| CODE | COU5211 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Developmental Issues in Counselling | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Counselling | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit aims to provide students with an understanding of the nature and needs of persons at all developmental stages. The study-unit is an exploration of the physical, social, emotional and cognitive growth and development that takes place across the lifespan, with emphasis on the influence of culture on these processes. Prominence will be given to the acquisition of an extensive conceptual understanding of the developmental challenges faced by infants, children, adolescents, adults and the elderly with an emphasis on attaining wellness and an application of this understanding to counselling these client populations. Importance will also be given to the trainee鈥檚 awareness and understanding of their own developmental processes, as well as the cultural differences and commonalities that transpire in these processes. Study-Unit Aims: - To expose students to researched and creditable developmental theories with special emphasis on cultural diversity; - To introduce students to the application of developmental theories to counselling situations; - To introduce students to those developmentally based strategies that facilitate wellness in human development across the lifespan; - To introduce reflexive thinking in the students of how one鈥檚 own developmental processes influence one鈥檚 personhood and life experiences; - To introduce the impact of culture on lifespan development. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate an understanding of the basic tenets of developmental theories; - Apply developmental theories to a variety of counselling situations; - Identify factors that facilitate wellness in human development; - Articulate an awareness of how their own experiences and developmental processes have influenced their personal development and life experiences; - Demonstrate an awareness of how attachment impacts human development; - Discuss how culture impacts human development; - Critically appraise the effect of culture and particular attitudes towards development on the developmental processes. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Use culturally-sensitive-developmentally-based interventions to facilitate wellness when counselling diverse populations; - Communicate how their own culturally situated developmental processes have influenced their person-hood and life experiences; - Apply a culturally informed developmental perspective to client situations in various contexts where client distress is related to early developmental trauma; - Use developmentally based theories to conceptualise human distress; - Promote a developmental perspective to client situations in the context within which they are operating. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: Handouts will be given periodically - Bowlby, J. (1988) A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. Routledge.[U1] - Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2020). The life span: Human development for helping professionals (5th Ed.). (or latest edition). Pearson. Supplementary Readings: - Fergusson, D.M., & Mullen, P. (1999). Childhood sexual abuse: An evidence-based perspective. Sage. - Gatz, M. et al (1997). Aging and mental disorders. In J., E. Birren & K., W. Schaie (Eds). Handbook of the psychology of ageing (4th edition). Academic Press. - Heaven, P. (2001). The social psychology of adolescence. Palgrave Macmillan. - Hower, D., Brundon, M., & Hinings, D. (1999) Attachment theory, child maltreatment and family support: A practice and assessment model. Macmillian. - Karp, C.L., Bulter, T.L, & Bergstrom, S.C. (1998). Treatment strategies for abused adolescents. SAGE. - Krauss Whitbourne, S. & Whitbourne, S. B. (2011). Adult development and ageing: Biopsychosocial Perspectives (4th Ed). (or latest edition) Wiley. - Hower, D., Brundon, M., & Hinings, D. (1999) Attachment theory, child maltreatment and family support: A practice and assessment model. Macmillian. - Maslow[U2] , A. (1968). Toward a Psychology of Being. Van Nostrand. - Meeks, S. & Murrell, S. (1997). Mental illness in late life: Socioeconomic conditions, psychiatric symptoms and adjustment of long-term sufferers. Psychology and Aging, 12: 296-308. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.12.2.296 - https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1333 - Newman, B. & Newman, P. (2012). Development through life: A psychosocial approach (11th Ed) (or latest edition). Thompson Learning: International Student Edition. - Snowdon, D.A. (1997). Ageing and Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease: Lessons from the Nun Study. Gerontology, 37: 150-156. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/37.2.150 - Siegal, D. (2012) The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. Guilford Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Roberta Attard Ruth Falzon |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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