Professor Carol J. Sherman Fall 2000

July 24, 2000 NOTE: This syllabus will be adjusted in minor ways, but is close enough to final form to provide information needed for making decisions about course registration.

GOALS: This course will introduce you to the basic concepts and fundamental skills of counseling in a parish setting. While there is a strong practicum component to the class, it is not a training course (which would involve extensive education in psychological theory and close supervision of actual counseling).

You will not emerge as a specialized "pastoral counselor", but as a parish pastor better prepared to counsel your parishioners. My goals are for you to acquire:

1. a better appreciation for the kinds of situations you’ll be addressing when called on by parishioners in times of struggle;
2. a sense of where this ministry fits into the larger picture of general ministry;
3. beginning skills in how to respond to counseling needs;
4. an awareness of the importance making a referral when a situation is beyond the limits of your expertise, and
5. new awareness of the kinds of things you’ll need to learn if you decide to develop your gifts and skills in the direction of counseling.

GRADING: There will be 3 take-home exams. The first, covering the material of the first 4 classes, will be handed out at the end of class on ------- and due in class on ------. A second take-home exam/assignment covering primarily the material from classes 5-8 will be given out on ----, and be due ----. The third exam will be given out in our last class. It will emphasize the final classes, but it will be comprehensive, requiring integration of the entire course. These exams will be "open book", but there is to be no collaboration among students. The questions will mostly be of an essay type. Their purposes will be to test (and perhaps bring about!) integration of material presented in class with material from reading assignments and with any counseling experience you have had thus far; you must demonstrate that integration to me in the paper. Each of the exams will count for 25% of the course grade; the other 25% of your grade will be based on your participation in the weekly practicums, both as role-players and as contributors to constructive feedback/input on the role-plays done by others.

Grading will follow guidelines on pages 10 and 11 of the student handbook. Late exams will be graded down unless there is excellent reason for the lateness!

Practical Psychology for Pastors, 2^nd edition, by Wm. R. Miller and Kathleen A. Jackson

Basic Types of Pastoral Care and Counseling, by Howard Clinebell

Chapter 4 of Identity: Youth and Crisis by Erik H. Erikson

On Becoming a Counselor: A Basic Guide for Non-Professional Counselors –Eugene Kennedy

Class #1: Introductory Overview and Lecture

Reading: Wm. Clebsch and Charles Jaekle: Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective, Ch. 3

Practicum: Listening w/ coaching, based on Miller and Jackson model

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Class #2: Practical, Professional and Ethical Concerns

Pastoral Self-Care

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson, Ch. 3 (23-43), Ch. 21 (458-467)

Practicum: More listening with coaching

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Class #3: Listening (and Not Listening)

Reading Assignments: Clinebell: Ch. 4 ( 72-102)

Miller and Jackson: Ch. 4 (44-51) Ch. 5 (53-74)

Recommend: Clinebell: Ch. 7 (170--182)

Practicum: More listening with coaching

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Class #4 Personality Theory

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Ch 6 (75-90)

Erik Erikson : Ch 4 of Identity: Youth and Crisis

Counseling Pastor:______________________ Counselee:________________________

Take-home exam handed out, due --------

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Class #5: Getting started

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Ch. 7 (91-109)

Clinebell: Ch. 5 (103-137)

Counseling pastor:__________________ Counselee:___________________

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Class #6 What is needed: Confusion Reduction

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Ch. 10 (152-169)

Clinebell: ch. 6 (138-169)

Counseling Pastor:________________ Counselee: ___________________

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Class #7: What is needed: Facilitating Choice and Solving Problems

Reading assignments: Miller and Jackson: Chs 9 and 11 (129-151; 170-195)

Counseling Pastor:________________ Counselee:___________________

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Class #8: Depression

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Ch. 12 (196-231)

Clinebell: Ch. 9 (218-235, 238-241)

Counseling Pastor: _________________ Counselee:___________________

__________________ ___________________

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Class #9: Anxiety and Stress (and)

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Chs. 14 & 15 (249-282; 283-309)

Counseling Pastor:__________________ Counselee:_________________

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Class #10: Crisis Counseling

Reading Assignments: Clinebell: Ch. 9 (235-238), Ch. 8 (183-217)

Miller and Jackson: Ch 13 (235-248) + review Ch 10 (153-155)

Counseling Pastor:__________________ Counselee:_________________

Second exam due.

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Class #11: Recognizing Major Mental Disorders (and)

Responding to Addictive Behaviors

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Chs 17 and 16 (341-366; 311-337)

Counseling Pastor:______________________ Counselee:___________________

Class #12: Some tools for use with couples and families

Reading Assignments: To be announced

Class #13: Terminations and Making Referrals

Reading Assignments: Miller and Jackson: Ch. 19 (417-434)

Clinebell: Ch. 12 (310-322)

Counseling Pastor:_____________________ Counselee:__________________

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