Course Number: PSYC 6351 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling

Instructor Name: Gerald E. Nissley, Jr., PsyD, LP Class Times: Monday 6- 8:30pm Office: Marshall Basement, Behavioral Sciences Suite Email: [email protected] Office Phone: 903-923-2095 Cell: 717-580-0786 Semester: Spring 2015 Location: Marshall 107

“Acknowledging that we have a spiritual component that is essential to our personhood is centrally related to what it means to be healthy and whole.” – Author Unknown

Course Description: In this course, students explore personal and professional issues of faith and spirituality as they pertain to clinical competency in professional counseling. Students will have an opportunity to learn about frameworks for faith integration in professional practice. The course provides students with an overview of several common approaches to mental health counseling from a faith perspective that have been well-supported in research.

Office Hours Monday 11am-1pm; 5-6pm Tuesday 9:30-11:30am; 5-6pm Wednesday 11am-1pm Thursday 11am-1pm Other appointments can be made by arrangement, if needed.

Textbook Information

Aten, J.A., McMinn, M.R., Worthington, Jr., E.L. (Eds.). (2011). Spiritually oriented interventions for counseling and psychotherapy. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. [ISBN: 9781433809460]

Worthington, Jr., E.L., Johnson, E.L., Hook, J.N., & Aten, J.D. (Eds.). (2013). Evidence-based practices for Christian counseling and psychotherapy. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. [ISBN: 9780830840274]

Additional Readings/Resources  Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.), (2010). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 Purdue’s APA guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are aligned with the licensure laws for Texas and Louisiana for meeting educational requirements for licensure as an LPC (See Texas Rule §681.83 and Louisiana Rule §703.8). This course should achieve the following objectives that allow the Master’s candidate to:

a) Demonstrate ability to work sensitively with issues of faith and spirituality in counseling.

b) Gain a deeper understanding of their own spiritual faith history as it impacts their work with counseling clients.

c) Demonstrate understanding of research findings regarding the relationship between spirituality and resilience.

d) Develop increased understanding and competence to utilize evidence-based interventions of faith integration – such as Christian Cognitive Therapy – for purpose of treating disorders, including anxiety and depression. East Texas Baptist University MA Program

PSYC 6303 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling (Spring, 2015) 2 e) Be able to explain how the stages of faith development can be related to the way individuals view and relate to others, and therefore related to specific interpersonal styles in counseling.

Statement of Philosophy for Graduate Education

The nature of graduate education is to foster an environment with the student as an active participant in the learning process as leader, scholar and practitioner. As a result, more time is spent on the review of literature of the discipline with much of that reading being completed outside class. The activities of the course are more writing intensive and applied in nature. In turn, this includes an increased expectation of independent learning, which requires students to search for outside resources to bring to class to inform discussion and professional development.

The focus of this course is on developing knowledge and practical skills in working with spiritual and religious issues in counseling. Spirituality is an extraordinary part of the lives of people. In crisis and catastrophe, spirituality often is intertwined in the struggle to make meaning, hold on to meaning, and to lose outdated meanings in the transformations of development, growth, and transition across life contexts and across the lifespan. The very essence of counseling is to engage and support people in and through their struggles with meaning making. A spiritually integrated psychotherapy is needed to draw together both psychological and spiritual understandings in the quest for healing and health. Furthermore, research shows that spirituality is often ignored in the counseling process because counselors are ill- prepared to address it effectively. This course will provide opportunities for future counselors to develop competencies in methods of integrating faith that are evidenced-based in research.

For students enrolled in five-week summer seminar courses, knowledge is compacted and presented in an adult-learning, accelerated format. It is necessary for much of the student work to be completed outside of the weekly seminar and class learning teams also meet in extended sessions to complete the course goals and objectives.

Students in both summer seminar and traditional semester courses will receive supplemental course instruction and faculty facilitation with online tools within the ETBU web-based student Toolbox.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to attend class daily and demonstrate diligence in preparing assignments. The class time will be devoted to lecture, discussions, and activities to practice and discuss a specific topic. To be eligible to earn the daily class grades you must be present. To avoid penalties for late assignments if there is a family emergency or when you are too ill to come to class, call my office before class and leave a message concerning the reason for your absence. If you must be absent, you are obligated to get notes and handouts from someone in the class. You must be prepared for the class when you return to class; your being absent is not a legitimate excuse for being unprepared. Students must attend at least 75% of the classes to receive credit for the course.

Cell Phone Policy

Make sure that you turn off your cell phone before you enter the classroom. In cases of emergency or if on-call, please set your phone to vibrate.

Students with Disabilities

Your instructor is committed to helping students with special needs to succeed in this class. A student with a disability may request appropriate accommodations for this course by contacting the Office of Academic Success and Graduate Services, Marshall Hall, Room 301, and providing the required documentation. If accommodations are approved by the Disability Accommodations Committee, the Office of Academic Success and Graduate Services will East Texas Baptist University MA Program

PSYC 6303 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling (Spring, 2015) 3 notify you and your professor of the approved accommodations. You must then discuss these accommodations with your professor.

