227 COUNSELING PROCESS & SKILLS 

 

 Teri Quatman, Ph.D. 

tquatman@scu.edu 

Loyola 140 



 

Santa Clara University Winter 2013 

E-mail: tquatman@scu.edu 

Clinical line/msgs : 408.261.0505 

 

OBJECTIVES 

. Identify, learn, and practice key counseling skills 
. Expand understanding of therapeutic experiencing and change 
. Explore concerns associated with the challenging and intimate process of counseling 
. Achieve greater competence in empathic responses 


 

REQUIREMENTS 

. Final paper due at the end of the quarter. 
. Completion of assignments during the quarter, including in-class exercises. 
. Class attendance. One miss permitted. Two misses (for any reason) will lead to an automatic 
grade reduction (e.g., from A- to B-). Thus, if you miss two classes it would be best to withdraw 
from the class and retake it at a later time. 
. Notice: As noted in our graduate catalog, a grade of B or higher in this course is required 
for continuation in the program regardless of grades earned in other courses. 
. No emailing, texting, surfing, or tweeting during class, at all. One grade deduction for 
violations. 


 

TEXTS 

. Hill, C. E. (2009). Helping skills: Facilitating exploration, insight, and action (3rd ed.) 


 Washington, D. C. American Psychological Association 

 

. Larson, D. (1993). The helper's journey: Working with people facing grief, loss, 


 and life-threatening Illness. Champaign, IL: Research Press. 

 

• Eres Readings 

 

Recommended but not required: 

Hammond, C. et al. (1977). Improving therapeutic communication. San Francisco: 
Jossey-Bass. 

 

Wachtel, P. (2011). Therapeutic communication. (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford 

Grading: 

 


 Class Attendance /Participation.................................... 35% 

 Attendance/ reasonable promptness at /for all classes is 

 required. Students should come prepared to discuss the week's 

 readings. Instructor will appraise student's level of 

 involvement in class discussions and skill-development 

 in practice sessions. 

 

 Weekly Readings ....................................................... 20% 

 Each week, students hand in an estimate of required 

 reading carefully read (e.g., 100%; 30%, etc.). 

 

 Reflections ........................................................……. 20% 

 Each week, students will turn in a one-page reflection 

 on what they learned about the process of therapy this 

 week. It can be something from classroom experiences 

 or from the readings. Roughly 1 typed page/ week. 

 

 Final Project............................................................ 25%. 

 The project will have 2 parts. 

 Part 1: Compile weekly one-page reflections with readings 

 Estimates, including my comments. Turn these in, 

 Organized according to date. 

 Part II: Use your journal and the readings as the basis for a 

 paper of 7-8 typed pages (double spaced) in which you reflect 

 on what you’ve learned this quarter about being a therapist— 

 especially about YOU as the therapist. Speak to the process, 

 the skills, the difficult parts. Be both personal and conceptual.-- 

 BOTH. Please paginate your paper. 

 

 Grades will be assigned on the basis of percentage totals: 

 

 

 96 - 100 % A 

 90 - 95 % A- 

 87 - 89 %. B+ 

 84 - 86 % B 

 80 - 83 % B- 

 70 - 79 % C 

 

 

Class Plan 

 

 Week 1 Introduction; Overview 

Thurs. 1/9 Preview of the Three-Stage Model; 

 Therapy Microskills and a Model of Skill Acquisition; 

 On Schools of Therapy; Empathy in Therapy 


 

 

Week 2 Disclosure and Covert Processes in Therapy; 

Thurs. 1/16 Boundaries; Becoming a Therapist; 

Therapist Emotional Involvement 

 

Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Ch. 1; Larson, Chs. 1-4 

 

Week 3 Basic Therapeutic Tenets; 

Thurs. 1/23 The Engines of Psychotherapy: 

The Therapeutic Relationship 

Exposure and Client Experiencing 

Psychotherapy Integration 

Experiential Focusing 

 

Film: Coming Home Through Focusing: Gendlin with Kathleen (6') 

 

Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Ch. 2, 3, 4 

 ERes: Bohart (1993). 

