Assignments

Assignment Description	Scholarly Writing Focus
The Critical Incident (CI) technique is a method of research that was first developed by John Flanagan in 1954. The CI technique is a well-established qualitative method for documenting and understanding human experience, which generates comprehensive and detailed descriptions from first-person subjective accounts. Writing a CI account involves capturing an experience as vividly as possible. To this aim, CI accounts are written in present tense; they capture the five senses within the experience, or they may be written as a screenplay describing the setting, body gestures, dialogue, movement of actors, and so forth. Such methods of writing CI accounts are meant to evoke as much depth and detail present in the experience as possible. In this assignment, you are asked to select one or two significant life experiences that you know have had an influence on who you are as a person. Using the CI techniques described above, write a CI account(s) of the experience(s). Do not submit this portion of the assignment. Summarize the CI account(s) in no more than two pages (double-spaced). This reflective summary will not be graded, but it must be included in your paper as pages 1 and 2. For the next portion of the assignment, explain how each experience may have affected your perspectives on counselling, paying particular attention to the following. What assumptions or values have you carried forward from this experience? What was the context of the CI account(s) (e.g., personal context, sociocultural context), and how did this context affect your perceptions of the experience? How does this experience influence how you view healthy functioning and your understanding of how problems develop? How is your view of the client‒counsellor relationship potentially impacted by this experience? How does this experience influence your beliefs about what processes might be most effective for supporting life transitions or resolving problems that arise? How has the personal meaning of this incident changed over time? What has led you to look differently upon this event at this juncture of your life? Conclude your paper by reflecting on what you have you learned about yourself through completing this assignment and how this influences the counselling models you are drawn toward.	Review the following sections of Collins (2020) Professional writing in the health disciplines to support your development and adherence to graduate writing standards. Graduate writing requires you to develop you own voice, rather than simply describing the ideas of others. Read Collins (2020) Developing your voice (1.3) Writing in the first person (1.3.1) Using active vs. passive voice (1.3.2) You must also ensure your language use conforms to professional writing standards. Read Modeling cultural sensitivity and eliminating bias (1.3.3) Review the following sections of Collins (2020) Professional writing in the health disciplines to ensure you format your paper according to APA standards. Note: You are not required to provide an abstract for GCAP papers, unless specifically requested in the assignment criteria. Review Creating Headings Formatting your document Collins (2020) (6.2.3) Formatting the body of your paper Setting up your reference list (if applicable) Integrating citations (if applicable)

Your paper should be double-spaced, use APA format, and not exceed 7 pages in length, excluding title page and references (if applicable). Your instructor will not read past 7 pages! Remember, the first 2 of the 7 pages will not be graded and will contain a summary of your CI account(s).

We have designed the assignments to give you a chance to demonstrate your writing skills development, incrementally, throughout this first GCAP course. In this personal reflective paper your attention is focused on developing your own voice and properly formatting your paper. This is not a research paper. You are not required to provide references for this paper, unless you draw on a specific idea from a textbook or other resource. You are not expected to refer to specific theories and models of counselling; however, if you do, that content is not considered common knowledge and will, therefore, require citations.

The evaluation components for Assignment 1: Person of the Counsellor Reflective Paper are listed below. Notice that for this assignment and the next, marks are specifically allotted for scholarly writing and APA style. You will find that moving forward in your program, about 15% of your grade on most written assignments will reflect your mastery of these skills. The first two courses in the program are designed to reinforce your familiarity with, and comfort in applying, the principles in the Collins (2020), Professional Writing in the Health Disciplines, and the APA manual.

Grading Criteria	Weight (15 marks)
Scholarly Writing and APA Style - Draw on your APA manual and Profession Writing in the Health Disciplines (6.1 and 6.2) Your instructor will focus particularly on the elements outlined under the “Scholarly Writing Focus” above.	2 marks
Reflective Summary Inclusion required for pass	P/F
Analysis of personal experience(s) Demonstrates self-awareness and engages actively in exploration of personal values, belief, and assumptions Reflects critically on the influence of personal values, beliefs, and experience on underlying assumptions about human nature Applies thoughtfully personal values, beliefs, and experience to views of how human problems develop Analyzes critically the influence of personal values, beliefs, and experience on views of how change occurs Engages in critical reflectivity on personal experiences.	10 marks
Reflection on your learning Demonstrates self-awareness and engages actively in exploration of personal values, belief, and assumptions Engages in critical reflectivity on personal positioning.	3 marks
Penalties will apply for failure to adhere to the following GCAP Writing Standards:
Intellectual Honesty. See Section 2.4 of the Student Handbook Late Penalty. See Section 6.3 of the Student Handbook

