Courses Description-MC Virtual Campus

CPC 501 Introduction To Counselling Psychology Practice This course provides an introduction to the fundamental skills needed to facilitate therapeutic change. Topics include interviewing skills, establishing a therapeutic alliance, and professional documentation. Students will be able to conduct a client interview using the foundational practices of the field.

CPC 502 Systemic Theory: Diversity and Cultural Psychology This course is an introduction to the theory, ethics and practice of diversity counselling. Students will examine the sociopolitical nature of counselling, the impact of counsellor and systemic bias, the multiple dimensions of identity, and the goals of diversity counselling competence. The course develops competencies through the students personal and professional exploration of value and belief systems, factors of power and oppression, racial/cultural/gender/ sexual orientation identity formation, and ethical practice.

CPC 510 Professional Ethics and Law The professional practice of psychology and counselling centres on thinking, questioning, and decision-making. This course provides a comprehensive investigation of ethical, practice and legal codes and issues as they relate to the development of a professional identity. Areas of focus include multicultural issues, responsibilities and liabilities, confidentiality and its limits, duty to warn, and dual relationships. A differentiation will be made between the regulatory process that protects the public interest and the collegial association process that promotes self-interest and the profession.

CPC 511 Psychology of Loss and Grief The Psychology of Loss and Grief course presents the holistic experience of loss, the varied presentations of the resulting grief and models of understanding and working with bereavement. Students will acquire knowledge, clinical skills and personal understanding of working with people who have experienced a loss, from the perspective of the individual, as well as the macrocosm of the family, culture, religion, etc. Prerequisites: Admission to the Master of Counselling program.

CPC 512 Family Systems Therapy This course introduces systemic thinking and a variety of Family Therapy theories and interventions. Students explore the history of Family Therapy, the Feminist Critique, Post-Modern Theories, Neurobiological Research, and the new evidence based models of Family Therapy.

CPC 513 Brief Therapy Models This course provides an overview of the common factors inherent in all effective psychotherapy, and provides skill development in how to plan treatment that is time-sensitive, pragmatic, and outcome-focused.

CPC 514 Research Methods and Statistics This course, covering research in the social sciences, provides the context for the development of the ability to critically review, as an informed counselling practitioner, scientific research in the mental health fields. Students taking this course will need basic mathematical competencies: addition, subtraction, multiplying, dividing, and working with roots and squares. An understanding of basic first and second-order equations is an asset, particularly properties of equality.

CPC 520 Qualitative Research Methods in Counselling Psychology This introductory course will help students to familiarize themselves with qualitative research, which focuses on understanding rather than predicting or controlling phenomena. Course content will explore a variety of qualitative research methods including grounded theory, phenomenology, narrative inquiry, and others.

CPC 522 Psychology of Trauma and Interpersonal Violence Students will analyze social and psychological dimensions of power in interpersonal relationships. From this theoretical base, students will develop therapeutic competency to engage with victims and perpetrators of violence in a process of change. Theoretical understanding and clinical competencies will include attention to social context, ethics, and legal implications.

CPC 523 Psychology of Sexuality and Human Development Developmental psychology describes emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, social, and cultural change as a function of age and the passage of time. Important aspects of psychological potential and psychological distress can be understood in the context of individual, family, community, and cultural development. This course reviews the dominant theories that have structured the psychology of human development. It enlarges the focus of inquiry to include class, culture, gender, age and sexuality. Students will explore how a developmental perspective informs clinical practice.

CPC 524 Psychopathology and Psychopharmacology This course is an investigation of psychopathology from a therapeutic perspective based upon observable patterns of behaviour. Students develop skills in diagnostic assessment and case conceptualization. Emphasis will be on diagnosis of syndromes, with introductions to etiology, treatment, and prognosis.

CPC 526 Counselling Psychology Theory This course provides an orientation on how to approach and use theory in the practice of counselling psychology, reviews a number of current issues in counselling and psychotherapy, and introduces students to both classical and contemporary models of counselling and psychotherapy. Once students acquire these competencies, they will be able to form an initial, critically informed personal theory of counselling. Course delivery will be via lecture, demonstration (live and videotape), in-class skill practice, and feedback.

CPC 527 Group Counselling Psychology This course provides an experiential group counselling laboratory in which students learn group process theory and skills by participating as both members and as leaders. Students will explore the application of various group approaches to specific client populations and clinical settings.

CPC 529 Psychology of Addictions This course seeks to comprehend the phenomenon predominantly described as “addiction”, exploring and critically examining this phenomenon from multiple perspectives. This course places special emphasis on compassionate, collaborative, practices of engagement with what may be considered the clinically significant distress of others. This course explores, and critically evaluates, a range of frameworks, models, metaphors and theories seeking to make sense of the etiology of substance use, misuse and abuse within the context of the person’s life and relationships. This course critically examines predominant and conventional ways in which “addiction” is understood, proposing and examining alternative ways of understanding the meanings people attach to the phenomenon of the “addiction” experiences. The course presents a sociological overview of the history regarding the social construction of what makes a drug licit or illicit, and examines associated outcomes.

CPC 556 Assessment in Counselling Psychology This course presents a survey of assessment techniques and instruments called upon in the practice of counselling psychology. These include testing for personality, intelligence, achievement, interest, aptitude. Students learn to incorporate test and interview results into written reports, conduct mental status examinations, perform assessment interviews, write detailed case conceptualization reports integrating quantitative and qualitative results, and engage in the practice of risk-assessments (i.e. self-harm and suicide).

CPC 600 Child and Adolescent Counselling An intense exploration of approaches to working with children and adolescents in therapy, this course emphasizes methods of integrating and applying systemic, developmental, and individual theories. Topics include: behavior problems, violence, drug and alcohol problems, school problems, suicide assessment, and family issues.

CPC 606 Couples Counselling This course exposes students to the dynamics of couple relationships, potential issues, treatment approaches, and counselling techniques.

CPC 695 Counselling Psychology – Research Project This course builds on the students overall academic work and introduces the steps of producing a major scholarly document. It is designed to support students in demonstrating familiarity with theories, issues, and problems in counselling psychology research. The final scholarly research document will create the opportunity for the student to critically examine their philosophy of counselling, explore their sense of self as a therapist, research and critique a pertinent counselling issue or topic in depth, and propose and describe critical aspects of a research methodology appropriate for further research in this area. The course outcome is a research project (of 35+ pages that includes all aspects of the design, execution and analysis of research using accepted methodology).

CPC 633 Internship * Students will arrange clinical internships at local agencies or other approved settings, and deliver counselling services under the supervision of the internship site and the City U Internship Coordinator. This course serves as a vehicle for documentation of internship hours, intern evaluations, and supervisory evaluations. This course is repeated until all 250 required client contact hours and 50 site supervision hours are completed.

CPC 654 Practicum I: Case Conceptualization & Counselling Psychology Treatment ** The Practicum courses provide clinical experience and professional supervision beyond the student’s internship setting. Students will have the opportunity to participate in group supervision, discuss internship issues, journal their client contact therapy work, and conduct professional clinical case presentations. Prerequisites: The student must have successfully completed Comprehensive Exams.

CPC 655 Practicum II: Ethical Issues in Counselling Psychology Practice ** The Practicum courses provide clinical experience and professional supervision beyond the student’s internship setting. Students will have the opportunity to participate in group supervision, discuss internship issues, journal their client contact therapy work, and conduct professional clinical case presentations. Prerequisites: CPC 654.