 

Week 4 What Helping Isn't 

Thurs. 1/30 Attending 

Restatements 

Questions 

The Client-Frame-of-Reference Response 

Directiveness 

Negotiation 

Lead 

 

Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Chs. 5, 6; 
Larson, Chs. 5-6. 

 

 

Week 5 THE EXPLORATION STAGE AND THERAPEUTIC ATTUNEMENT 

Thurs. 2/6 Empathy in Psychotherapy; 

Responding to Feelings; 

Discrepancies; 

Cultural Issues and Other Barriers to Empathy 

 

Film: A different look at Rogers with Gloria; Gestalt Therapy with Gordon Wheeler, American 
Psychological Association (MS# DVD-00245) 

 

Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Ch. 7, 8 

 ERes: Cardemil 

 

 


 

Week 6 THE EXPLORATION STAGE: ADDITIVE AND EVOCATIVE EMPATHY 

 

Thurs. 2/13 Responding to Implied Feelings and Meaning 

 

Film: Three Approaches to Psychotherapy II: Rogers with Kathy (MS# 04054) 

 

Readings Due Today: Hill, Chs. 9, 10 

ERes: Rice 

 

Week 7 

Thurs. 2/20 REVIEW WITH FEEDBACK 

 

 Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Chs.11, 12, 13; 
Larson, remainder of book. 

 

Week 8 THE INSIGHT STAGE 

Thurs. 2/27 Use of Challenge, 

Self-Disclosure, 

Interpretation, and 

Immediacy 

for Promoting Insight and Behavior Change; 

Avoidance and Psychopathology 

 

Film: Peggy Papp, Making the Invisible Visible Thurs. 

 

Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Chs. 14, 15 

 

 

Week 9 REVIEW WITH FEEDBACK 

 

Thurs. 3/6 Readings Due Today: Texts: Hill, Chs.16, 17 

 

 Week 10 ACTION STAGE: SKILL INTEGRATION 

 Thurs. 3/13 More Change-Making Interventions 

Skill Integration 

Working With Resistance using Motivational Interviewing 

Skill-Building After 227 

Good-Byes 

 

Films: Carl Rogers Counsels an Individual on the 

Right to be Desperate (MS#05532A, MS#05532B) 

 

Assignments: FINAL PAPERS/ Journals DUE 

 

 


ERes READER:On Electronic Reserve: Instructor: Larson (Password = empathy). 

 

Bohart, A. (2000). The client is the most important common factor: Clients’ self-healing 
capacities and psychotherapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 10, 127-149. 

Bohart, A. (1993): Experiencing: The basis of psychotherapy. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 3, 51-67 

Cardemil, E. V., & Battle, C. L. (2003). Guess who’s coming to therapy? Getting comfortable with conversations 
about race and ethnicity in psychotherapy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 278-286. 

Farber et al. (2004). Clients’ perceptions of the process and consequences of self-disclosure in psychotherapy. 
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 51, 341-346. 

Focusing-oriented experiential psychotherapy http://www.focusing.org/research_basis.html 

Gelso, C. J. et al. (2005). Measuring the real relationship in psychotherapy: Initial validation of the therapist form. 
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 640-649. 

Gendlin, E. T. (1968). The experiential response. In E. F. Hammer (Ed.), Use of interpretation in treatment: 
Technique and art (pp. 208-227). New York: Grune & Stratton. 

Greenberg, L., Rice, L., & Elliott, R. (1993). Experiential focusing for an unclear felt sense. In L. Greenberg, L. 
Rice, & R. Elliott, Facilitating emotional change (pp. 165-185). New York: Guilford. 

Hayes, S. C. et al. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to 
diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 1152-1168. 