The criteria on each side of the table below will help you discern between lack of evidence of and strong evidence of competency on the assignment. Notice that some criteria are weighted more heavily than others. Please provide your grading of student performance to one decimal point on each scale, e.g., 4.8 out of 5 or 8.4 out of 10.

Poor Quality	Grade	Maximum Marks	Strong Quality
Presents ideas in a confusing and vague manner		5 marks	Presents ideas clearly and articulately
Speaks for too long (over 1.5 minutes)		5 marks	Communicates succinctly (max 1.5 minutes)
Presents ideas in way that is replete with professional jargon and technical terms		5 marks	Presents ideas clearly in lay terms
Evidences a disconnection between current status of psychotherapy outcome research and statements made in speech		5 marks	Evaluates critically psychotherapy outcomes research (e.g., specific ingredients, equivalency findings, common factors) to support evidence-based practice
Articulates poorly and identifies inaccurately factors believed to account for therapeutic change		5 marks	Analyzes critically the major factors believed to account for therapeutic change

A. Form Your Working Group

Prior to the end of Week 2, sign up for a group in Moodle (3‒4 students per group). The sign-up sheet is located in the “Student Resources” section.

Once in your group, you and your fellow group members will need to decide how you will communicate throughout the four-week wiki assignment. Effective communication is an essential component of this assignment. As a group, you will need to communicate regularly prior to, and across, the four-week wiki assignment. Various technological-based tools can be used to facilitate your group communication. Within Moodle a private discussion forum and chat room will be set up for each group. You are free also to use communication tools outside of Moodle such as Skype or email. Note that because you have all chosen to take your degree in an online learning environment, you are each expected to take the time to familiarize yourselves with the technologies that your group decides will best suit your collaborative work. Your ISF can help you decide upon, and implement, your chosen technology.

You and your group members should choose the counselling model you wish to use for the Week 9 wiki no later than by the end of Week 7. This will allow you to make good use of Week 8 to collect, write up, and edit the required content. Use the Moodle sign-up sheet located in each of weeks in Moodle to ensure that your group does not choose the same counselling model as another group.

For the four-week wiki component of this course, you and your group will always need to work a week ahead with your required wiki content so that all content is posted on the first day of the week (Midnight (MST) Wednesday). You cannot add to, or revise, your content past this due date. The regular late penalty will apply to your grade on the overall assignment if you do not post on time in one or more weeks. This is an additive process. So, for example, if you receive a two percent late penalty twice during the four-week assignment, four marks would then be deducted from your final grade.

B. Select Your Counselling Models

Each week you and your group are required to engage in a comprehensive critical examination of a counselling model that targets change in the domain of human functioning focused on that week (e.g., Thoughts/Beliefs, Behaviours). Some models may be applicable across more than one domain; however, your group may not choose the same model in more than one week, nor can you choose a model that has already been used. Some models also tend to be more integrative across the domains; however, you will apply them to only the particular domain of functioning for the week.

You are welcome to choose any of the therapy models listed in alphabetical order below, or you may choose a therapy model of your choice that is approved in advance by your instructor.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Adlerian Therapy Behavioural Therapy Brief Psychodynamic Therapy Cognitive Therapy (Beck) Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Emotion-Focused Therapy Emotional Schema Therapy

Existential Therapy Family Systems Therapy Feminist Therapy Gestalt Therapy Interpersonal Therapy Mentalization-Based Therapy Mindfulness-Based Therapy Morita Therapy

Multi-systemic Family Therapy Narrative Therapy Person-Centred (Rogerian) Therapy Psychoanalytic Therapy Rational Emotive Therapy (Ellis) Reality Therapy Relational-Cultural Therapy Solution-Focused Therapy

C. Create Your Weekly Wiki Content

Once you and your group have chosen a model from the list provided, use this model to add the required content noted below to your wiki. An initial wiki page will be set up for your group, to which you will add new pages for each of the four weeks that comprise this assignment. You must use only journal articles or books from the library—not information collected from Internet sources. You must be very careful also when using a textbook for your content, because it will likely be a secondary source, and normally, when writing papers for your various GCAP assignments, you are expected to use primary sources to the greatest degree possible (see Collins (2020) Professional writing in the health disciplines (2)). An exception, however, has been made for this course, given the nature of the content you will be collecting. You should read the details of this exception, which are found within the document titled, Textbooks as Secondary Sources.

