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SMU Home Academics Home MAC Program Home Current Student Home Prospective Home MAC Class Notebook (Table of Contents) (On-line Forms) |
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology ("MAC") MAC
Class Notebook: The MAC Program offers
several, regularly scheduled, elective courses at the 600 level, and two
at the 500 level.
These courses are
designed to provide students with opportunities to study specific
psychological issues and/or the counseling needs of special populations.
There are also two "Special Topics" classes (MAC 595 or 695)
that are used to teach a variety of high-interest, specialized topics that
are particularly timely or match special interests of the faculty.
(Note that several
of the electives carry prerequisites.) This course will describe and cover specific issues such as the developmental stages of children and adolescents. The course will also explore traumatizing events such as abuse, divorce and death. It will define the role of the treatment provider in dealing with these issues and provide a useful framework for therapy. Plus, the course will encourage the therapist to examine their own inner child and confront issues that may hamper the therapist's ability to be effective. 560 Syllabus MAC 570: "Career Development Counseling" This course is designed to provide in-depth inquiry into the process of career development, the diagnostic tools that are used, and the ways it can be facilitated. This course will also empower students to facilitate optimum career development in themselves and their clients. 570 Syllabus MAC 651: "Treatment of Substance Abuse" This class emphasizes advanced treatment planning and clinical methods in the recognition and treatment of substance abuse. Time is spent viewing the problem from an individual, a clinical, and a social perspective. The class also considers psychopharmacology of alcohol and drugs. Previous class projects have included a journal of responses, consideration of students' own substance history, in-class presentations, and a final research project on selected topics. 651 Syllabus MAC 661: "Marriage & Family Therapy Techniques" This course builds on MAC 512 by providing
more in-depth coverage of systems theory and standard intervention
techniques. The format will include generous use of clinical cases and
role-plays. Units to be covered include: Structural Therapy, Strategic
Therapy, Brief or Solution Oriented Therapy, Multi-generational Therapy,
Couples Therapy, and Feminist Family Therapy. Students are assumed to be
committed to systems theory and to be planning an MFT-oriented career.
Assignments may include: "experimenting" with a volunteer family, keeping a journal of this experience,
and analyzing a case-study from
the perspective of one systems-oriented school of thought. Prerequisite:
MAC 512. 661 Syllabus MAC 671: "Expressive and Innovative Psychotherapies" MAC 671 examines various expressive techniques in individual, family, and group psychotherapy. The goal is to provide students with opportunities to try out a variety of expressive techniques. Students will be expected to become familiar with the foundations of metaphoric therapy and to uncover their own style of expressive psychotherapy. Projects include a journal, the creation of a "Technique and Strategy Glossary," a brief paper, demonstrations of strategies with accompanying outlines, and a final exam. Prerequisite: MAC 512. 671 Syllabus SPECIAL TOPICS: MAC 595 or MAC 695: Topics of special interest.
Descriptions vary by the specific course content. Generally "MAC
595" will be used for more basic and general course topics and
"MAC 695" will be used for more advanced and specialized course
topics. Examples include: "Advanced Clinical
Skills" offers therapy techniques and common therapeutic issues
such as bereavement, eating disorders, and transference. Attention
is paid to both techniques for therapist interventions as well as
understanding the therapist as a person. 695c
Syllabus
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Email contact: MAC@stmartin.edu |
We offer several exciting electives at the 600 level (see below),
and only two electives at the 500 level. Although
it may be tempting for beginning students to sign up for elective classes,
we discourage you from doing so. Instead,
we 
recommend
that you take required courses
early in your program and wait for the electives until later. This
will increase your scheduling flexibility. Later in your program, if
an elective
doesn't fit into your
schedule you can take a different elective. But, if it's a
required
course that doesn't fit
your schedule, then (as we warned at the beginning of the Class Notebook) you're in big
trouble!