Welcome
We are very excited to offer a minor in Counseling and Social Change. This minor is an interdisciplinary study geared to support and complement students who are studying a variety of majors, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, education, communication, social work, nursing, history, kinesiology, as well as many other field of studies.
This minor will invite students to explore the ways social and political contexts shape peoples' experiences, relationships, and the stories that shape us. As you learn to investigate these things through new perspectives, you will also be exposed to a variety of helping professions and learn how basic counseling skills can be helpful as a way to engage in conversations. We will talk about how these conversations can that change perspectives on problems and that stand against the effects of oppression, inequities and contentious relationships that are so much a part of our political and social culture. The minor introduces students to a number of concepts, ideas and skills that serve to engage students in basic counseling, listening, and just practices that will increase opportunities for employment in any positions where communication and interactions with people are central. The minor, housed through the MS in Counseling Program in the College of Education, requires only 18 units to complete. There are four required courses and two courses that are designed to work with your existing coursework.
Required Coursework:
- COUN 3101: Introduction to counseling and the helping professions
- COUN 3102: The social construction of relationships
- COUN 3103: Introduction to Counseling skills and practices
- COUN 3104: Counseling and social change
- Plus: two electives (1 GE & 1 additional class) which must be approved by the program coordinator.
For more information or to enroll, talk to your undergraduate advisor and/or contact Dr. Justine D’Arrigo, coordinator for the undergraduate minor in counseling and social change:
Dr. Justine D’arrigo
Program Coordinator for the Undergraduate Minor
justine.darrigopatrick@csusb.edu
Phone: 909 537-7040
Office: College of Education Building - Room CE-378
Coursework Descriptions:
COUN 3101: Introduction to counseling and the helping professions
This is an introduction to the Counseling & Social Change minor and a prerequisite for COUN 3103. Students are exposed to themes that cut across the counseling and helping professions, including listening skills, the experience and value of compassion and compassionate action, the ethics of caring, and the effects of power relations in the helping profession. Professional pathways will be explored including, degree requirements, nature of the work, types of clientele served, theoretical modalities, work sites, ethical dimensions, and desirable personal characteristics.
COUN 3102: The social construction of relationships
This course emphasizes how the construction of identity is shaped through experiences that are tied to social, political, cultural and environmental processes that intersect with various forms of institutionalized power, privilege and oppression.
COUN 3103: Introduction to Counseling skills and practices
Counseling is an interpersonal process with culturally-based ideas and practices that has effects on social interaction, interpersonal communication, and social change. This is an introductory course to counseling and compassionate listening skills with a particular focus on understanding how stories are constructed and shape identities utilizing an active and participatory learning experience.
COUN 3104: Counseling and social change
This course provides a critical analysis of issues and actions needed to advance social justice in counseling practice. It attends to the contemporary social, cultural, and economic issues that often negatively affect the lives of clients. The emphasis is on promoting social change within the counseling context among client groups that have historically been marginalized or oppressed in some fashion.