Hill website for text, Helping Skills: go to http://forms.apa.org/books/supp/hill/index.cfm?action=students 

Larson, D. G. (1984). Teaching psychological skills: Models for giving psychology away. Monterey, CA: 
Brooks/Cole. This entire book is available to read and for downloading free of charge through Google 
Books at http://books.google.com/books 

Larson, D. G., & Chastain, R. L. (1990). Self-concealment: Conceptualization, measurement, and health 
implications. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9, 439-455. 

Larson, D. G., & Hoyt, W. T. (2007). What has become of grief counseling: An evaluation of the empirical 
foundations of the new pessimism. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38, 347-355. 

Murphy, R. A., & Halgin, R. P. (1995). Influences on the career choice of psychotherapists. Professional 
Psychology, 26, 422-426. 

Orchowski et al. (2006). Cinema and the valuing of psychotherapy: Implications for clinical practice. Professional 
Psychology: Research and Practice, 37, 506-514. 

Rice, L. (1974). The evocative function of the therapist. In L. N. Rice & D. A. Wexler (Eds.), Innovations in 
client-centered therapy (pp. 289-311). New York: Wiley. 

Rogers, C. R. (1986). A Client-centered/Person-centered approach to therapy. 

Rogers Theory Website http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/rogers.html 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 



 


Bertolino, B., & O’Hanlon, B. O. (2002). Collaborative, competence-based counseling and therapy. 
Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 

Cochran, J. L., & Cochran, N. H. (2006). The heart of counseling: A guide to developing therapeutic 
relationships. Belmont, CA: Thomson. 

Corey, G. (2008). The art of integrative counseling (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson. 

Cornell, A. W. (1996). The power of focusing: A practical guide to emotional self-healing. Oakland, CA: 
New Harbinger. 

DeJong, P., & Berg, I. K. (2008). Interviewing for solutions (3rd ed.). Pacifc Grove: Brooks/Cole 

Farber, B. A. (2006). Self-disclosure in psychotherapy. New York: Guilford. 

Farber, B. A., Brink, D. C., & Raskin, P. M. (Eds.). (1996). The psychotherapy of Carl Rogers. New 
York: Guilford Press. 

Frank, J. D. (1974). Psychotherapy: The restoration of morale. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131 (3), 
271-274. 

Frankel, S. A. (2007). Making psychotherapy work: Collaborating effectively with your patient. Madison, 
CT: Psychosocial Press. 

Fromm-Reichmann, F. (1950). Principles of intensive psychotherapy. Chicago: University of Chicago 

 Press. 

Gendlin, E. T. (1986). Let your body interpret your dreams. Wilmette, IL: Chiron. 

Gendlin, E. T. (1996). Focusing-oriented psychotherapy: A manual of the experiential method. New 
York: Guilford. 

Guterman, J. T. (2006). Mastering the art of solution-focused counseling. Alexandria, VA: American 
Counseling Association. 

Hecker, L. L., Deacon, S. A., & Associates (1998). The therapist’s notebook: Homework, handouts, and 
activities for use in psychotherapy. New York: Haworth Press. 

Kottler, J. A. (2002). Theories in counseling and therapy: An experiential approach. Boston: Allyn & 
Bacon. 

Leahy, R. L. , & Holland, S. J. (2000). Treatment plans and interventions for depression and anxiety 

 disorders. New York: Guilford Press. 

Larson, D. (Ed.). (1984). Teaching psychological skills: Models for giving psychology away. Monterey, 
CA: Brooks/Cole. 

Meier, S. T., & Davis, S. R. (2008). The elements of counseling (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson. 

Moodley, R., Lago, C., & Talahite, A. (Eds.). (2004). Carl Rogers counsels a black client: Race and 
culture in person-centred counselling. Ross-on-Wye, UK: PCCS Books. 

Mowrer, O. H. (1948). Learning theory and the neurotic paradox. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 
18, 571-610. 

Neukrug, E. S., & Schwitzer, A. M. (2006). Skills and tools for today’s counselors and psychotherapists. 
Belmont, CA: Thomson. 

