Psychology Question
The student will complete a 6–7-page paper (minimum 6 full pages of text, double-spaced with appropriate APA citations and references).Additional Information: Professional Synthesis Paper
Content and Standards
Each Applied Lab student will write a paper designed to explain professional identity and explore aspects of professional identity development, share plans for growth in professional identity development, and show mastery of APA format and style.
This paper should be 6 – 7 pages of content and must follow APA guidelines (i.e., title page, abstract, and references that do not count as part of the page requirement).
APA format is imperative for this paper, as it includes the appropriate sections, headings, structure, etc. Use your APA Manual as you write, ensuring you follow all guidelines. Understanding the use of sources, proper citations and references, etc., is required.
Papers not submitted in APA format, that do not utilize appropriate citation and referencing, or that do not follow the guidelines in this assignment will earn a grade of 0.
Papers should include at least eight scholarly/academic sources published within the last 10 years (or seminal work). At a minimum, four sources should be peer-reviewed articles. You may use books and articles from previous classes as scholarly/academic sources if published within the last 10 years or seminal work. Any sources older than that should be approved by the professor.
The prompts for this paper relate to your plans and personal decisions; however, this is not an opinion-based paper. It is expected that, as a graduate student, you will be able to support all of your decisions and beliefs with effective citations/references to guide the reader to how you have formed your decisions. You should have few, if any, paragraphs that do not include at least one citation. Review the APA Manual, page 254 for general citation guidance for paragraphs.
Use the following outline for your paper’s content:
- Introduction: Introduce and define the concept of professional identity development and its importance in counseling
- Professional Dispositions: Using the CMHC Student Handbook, define LETU’s six professional dispositions. Share how you have matured in each area since you began this program and explain specific ways you plan to continue your growth in each area as you enter fieldwork.
- Cultural Diversity and Bias: Discuss the professional ethics related to diversity and bias in clinical mental health counseling. Explain how clinical mental health counselors should engage with clients who hold values and beliefs that are inconsistent with the counselor’s personal beliefs. Based on what you have learned in classes and your understanding of Christian theology, what is a Christian’s responsibility to clients from different faith backgrounds?
- Ethics in Practice: Explain how you will implement and maintain sound ethical practice as you enter fieldwork (practicum and internship). Explain two specific ethical issues that may be challenging for you and how you plan to address those.
- Faith and Spirituality in Practice: Explain the ethics related to faith/spirituality integration in counseling. How do you plan to incorporate your personal beliefs in your profession? Be sure to discuss how Christian theology learned in other classes informs your understanding of counseling.
- Theoretical Orientation: Describe your current theoretical approach to counseling. Explain how your theory/model guides your understanding of the counseling process (human nature/regular development, suffering and brokenness, psychopathology, treatment, roles of the client and counselor, etc.). How do your faith/spiritual beliefs influence your theoretical orientation?
The paper will be graded on content, organization, APA format and style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and mechanics of the paper. Additional points will be deducted for writing errors, lack of adherence to APA guidelines, and other writing issues. Plagiarism, use of AI, or using non-academic/non-scholarly sources will result in failing the paper and the course.
Suggested Reading:
Mosher, D. K., Hook, J. N., Captari, L. E., Davis, D. E., DeBlaere, C., & Owen, J. (2017). Cultural humility: A therapeutic framework for engaging diverse clients. Practice Innovations, 2(4), 221-233. https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000055
Moss, J. M., Gibson, D. M., & Dollarhide, C. T. (2013). Professional identity development: A grounded theory of transformational tasks of counselors. Journal of Counseling and Development, 92(1), 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1002.j.1446-6676.2014.00124
Wardle, E. A., & Mayorga, M. G. (2016). Burnout among the counseling profession: A survey of future professional counselors. Journal on Educational Psychology, 10(1), 9-15. https://doi.org/10.26634.j/jpsy.10.1.7068
This paper must be complete and follow all instructions. Failure to do so will result in a grade of zero (0). Papers that are plagiarized or use AI will receive a grade of zero (0) and will fail the course.
MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program
Professional Dispositions
- Professional Ethics—exhibits conduct consistent with the mission of LeTourneau University, Counselor Education Program, and ACA code of ethics; provides excellent service to clients
- Professional Behavior—behaves respectfully to faculty, staff, peers, site supervisors, and others; exhibits excellent social and interpersonal skills, which includes oral and written communications (such as video conference calls, emails, text messages, in person communications).
- Openness to feedback—responds appropriately and non-defensively to class instruction, supervision, and other sources of constructive feedback.
- Emotional Stability—exhibits emotional balance and maturity with the ability to acknowledge and address any impairment that might place self or another at risk; demonstrates self-awareness and self-control in relationships with faculty, staff, peers, site supervisors, clients, and others.
- Professional and Personal Growth—demonstrates a commitment to ongoing professional and personal development; demonstrates engagement in learning, development, and practices that improve counseling competency and excellence; exhibits behaviors and attitudes that demonstrate ability to adapt to changes, unexpected events, situations, and new ideas.
- Multicultural Competency—demonstrates respect for culture; demonstrates multicultural competencies; demonstrates an appreciation and value for diversity.