Summer Institute '09
Counseling Across the Life Span: Best Practices and Emerging Techniques for Practitioners
For more information about registration, visit our How to Register page.
Seminars will be offered at six locations in Pennsylvania:
Penn State University Park (State College)
The Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley, Malvern (Philadelphia area)
The Waterfront, Homestead (Pittsburgh)
Penn State Harrisburg
Penn State Williamsport
Penn State Wilkes-Barre
Two-Day Courses
(One Credit, 14 Contact Hours, 1.4 CEUs)
Offerings at a Glance
Achieving Change with Difficult Clients
The mechanisms and processes of therapeutic change are detailed according to the latest research literature and applied to the context of working with defiant, unmotivated or otherwise resistant clients. Much of the course is devoted to providing specific techniques and strategies that are directly relevant to positive outcomes.
| June 4–5 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | State College |
| June 8–9 (M/T) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Philadelphia |
Using Counseling Strategies to Identify Strengths and Foster Resilience across the Life Span
Counseling often includes helping clients/students respond to life events, both positive and negative. Dealing with adversity often requires the development of personal strengths and access to external sources of support. This course will provide a variety of counseling activities to assist in helping clients/students develop and maintain a positive outlook even when things go wrong. The tenets of Positive Psychology and Strengths-based Counseling will be discussed and counseling strategies for enhancing resilience will be demonstrated. The course will provide many practical counseling activities and strategies for helping others bounce back from challenges that inevitably occur across one’s lifetime.
| June 11–12 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Wilkes-Barre |
Counselor/Client Boundaries: Ethical and Legal Issues
Perhaps no other ethical and legal issue has caused more controversy among helping professionals than determining the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship. The purpose of this course is to present and discuss specific boundary issues such as bartering, social relationships, business or financial relationships, accepting gifts, self-disclosure, touching, and sexual attractions and relationships in the context of counseling and psychotherapy. Legal consequences for offending counselors will also be explored.
| June 18–19 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Philadelphia |
| June 22–23 (M/T) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Williamsport |
Career Counseling through the Life Span
This course offers practical advice for providing engaging and effective career counseling interventions across the lifespan. Integrating subjective and objective career counseling strategies provides a holistic approach to helping adolescents and adults create careers with purpose. Positive career development relates to academic success and life satisfaction and, thus, is a key factor in living effectively. This course emphasizes these points while providing students with the tools for career counseling in the 21st century.
| June 25–26 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Harrisburg |
The purpose of this course is to introduce the unique developmental aspects of youth violence and their relation to prevention and intervention efforts. This includes interactions between abusers, victims, bystanders, teachers, administrators, parents, other professionals and community members who work with children and adolescents.
| June 29–30 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Pittsburgh |
Group Work for Practitioners
Although some foundational principles of group work are reviewed, emphasis during the course is placed on helping the participants sharpen their skills for group work. Classroom demonstrations by the professor with volunteers from the class, training videos, and lecture/discussion topics are designed to promote skill enhancement in areas such as establishing ground rules, facilitating initial sessions, development and articulation of group members' agendas, supporting group members as they work through their agendas, and providing closure as the group terminates. This course is a "must" for persons interested in enhancing their skills for group work in a manner that not only provides information, but also promotes learning through experiential components.
| July 23–24 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | State College |
| July 27–28 (M/T) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Pittsburgh |
Using Meditation and Mindfulness for Counseling across the Life Span
The purpose of this experientially focused course is to enhance participant ability to establish therapeutic presence with clients across the lifespan and to increase awareness of the here-and-now therapeutic process. This is accomplished through practices such as meditation and mindfulness to increase internal and environmental awareness. Furthermore, as a result of instruction in meditation and mindfulness this course allows participants to learn while having an opportunity to rejuvenate. In addition, the presenter will work with participants throughout the course to demonstrate applications to the helping relationship with clients across the lifespan.
| July 23–24 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | State College |
| July 27–28 (M/T) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Pittsburgh |
Counseling Boys and Their Families
The purposes of this course are to provide mental health practitioners with accurate information about the emotional lives of boys and to suggest effective strategies for counseling this population. The instructor will help counselors to identify ways to adjust the counseling process to match the relational styles and needs of boys. Strategies for establishing rapport and intervening with special populations of boys (e.g., aggressive boys, boys who have been sexually abused and depressed boys) will be recommended. In addition, the instructor will review several approaches to parenting skills training that are effective in helping mothers and fathers who have troubled sons.
| July 23–24 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Philadelphia |
Using Art to Propel Addictions Treatment: A Life Span Approach
This hands-on course is designed to help pre-service and in-service counselors enhance their effectiveness with addiction issues. Attendees are first introduced to Prochaska and DiClemente’s influential stages and processes of change in addiction treatment. Then attendees are introduced and get to practice to art activities that facilitate growth for clients in each stage of change.
| July 27–28 (M/T) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | State College |
What’s Sexuality Got to Do with It? Addressing Sexuality Issues in Counseling
This course will provide an overview of sexuality issues related to counseling adolescents and adults, including older adults. Participants will emerge from this course with strategies for addressing issues such as gender identity, sexual orientation, child and adolescent sexual development, HIV/AIDS, infertility, and infidelity in counseling settings. Review of popular media, completion of sexual history assessments, class discussion, and experiential activities will be used to create an energetic, intensive, and practical learning experience for participants.
| July 27–28 (M/T) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Wilkes-Barre |
Aging across the Life Span: Perspectives for the New Millennium
Whether one is just beginning adulthood or entering the later years of their adult life, there are many transitions that take place. These transitions cross many crucial dimensions of our lives. This course uses a variety of modalities (lecture/discussion, video clips, experiential exercises, etc.) to examine five critical areas: baby boomers’ impact upon society and the changing perspectives on aging, sexuality across the life span, how careers develop, change, and reinvent throughout the aging process, whether professional men and women retire or is there life after work, and creative care-giving for all populations.
| July 30–31 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Philadelphia |
Using Face Reading for Counseling across the Life Span
This course will define and identify Jung’s Anima (the feminine/soul/muse in men) and Animus (focused masculine aspect in women) as perceived via facial features. It will draw from both scientifically researched emotional (nonverbal) expression techniques and intuitive face-reading systems that have survived the test of time (Physiognomy & Morpho-psychologie) to identify Animus/Anima ‘telltale’ facial traits both in yourself and your clients. Strategies for applying this face reading information in the counseling session to establish rapport intervene and track changes over the years will be recommended and explored via training videos and role-playing exercises. Come prepared and willing to truly show your face – and to look deeply into your clients’ faces!
| August 6–7 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Philadelphia |
Play Therapy Techniques: Working with Difficult Children
This course is designed as a seminar for beginning and intermediate participants who wish to increase their knowledge and clinical skills when working with difficult children in the context of play therapy. Special attention is directed toward incorporating various theoretical orientations, counseling interventions, and unique approaches while working with children who deal with a variety of issues. Video vignettes, role plays, and instructor demonstrations contribute to a dynamic and high energy format.
| August 6–7 (Th/F) | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | State College |
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