Reflective Journal Assignment Submission and Learning Objectives

Importance of Reflective Journaling for Becoming a Competent Counsellor

• Integrate theory, research literature, and practice in case conceptualization, planning, and counselling interventions.
• Choose an appropriate course of action and apply sound ethical decision-making strategies to resolve ethical dilemmas.
• Reconstruct the counselling process for one or more counselling clients, using case notes and audio/video tapes.
• Engage in ongoing development of culturally and ethically sensitive competencies in clinical practices.
• Demonstrate professional relations with colleagues, faculty instructors and site supervisors.

Please use this assignment submission page to upload a MS Word file containing your Reflective Journal work for this Seminar.

Reflective journaling at this stage in your career development is a very important part of becoming a competent counsellor. Set up a reflection journal file on your computer to store your journal reflections. Reflection journals are scheduled to be submitted 5 times during the practicum course. Students will be expected to submit three to four page reflective journals each time highlighting their practicum learning experiences from their practicum site, during the seminars (specifically, seminar learning outcomes), and during faculty instruction. Students will be expected to produce deeply reflective, highly professional, and relevant journal reflections. It is important to know the line between deep reflection of personal growth and revealing too much information about your personal life. Be cautious about what you share as it pertains to your personal life and attempt to focus the reflection on who you are as a therapist. The person of the therapist is a very important developmental process for beginning therapist. It is a time for students to go deep and get to know themselves and how “the selfâ€Â impacts and is impacted by the counselling experience. If you are not sure how to write a reflective journal, research it. There is a great deal of good information on the internet that will help guide you.

Feel free in your journal to combine learnings from your seminars, supervisions, personal reflection and client session (remembering to leave out any client identifiers). ***For both of your reflective journals also please use the resources listed in the Skills learning Lab. This is accessed in the course Syllabus in the required materials area which also lists text books. Review the videos titled: "Safe and Effective Use of Self"; "Developing Self-Awareness" and "Advanced Reflection and Awareness" (practicum level) in the Building and Maintaining the Therapeutic Relationship Module***

Your journal has a purpose that is three-fold:

1. Your journals help in the development of the person of the therapist in terms of recognizing and realizing who you are amidst this work, where you can get triggered, and where you may have personal biases that could interfere with your work with a client.
2. Your journals give you a chance to interact with course material including the seminars, self directed reading and researching, self-assessments and any assignments that have occurred. It provides you with the opportunity to synthesize your internal development with supervision and evidence-based practice.
3. Lastly, the journals give you a place to process through areas of struggle, identify triggers, and ask questions about how to deal with specific populations.

Confidentiality: it is important to note that as with all your assignments at Yorkville University, journals are considered private documents however, should something be noted in your journal that creates concern that either you or a client could be in harm's way we have an obligation to ensure safety. If it is necessary to disclose information found in a student’s journal, the student would be informed (the exception being where the disclosure could cause further harm to the student or another person). In every case the utmost discretion will be used in revealing as little as possible while still ensuring safety. You should also be aware that journals and assignments can be read by faculty instructors, practicum coordinators and any other university official who requires access for university business including the Dean, should you appeal your grade.

Guidelines for Writing Practicum Learning Reflections

• Integrate theory, research literature, and practice in case conceptualization, planning, and counselling interventions.
• Choose an appropriate course of action and apply sound ethical decision-making strategies to resolve ethical dilemmas.
• Reconstruct the counselling process for one or more counselling clients, using case notes and audio/video tapes.
• Engage in ongoing development of culturally and ethically sensitive competencies in clinical practices.
• Demonstrate professional relations with colleagues, faculty instructors and site supervisors.

Please use this assignment submission page to upload a MS Word file containing your Reflective Journal work for this Seminar.

Reflective journaling at this stage in your career development is a very important part of becoming a competent counsellor. Set up a reflection journal file on your computer to store your journal reflections. Reflection journals are scheduled to be submitted 5 times during the practicum course. Students will be expected to submit three to four page reflective journals each time highlighting their practicum learning experiences from their practicum site, during the seminars (specifically, seminar learning outcomes), and during faculty instruction. Students will be expected to produce deeply reflective, highly professional, and relevant journal reflections. It is important to know the line between deep reflection of personal growth and revealing too much information about your personal life. Be cautious about what you share as it pertains to your personal life and attempt to focus the reflection on who you are as a therapist. The person of the therapist is a very important developmental process for beginning therapist. It is a time for students to go deep and get to know themselves and how “the selfâ€Â impacts and is impacted by the counselling experience. If you are not sure how to write a reflective journal, research it. There is a great deal of good information on the internet that will help guide you.

Feel free in your journal to combine learnings from your seminars, supervisions, personal reflection and client session (remembering to leave out any client identifiers). ***For both of your reflective journals also please use the resources listed in the Skills learning Lab. This is accessed in the course Syllabus in the required materials area which also lists text books. Review the videos titled: "Safe and Effective Use of Self"; "Developing Self-Awareness" and "Advanced Reflection and Awareness" (practicum level) in the Building and Maintaining the Therapeutic Relationship Module***

1. Your journals help in the development of the person of the therapist in terms of recognizing and realizing who you are amidst this work, where you can get triggered, and where you may have personal biases that could interfere with your work with a client.
2. Your journals give you a chance to interact with course material including the seminars, self directed reading and researching, self-assessments and any assignments that have occurred. It provides you with the opportunity to synthesize your internal development with supervision and evidence-based practice.
3. Lastly, the journals give you a place to process through areas of struggle, identify triggers, and ask questions about how to deal with specific populations.

Confidentiality: it is important to note that as with all your assignments at Yorkville University, journals are considered private documents however, should something be noted in your journal that creates concern that either you or a client could be in harm's way we have an obligation to ensure safety. If it is necessary to disclose information found in a student’s journal, the student would be informed (the exception being where the disclosure could cause further harm to the student or another person). In every case the utmost discretion will be used in revealing as little as possible while still ensuring safety. You should also be aware that journals and assignments can be read by faculty instructors, practicum coordinators and any other university official who requires access for university business including the Dean, should you appeal your grade.

Reflection Journal Rubric

The following rubric indicates those areas you should be focusing on in preparing for your reflective journals and how the instructor will weigh these components relative to one another.