Your wiki must include the following:

Wiki Introduction

Start by creating an introductory page (i.e., the first page one comes to when entering your wiki), which identifies the domain for the week, your chosen counselling model, and your rationale for choosing this model for the given domain (not to exceed 150 words). Your rationale should clearly explain your reasons for associating your chosen model with the domain at hand. Choosing a model not typically associated with a particular domain (e.g., behavioural therapy for the emotions/sensations domain) makes it difficult, if not impossible, to identify relevant assumptions. If you are unsure whether a particular model might work well with a particular domain, consult with your instructor. The four domains are characterized by the following:

• Thoughts/Beliefs: Counseling models that privilege this domain focus on identifying and altering thought processes, also known as cognitions.
• Behaviours: Counselling models that privilege this domain focus on changing or encouraging client behaviours. This domain is very action oriented, with the expectation that clients will experiment doing something different between sessions.
• Emotions/Sensations: Counselling models that privilege this domain focus on identifying and addressing, in some manner, difficult emotions.
• Interpersonal/Relational: Counselling models that privilege this domain focus on understanding and improving meaningful relationships.

You might also want to review this short video, which helps differentiate between three of the four domains.

Wiki Content

Now fill in the following content areas for the model you have chosen for each of the four weeks. Note that all of the additional content components should be set up as pages linked to your introductory page each week.

1. Macro Context

   Provide your model’s macro context (400-500 words), including both historical and cultural components as follows.

   Situate your chosen counselling model relative to its historical context, by providing the following:

   • A brief biographical sketch of the founder of the model
   • The founder’s intellectual antecedents (i.e., the writers, theorists etc., that the founder drew from)
   • A summary of the ways in which the model was shaped by its historical context. Be specific in identifying underlying assumptions, key concepts, or processes that seem to be contextually influenced.

   Situate your chosen counselling model relative to its cultural context, by providing the following:

   • The dominant or nondominant cultural identities (e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, class, religion) of the populations that influenced the development of this model or upon whom the model was tested.
   • An account of possible limitations associated with the exclusion of culturally diverse perspectives.
   • An account of assumptions that reflect the views of dominant groups.

2. Underlying Assumptions

   In keeping with the assumption hunting process outlined in Week 4, identify your model’s underlying assumptions according to the following guidelines (500-600 words).

   1. What paradigmatic assumptions does your model make regarding

      • the nature of the client’s problems.
      • what it means to be healthy/well versus unhealthy/unwell.
      • other notable paradigmatic assumptions, as detailed in the Week 4 Instructor Commentary.

   2. What causal assumptions does your model make regarding

      • how personal problems develop.
      • how personal problems are resolved
      • how change occurs.

   3. What prescriptive assumptions does your model make regarding

      • what the therapist does to initiate change.
      • the client’s role in bring about change.
      • where and when change occurs (e.g., inside the session, outside the session, immediately, over time).

3. Evidentiary Base

   Evaluate your model’s evidentiary base (400-500 words), drawing on the following guidelines:

   • Provide an overview of research that has been carried out on your model through a quick PsychINFO search. Comment on the extent to which your model has been researched, the types of research designs typically used (e.g., qualitative, process-outcome, case study, random control trial (RCT)), and the general degree of research-based support for your model.
   • If your model was used in a meta-analysis comparison, comment on whether or not the meta-analysis supported the “dodo-bird verdict.” Review critically this meta-analysis according to what you learned in Week 5. If your model appears in multiple meta-analyses, comment on the general findings across these articles, and choose one to analyze critically.
   • If your model was used in one or more RCT studies, analyze critically one such study according to what you learned in Week 5.

