Case Western Reserve University is introducing a new course this coming fall, combining counseling and communication skills together in a way students haven’t seen before. PSCL 390: Counseling and Communication, officially titled “Beyond the Disorders: Trauma-Informed Counseling and Communication Strategies,” aims to prepare students to better support individuals facing communication challenges.
“The mission of the Department of Psychological Sciences includes ‘bridging scientific research with clinical practice, preparing students through experiential learning, and promoting understanding of human behavior, brain function, and communication,’” Guanyu Wei, the creator of the course, said. “This course is at the intersection of human behavior, communication and experiential learning, tying together principles of both communication sciences and psychology.”
Wei, a PhD student in the Communication Science program in the Department of Psychological Sciences, designed this one-credit elective over the course of a year under the supervision of Dr. Angela Ciccia, with additional support from Dr. Anastasia Dimitropoulos and Dr. Helen Long. Not only did Wei create the course, Wei will also be teaching the class in the fall. He was inspired to create the course after seeing how common stress and anxiety are for clients with communication challenges and their family members.
“With the use of counseling while working on people’s communication skills, the frustration resulting from communication breakdowns can potentially be lowered,” Wei said. “To better prepare students to be competent practitioners or simply to get a better understanding of counseling strategies and communication disorders, PSCL 390 was created. Students will be able to have more time to process the information and try the strategies in class.”
The course builds directly on Wei’s research, which focuses on the counseling aspects of speech-language pathology. According to Wei, research has shown that a family member’s knowledge and confidence level are highly related to their own quality of life and the client’s quality of life. “The course is inspired by the implementation of such research evidence and translational research,” Wei said.
Students will also learn a wide range of practical skills, including semantic- and phonological-based cueing, effective communication strategies, family-centered counseling and trauma-informed approaches. The course introduces topics such as goal setting, shared decision-making, psychoeducation and grounding strategies used in trauma therapy.Then, students will be encouraged to actively participate and reflect on the material. Activities such as role-play, case analysis and creating resource packets allow students to practice real-world applications rather than only studying theory.
“The entire class will be guided by trauma-informed approaches,” Wei said. “[Moreover], communication disorders are diverse, and each has its own unique characteristics. In this class, students will get a basic understanding of different types of disorders and strategies to help these clients.”
Though the course officially launches for the first time in the fall, student interest is expected to be high. Wei will observe its success over the next semester and then explore the possibilities of expanding the class.