Professional Orientation

Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:

• Understand the history and philosophy of the counseling profession and its specialized practice areas [CACREP standard 3A1].

• Describe the multiple professional roles and functions of counselors across specialized practice areas [CACREP standard 3A2].

• Identify counselors’ roles, responsibilities, and relationships as members of specialized practice and interprofessional teams, including (a) collaboration and consultation, (b) community outreach, and (c) emergency response management [CACREP standard 3A3].

• Identify the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of and with individuals receiving counseling services to address systemic, institutional, architectural, attitudinal, disability, and social barriers that impede access, equity, and success [CACREP standard 3A4].

• Demonstrate an understanding of the role and process of the professional counselor advocating on behalf of the profession [CACREP standard 3A5].

• Identify professional counseling organizations, including membership benefits, activities, services to members, and current issues [CACREP standard 3A6].

• Identify professional counseling credentialing across service delivery modalities, including certification, licensure, and accreditation practices and standards for all specialized practice areas [CACREP standard 3A7].

• Evaluate legislation, regulatory processes, and government/public policy relevant to and impact on service delivery of professional counseling across service delivery modalities and specialized practice areas [CACREP standard 3A8].

• Identify current labor market information and occupational outlook relevant to opportunities for practice within the counseling profession [CACREP standard 3A9].

• Evaluate ethical standards of professional counseling organizations and credentialing bodies, and applications of ethical and legal considerations in professional counseling across service delivery modalities and specialized practice areas [CACREP standard 3A10].

• Demonstrate self-care, self-awareness, and self-evaluation strategies for ethical and effective practice [CACREP standard 3A11].

• Identify the purpose of and roles within counseling supervision in the profession [CACREP standard 3A12].

• Apply critical thinking and reasoning strategies for clinical judgment in the counseling process [CACREP standard 3E2].

• Understand the application of technology related to counseling [CACREP standard 3E5].

Course Grading Information:

Activity/Performance Measure	Percentage/Points
Quizzes	100 points
Professional Disclosure Statement	50 points
Professional Plan	50 points
Internship Application	25 points
Professional Experiences	50 points
Mini-Conference
Proposal	25 points
Poster presentation	150 points
Committee work	25 points
Class Participation	50 points
TOTAL	525 points

Grading Scale

Percentage	Letter Grade
90% - 100%	A
80% - 89.99%	B
70% - 79.99%	C
Below 70%	F

Attendance/Participation:

Attendance and participation are required components of this course and are essential to your professional development.

Students may miss up to two class sessions without penalty. Each additional absence may result in a 10% reduction of the final course grade.

Missing more than 15 minutes of class time—including arriving late, leaving early, or being absent during part of class—counts as one tardy; two tardies equal one absence.

Missing more than 45 minutes of class time counts as an absence.

Please notify the instructor by email before class if you will be absent or within 24 hours of an unexpected absence.

Course Materials Purchased by the Students:

Remley, T. P., & Herlihy, B. (2025). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling (7th edition). Pearson Education.