4. Common Factors

   Identify ways, specific to your model, in which common factors can be harnessed to help facilitate a positive counselling outcome (300-400 words). Be sure to identify specific components, or assumptions, within your model that align with known common factors, either those that were presented in the course readings, or readings you found on your own.

D. Attend to Scholarly Writing

You will not be graded for scholarly writing and APA style in this assignment. However, you are expected to demonstrate basic scholarly writing skills, including spelling and grammar, and to practice accurately formatting your citations and references. You must also meet the following criteria that are common to most GCAP assignments:

• Professional Writing Skills Collins (2020) (2.2)
• Embracing Intellectual Honesty Collins (2020) (2.1)

Citations and References

For the four areas of content above, each group member must contribute at least one article or book chapter to support your points. Please indicate in your reference section, placed at the end of each wiki page, which article(s) you contributed for the week. Additional articles and chapters will likely be required to fill in informational gaps. For this assignment, you must use sources other than the book suggested for use in this course (i.e., Truscott, 2010).

We have designed this activity so that you also have an opportunity to master these writing tasks. Your Instructional Facilitator will be actively involved in providing feedback and coaching your professional writing throughout the four weeks. At the end of each week, your Instructional Facilitator will provide feedback on the following professional writing competencies using the comments feature within your wiki:

• Discerning appropriate information sources, Collins (2020)(3.1)
• Use of primary versus secondary sources
• Accurate integration and formatting of citations
• Integrating reference components

Please pay careful attention to your ISF’s feedback, edit your wiki contributions accordingly, and incorporate your learning into your wiki for the week that follows.

Formatting Your Wiki

A reasonable question to ask is “Can we provide this content in bullet form?” The answer is yes, provided your bullets are potent and specific, rather than weak and general. Some made up, sort of funny, examples:

• Weak: Problems develop in childhood
• Potent: It is thought that adult problems are the manifestation of unmet social affiliation needs in the first 4 years of life. According to X model, these needs only surface in adulthood because children and youth are too busy playing videogames and sending Instagram messages.

Do not use direct quotes. One of the objectives of this assignment is to have you distill esoteric ideas into their basic components, to allow for comparisons of jargon-free assumptions. For this reason, present your content using language that is clear, concise, and direct (Check out this Plain Language description). This is important when writing about all three types of assumptions, though especially so for prescriptive assumptions. Consider these two examples of prescriptive assumptions from gestalt therapy:

• The therapist uses the two-chair technique to help the client externalize an introject.
• The therapist has the client sit in one chair and talk about a positive personal attribute; then has the client switch to another chair and talk about negative aspects of the same attribute.

The second example is more descriptive and attempts to do away with model-driven jargon. The causal assumption here happens to be that talking about positive and negative aspects of the same personal attribute leads clients to be less emotional reactive toward the negative aspects. An associated paradigmatic assumption is that all people have positive and negative attributes and that healthy functioning involves accepting both.

E. Keep on Track

On the Wednesday prior to the start of each of the four wiki assignment weeks, you will post a Wiki Group Participation Plan that tells your instructor how you and your group members will work together to meet the content requirements for that week (Note that your first plan is due by midnight Wednesday of Week 8). This is a means to help ensure your group work is thoughtfully planned, and that the workload is distributed equally among group members. Please note that it is not okay to assign specific weeks to specific group members (e.g., Sam takes week 1, Mohammed takes week 2, Kayla takes week 3). To complete the Wiki Group Participation Plan, click the link for the plan, click the edit button, then fill in the required information and save. Your instructor will provide feedback on your plan using the wiki annotation tool if she or he is concerned about its viability. At the end of the week, collectively evaluate on a scale from 1-5 (five being the positive end) how well you as a group adhered to your Wiki Group Participation Plan. Append this rating to your Wiki Group Participation Plan for that week.

The criteria on each side of the table below will help you discern between lack of evidence of and strong evidence of competency on the assignment. Notice that some criteria are weighted more heavily than others. Please provide your grading of student performance to one decimal point on each scale, e.g., 4.8 out of 5 or 8.4 out of 10.