Papp, P. (1983). The process of change. New York: Guilford. 

Person, J. B., Davidson, J., & Tompkins, M. A. (2001). Essential components of cognitive-behavior 
therapy for depression. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 

Prochaska, J. O., & Norcoross, J. C. (1994). Systems of psychotherapy: A transtheoretical analysis (3rd ed.). 
Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. 


Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton 
Mifflin. 

Rosenthal, H. G. (Ed.). (2001). Favorite counseling and therapy homework assignments. Philadelphia: 
Brunner-Routledge. 

Scissons, E. H. (1992). Counseling for results: Principles and practices of helping. Pacific Grove, CA: 
Brooks/Cole. 

Singer, M. T., & Larson, D. G. (1981). Borderline personality and the Rorschach test. Archives of General 
Psychiatry, 38, 693-698. 

Solomon, R. L., & Wynne, L. C. (1954). Traumatic avoidance learning: The principles of anxiety 
conservation and partial irreversibility. Psychological Review, 61, 353-385. 

Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2009). Clinical interviewing (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: 
Wiley. 

Summers, N. (2001). Fundamentals of case management practice. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. 

Tryon, G. S. (Ed.). (2002). Counseling based on process research: Applying what we know. Boston: Allyn 
and Bacon. 

Welfel, E. R., & Patterson, L. E. (2005). The counseling process: A multitheoretical integrative approach 
(6th ed.). Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole. 

Yalom, I. D. (2002). The gift of therapy. New York: Harper Collins 


POLICY ON SELF-DISCLOSURE 

 

As per 2004 APA ethics standards, a policy statement on Student self-disclosure is necessary. The 
following statement is the SCU statement on self disclosure in our program. 

 

The professional training philosophy of the Counseling Psychology Department is predicated on the notion 
that an effective counselor must be a whole person. Indeed, in the practice of counseling, it is the person of 
the counselor that is a major component of healing. As a counselor-in-training, then, self-reflection is a 
necessary and required part of the training that helps one better understand and empathize with his/her 
future clients' experience. 

 

Such reflection is a significant component of one's personal and professional development as an 
effective and sensitive instrument of change. Thus, it is customary that in the CPSY Masters Program's 
classes at SCU, students are regularly assigned work that involves self-disclosure and personal study of 
the content of that self-disclosure. Students are expected to reflect on their past and present personal 
experiences in courses and program related activities, in oral and/ or in written assignments. 

 

We respect students' rights to confidentiality, and do not require that any particular or specific information 
be disclosed. Moreover, we do not evaluate students' progress in the program based on the disclosure of any 
specific information (except as mandated by ethical codes or law). 

 

It is our experience that this philosophy and related formats in our classes provides a rich and superlative 
educational experience, involving more aspects of student experience than do standard lectures or written 
material which does not include the person of the therapist in training. 

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ACADEMIC HONESTY 
Santa Clara University insists on honesty and integrity from all members of its community. 
The standards of the University preclude any form of cheating, plagiarism, forgery of signatures, and 
falsification of data. 
A student who commits any offense against academic honesty and integrity may receive a failing grade 
without a possibility of withdrawal. An offense may also dictate suspension or dismissal from the 
University. 
In particular, it is each student’s responsibility to understand the serious nature of plagiarism and the 
consequences of such activity. Plagiarism is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship of 
(or incorporating material from) someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own 
without adequate acknowledgement. Unlike cases of forgery, in which the authenticity of the writing, 
document, or some other kind of object itself is in question, plagiarism is concerned with the issue of false 
attribution. 


 see: http://www.scu.edu/studentlife/resources/academicintegrity/ 
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DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS PROCEDURE 
To request academic accommodations for a disability, students must contact Disabilities Resources located 
on the first floor of Kenna. Phone numbers are (408) 554-4111; TTY (408) 554-5445. Students must 
register and provide documentation of a disability to Disabilities Resources prior to receiving academic 
accommodations.