Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

Please note that given the circumstances of COVID-19, there may be some modifications to the assessment schedule promoted in Handbook for Semester 1 2020 Units. Students will be notified of all approved modifications by Unit Coordinators via email and Unit Blackboard sites. Where changes have been made, these are designed to ensure that you still meet the unit learning outcomes in the context of our adjusted teaching and learning arrangements.

• Unit Title

  Counselling at the Cultural Interface: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and Practice

• Unit Code

  COU6508

• Year

  2020

• Enrolment Period

  2

• Version

  1

• Credit Points

  20

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  Online

• Unit Coordinator

  Ms Georgina Mary AKERS

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Description

This unit provides students with the opportunity to critically reflect on contemporary mental health issues related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultural concepts of health, social and emotional wellbeing. Students will examine the responsibilities of counsellors working at the cultural interface, including their role in providing culturally safe and respectful therapeutic interventions. Trauma-informed practice will also be explored, including the effects of trauma within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and its intergenerational and collective impacts. Reflective practice is a core component of this unit, with students examining how personal perceptions and biases impact on professional practice and how cultural beliefs and values from a Western viewpoint can create barriers that prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from engaging with services.

Non Standard Timetable Requirements

Students undertake this unit in an accelerated delivery mode over 6 weeks.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Critically examine trauma and the long-term effects on individuals and communities, including intergenerational impacts.
2. Investigate the relevant ethical and legal codes of practice for counselling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a range of professional contexts.
3. Assess, plan and evaluate appropriate counselling interventions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families or groups using a range of different modalities (e.g., face-to-face, phone and digital).
4. Apply the skills and techniques of humanistic counselling and strengths-based frameworks to case conceptualisations.
5. Engage in self-evaluation and reflective practice to monitor professional functioning and implement strategies for ongoing personal development.

Unit Content

1. Social and mental health issues of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander concepts of health and emotional wellbeing.
3. Cultural interface theory and the roles and responsibilities of counsellors working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and communities.
4. Trauma-informed practice- intergenerational and collective impacts.
5. Humanistic, person centred and strengths-based therapy interventions.
6. Social systems and barriers preventing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from engaging with services.
7. Methods of reflective practice in counselling.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

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