NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES Course Outline Course # & Title: PYCL570 – Ethical, Legal & Professional Issues for Counselors Credit Hours: 3 Location/Section: Miami/MI3 Dates: January 28, 29, 30, 2011 February 18, 19, 20, 2011 Class Meeting Times: Fridays 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM Saturdays 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM Sundays 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM Instructor: Adam Schulman, Ph.D. 1860 N. Pine Island Road – Suite 101 Plantation, FL 33322 954-475-1184 E-mail: [email protected] Required Text Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callanan, P. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (8th ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN-13: 9780495812418 Course Description This course covers standards for professional conduct in counseling. It considers ethical and legal decisions that mental health and school counselors must make. Case examples, current federal and state laws/statutes, ethical codes, and standards on assessment, diagnosis, and placement data will be discussed in relation to counseling a variety of culturally diverse populations in multiple settings. Course Objectives Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Gain knowledge of ethical standards of professional organizations, credentialing bodies, and public policy on the applications of ethical and legal considerations in professional counseling. 2. Demonstrate familiarity with federal and state legislation and local regulations.3. Demonstrate knowledge of the legal rights of students and parents and the role of the school counselor in IEP, school leadership, curriculum, and advisory meetings. 4. Demonstrate knowledge of key professional and legal issues in counseling such as confidentiality, duty to warn and protect, assessment of diverse students, differences in student value systems and lifestyles, HIPAA, FERPA, etc. 5. Reflect on knowledge of one’s own attitudes and beliefs as they influence professional and ethical behaviors and also address personal issues that may affect the counseling relationship. 6. Know the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of the profession; and advocacy processes needed to address institutional and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success for clients. 7. Knowledge of implementation of professional issues that are unique to the counseling profession including reimbursement, right to practice, core provider status, managed care systems, expert witness status and Baker Act privileges. Calendar of Assignments 1. Prior to the first class meeting on January 28, 2011, the student must a. Read the assigned text, chapters 1-6. It is important that you read the assigned chapters prior to coming to class. b. In the assigned text, complete the Self-Assessment on pages 29-38. c. In the assigned text, complete each of the Pre-Chapter Self Inventories in chapters 2-6. d. In the assigned text, complete the Values Questionnaire on pages 83-84. 2. Prior to the second class meeting on February 18, 2011, the student must a. Read the assigned text – chapters 7-13. It is important that you read the assigned chapters prior to coming to class. b. In the assigned text, complete each of the Pre-Chapter Self Inventories in chapters 7-13. 3. Prior to the end of class, the student must complete the required HIPAA Privacy and Security training as described below. 4. The midterm exam will be administered on Sunday, January 30, 2011. 5. The final exam will be administered on Sunday, February 20, 2011. Grading Criteria Midterm Exam 45 points Final Exam 45 points Professional Behavior 10 points The mid-term examination and the final examination will be worth 45 points each. The examinations consist of multiple choice and short-answer questions derived from the lecture materials, the class discussions and the assigned readings. Your presence is essential to the liveliness of this course and to your individual success in it. Your participation and classroom behavior will be evaluated throughout the class and will be reflected inyour grade for professional behavior (see above). You are required to read all assigned readings prior to each class period so that you are prepared to participate in all class discussions. To get full credit for your professional behavior grade, you will need to demonstrate that you have a thorough knowledge of the reading assignments, show a willingness to respond to discussions, and ask questions that reflect solid thinking. Your full attendance is required for each class meeting. Regardless of the reason, absences will result in a deduction of seven points from your final grade for each class session that is missed (there are five class sessions each weekend: Friday PM, Saturday AM, Saturday PM, Sunday AM, and Sunday PM). Additionally, both tardiness and early departures from class will result in a lower grade. Each time you are either tardy or leave class early, one point will be deducted from your grade for professional behavior. It is important to note that I will not evaluate the reasonableness of your absence or make any distinctions between an excused or unexcused absence from class. Your final grade will be calculated using the following criteria: 90 - 100 points A 80 - 89 points B 70 - 79 points C Below 70 points F Laptop Use. I am committed to creating an effective learning environment for all students. Therefore, please do not bring your laptop or computer to class. You will not be permitted to use your laptop, computer or other personal communication device (including cell phones) during our class period. Verification of Completion of HIPAA Privacy and Security Training Nova Southeastern University is committed to complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) regarding the privacy and security of protected health information (“PHI”). Therefore, all CPS students are required to complete the HIPAA privacy and security training. This training is offered and must be completed while enrolled in PYCL 570 – Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues for Counselors. Below are the NSU WebCT instructions for login to the NSU HIPAA Privacy and Security Training course which will require approximately two hours to complete. It is mandatory that you complete the WebCT training no later than the last day of class. Please note that this training has 2 components