College of Education

Knowledge Base Statement

 

RECENT HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Since 1997, the College of Education has undergone reorganization and a re-conceptualization of its mission and vision. Counseling programs before that time were housed in the Department of Behavioral Studies, a department made up of counselor educators, special educators, educational psychologists, and research methodologists. With reorganization (of what is now the College of Education) came the Division of Counseling and Family Therapy (DCFT). The DCFT's overall mission is to provide training for school and community counseling professionals, couple/family therapists, and counselor educators and researchers. The DCFT provides doctoral-level training through the Ph.D. in Education and the Ed.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision. The DCFT has sought and received accreditation (in 2001) of three master's degree programs (school, community, and career) by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the professional accrediting body for the profession of counseling. Accreditation by CACREP is acknowledgment that the UM-St. Louis counseling programs meet standards beyond those of general accreditation – to the level of specialized professional education. The UM-St. Louis counseling programs are the only CACREP accredited programs in the St. Louis metropolitan region.

Consistent with the knowledge base statement of the College of Education and CACREP accreditation standards, the DCFT has sought to enhance its field-based training by expanding the number of hours and semester of experiential training in the community. This has required outreach and collaboration with a number of partners in the community – schools and agencies providing counseling services. Every semester, approximately 20-30 students are placed at field sites in the community to serve individuals, couples, and families in need. These counselors receive site supervision and on-campus supervision of their counseling practice. In other words, field-based learning and community partnership have been expanded as the DCFT has realigned its program with the mission of the College of Education and CACREP standards.

The DCFT has also become a major contributor in the area of research and publication. In line with University system policy that the University of Missouri-St. Louis is a land-grant urban research university, the role of research has been acknowledged and embraced by the faculty members of the DCFT. Although faculty members have always been productive academically, the addition of two new associate professors to the Division has enhanced the research role. Also, four recently hired assistant professors have great potential to contribute meaningfully to the literature and to the knowledge base of the field of counseling. The DCFT is successfully evolving into its research and scholarship leadership role.

The faculty members of the DCFT also clearly recognize the importance to service to the professional and geographic communities. Through active involvement in professional associations, faculty members model involvement for their students. The faculty members have aspired to and have achieved leadership roles in national and state associations representing counselors. Faculty members have also sought to assist communities in need through service activities to schools and non-profit organizations. In other words, the advocacy role of the members of the faculty have evolved to the degree that their leadership is gaining national and local attention.

Overall, the recent history of the DCFT points to achievement of several goals that demonstrate objectively improvement of programs, faculty, and community outreach.

ENGAGEMENT IN MULTIPLE CONTEXTS

According to its Knowledge Base Statement, the College of Education “seeks to engage in ongoing work in partnership with colleagues and institutions at multiple levels of community.”

At the regional and state levels, the DCFT has established linkage and collaboration with a number of public and non-public organizations. Of course, the school districts in the region are served by the school counseling program – and many employed school counselors in the St. Louis region are graduates of the DCFT. The DCFT also sponsors an annual full-day training workshop for counselors employed by the St. Louis Public School system. Most impressively, many of the students in their field experiences provide direct services tochildren in school and educational contexts. The DCFT also coordinates a federal grant on “Drug-Free Families,” and has set up a state-of- the-art counseling and educational center to serve individuals identified by the grant as in need of services. Many of the community counseling program students serve as counselors-in-training at agencies in the St. Louis region, as the DCFT has established lasting partnerships with hospitals, clinics, government agencies, and United Way agencies in the area. In this way, students and faculty are making direct counseling service contributions to the community. But other partnerships also reflect the multiple contexts of involvement—including service work of faculty members to local charities and professional organizations. The DCFT has encouraged faculty members to be active participants in national, state and local professional organizations. Faculty members have had great success in taking leadership roles in professional organizations. As such, faculty members have taken on an advocacy role for professional counseling and the clients served by professional counselors. This advocacy role is reflected in the many contexts of direct involvement. Clearly, the DCFT is a good community partner. Partnership in multiple contexts is clearly in line with the mission of the College of Education and reflects a commitment of the faculty members of the DCFT to community involvement in ways that enhance the lives of counseling professionals and the individuals they serve.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

The College of Education knowledge base statement makes it clear that “There is a legitimate need for economically productive individuals and politically cooperative citizens.” Further, “In the context of these expectations, there is an implicit promise that schooling and training will result in citizens capable of participating in the democratic process and accessing economic benefits.”

The DCFT trains counselors within American culture in a political republic based on democratic ideals. The American economy is competitive capitalistic. Counselors must be free thinkers that understand their roles in the larger fabric of society, as they compete with other mental health professionals to provide services to individuals, couples, groups, and families in need. Counselors play a direct role in facilitating the development of active, productive, and healthy members of society. Counselors must be trained to be fair and non-discriminatory, while building on strengths and acknowledging weaknesses of their clients. Training must be based on empirically and theoretically sound practice (and not unfounded or prejudicial opinion).

Counseling professionals are guided by the well-established ethical principles in the mental health professions: beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, autonomy, and fidelity (Beauchamp & Childress, 1994; Kitchener, 1984). Beneficence, as a guiding principle, means that counselors act in the best interests of their clients. Non-maleficence means counselors avoid doing harm to clients. Justice means that counselors are fair and non-discriminatory. Autonomy means that counselors view clients as self-directing, as much as possible, and free to make decisions without undo influence. And finally, counselors are guided by the principle of fidelity, meaning they are loyal to their clients and maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the counseling relationship. These general principles guide counseling practice, and they are at the foundation of training counselors in the context of American culture. They are at the foundation of the knowledge base of training in the DCFT.

EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

Where the 21 st Century College of Education “provides programs and experiences that form the foundation for the education of an informed citizenry” that participates “in the freedoms and power of a modern, democratic, technological society,” the DCFT provides training to counselors and counselor educators that will act as conduits to culture, especially for individuals in need – the disabled, disenfranchised, downtrodden, and disheartened. Counselors are also trained to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities for those who show great promise for achievement and accomplishment. Counselors act to strengthen those that have potential, and to help those who must adjust to challenging personal and social circumstances. The faculty of the DCFT is committed to training counselors as change agents and advocates. Further, the DCFT is committed to training a future generation of counselor educators through its doctoral-level programs.

Counseling practice is broad and encompasses knowledge and skills in: counseling theories, research methods, ethical practice, group and family counseling methods, multicultural issues, assessment and testing, career counseling, and personality development and adjustment. Training of counselors involves didactic training as well as supervised field experience in the actual practice of working with clients. Counseling graduates are assessed and supervised closely to ensure they have the basic skills to practice competently and ethically.

The faculty of the DCFT are ideally suited to prepare school and community counselors and counselor educators with a foundation in accepted theories and methods of counseling practice. To this end, the faculty members of the DCFT are active in researching and assessing the effectiveness of application of theory to clients and counseling students alike.