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.

  • Unit Title

    Advanced Theories and Techniques in Counselling
  • Unit Code

    COU6510
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    20
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Ms Nicole MCPHEE

Description

This is an advanced unit designed to extend and deepen student knowledge of theory and practical skills for implementation. Building on the first three Master of Counselling units (Foundations of Counselling, Theories and Techniques of Counselling; and Role of the Counsellor), this unit provides students with opportunities to translate theory into practice through face-to-face simulated sessions. Students will be required to attend a compulsory three day on-site intensive, where they will practice core micro-skills of counselling, critically reflect on practice and self-evaluate their professional development. It is anticipated that successful completion of this unit will equip students with the skills to transition effectively into their professional field placement.

Non Standard Timetable Requirements

For accelerated online, enrolment is classified as part-time, as students are studying one unit per study period with 6 accelerated study periods per year, each 7 weeks in length. Students must attend a mandatory three-day on site intensive.

Prerequisite Rule

I90 students must have passed COU6501, COU6502, COU6503, COU6504, COU6505, COU6506, COU6507, COU6508 and COU6509 in order to enrol in this unit.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Critically analyse theoretical concepts and link these to observations about the client, and the process of therapy.
  2. Apply the micro-skills of person-centred, humanistic models of practice to counselling interventions.
  3. Communicate ethical and legal codes of practice to clients.
  4. Evaluate personal responses to issues explored and analyse how these may impact upon the counsellor and the counselling process.

Unit Content

  1. Humanistic, person centred skill development: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard.
  2. Framing the session: outlining confidentiality, the role of the counsellor, the role of the client and clarifying expectation.
  3. Conceptualising: using existing models to make meaning of observations and facilitate understanding, problem clarification and goal setting.
  4. Termination and evaluation: outcome evaluation, client generated measures of success in counselling, follow-up strategies and links to research.
  5. Self-evaluation, reflective practice and the role of supervision.

Learning Experience

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

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 School Progression Panel.

ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
EssayCritical analysis of session processes30%
ParticipationPractical counselling skills assessment30%
EssayCritical reflection on clinical competencies40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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