DSRS9068 Counselling - Practical Applications

This topic builds on basic counselling theory and skills students will have gained through participation in basic counselling skills topics (or equivalent), with a focus on applying new knowledge and additional skills to particular issues within community based settings. Students will have opportunities through supervised practice to develop more advanced counselling skills and apply them in relation to issues such as: Adjustment and adaptation to disability, grief and loss, pain management, substance abuse, and the impact of injury and disability on social and occupational roles. Active student participation in peer review and feedback is a requirement and forms an integral part of these sessions. Students are encouraged to draw on previous work and practicum experiences, and to apply new knowledge and skills to current work and practicum settings.

This topic focuses on the theory and practice of more advanced counselling skills that are applicable within a range of rehabilitation, disability and other human service settings, with an emphasis on:

• Understanding counselling and adjustment to disability theories and their links to ethical and professional practice in a range of human service roles and settings
• Further opportunities for purposeful practice of more advanced counselling micro-skills, including completion of an extended, structured counselling interview
• Applying in-depth personal reflection and peer feedback to development of skills

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of disability and related issues including Indigenous and multi-cultural perspectives on the lives of clients and significant others
2. Demonstrate an increased understanding of more complex counselling theories and micro-skills, and their applicability to a range of disability and related issues in rehabilitation and other human service settings
3. Demonstrate an enhanced appreciation of management of ethical and professional issues associated with the counselling process, highlighted through reflection on and application to your own prior and current practical experience
4. Demonstrate a consistent commitment to facilitating your own and peers' learning through mutual feedback which articulates an increased understanding of the ongoing impact of personal values, cultural perspective, attitudes and experiences on effective counselling skills
5. Demonstrate effective application of more advanced counselling micro-skills in an extended structured interview format