Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2026

Introduction to Counseling and Psychotherapy (Face-to-Face)

PSY 4340-01

Course: PSY 4340-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Department: Psychology
CRN: 31964

Course Description

This course provides exposure to many of the contemporary approaches to psychotherapy. Lectures are supplemented with experiential exercises.

Prerequisite

PSY 1010 – Prerequisite Min. Grade: C-

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Describe major approaches to counseling and psychotherapy, including their key concepts, views of human nature, therapeutic goals, therapist-client relationships, and interventions.
  2. Compare and contrast theoretical approaches by examining how different theories conceptualize psychological distress and the process of therapeutic change.
  3. Apply theoretical concepts to case examples by conceptualizing client concerns and identifying therapeutic goals and interventions from different theoretical perspectives.
  4. Evaluate counseling and psychotherapy approaches by considering their strengths, limitations, ethical considerations, research support, and application with diverse populations.
  5. Integrate concepts across theoretical approaches to develop an understanding of how different perspectives and interventions can be incorporated into the practice of psychotherapy.

Required Texts

Corey, G. (2024). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.

This course uses the Inclusive Access program through the SUU Campus Store, which provides you with instant digital access to the required textbook (Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, Eleventh Edition) through Canvas starting on the first day of class – no action is needed on your part to gain access, the book is simply available on Canvas (under the tab labeled "Inclusive Access Course Materials"). The cost of these materials will be automatically charged to your student account at a significantly reduced price compared to traditional textbook options, and financial aid and scholarships can be applied to cover this fee. If you prefer to obtain the textbook on your own, you may opt out of Inclusive Access by September 23, 2026, and the charge will be refunded to your account. However, please be aware that the Inclusive Access price is typically the most affordable option available, and opting out means you will be responsible for immediately obtaining your own course materials to avoid falling behind. If you have questions about Inclusive Access, please contact the bookstore at bookstore@suu.edu or visit their website.

Additional Readings: All other articles, videos, or course materials will be provided free of cost on Canvas.

Grading

This table represents the percent range and letter grade for the course:
Grade | Percentage | Grade | Percentage
A | 93 – 100.00% | C | 73 – 76.99%
A- | 90 – 92.99% | C- | 70 – 72.99%
B+ | 87 – 89.99% | D+ | 67 – 69.99%
B | 83 – 86.99% | D | 63 – 66.99%
B- | 80 – 82.99% | D- | 60 – 62.99%
C+ | 77 – 79.99% | F | 0 – 59.99%

Course Requirements

Grade Breakdown (250 points total):
Activity | Points
Quizzes | 100
Case Responses | 50
Presentation | 50
Final Exam | 50
TOTAL | 250
*Bonus Opportunity: Up to 5 bonus points are available. Bonus points can help make up for points lost on other assignments; however, your final grade cannot exceed 250 points.

Quizzes (100 points)
You will complete a short quiz during weeks 3 to 14 to assess your theoretical knowledge and understanding of psychotherapy. The questions on the quiz will cover the past week’s content including the assigned chapters from the texts and the information discussed in class. Each quiz will be worth 10 points and will consist of 10 multiple choice questions. If you miss or fail to complete a quiz, you will receive a score of zero for that quiz.
Case Responses (50 points)
Each Thursday class during weeks 7 to 12 will begin with a 20-minute mini case response. You will be given a short client scenario and asked to identify the most relevant psychotherapeutic theory or intervention for the situation. Your responses will be submitted at the end of the 20 minutes. Each case response will be worth 10 points. If you miss or fail to complete a case response, you will receive a score of zero.
Presentation (50 points)
With a classmate, you will give a presentation on a psychotherapy/therapeutic approach. The presentation will include key people, use of the therapy, theoretical principles, practice of the therapy, state of the research on the therapy, and a related activity. A detailed rubric and examples will be provided in the semester.
Final Exam (50 points)
Scheduled during Finals Week (December 14 - 17).
A comprehensive final exam covering major concepts, theories, and applications from across the semester; questions will be drawn from the textbook.
Bonus Opportunity (5 points available)
Chapter Documentation Portfolio (5 points): Each week, as preparation for the upcoming week's lectures, I recommend creating a concept map, outline, or some other type of comprehensive notes for the assigned textbook chapter. These assignments ensure you engage with reading material before class and build your study toolkit for exams. Keep all your work organized—it will serve as your primary study material for the final exam. Submit proof that you completed all Chapter Preview Assignments throughout the semester. This all-or-nothing bonus rewards consistent effort, as well as the opportunity to go back and make up work for fewer points. Details will be provided mid-semester.

Course Outline

This course covers the following topics:

  • The Counselor: Person and Professional
  • Ethical Issues in Counseling and Practice
  • Psychoanalytic Therapy
  • Person-Centered Approaches
  • Behavior Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavior Therapy
  • Choice Theory/Reality Therapy
  • Feminist Therapy
  • Postmodern Approaches - Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
  • Integrative Perspective

Detailed weekly schedule, assignment due dates, and any schedule changes will be posted on Canvas.

