Program of Study School-Based Counselor Education

EDUC 570: Professional Orientation to School Counseling

This course provides students with an orientation to the field of professional school counseling. An emphasis on developing and delivering culturally responsive and ethical comprehensive school counseling services grounded in empirical support for all students will be an overriding theme connecting all class activities. This course meets CACREP and ASCA standards for counselor education and is a foundation course for the graduate licensure program in school counseling.

EDUC 594M: Child and Adolescent Development for Educators

In this course, we will use a strengths-based ecological perspective to consider typical and atypical development within the social contexts of family, peers, school, work, community and culture. The course readings and assignments are grounded in the major theories of human development and include topics in physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development, with particular attention paid to how each topic relates to education and school environments. The full range of developmental experiences will be examined, from classic milestones to at-risk behaviors across the lifespan. We will identify how individuals manage everyday challenges and develop resiliency, and what educators can do to support their growth. The course is designed to facilitate students’ practical understanding of the interplay between developmental issues and various challenges throughout the lifespan, and to begin to identify evidence-based strategies to support positive youth development in school and community settings. The focus will be on thinking systemically and working collaboratively to make schools safe, supportive and effective places for all students to learn.

EDUC 605: Evidence Based Counseling Practices in Schools

This course teaches intentional school counseling practices through a critical thinking lens. The primary skills developed will be using data to inform program decisions, utilizing outcome research to identify effective interventions, and evaluating intervention and program outcomes for students. Students will learn the basics of statistical concepts, including measures of central tendency, indices of variability, shapes and types of distributions, and correlations. The course also teaches how to design and implement effective school counseling lesson plans and broader curricula. Considering how evidence-based school counseling can be used in service to antiracist and social justice advocacy efforts will be a theme throughout the course.

EDUC 606: Interventions and Consultation with Families and Schools

Professional collaboration and consultation are core components of effective educational systems. This course provides in-depth information about school-based collaborative consultation and extensive skills training in the development of the consulting relationship. The focus is on practices for engaging in effective consultation with families and with school personnel, and on working within the Multi-Tiered System of Supports to identify and access interventions that support student development and well-being. The course will address a range of interventions for struggling students, with particular emphasis on special education and 504 services as interventions for students with disabilities. Collaborative consultation as a core component of school counselors’ leadership role will be addressed. A fundamental awareness of the impact of social contexts and ongoing development of multicultural competency and antiracist systemic change efforts will underlie all aspects of this class. Another emphasis is the unique needs of students with special education services.

EDUC 607: Career Counseling & Development

This course is designed to introduce career counseling theory and practice. Participants will learn how to conceptualize the career development and college-readiness needs of P-12 students from a comprehensive, developmental, and practical approach. Participants in this course will review some of the most influential theories in the field of career development and will demonstrate an integrated understanding of these theories in papers, quizzes, and class discussions. Several career counseling competencies will be experientially reviewed, including developmentally sensitive assessment skills, strengths-based interviewing approaches, program planning strategies, and interest inventory testing and interpretation skills. An orientation to career development program design will also be provided. This class will be taught in an interactive advanced level seminar. As a result, it is expected that students will be creative and self-directed in their approach to the course material. Students will read about the historical and intellectual foundations of major career counseling theories, while at the same time, observing the skills and techniques employed by practitioners using those theoretical perspectives.

EDUC 622J: Self-Awareness For Social Justice Educators

This course is designed to provide an opportunity for experienced social justice educators to examine intrapersonal issues of self-knowledge and personal development as social justice practitioners and liberation workers. Participants will identify and assess personal efficacy in the management of the self on issues of social justice and increase their capacity to understand and manage the social justice consequences of their personal and professional practice. Three major areas will be emphasized in this course: (a) individual “ism” awareness, (b) negotiation of one's multiple identities and their intersection with one’s work as a social justice educator, and (c) one's personal style for responding to varied arenas of self-knowledge such as dealing with emotion, conflict, authority, control, and tension in one’s work as a social justice educator. In addition, participants will select one pattern for the pattern transformation process. The course is organized into six modules: psycho-social development, social identity development, -ism awareness development, liberatory consciousness development, pattern transformation, and SJE development.

