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Counselling and Interviewing Skills (SCWK90053)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
To learn more, visit 2023 Course and subject delivery.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
February
Overview
Availability | February |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject provides students with an introduction to the microskills of interpersonal communication for professional practice. It is an experiential subject designed to prepare students for entry into supervised agency-based practice. The subject focuses on the development of communication, basic interviewing and counselling, and critical self-reflection skills, for application in a variety of social work contexts. Cultural diversity is explored throughout. In addition to large group discussions and exercises, students engage weekly in role plays and videoed interviews to develop specific micro-skills - in particular, the skills of engaging, attending, listening, questioning, and responding.
Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge
At the end of this subject, students should be able to:
- Articulate the central importance of the therapeutic relationship in terms contributing to positive client outcomes;
- Describe how their self-knowledge and self-awareness can inform client interactions, including an identification of the factors that contribute to their positive use of self;
- Identify and describe the role of microskills in interpersonal communication; specifically the skills of engaging, attending, listening, questioning and responding; and
- Identify and explain the complexities of communication in a multicultural context.
Skills
At the end of this subject, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate basic competency in the core communication skills for interviewing and counselling that underpin social work practice;
- Demonstrate skills in negotiating the impact of different worldviews and values on establishing an effective therapeutic relationship; and
- Critically self-reflect on themselves in interactions with others.
Application
At the end of this subject, students should be able to:
- Critically apply reflexive use of self in the professional therapeutic relationship, based on self-awareness and constructive appraisal of their practice by self and others; and
- Demonstrate respect for cultural difference in the critical application of their practice skills in working with individuals in diverse settings and practice environments.
Generic skills
Students who complete this subject should be able to:
- critically analyse texts and practices
- understand recent developments in social work contexts of practice
- link theory to practice
- competently communicate in ways relevant to both academic and practice contexts
- undertake independent research
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Process Recording
| Mid semester | 30% |
Video taped interview (10-15 min) with written self-assessment template
| End of semester | 70% |
Hurdle requirement: Attendance at 100% of tutorial classes and completion of all online lecture preparation material. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Hurdle requirement: All components must be passed for an overall pass in this subject. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Dates & times
- February
Principal coordinator Nicole Hill Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 16 contact hours per semester (8 x 2 hour tutorial) An additional 8 x 1 hour of online preparation learning material must be completed weekly prior to attending each tutorial class, in place of attending a lecture. Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 13 February 2023 to 9 April 2023 Last self-enrol date 24 February 2023 Census date 3 March 2023 Last date to withdraw without fail 14 April 2023 Assessment period ends 12 May 2023 February contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Last updated: 31 January 2024
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Harms, L. (2015). Working with People: Communication Skills for Reflective Practice (2nd ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press
Recommended texts and other resources
Egan, G. (2014). The Skilled Helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping (10 th ed.). Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Social Work - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 31 January 2024