals, and writing treatment plans.

  • Preparation for counselors, educators, and other human service personnel to provide assistance to couples and families seeking marriage and family counseling. Methods and techniques of marriage and family counseling in didactic and experiential formats. Various theoretical perspectives.

  • Theoretical concepts and practical techniques unique to the field of substance abuse counseling. Emphasis on the major areas of substance abuse and treatment as it relates to psychoactive drugs. Non-psychoactive drugs frequently misused; legal, recreational or social drugs frequently misused.

Practicum & Internship

  • This course focuses on the development of beginning counseling skills.Emphasis is placed upon the development of abilities to evaluate self, client and other counselors in the counseling relationship, and includes counseling process models, critical dimensions of helping, and experiences designed to assist students in the formulation of a personal philosophy system of counseling.

  • This course focuses on the development of advanced counseling skills.In addition to in-class presentation and skill demonstration, students are involved in laboratory and supervision meetings designed to facilitate skill development. This course assists students in developing an understanding of counseling processes from initial client contact to termination.

  • This course provides for supervised counseling experiences in which students serve as counselors at pre-arranged and approved clinical mental health counseling or school settings, appropriate to their program emphasis. Degree candidates must display ability to integrate theory and practice equivalent to that of a competent beginning counselor and show capacity for continued learning and growth on job.

  • Continued supervised experience initiated in Practicum. Six hundred (600) hours of school counseling and school counseling related activities in a public school are required. Participation in weekly RU supervision sessions is also required. Case study approach, multicultural counseling, supervision, prevention, consultation, and special populations. See Practicum/Internship Handbook.

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