Counseling and Human Development Services

Professional Counseling, Specialization: School Counseling, M.Ed.

Courses

Because of the intensive nature of this program, students are admitted only once per year, for matriculation in the summer semester. Students proceed through the program as a group, completing the required course of study in two calendar years. Core courses are scheduled during summer semesters or in the late afternoon in order to permit students to complete the program on time even if they are employed full-time in a school setting. Employed students, however, will have to negotiate their schedules to accommodate the required counseling experiences for internship and practicum.

The curriculum consists of 48 semester hours of academic credit, including 100 clock hours of practicum and 600 hours of internship experiences in a school setting. At least 40 clock hours of the clinical experiences in practicum and 240 in internship must involve direct service to individuals and groups in schools.

The following schedule outlines the course curriculum:

ECHD 6020. Interpersonal Relationships. 3 semester hours.
Interpersonal skills are taught and demonstrated by the instructor. Students practice the skills in role-playing situations. Skills included are physical attending, psychological attending, listening, perceiving surface and underlying feelings, basic responding skills, personalizing skills, and initiating skills. Intended for non-majors. Offered fall and spring semesters every year.

ECHD 7050. Lifestyle and Career Development 3 semester hours.
Career development concepts, assumptions, theories, and research in educational, rehabilitation, community, and employment settings. Application of lifestyle and career development concepts, assumptions, theories, and research in counseling and educational settings. Emphasis is placed on career counseling, career education, life planning, assessment, and occupational information.

ECHD 7010. Individual Appraisal. 2 semester hours. 1 hour lecture and 1 hour lab per week.
Principles of testing, types of scores, use of instruments and methods of assessing abilities, achievement levels, interests, attitudes, developmental variables, vocational skills, and personality characteristics. Use of test and non-test data in counseling and human development services. Offered fall semester every year.

ECHD 7040. Counseling Theories and Practice. 3 semester hours.
Selected theories of counseling and human development and their application to research, theory, and practice in educational, rehabilitation, community, and employment settings. Helping skills will be developed through demonstration and role-playing situations. Offered summer semester every year.

ECHD 7060. Cross-Cultural Counseling. 3 semester hours.
Knowledge, skills, and self-awareness needed to counsel members of racially and ethnically diverse populations. Offered fall and spring semesters every year.

ECHD 7080. Introduction to Group Counseling. 1 hour lab.
Introductory group counseling theories. Review of the basics of setting up and conducting counseling groups. Discussion of ethical standards related to group counseling. Offered spring semester every year.

ECHD 7500. Foundations of School Counseling. 3 semester hours.
The profession of counseling and specialty practice as applied in schools. Consideration of the nature of schools as well as school counseling programs that are comprehensive, developmental, and collaborative in nature. Offered summer semester every year.

ECHD 7700. Individual Counseling Practicum. 3 semester hours.
Supervised psychological counseling practice in a setting consistent with the student's professional goals. Non-traditional format: Practicum. Offered spring semester every year.

ECHD 7850. Internship in School Counseling. 1-12 semester hours.
Supervised experience in an educational setting appropriate to school counseling. Non-traditional format: Supervised counseling practice under professional supervision. Offered fall and spring semesters every year.

ECHD 7920. Research Methods in Counseling and Psychotherapy. 3 semester hours.
Behavioral science research methods used to study counseling and psychotherapy. Examination of frequently used qualitative and quantitative research approaches, critique of published research in the field, and development of research plans. Offered summer semester every year.

ECHD 8020: Seminar in Counseling and Human Development Services.
Specific areas in counseling and human development services. Topics vary but focus on the development of advanced knowledge and skills in emerging areas relevant to professionals in counseling and human development.

ECHD 8100. Advanced Topics in Counseling Theory: Developmental Counseling. 3 semester hours.
Cognitive, psychosocial, person-environment interaction, and life-span development theories in counseling.

ECHD 8130. Expressive Arts and Play Media in Counseling. 3 semester hours.
Expressive arts and play media in counseling with children and adolescents.

For additional information on course offerings, please refer to the online UGA course catalog.