EDUC 628: Prevention & Intervention of Mental Health Problems

This course introduces students to the concept of “prevention science,” as well as school-based mental health prevention and intervention practices to be implemented with teachers, students, and families.  The focus will be on intervention methods related to various mental health problems, and methods to incorporate evidence-based therapeutic approaches into school-based practice. Individual, small group, class-wide, and school-wide intervention and prevention strategies are explored.  Students will explore risk factors as well as prevention and intervention strategies through an ecological lens, with an emphasis on learning evidence-based approaches and applications through a practicum case study.  This course will focus on providing an understanding of the theory and practice of cognitive behavioral interventions for children and youth with mental health challenges given the established evidence for this approach.  

EDUC 631: Theories in School-Based Counseling

This course is an overview of major theories of counseling with a special focus on evidence-based practice, intercultural competencies, and systemic factors that impact youth in school-based settings. Because the purpose of counseling is to help individuals make personally meaningful changes in their lives, we will consistently examine the means through which the traditional theoretical perspectives try to produce such changes. Students will read about the historical and intellectual foundations of major counseling theories, while at the same time, observing the skills and techniques employed by practitioners using those theoretical perspectives. Students will continue to develop increased self-awareness, and broaden their knowledge of the field of school counseling. During this course, students will learn how to increasingly integrate their theoretical understanding and their practical skills in their work. Through conversations with peers about ongoing case analysis, students will develop skills in giving and receiving professional feedback and will build case presentation skills. 
A focus throughout the course will be paying attention to social contexts such as class, gender, disability, race, and culture in schools and noticing how those contexts influence the work of counselors and the educational environment. There will also be opportunities to practice skills and techniques associated with major counseling theories. Overall, students are encouraged not only to explore all the major theoretical orientations, but also to explore their personal beliefs and values in an effort to develop their own understanding and/or approach to counseling in schools.

EDUC 634: Adjustment Counseling and Mental Health

This course is an essential part of the College of Education’s Massachusetts School Guidance Counselor licensure program and satisfies specific DESE requirements for students to become licensed as Adjustment Counselors in Massachusetts. The course enables students to conceptualize and apply a phased approach to school counseling. Students progressively work through the praxis of each phase related to the conceptions of mental health identified in the first class (e.g. acute stress, anxiety, depression, dissociation and prolonged grief). Students learn the theory and practice of Solution Focused conversations, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness. Assignments require students to apply their skills and knowledge to different marginalized populations.

EDUC 679G: Trauma-Informed School Counseling

This course introduces students to the trauma-reframe, the neurobiology of traumatic memory, the signs of student trauma as well as signs of growth. Students learn current models of psychoeducation, how to create emotionally and physically safe environments, stabilization techniques, culturally attuned support and intervention strategies, ways of encouraging students to have voice, choice and to seek help as well as whole school development and the efficacy of trauma-informed approaches. The course provides students with a foundation in trauma-informed care for children in schools through integration of theory and practice. Classes consist of lectures, small-group activities, and skill practice.

EDUC 685: Developmental Psychopathology

This course is designed to provide students with foundational knowledge in the area of developmental psychopathology. Using a developmental approach to understanding psychopathology, the course seeks to understand the multiple transactional influences and the individual in context (social, cultural, life experiences) that influence child and adolescent development. Beginning with an overview of the field and foundational concepts, as well as the various factors that affect psychological development; the course will then examine the classification, assessment, and intervention of various diagnostic disorders (anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, trauma and stressor related disorders, mood disorders, conduct disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, communication and learning disorders, intellectual disabilities, and autism).

EDUC 688A: School Counseling Skills & Strategies

This course will provide students with a foundation in counseling theories and skills. We focus on counseling children in schools and on integrating theory and practice. Classes will consist of lectures, discussions, demonstrations, role plays, small-group activities, and skill practice in large and small groups. Students will also record themselves using counseling skills and self-evaluate these clips. The course incorporates an online skill-building system called Skillseekers that allows for self-paced practicing of counseling skills. This online software system is controlled by the instructor who will review and provide feedback to the students.

