This assignment is a collection of ideas, practices, principles, perspectives and values that will continue to guide your counseling philosophy with children. You will summarize and reflect on the mo

This assignment is a collection of ideas, practices, principles, perspectives and values that will continue to guide your counseling philosophy with children.  You will summarize and reflect on the most important counseling principles you have gained from the course.  It provides an organizational structure for your professional portfolio. 

Complete this assignment by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, module 7.  Worth 200 points. 

1.    (5 points) Personal Overview

Provide a personal overview of the role in human services or counseling that you see yourself achieving in the next 5 years, and in the next 10 years. Include credentials you would like to acquire, or specializations you are considering. Include specific populations you would like to serve, geographic location you would like to work, and any other unique insights to your professional plan.

2.    (10 points) Counseling Practices

From the course, select five different counseling skills, practices or processes that you envision using in your work with children.  Define, describe, and then speak about how you would execute the practice in your work with children.

3.    (100 points) Develop a Play Therapy Plan Using insight from the Child-Centered Play therapy workbook.

Conceptualize a case child, and how you would develop a play therapy plan, with that child, based on the presenting problems, and the insights you have gained from the workbook. 

a.    Develop a brief case study. This case needs to focus on a child that is under the age of 12; include name, age, location, family dynamics, and details around the presenting issue that has brought the child to counseling.

b.    Define treatment goals. (chapter 4)

c.    What permissions you feel are most important to articulate to this child and why? (chapter 4)

d.    What feelings do you anticipate will be connected to the child’s experiences and presenting problems that bring him or her to counseling? (chapter 1)

e.    Discuss 5 tenets of child-centered play therapy that will guide your work with this child. (chapter 2)

f.     Identify and discuss two limitations that would be important to set with this child, and explain why these are relevant or important.  (chapter 3)

g.    Identify two toys that you would select to engage this child in play and your rationale for using them. (chapter 3)

h.    Identify two themes that could be relevant to the child’s behavior or play and why you feel these are relevant. (chapter 4)

i.      Develop a narrative for each stage of the child-centered play therapy stage, illustrating how you will navigate that stage with the child. (chapter 4)

j.      Discuss five points of consideration as you determine if the child is ready for termination. And illustrate how you would terminate the session, what would you say or do to create a successful termination experience? (chapter 4).

4.    (30 points) Informed consent narratives

a.     Your “philosophy” of counseling children and how your sessions will typically “operate”

b.     Confidentiality and the limits of confidentiality (including how you will “interact with” parents)

c.     Your philosophy of integration – how you will, or will not integrate spiritual or Christian principles into your counseling practices.  

5.    (30 points) Crisis intervention planning

During unit 6, you had the opportunity to read and research valuable information regarding crisis intervention and mandated reporting. In assignment three you also practiced and explored the best practices in being prepared and aware of addressing potential crisis with children. Drawing from the insights of the textbook and resources, develop a six step, or six item, plan, that illustrates the elements that are most relevant to being prepared. Give each step, or item, a title, describe it, and then speak about its importance.  Conclude with a statement about how you envision using it. Do this for each of the six steps or items you decide to feature.

6.    (20 points) Self-Care strategies

Gleaning insight from chapter 7 of Elements of Counseling

a.    Self-Awareness: Counselors need to know and acknowledge his or her own personal issues, strengths and vulnerabilities and how those might present in your work with children or families. Consider these three topics that are featured in the textbook and discuss one that is relevant to your own need for self-awareness. (1. Why did you choose a career in human services and counseling? 2. What emotions or topics challenge you? 3. How well do you manage or recognize burnout and/or compassion fatigue?) Describe the topic from the insight you gained from the textbook, and then provide a narrative of how it is relevant to you.

b.    Support and Supervision: In planning to use the best strategies of self-care, which two strategies of “support and supervision” do you envision are strategies you are likely to use in your professional career? Describe the strategy, and provide a narrative with rationale to how and why you would use it.

c.    Boundaries: In planning to use the best strategies of setting boundaries, which two strategies identified in the textbook, will you use to maintain healthy boundaries in your professional relationships with children and families? Describe the strategy, and provide a narrative with rationale to how and why you would use it.

d.    Personal care: It is important for human services professionals to practice regular and consistent self-care outside of the work environment. Our textbook speaks about engaging in consistent and regular self-care habits.  Identify two healthy self-care habits that you have or can work to be consistent with using; then describe one poor habit you have that you can work to improve.

7.     (5 points) Reflection: Reflect on the most valuable take-aways from the course that you want to remember and use in your future work with children and families. Identify 2-6 take-aways to include in this part of your portfolio.