Poor Quality	Grade	Maximum Marks	Strong Quality
Expresses inaccurate positioning or weak rationale for why each counselling model fits within the domain of human functioning targeted each the week.		5 marks	Articulates accurate positioning and strong rationale for why each counselling model fits within the domains of human functioning targeted each week.
Provides inaccurate, incomplete, uncritical, or vague examination of macrocontextual considerations (i.e., historical, cultural).		10 marks	Exhibits accurate, thorough, critical, and clear examination of macrocontextual considerations (i.e., historical, cultural).
Provides inaccurate, incomplete, or uncritical analysis of assumptions gleaned from outdated or inapplicable articles		10 marks	Exhibits accurate, critical, and fully developed analysis of the three types of assumptions
Provides incomplete and insubstantial linking of common factors to counselling models		10 marks	Links thoroughly and meaningfully common factors to counselling models
Identifies and assesses inaccurately evidentiary bases of the model.		10 marks	Identifies and assesses accurately evidentiary bases of the model.
Penalties will apply for failure to adhere to the following GCAP Writing Standards:
Intellectual Honesty. See Section 2.4 of the Student Handbook Late Penalty. See Section 6.3 of the Student Handbook

Assignment Description	Scholarly Writing Focus
For this assignment you are required to create a professional practice webpage, using whatever tools you choose. You will continue to build and refine this webpage throughout your program. If you are unfamiliar with how to begin to set up a webpage, consider the following: Start a conversation in the Q&A for assignments to solicit ideas from your classmates. Check out this tool "Let Wix ADI Create a Website for You" that is popular and user-friendly. You do not need to publish your website (i.e., make it publicly accessible) as long as your instructor can access the content. In this assignment, you will focus on the practice description component of your webpage, which should address the following topics: the personal values, beliefs, and experience that influence your approach to counselling. evidence of how your preferred model(s) can accommodate diversity of client needs, preferences, and contexts. your underlying assumptions about human nature, consistent with the model(s) on which your practice is based. an explanation of how human problems develop that is consistent with the model(s) on which your practice is based. a theory of change that is consistent with the model(s) on which your practice is based. incorporation of findings from psychotherapy outcome research that inform your approach to counselling. the way(s) in which psychotherapy integration influences your approach to counselling. While you must cover all of these content areas, you are free to choose your own creative topic headings and you do not need to follow APA format. However, you must always follow the basic principles of professional writing. Each section should be between 150 and 200 words. Your total practice description should be between 1200 1500 words. Note that while your practice description must be based on current, scholarly literature, in keeping with typical website practice descriptions, you do not need to reference your sources. Instead, you will demonstrate understanding, application, and synthesis of relevant scholarly literature for this assignment in Assignment 5: Webpage Supporting Literature. Also note that most website practice descriptions also contain information on hours, fees, informed consent, areas of specialty, and so forth. This information does not need to be included in your assignment. Please submit a link to your website to the Assignment dropbox as well as a Word copy of the content so that your instructor can provide feedback more easily.	Communicating your ideas effectively to a lay audience requires close attention to basic writing mechanics such as us sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and word formatting. To help in this regard, review the following link to the “Scribbr” from Collins (2020), Professional writing in the health disciplines. Please also attend carefully to the following professional writing criteria from Assignment 1. Developing your voice Writing in the first person Using active vs. passive voice Modeling cultural sensitivity and eliminating bias

The evaluation components for Assignment 4: Practice Webpage are listed below.

Grading Criteria	Weight (10 marks)
Scholarly Writing and APA Style - Draw on your APA manual, Student Handbook (6.2) and Profession Writing in the Health Disciplines (6.1 and 6.2) Your instructor will focus particularly on the elements outlined under the “Scholarly Writing Focus” above.	1 marks
Personal reflection Indicates clearly how personal values, beliefs, and experience influence your approach to counselling	1 marks
Critical synthesis of literature to support cultural diversity: Articulates clearly how you will accommodate diversity of client needs, preferences, and contexts.	1 marks
Critical synthesis of literature to support conceptualization of client problems and the change process: Identifies clearly underlying assumptions about human nature congruent with the model(s) on which your practice is based. Articulates clearly how human problems develop based on relevant, scholarly literature, and congruent with the model(s) on which your practice is based. Articulates clearly a theory of change based on relevant, scholarly literature and congruent with the model(s) on which your practice is based.	2 marks
Critical synthesis of literature to support your theoretical positioning: Describes clearly and accurately an integrative stance congruent with psychotherapy integration modes (technical eclecticism, common factors, theoretical integration, assimilative integration) Describes coherently and accurately how psychotherapy outcome research influences your practice based on relevant, current, scholarly literature.	2 marks
Knowledge transfer Communicates ideas clearly, succinctly, and effectively to interdisciplinary, specialist, and nonspecialist audiences Synthesizes, organizes, and renders knowledge accessible to other users.	2 marks
Digital competence Selects and applies contemporary and emerging information technology to support scholarship, knowledge translation and development, leadership, and communication. Establishes a professional digital identity and presence through appropriate use of technology, social media, and web resources.	1 marks
Penalties will apply for failure to adhere to the following GCAP Writing Standards:
Intellectual Honesty. See Section 2.4 of the Student Handbook Late Penalty. See Section 6.3 of the Student Handbook