EDUC 678E: Confronting Oppression in Education

This 3-credit course introduces graduate students in Social Justice Education (SJE) and other programs of study inside and outside the College of Education, to overall concepts of SJE as well as awareness and knowledge about several specific manifestations of systemic, institutional, interpersonal forms of oppression within systems of advantage based on social group categories such as age, race, ability, and gender. The course also examines some of the ways people and social groups have confronted, resisted, and continue to resist and challenge oppression individually and collectively. As an introduction to further study of SJE for students whose course concentration is within SJE – or as a way of providing introductory knowledge and awareness of SJE for students in other graduate concentrations – this course draws upon critical, humanistic, and experiential pedagogies which require active learning and engagement among participants alongside critical dialogue and self- reflection.

EDUC 698W: Practicum in School Counseling

This course focuses on applying the theory, research, and skills gained in the preceding graduate courses preparing students to be school counselors. Students will be in school settings and under the direct supervision of a licensed school counselor and will work with students, educators, and parents. The course is designed to support students in their first school placement, and to facilitate professional growth as a school counselor. As part of the practicum, students complete 100 hours of practical experience in a K-12 school (with 40 hours of direct contact hours) and engage in weekly supervision with the licensed school counselor who is their site supervisor. Site supervisors will provide an average of one (1) hour per week of individual supervision. This weekly seminar for all students who are in a practicum placement provides students with at least and one and one- half (1½) hours per week of group supervision per session meeting. Graduate students in this course are engaging in a 100-hour practicum experience. In Massachusetts, DESE calls this pre-practicum. CACREP calls it practicum. Pre-practicum and practicum represent the same 100 hour experience. The L2-PPC form is used in the licensure office to record this placement.

EDUC 701: Internship in School Counseling‬

This Internship course, in our two-semester sequence, is designed to facilitate each student’s growth as a professional School Counselor. Students will continue to develop counseling skills, increase self-awareness and broaden their knowledge of the field of counseling. During this course, students will learn how to integrate theoretical understanding and practical skills in their work. Through conversations with peers, supervisors, and the instructor about ongoing cases, students will develop skills in giving and receiving professional feedback and will build case presentation skills. A focus throughout the course will be paying attention to social contexts such as class, gender, disability, race and culture in schools and noticing how these contexts influence the work of counselors and educational environments. Developing necessary assessment skills will also be emphasized. The University Supervisor will conduct ongoing site visits at each student’s Internship placement in order to facilitate communication with Site Supervisors about their intern’s learning experiences and training needs, and to meet licensing/certification requirements. Developmentally, the two-semester 701 Internship sequence is the link between graduate study and professional employment in the field of School Counseling. The second 701 Internship course (Spring Semester) will also include conversations about certification, job searches and the transition to becoming an employed professional school counselor. Students will complete the development of their TK20 electronic portfolio that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, abilities, and professional dispositions that they have developed over the course of their graduate training. Graduating students will then meet with program faculty for an Exit Interview focused on their TK20 portfolio (at the end of the Spring Semester). This Exit Interview serves as the Summative Assessment for our School Counseling Program and final transition point in your licensure program. Please note that first and foremost, I am a practitioner. I am very excited to be working with you, sharing my field-based experiences and expertise, and learning from you just the same.

EDUC 798A: Practicum-Internship in Adjustment Counseling

This internship course is designed to introduce students to the professional role of the school adjustment counselor. Graduate students in this course are engaging in a K-12 school internship placement under the weekly supervision of the licensed school adjustment counselor who is their site supervisor. The focus will be on observing and beginning to participate in counseling-related activities, increasing self-awareness, and developing an understanding of school systems, policies, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

EDUC 807: Seminar in School Counseling: College Counseling

This course explores the college admissions process, with emphasis on current issues confronting secondary school counselors, application and admissions criteria for various types of colleges and college counseling for special student populations. Alternative post-secondary options will receive attention as well. Students will gain an understanding of the resources available to counselors in the college admissions process including print material, software, web sites and organizations. Psychological and family issues in college counseling are also explored.

