This is the major, cumulative assignment of this six-credit course. Think of it as a summary assessment, and synthesis of your learnings. It is your opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned in AHSC 451 on an intellectual level, and on a personal level. There are two major elements to this paper: it is to be a reflection of your fieldwork experience and your understanding of counselling theory and practice. You are to review your journals and notes, write the paper based on your experience as a client in counselling, and as a student of the course.
As your own unique experience as a counselling client is the central focus of the paper, you must consider the following:
- Describe the experience: how did the sessions develop? What worked, what didn’t work for you? On reflection, was this a positive experience? Was it a helpful experience? Was this your first experience in counselling? If so, would you be willing to go to back to counselling, should the need arise?
- Consider whether there was any change in your behaviour, your feelings, or how you handle things as a result of the counselling experience. If so, describe it, and then try to figure out how and when this happened, and why.
- Integrate references and links to course material and class exercises to develop the discussion of your learning process in the counselling experience. For example, I felt that my counsellor really heard me when I spoke about xxxxx in this session. She didn’t respond immediately. She paused, allowed a few moments of silence before she nodded and said “____”. Her focus and her response reminded me of Person-Centred Therapy because _____.
- As part of this reflection, describe what approach or approaches you think that your counsellor used. How does this relate to what you have learned in class? Was it helpful? Was it appropriate? Would a different approach have been more helpful, or meaningful for you?
Very important: be sure to include:
- References to readings and in-class activities
- A demonstration of your critical understanding of counselling approaches and technique.
- Your journals in their entirety
- You may quote your journals; if you do so, cite your initials and the date of the session, i.e. (SW, 12/01/22)
- 10 pages double-spaced, use APA guidelines for citations. Citations in APA format. https://library.concordia.ca/help/citing/apa.php
- Hard-copy to be submitted during our last class.
- The paper will be evaluated based on the following criteria: structure and organization, completeness, discussion/analysis, and integration (refer to the course outline, pp 4-5, for details).
- Honesty and depth of analysis should be the guiding principles for your work on this paper.
30% of the final grade
Good luck!
