Psychological Studies

Students explore the biology, psychology and sociology of aging, with an emphasis on how these issues manifest in clinical settings. Students will explore the biology of aging, including Ònormal aging,Ó common physical changes, medical conditions, and related functional impairment. Psychosocial issues will also be addressed, including multigenerational family dynamics, aspects of adult development (e.g. generativity, successful aging), and common late-life stressors (e.g. financial strain, bereavement, housing changes). This course will also explore sociocultural trends in aging such as cohort differences between generations, multicultural concerns, ageism and discrimination. Students will also obtain an overview of public health policy, advocacy and case management, as they relate to counseling work with older adults. Includes the fundamental occupational tasks of assessment, case presentation, case collaboration, team membership and client interaction.

This course explores forensic settings, the counselor’s roles within these settings, and appropriate counseling and systems skills. It introduces concepts of addiction, relapse prevention, and stages of personal change, as they relate to forensic counseling. Students are introduced to the continuum of forensic settings including court clinics, juvenile detention and rehabilitation facilities, houses of correction, jails, prisons, pre-release and post-release centers. Students explore the stages of the judicial process, legal and procedural issues during incarceration, the offender’s transition to release and community life, and the dynamic tension between the goals of rehabilitation and punishment. Students then survey counseling and systems skills appropriate to such settings and engage in realistic role-plays in order to develop or improve their skills. The course then surveys approaches to addiction, relapse prevention, and stages of personal change, with an overview of appropriate counseling techniques. Includes the fundamental occupational tasks of assessment, case presentation, case collaboration, team membership and client interaction.

This course addresses new findings in women’s psychology and internal experience, the conflicts and expectations women experience in various environments, with specific focus on the family. A family systems perspective is the framework within which women’s roles and status are analyzed. The course considers the ways in which the gender experience has been understood and researched and how this can be helpful to counselors. Topics include gender differences, cultural roles, the myths about motherhood and sexuality, and new psychologies of women. Students are expected to complete assigned readings, participate actively in class discussions and role plays, do a class presentation and submit a paper. Includes the fundamental occupational tasks of assessment, case presentation, case collaboration, team membership and client interaction.

This course bridges the gap between substance abuse counseling and family therapy. It examines the specific interactional patterns that help to maintain addictive behavior within the family. Case examples illustrate how to intervene in addictive families. The following topics are covered: a systemic perspective on addictive behavior; assessing substance abuse and setting treatment goals; the over-responsibility/under-responsibility dynamic in families; the Family Intervention Model; treatment needs of young children and adult children of addictive families; and facilitating family adjustment to sobriety. Course requirements include class attendance, reading, participation in experiential exercises and role play. Includes the fundamental occupational tasks of assessment, case presentation, case collaboration, team membership and client interaction. This course addresses the following Massachusetts State Standard for School Adjustment Counselor/School Social Worker: d: Prevention and treatment of substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, and violence in PreK-12 students.

This course deals with the nature of neurotic behavior, abnormal behavior and the psychoses, as well as the nature of normal and abnormal intellectual, social, and emotional development and learning in childhood and adolescence. Particular attention is given to ego-defensive, adaptive and sociocultural aspects of behavior, health and wellness, and ways in which adaptive behavior becomes symptomatic. This course organizes disorders according to the organization of the DSM-5. Historical contexts in which psychopathology has been diagnosed and viewed from early medical concepts through the currently used Diagnostic Criteria in the DSM-5 are presented. Learning disorders, including emotional issues affecting student achievement and their treatments are investigated. Attention is focused on differential diagnosis, treatment planning and best practices in applied settings. Discussions focus on psychopharmacology, knowledge of medical conditions and medication related to physical disabilities and learning disorders, prevalent psychotherapies, and theories of abnormal behavior and development. Case studies provide experience in classifying, diagnosing and categorizing various mental disorders from childhood throughout the lifespan. Discussions of treatment of mental illness include psychopharmacology, prevalent psychotherapies used in individual, family, couple and group psychotherapy and current research findings related to treatment. Discussions also focus on health and wellness, multicultural issues, plus variables related to resiliency and student learning. Additionally, the effects of abuse, violence, theories of normal and abnormal behavior and development are examined. Current research that can assist the school counselor in developing a plan of action for referral and treatment that relates to personal, social and academic functioning of students will be procured through the online library. This course utilizes films, tapes, case studies, class presentations, lectures, and group discussions. It includes the fundamental occupational tasks of assessment, case presentation, case collaboration, team membership and client interaction. This course also includes the fundamental occupational tasks of assessment, case presentation, case collaboration, team membership and client interaction. This course addresses the following Massachusetts State Standard for School Adjustment Counselor/School Social Worker: h: Knowledge of medical conditions and medication related to physical disabilities and learning disorders. This course addresses the following Massachusetts State Standards for School Guidance Counseling: e. Theories of normal and abnormal intellectual, social, and emotional development. c. Psychology of learning.