EDUC 886: Group Counseling in Schools

This course is concerned with theory and practice in school-based group counseling, using a culturally sustaining and inclusive framework. There is emphasis on group processes and societal/community contexts. We will focus on the facilitation of positive interactions and outcomes for educational and therapeutic groups with K-12 youth in schools.
 

Accreditation

The University of Massachusetts School Counselor Education Program of study meets the Massachusetts School Counseling Licensure requirements. The program is in the process of obtaining accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

 Consistent with national accreditation standards (CACREP),  students complete coursework in the following areas:

Professional Orientation and Ethical Practice: Ethical standards; the history of the profession; the multiple roles of counselors; advocacy processes; strategies for self-care and self-evaluation; the role of supervision; professional organizations; and credentialing (primarily EDUC 570).

Social and Cultural Diversity: Multicultural awareness and knowledge; theories and models of multicultural counseling; self-awareness of one’s own social contexts and identities and how they impact professional practice; the effects of power and privilege for both counselors and clients; help-seeking behaviors; the role of spiritual beliefs in counseling; and strategies for identifying and eliminating barriers, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination. (Integrated into all courses and focus of EDUC 688 & EDUC 678E).

Human Growth and Development: Theories of individual and family development; theories of learning, theories of normal and abnormal personality development; theories and etiology of addiction; biological factors that affect human development; context and systemic factors that affect human development; effects of trauma and disasters; understanding of differing abilities and related interventions; and strategies for promoting resilience and wellness. (EDUC 594M and EDUC 685)

Career Development: Theories and models of career development, counseling, and decision making; approaches for conceptualizing the interrelationships among work, mental health, relationships, and life roles; processes for using labor market resources; approaches for assessing work environments; strategies for assessing the multiple aspects of career development; strategies for creating effective career development programs; strategies for advocating for clients’ skill development and career development; appropriate use of career assessment techniques and instruments; and ethical and culturally relevant career development practices. (EDUC 607 and EDUC 807)

Helping Relationships: Theories and models of counseling; systems approaches to conceptualizing counseling work; theories, models, and strategies for consultation; ethical and culturally relevant strategies for establishing and maintaining counseling relationships; the impact of technology on the counseling process; counseling influences on the process; essential counseling skills; developmentally relevant treatment and intervention plans; development of measurable outcomes for clients; evidence-based counseling strategies and techniques for prevention and intervention; strategies to support client knowledge of community-based resources; suicide prevention skills; crisis intervention skills; and processes for aiding students in developing personal models of counseling. (EDUC 631 and EDUC 688A)

Group Work: Theoretical foundations of group counseling; group process; therapeutic factors related to group effectiveness; effective group leadership; approaches to group formation; types of groups; ethical and culturally relevant strategies for designing and facilitating groups; and direct experiences in a small group. (EDUC 886)

Assessment: Nature and meaning of assessment and testing in counseling; conducting assessment meetings; assessing risk of danger to self or others; assessing trauma and abuse and related reporting requirements; use of assessments for diagnostic and intervention planning; basic concepts of testing and assessment; relevant basic statistical concepts; reliability and validity in the use of assessments; counseling assessments; symptom checklists; psychological testing; mental health and behavioral assessments; and ethical and culturally relevant strategies for selecting, administering, and interpreting assessment and test results. (EDUC 685, EDUC 606 and EDUC 688A)

Research/Program Evaluation: The importance of research in the counseling profession; critiquing research; identifying evidence-based practices; needs assessment; outcome measures for counseling programs; evaluation of interventions and programs; research methods; research design; statistical methods used in research and evaluation; analysis and use of counseling data; ethical and culturally relevant strategies for conducting, interpreting, and reporting the results of research and/or program evaluation. (EDUC 605)

Program Assessment

2016-2019 First Annual Student Report 

2020-21 Annual Student Report