Graduate Counselling and Applied Psychology (GCAP) 672

Group Counselling and Process Skills (Revision 4)

Status:

Open

Delivery mode:

Paced study. Delivered via Brightspace.

Credits:

Area of study:

Counselling

Prerequisites:

GCAP 631, GCAP 633 and GCAP 671

Precluded:

None

Faculty:

Faculty of Health Disciplines

Notes:

5 weeks online and virtual intensive seminars. Virtual intensive seminars are mandatory and occur on Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday of Week 3 from 9:30-11:30am MST; on Sunday of Week 6 from 9:30-11am; and on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday of Week 11 from 9:30am-12pm MST and from 1:30-4pm MST.

Students with a disability, who require academic accommodation, need to register with the Access to Students with Disabilities Centre at Athabasca University. Notification of the need for academic accommodation must normally be provided to the program office no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the first day of class. It is the student's responsibility to register with the Disability Centre to request academic accommodation if required and to notify the instructor that such accommodation has been requested. Every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate individual student needs. However, because GCAP courses are paced, all student are required to participate weekly in the online discussion forums. There are also several courses where online exams are required.

Overview

The major emphasis of GCAP 672: Group Counselling and Process Skills is on developing group leadership skills through the integration of key concepts such as group dynamics and processes, group strategies and techniques, and group member needs and roles with the skills and styles of leadership through the four major group stages: initial, transition, working, and ending. Selected readings and activities will allow students to understand the importance of group counselling, and the practice sessions will provide them with feedback on their group leadership skills.

Outline

Lesson 1: Theoretical and Research Foundations in Group Counselling
Lesson 2: Group Counselling – Forming Groups and the Initial Stage
Lesson 3: Transition and Working Group Stages
Lesson 4: Group Counselling - Diversity, Competency, and Ethics
Lesson 5: Issues in Ending Groups and Group Leader and Co-Leader Skills
Lesson 6: The Interface Between Diversity/Culture and Tension/Conflict
Lessons 7 to 10: Course Break. Students completing their Group Manual and involved in group counselling facilitation skills practice

Note: Week 3 involves virtual intensive seminars on Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday mornings from 9.30am – 11.20am MST.

Week 6 involves a virtual intensive seminar on Sunday morning from 9.30am – 11am MST.

Week 11 virtual intensive seminars occur on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday from 9.30am – noon and 1.30pm – 4pm MST each of these days

Evaluation

To receive credit for GCAP 672, students must submit all of the course assignments. The passing grade for the course is 70%. The assessment structure for GCAP 672: Group Counselling and Process Skills is based on the following course activities, with the percentage weighting of each activity as indicated. Your final grade for the course will be a composite mark based on your performance in these course activities.

Activity	Weight
Participation in Online Discussions	20%
Assignment 1: Group Counselling Manual Part 1	25%
Assignment 2: Group Counselling Manual Part 2	30%
Assignment 3: Facilitator Reflection	15%
Instructor Review	10%
Total	100%

Materials

Physical course materials

The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:

Corey, M. S., Corey, G., & Corey, C. (2018). Groups: Process and practice. (10th ed.). Centage.

Other Materials

Recommended readings are not mandatory but reflect additional content that students may find useful.

Brown, N. W. (2011). Psychoeducational groups: Process and practice (3rd ed.). Brunner-Routledge.

DeLucia-Waack, J. L., Kalodner, C. R., & Riva, M. (2014). Handbook of group counseling and psychotherapy (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Jacobs, E., Schimmel, C., Masson, R., & Harvill, R. (2016). Group counseling: Strategies and skills (8th ed.). Cengage.

Kottler, J. A., & Englar-Carlson, M. (2015). Learning group leadership: An experiential approach (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Maher, M. (2011). Racism and cultural diversity: Cultivating racial harmony through counselling, group analysis, and psychotherapy. Routledge.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 4, September 9, 2024

Updated September 10, 2024

View previous revision

Graduate Counselling and Applied Psychology (GCAP) 672

Overview

Outline

Evaluation

Materials

Important links