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CCMH/511

Fundamental Counseling Skills

3 credits

Total credits

6 weeks

Course length

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Take this course on its own, or as part of a degree or certificate program.

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Please Note: Attendance and participation are mandatory in all University courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy in the Catalog for more information.

University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses. While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.

Course level: Graduate

This introductory counseling skills course introduces students to fundamental helping skills. Students will develop a range of basic communication patterns to facilitate a healthy therapeutic relationship between the counselor and the client. Students learn counseling and communication skills such as , attending behaviors, eliciting, structuring, and summarizing.

Please Note: Attendance and participation are mandatory in all University courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy in the Catalog for more information.

University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses. While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative.

What you'll learn

Course skills and outcomes

  • Describe the therapeutic use of communication skills.
  • Differentiate between effective and ineffective communication skills in a counseling session.
  • Analyze the use of communication skills in a counseling demonstration.

  • Demonstrate basic interviewing and attending skills through a counseling role-play.
  • Determine the use of open- versus closed-ended questions in the counseling process.
  • Develop open-ended questions to use in a counseling session.
  • Demonstrate methods of rapport building in the development of the counseling relationship.

  • Demonstrate the ability to reflect feelings through a counseling role-play.
  • Determine difficulties experienced when reflecting feelings in a counseling session.
  • Demonstrate counselor characteristics and behaviors that influence the counseling process.

  • Assess strengths and areas for improvement in individual counseling skills.
  • Develop a plan for improving individual counseling skills.
  • Apply ethical crisis intervention techniques to a specific counseling scenario.
  • Describe the role of professional boundaries in counseling.

  • Analyze the role of cultural awareness in the counseling process.
  • Examine the role of culture in individual development.
  • Describe techniques for assessing a client’s unique cultural perspective.

  • Synthesize a fictional counseling session as the counselor.
  • Demonstrating counseling behaviors, strategies, and skills in a counseling session.
  • Integrate self-assessment practices in the evaluation of individual counseling skills.

Why UOPX

Why take courses at University of Phoenix

Accreditation that matters

We’ve been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org) for more than 40 years.

Real-world instructors

Learn from instructors who bring an average of 25 years of working experience to the classroom.

Affordable and potentially reimbursable

Our tuition and fees are competitive and fixed. Also, check to see if your employer will cover you for this course.

Next Steps

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Transfer Credits

Credit Transfer

Need to transfer credits to another college or university?

Before you enroll in a course, check with your school of choice to make sure they will accept our transfer credits and to understand any requirements or limitations. Then you can complete your course, and request your official transcript be sent to your school. That’s it!

How to request your transcripts

Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice. If you have a question contact us at (866) 354-1800.

The University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses. Although our continuing teacher education courses are accepted by some state agencies in the United States toward teacher certifications and endorsements, this may not be the case in all states or foreign jurisdictions. If you plan to use courses for certification or endorsement, please check with your own state agency and your school district for applicability. Continuing teacher education courses are not eligible to apply to degree programs at University of Phoenix. These courses are not eligible for federal financial aid. Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether or not credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice. While widely available, not all programs are available to residents of all states. Please check with a University Enrollment Representative. If you have a question contact us at (866) 354-1800.