Attendance Policy

You are in charge of your attendance. My teaching philosophy is built on personal responsibility and focuses on preparing you for adult professional life. Attendance in this course is crucial for your success, as it provides the opportunity to engage in discussions, participate in hands-on practice, and build a deeper understanding of psychotherapy principles. Each session is designed to enhance your learning through interactive activities and real-time feedback, which cannot be fully captured through readings or recorded materials alone. Your active participation not only enriches your own experience but also contributes to the collective learning of the class. Therefore, regular attendance is strongly encouraged to ensure you gain the most from this course. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to promptly catch up on any missed material, assignments, or announcements by reaching out to classmates or reviewing course resources. Missing class will directly impact your grade through missed points. Budget your absences wisely and understand that your attendance choices have consequences for your final grade. If you miss more than a few classes, you will likely struggle to pass this course.
Excused vs. Unexcused Absences
According to SUU Policy 6.30, excused absences are granted for:
  • Students representing SUU at athletic competitions, academic events (i.e., academic competitions, professional/academic conferences), fine arts performances, or course-related field trips.
  • Jury duty.
  • Military/law enforcement obligations.
  • Illness (I do NOT want you coming to class sick!).
Practices, rehearsals, sports clubs, intramural events, Greek activities, and career fairs do not qualify as excused absences.
How to Request an Excused Absence
You must notify me BEFORE your absence (except in genuine emergencies). Email me before the class you will miss. Here's what happens next:
  • You email me before class with a brief reason for your absence.
  • I send you a standardized acknowledgment email explaining the policy.
  • If we have an in-class activity that day, I will send you a makeup assignment via email.
  • If you don't receive a makeup assignment from me, we didn't have an in-class activity that day - or your absence was not excused based on SUU policy.
Important: If you notify me after class (and it wasn't a genuine emergency), your absence will not be excused and you cannot make up the work. Being an adult means planning ahead and communicating proactively.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

For most assignments on Canvas, I will allow late submissions with an automatic 10% deduction per each day it is late. Once an assignment reaches zero points due to late penalties (after 10 days), I will no longer accept it.
In-Class Activities (Quizzes, Case Responses, Presentation): These cannot be made up for unexcused absences. For university-approved excused absences (please see my attendance policy above), I will provide an equitable makeup opportunity as required by SUU policy.
Tests: These are not subject to the late policy above; tests will have a set time you may take them on Canvas and once the due date has passed, I will not accept it.

Required Extra- or Co-Curricular Activities

These are optional for extra credit. See the section on extra credit above. 

STATEMENT OF SAFETY OR RISK

Not applicable. 

Course Fees

There is a $12 course fee associated with this class.

AI Policy

AI tools (including but not limited to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DALL-E...) can be used for brainstorming, organizing ideas, and creating visuals, but all AI use must be cited. Example citation: "ChatGPT-4. (2025, September 15). 'Help me create a visual about different biases based on my notes.' Generated using OpenAI. https://chat.openai.com/"
However, all writing, critical thinking, source evaluation, and analysis must be your own work. Psychology careers require human insight and problem-solving skills that you need to develop through practice.
This means two things for this course:
  • If you use AI, you must cite it in your assignment. If you use it and do not cite it, this is academic dishonesty and you will earn a 0 for the assignment and may be reported.
  • If you use AI, I need to see a justification as to why and how it helps your learning. You cannot use AI to complete entire assignments or major portions of assignments - even with citation.
Examples of appropriate AI use (must ALWAYS have a citation):
  • Translation assistance: A student whose first language isn't English uses AI to translate certain specific concepts and cites it each time (not for whole documents/assignments).
  • Concept clarification: Including a brief, cited conversation where you ask AI to explain a concept you don't understand (e.g., "I don't understand fundamental attribution error vs. other types of bias”).
  • Organization: Creating an outline structure from your existing ideas.
Examples of inappropriate AI use:
  • Using AI to write any substantial portion of your assignment.
  • Using AI to create APA 7 citations (you are learning this skill - AI frequently gets it wrong and you need to know how to check it!).
  • Having AI answer critical thinking questions for you.
  • Using AI to analyze sources or data.
  • Using AI without citation.
Why I care about this: I think AI has the ability to be a helpful technology, and I'm not against it as a concept. However, I am against using it as a replacement for learning. Recent research using brain imaging has shown that students who rely on AI tools for writing tasks show weaker brain connectivity, reduced cognitive engagement, and struggle to recall or quote their own work compared to students who complete tasks without AI assistance (Kosmyna et al., 2025). The study found that while AI offers immediate convenience, it comes with significant cognitive costs - essentially accumulating "cognitive debt" that undermines actual learning. You're in college to build your brain, not to outsource your thinking. Use AI as a tool to support your learning, not replace it.
References
Kosmyna, N., Hauptmann, E., Yuan, Y. T., Situ, J., Liao, X.-H., Beresnitzky, A. V., Braunstein, I., & Maes, P. (2025). Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task. arXiv.

DISCLAIMER STATEMENT

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.
 
Syllabus prepared by: Dr. Bailey Way
Date:                          August, 2026

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Religious / Conscience Belief Accommodation

RELIGIOUS / CONSCIENCE BELIEF ACCOMMODATION: In accordance with SUU Policy 6.7 Student Belief Accommodation, students may request, in writing, that their faculty accommodate their sincerely held religious or conscience beliefs. Students should provide their faculty with sufficient advanced notice, if possible within the first five (5) business days of the semester or session, or thereafter with good cause for requesting an accommodation after the first five (5) business days.

Faculty must provide a schedule accommodation or excuse an absence, in any course, for students to observe or participate in religious holidays or an organized activity conducted under the auspices of the student’s religious tradition or religious organization.

In courses that are required for graduation or for an academic major, a faculty member may accommodate a religious or conscience belief by modifying an assignment or examination if its content conflicts with the student’s belief. Faculty may decline the accommodation if it would fundamentally alter the course requirements. If declined, the student may request review by a neutral arbiter using the Belief Accommodation Request Form: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv&layout_id=5

Questions go to Assistant Provost Jake Johnson at johnsonj@suu.edu.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.