Weekly Journals (280 Points Total)
Each week, you will keep a journal, worth 40 points each week, in which you log at least 4 interactions with others. Please provide a brief synopsis of the circumstances that preceded the interaction and the interaction itself. Please pay attention to directions in the assignment shell in Canvas as the focus of each week’s journal will be different and dependent on the topic of the week.
Learning Synthesis Discussions (140 Points Total)
Each week, you will submit something to illustrate how you are synthesizing the online learning activities/lessons with the assigned reading. To complete this assignment, you will find a visual representation to demonstrate how you are thinking about the course content and submit it to this discussion board with a succinct and articulate explanation of what you chose. You may create something, find an image online, or submit a video clip illustrating your thoughts about each week’s module. Then, you will respond to at least two other posts in a thoughtful and meaningful way. During modules that include assigned reading from one of the required texts, it must be clear to that you incorporated both the assigned reading and the online lessons posted in Canvas. For each module, the focus of this assignment should be on topics covered during that module. As we progress through the course, you will include at least one topic from a previous module into each assignment. For example, for Module 2, the focus of your assignment will be on Module 2, and you will need to incorporate something you learned during Module 1 into the assignment. By the end of the course for Module 7, you will focus on Module 7 and need to incorporate at least one thing from ANY of the previous modules. It is absolutely okay to incorporate concepts from multiple previous modules, but you are only required to incorporate one.Posts and comments are due by midnight Sunday at the end of each week of the course.
Identification of Emotions (150 Points)
For this assignment, please make a list of at least 20 emotions. For each emotion, please identify:
- At least 5 possible situations/circumstances that might trigger each emotions
- At least 3 non-verbal cues that may communicate to you that someone is experiencing this emotion
- At least 5 potential responses to these emotions that validates the individual’s experience
This assignment can be formatted however you want, but you will be graded on how easy it is to navigate as a reader/grader.
Communication Analysis (150 Points)
This assignment should have two distinct parts, but can be formatted however you like as long as it is easy to navigate and grade.
- Part I: Please find a minimum of 6 media references that illustrate both effective and ineffective communication styles within the context of a relationship, of any kind. 3 of your references should be examples of safe and effective communication and 3 should be examples of unsafe and/or ineffective communication. For each reference, please explain your thought process about how the reference is or is not safe and/or effective.
- Part II: Choose one of your unsafe and/or ineffective references and explain what specific dynamics and/or behavior made it unsafe and what you, as a professional, could do differently to create safety and effective communication. For full credit, you will need to be very specific and identify specific dynamics/behavior and strategies.
Interviewing Practice (150 Points)
For this assignment, you will work in groups of 3-4 to practice interviewing skills. Each person will take a turn as the client, professional, and observer. Groups will be assigned via Canvas at the start of the semester.
- When you are being interviewed as the client, identify a fictional problem that you could seek help from a professional for. You may find it helpful to base it on something you have seen somewhere such as in a movie, TV show, or book.
- When you are acting as the professional, your job is to learn all you can about the problem and how it is impacting the client’s life.
- When you are the observer, your job is to notice what was or was not effective and what you would or would not do differently and why. Please remember criticism is rarely useful.
Each person must turn in a 2-4 page paper that includes a discussion about interviewing techniques that were or weren’t effective for them, as both the client and professional, and why. Please also include a discussion about your observations when you were in the role of observer. Your focus for all aspects of this paper should be what was and was not helpful and effective and why.
Movie Analysis (200 Points)
This assignment is in lieu of a final exam. Please choose a film or 3 consecutive episodes of a TV series to watch and apply concepts from this course. You may not use a documentary or reality TV series. Please write a 4-6 page paper in which you identify at least 5 different interactions between characters. Your paper should include:
- A brief synopsis of the plot (no more than ¾ page)
- Specific emotions that the characters were exhibiting
- Why you think the characters were exhibiting the emotions you identified
- Specific communication strategies that either were or weren’t safe and effective
- At least 3 other course components you observed in the movie such as respect (or not) of power differentials, RULER, or healthy/unhealthy and/or safe/unsafe family dynamics
- How you as a professional would intervene in order to maintain an effective therapeutic alliance remembering that at this level, therapy is not an appropriate intervention for you to provide.
- For full credit, you must be very specific about the requested/required information and the relevance of the movie to the course.