Assignments

Assignments are to be handed in on time. All assignments will be due at the start of class on the date listed in the syllabus unless otherwise instructed. If you have any difficulty finding resources or material, contact me immediately. DO NOT WAIT. If you have difficulty because of situations beyond your control, please see me immediately. Do not let a situation or illness keep you from your task. If you have a problem completing an assignment by the due date, you must let me know in advance. Late assignments will not be accepted unless cleared in advance. My office phone is (903) 923- 2095, cell phone (717) 580-0786 and e-mail is [email protected].

Academic Honesty

I have no tolerance for cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty. Incidents of such will be handled according to ETBU policy (sanctions may include failure on test or assignment to dismissal from the course). If you have any questions regarding what constitutes academic dishonesty, please see me before you hand in your work.

In all assignments, you are expected to work alone unless specifically instructed otherwise. For example, during exams you are expected to work without any assistance from anyone. Additionally, work for all courses should be original to that course – work should not be admitted in multiple courses, as that constitutes self-plagiarism.

Plagiarism consists of more than turning in someone else's work as your own. If you use someone else's paragraphs, sentences, or even partial sentences or phrases without quotation marks, you have deliberately or inadvertently plagiarized. Others' ideas should always be referenced and should be in your words, not theirs, unless their exact wording is important. In the latter case, use quotation marks. “Copy and paste” from websites is unacceptable. If in doubt, check with me ahead of time. You will avoid needless complications and penalties. My experience over the years with literature searches and article summaries is that most plagiarism is inadvertent. Yet unintentional plagiarism is still a serious violation of academic integrity and will result in your receiving a lowered or failing grade.

Most students wish to avoid academic dishonesty. Please read ETBU’s policies on academic honesty. If at any time you have questions about whether a particular work strategy is acceptable, please feel free to ask me. It’s perfectly acceptable to be uncertain, and better to ask than to commit academic dishonesty. Again, check with me if you have questions.

Grading Scale

A = 90%-100% B = 80%-89% C = 70%-79% (900-1000) (800-899) (700-799)

D = 60%-69% F = < 59% (600-699) (599 and lower) Course Assignments and Percentage of Grade

Based on the work of Sue and Sue (2003), multicultural competence can be broken down into three primary categories: awareness, knowledge, and skills. In this course, you will be asked to demonstrate growing competency in each of the three areas as you develop your competency along the sociocultural factor of religious diversity.

AWARENESS

Class Participation and Attendance (10 %) East Texas Baptist University MA Program

PSYC 6303 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling (Spring, 2015) 4 Due to the compressed content of the course, much of the material will be presented, examined and discussed during the allotted class time. Attendance and class participation in “in-class” activities and discussions are important components of learning outcomes.

Spiritual Genogram (20%) Write a spiritual autobiography and develop a spiritual genogram (an article on this will be provided). Conduct a life review and draw on in-class exercises to identify the significant events (i.e., people, places, and historical events) that have contributed to your current spiritual/religious perspective. Discuss how your current perspective may facilitate and hinder your work as a counselor as well as areas of growth for you. This paper should be approximately 8-10 pages in length.

KNOWLEDGE

Paper and Presentation (30%) Write a research paper & class presentation (12-15 pages; double-spaced; 12 pt. font) on a topic relevant to the evidence- based interface of counseling and religion/spirituality. Because it is a research paper, please be sure to cite your references in the text and include a bibiography (APA citation style please). An average paper will probably have anywhere from 8 to 10 references, but more is fine. Present a brief oral report to the class and provide an outline and reference list for all class members. Suggested topics: Evidence-based, faith-informed models for various disorders; Christian Cognitive Therapy; Mindfulness practices; Role of Forgiveness for intervention in counseling, among others. A proposal for the paper will be required in order to avoid redundancy in presentations.

Midterm Comprehensive Exam (10%) The Midterm exam will include a comprehensive review of the course concepts covered up to the point of the exam in scenario-based formats.

Comprehensive Final Exam (10%) The Final Exam will include a comprehensive review of the course concepts in a scenario-based format, and will be given on the final class night.

SKILLS

Video Tapes - Mock Counseling (20%) Each student will submit two recordings of mock counseling sessions where the student is the counselor and a peer is the client. The first video should be 35-45 minutes in length, and it should demonstrate the ability of the counselor-in-training to collect a spiritual history. The second video will be a 20-35 minute video in which the counselor-in-training demonstrates the use of an evidence-based intervention for integration of faith into counseling.

