| CODE | COU5224 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Skills in Transcultural Counselling | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Counselling | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit builds upon COU5134 and covers the development of advanced counselling skills through a combination of didactic instruction and role-plays (including required videotaped role-plays) with a transcultural backdrop. The main focus of this study-unit is on the acquisition and implementation of advanced skills which are diverse and culturally sensitive such as dealing with the establishment of a working alliance, establishing and maintaining a therapeutic rapport, formulating advanced appropriate directions for therapy, and conceptualising strategies for advanced interventions. Specific skills which will be covered include: client risk assessment, establishing a contractual agreement, advanced listening skills and formulation of questions, empathic responses, immediacy, challenging, moving the interview forward, goal setting and the use of imagery. Individual attention will be given to skill acquisition. This study-unit will also focus on the use of appropriate counselling skills with specific case studies. Trainees will also engage in role plays of culturally diverse counselling situations and will reflect on their implications for their counselling practice. Trainees will be supported to identify areas of professional growth. This study-unit also aims to introduce students to the transcultural curriculum according to national and international research-based best practice and will combine experiential and theoretical approaches, providing students with an understanding of the cultural context for therapeutic relationships. It will cover current issues and trends including identity, counselling theories strategies and techniques, advocacy in counselling practice, cultural social justice, conflict resolution and the counsellors' role in promoting diversity and combatting prejudice and discrimination. Study-Unit Aims: - This study-unit intends to give students the opportunity to practice and reflect on advanced counselling skills such as advanced empathy, questioning, immediacy, meta-communication, contracting and terminating; - The trainee counsellor will also be introduced to International and pluralistic trends in transcultural theory, including cultural identity development, characteristics, power differentials and concerns within and among diverse groups nationally and internationally; - Given the skills and trends covered during this study-unit and the profile of this helping professional, this study unit also intends to address attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences, including specific experiential learning activities designed to foster the student's understanding of self and culturally diverse clients; - To provide opportunities for the trainee counsellor to understand, analyse and reflect on how attitudes, beliefs, understandings and acculturative experiences can impinge on skills and counselling sessions; - The study-unit aims to contextualise skills, attitudes, beliefs, understandings and acculturative experiences in order to improve practice in individual, couple, family, group and community counselling settings and acquire improved strategies for counselling culturally diverse populations; - The trainee counsellors will be given the space to discuss the counsellor's role in developing cultural self-awareness, promoting cultural social justice, advocacy and conflict resolution, as well as other culturally supported behaviours that promote optimal wellness and growth; - This study-unit also aims to provide space and time to discuss the counsellor's role in addressing bias, prejudice and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain the importance of establishing a therapeutic rapport; - Demonstrate and conceptualise appropriate directions for therapy; - Identify culturally appropriate strategies, interventions and techniques in their counselling practice; - Critique and explain the appropriate use of counselling skills; - Demonstrate a good working knowledge of issues that arise from the counselling process including transference and countertransference; - Critically analyse the cultural implications of counselling theories; - Reflect on theories relating to transcultural counselling and identity development; - Reflect on personal implicit beliefs and values and how these can impact the counselling practice; - Describe the counsellor's role in the promotion of cultural social justice, advocacy, and conflict resolution; - Reflect on the competencies needed to counsel culturally diverse populations. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Demonstrate and appropriately apply skills related to: advanced listening, questioning, basic and advanced empathy, immediacy and meta-communication; - Demonstrate and appropriately apply skills relating to contracting and terminating in a variety of counselling situations; - Utilise role-playing as a means to strengthen individual skills acquisition; - Evaluate personal strengths and identify areas of growth in relation to professional development; - Demonstrate the ability to formulate appropriate interventions and responses within a variety of counselling situations, especially those based in transcultural issues; - Demonstrate the ability to implement appropriate diversity and culturally sensitive interventions in a variety of counselling situations; - Demonstrate self-awareness in the development of transcultural practice; - Demonstrate a developing cultural empathy; - Demonstrate critical reflection on practice in line with contemporary research on transcultural counselling; - Critique and evaluate the importance of developing an awareness of ethical issues across cultures. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Corey, G. (2001).(6th ed) Theory and Practice of Counselling and Psychotherapy. BrooksCole. - Lago, C. O., & Smith, B. (Eds.). (2010). Anti-discriminatory counselling practice (2nd ed.). Sage Publications. Supplementary Readings: - Johns, H. (2002). Personal Development in Counselling Training. London: Cassell. - Lago, C. (Ed.) (2005). Race, culture and counseling. The ongoing challenge (2nd ed.):Open University Press. - Loewenthal, D. (2007). Case studies in relational research. Palgrave Macmillan. - MacMillan, M. & Clark, D.(1998) Learning and Writing in Counselling. Sage. - Mearns, D and Thorne, B. (2007). Person-Centred Counselling in Action. (3rd ed) Sage. - Moodley, R. & West, W. (Eds.). (2005). Integrating traditional healing practices into counseling and psychotherapy. Sage Publications. - Paul, S. & Charura, D. (2015). An introduction to the therapeutic relationship in counselling and psychotherapy, SAGE. - Rogers, C. R. (1996). On becoming a person. Constable. - Sanders, P. (2002) First Steps in Counselling (3rd ed). PCCS Books. - Sanders, P. (2003) Steps into Study Counselling (3rd ed). PCCS Books. - Simanowitz, V. Pearce, P.(2003). Personality Development. Open University Press. - Sue, D.W., Ivey, A.E. & Pedersen, P.B. (Eds.) (1996) A theory of multicultural counseling and therapy. Brooks/Cole. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite Study-unit: COU5134 Students are expected to attend all the lectures and prepare themselves by completing assigned readings prior to the respective lecture |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||||||
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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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