For Assignment 4, you created a practice webpage that summarized, in lay terms, your application of counselling models in your professional practice. The purpose of Assignment 5 is to justify and support the content of your webpage through providing a synthesis of relevant, current, scholarly literature. Your paper should be double-spaced, APA formatted, and 8-10 pages in length (not including title page or references).

Assignment Description	Scholarly Writing Focus
For this assignment you are required to review and synthesize the literature you used to support the various required components of your professional webpage. To this end, your paper must discuss the following questions: How does the counselling model (or models) used for your website accommodate client diversity, preferences, and contexts? What paradigmatic assumptions about human nature underlie the counselling model (or models) used for your website? What causal assumptions about the development of human problems develop underlie the counselling model (or models) used for your website? What prescriptive assumptions regarding how client change occurs underlie the counselling model (or models) used for your website? How do you incorporate elements of psychotherapy integration into your approach to counselling? If you do not do this, explain why. How does psychotherapy outcome research support an evidence-based approach to your practice?	An important part of writing is developing your own voice. Review the following sections from Collins (2020), Professional writing in the health disciplines: Developing your voice (1.3) Writing in the first person (1.3.1) Using active vs. passive voice (1.3.2) Modeling cultural sensitivity and eliminating bias (1.3.3) It is also critically important throughout your graduate studies that you properly reference your sources and avoid plagiarism and related intellectual honesty concerns. To that end, please review the following sections from Collins (2020), Professional writing in the health disciplines: Intellectual honesty and academic integrity Plagiarism (2.2 and 2.3) Failure to properly paraphrase information (under 2.2) Discerning when and how to cite others (2.5) Misusing secondary sources (2.4) Discerning appropriate information sources Establishing a scholarly foundation (3) Selecting Information Resources (3.3)

The evaluation components for Assignment 5: Website Supporting Literature are listed below.

Grading Criteria	Weight (20 marks)
Scholarly Writing and APA Style - Draw on your APA manual, Student Handbook (6.2) and Profession Writing in the Health Disciplines (6.1 and 6.2) Your instructor will focus particularly on the elements outlined under the “Scholarly Writing Focus” above.	2 marks
Critical synthesis of literature to support cultural diversity: Articulates clearly and accurately a literature-informed account that indicates a variety of ways that the counselling model(s) used within your website accommodate client diversity, preferences, and contexts.	4 marks
Critical synthesis of literature to support the identification of key underlying assumptions: Identifies accurately and thoroughly paradigmatic assumptions about human nature, consistent with the counselling counselling model(s) used within your webpage, and ties them to your personal approach to counselling. Identifies accurately and thoroughly causal assumptions regarding the development of human problems, consistent with the counselling model(s) used within your webpage, and ties them to your personal approach to counselling. Identifies accurately and thoroughly prescriptive assumptions regarding how client change occurs, consistent with the counselling model(s) used within your webpage, and ties them to your personal approach to counselling.	8 marks
Critical synthesis of literature to support your theoretical positioning: Provides a clear, accurate, and literature-informed account of how you incorporate psychotherapy integration into your approach to counselling. Provides a clear, accurate, critical, and literature-informed account that indicates the evidentiary basis for your approach to counselling.	6 marks
Penalties will apply for failure to adhere to the following GCAP Writing Standards:
Intellectual Honesty. See Section 2.4 of the Student Handbook Late Penalty. See Section 6.3 of the Student Handbook