Course Supplementary Reading Suggestions

Assagioli, R. (1965). Psychosynthesis: A manual of principals and techniques. New York: Viking Penguin. Boorstein, S. (Ed.). (1996). Transpersonal psychology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. Cashwell, C., &Young, S. J. (Eds.) (2005). Integrating spirituality and religion into counseling: A guide to competent practice. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Chandler, K. C., Holden, J. M., & Kolander, C. A. (1992). Counseling for spiritual wellness: Theory and practice. Journal of Counseling and Development, 71, 168-175. Enright, R. D., & the Human Development Group (1996). Counseling within the forgiveness triad: On forgiving, receiving forgiveness, and self-forgiveness. Counseling and Values 40, 107-126. Fowler, J. W. (1991). Stages in faith consciousness. New Direction For Child Development 52, 27-45. Genia, V. (1994). Secular psychotherapists and religious clients: Professional considerations and recommendations. Journal of Counseling and development 72, 395-398. Gold, J. M. (2010). Counseling and spirituality. Upper Saddle River, NY: Merrill. Grof, S. (1988). Adventure of self discovery: Dimensions of consciousness and new perspectives in psychotherapy and inner exploration. Albany, NY: State University of New York. East Texas Baptist University MA Program

PSYC 6303 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling (Spring, 2015) 5 Hinterkopf, E. (1998). Integrating spirituality in counseling. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Kelly, E. W. (1995). Spirituality and religion in counseling and psychotherapy: Diversity in theory and practice. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association. Leshn, L. (1974). How to meditate. New York: Bantam. Mattson, D. L. (1994). Religious counseling: To be used not feared. Counseling and Values 38, 187-192. Parker, R. J., & Horton, Jr., H. S. (1996). A typology of ritual: Paradigms for healing and empowerment. Counseling and Values 40, 82-97. Walsh, R. & Vaughn, F. (Eds.). (1993). Paths beyond ego: The transpersonal vision. New York: Putnam. Witmer, J. M., & Sweeney, T. J. (1992). A holistic model for wellness and prevention over the life span. Journal of Counseling and Development 71, 140-148. Witmer, J. M., & Young, M. E. (1985). The silent partner: Uses of imagery in counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64(3), 187-190. Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2006). Forgiveness and reconciliation: Theory and application. New York, NY: Brunner/Routledge. Worthington, E. L., Jr. (2009). A just forgiveness: Responsible healing without excusing injustice. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Worthington, E. L., Jr., Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., & McDaniel, M. (2011). Religion and spirituality. Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session, 67, 204-214.

Tentative Class Calendar – PSYC 6351 – Spring 2015

Dates Class Topics and assigned readings Assignments Due

Worthington: 1 Week 2 Aten: 1 1/12 Course Introduction Introduction to EBP Role of Spirituality in Meaning- Making Case for Faith-Informed EBP Practice

Week 3 NO CLASS MLK DAY 1/19

Worthington: 2 In-Class activity Week 4 Aten: 2, 4 1/26 Establishing a Therapeutic Alliance (Application for graduation due Problematic Spirituality today) Ethics of Faith Integration

Aten:5 In-Class Activity Week 5 Assigned Reading Provided (Frame 4) 2/2 Assessment of Religious and Spiritual Factors

Worthington: 4 In Class Activity East Texas Baptist University MA Program

PSYC 6303 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling (Spring, 2015) 6 Week 6 Aten: 8, 9 2/9 General Techniques: Use of Meditation and Mindfulness

Aten: 6, 11 In Class Activity Week 7 SPIRITUAL GENOGRAM 2/16 General Techniques: Use of Prayer and Sacred Writings in Therapy

Worthington: 12 In Class Activity Week 8 Aten: 7 RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL 2/23 General Techniques: Role of Forgiveness in Counseling

Worthington: 5 In-class activity Week 9 3/2 A Christian Cognitive Therapy for Depression

Week 10 3/9 NO CLASS SPRING BREAK

Worthington: 7 In-Class Activity Week 11 Aten: 2 MID-TERM EXAM 3/16 Processing Value Conflicts Evidence-Based Psychodynamic and Process Approaches

Worthington: 6 Week 12 Aten: 12 In Class Activity 3/23 1st MOCK SESSION TAPE A Faith-Informed Approach to Trauma-Focused CBT Use of Spiritual Journaling

Worthington: 8 In-Class Activity Week 13 RESEARCH PAPER 3/30 Pre-Marital Counseling from an EBP Perspective (Last day to withdraw is 4/2)

Worthington: 11 In Class Activity Week 14 2nd MOCK SESSION TAPE 4/6 Faith-Informed Approaches to Conflict Restoration in Couples Therapy East Texas Baptist University MA Program

PSYC 6303 Evidence-Based Practices of Faith Integration in Counseling (Spring, 2015) 7 Presentations of Research In-Class activity Week 15 PRESENTATIONS 4/13

Worthington: 16 In-Class Activity Week 16 PRESENTATIONS 4/20 Presentation of Research Final Reflections

Comprehensive Final Exam FINAL EXAM Finals Week PRESENTATIONS? 4/27