For the experiential-based learning component of the course, you will devote 10 hours for community volunteering for the semester.

Community Experience: For the experiential-based learning component of the course, you will devote 10 hours for community volunteering for the semester. I strongly suggest a visit every week. Choose any organization or community that you are interested in which reflects a specific chapter topic from the course. This organization or community cannot be one that you are already engaged in (e.g., your job or as a volunteer). Examples are neighborhood groups, non-profit organizations, church or church groups, mental health or crisis centers and government agencies. Research shows that you will develop a deeper understanding of what you read if you reflect on it and apply it to your experiences. To help you do that, you will keep a journal of reactions to your community project. In your journal, please log separately, please provide cumulative times of your experiences and your personal reactions to your community experiences in a descriptive open manner as you possible can. I would have to approve your choice of organization or community experience so please share that choice with me through Canvas message by the date listed on the syllabus for my approval. The Community Experience journal is the main written requirement. This Journal can be any format you chose (web page, video, online scrapbook, paper) but please include the following information: a. Date, times, and duration of your involvement b. Setting c. Activities for the duration of your visit (describe)d. How your observations connect with the issues, theories, and other discussions we have in class. Ensure you answer the following questions in your journal: 1) Why this organization/setting is of interest for a community mental health. 2) What a community psychologist can study and contribute to the organization/setting 3) What the organization/setting can contribute to community mental health and to your own growth/knowledge.4) Other aspects of the organization you can relate to the readings and discussions(e.g., the ecological concept). 5) The last entry of your journal (after the last visit) is a summary of your community experience. Note that your reactions you wrote on the journal may have changed over the volunteer time. This last entry is your chance to update your comments. Your journal is due to be submitted online utilizing the Assignment area by the due date listed on the syllabus. Criteria for grading this journal: a. Willingness to be honest and “real” in your comments b. Completeness and clarity of the entries (do not only write one paragraph per activity). c. Clarity of the reactions and integration with course materials.

Grading Rubic; for signature assignment and community experience.

The student provided a case conceptualization utilizing a systems approach to describe the various systems impacting a community mental health client that has experienced a traumatic event. The student detailed advocacy efforts as well as social, institutional, and legislative barriers to treatment and how this client could access equitable treatment. The student described how counselors working with this client would collaborate within their agency and with other community resources to serve the client. The student integrates course material to augment the case example.

The student selected a primary problem. The primary problem selected represents the most clinically distressing issue. It is delineated using a behavioral/ operational definition that represents how the symptoms manifested for that client. The student included trauma-informed treatment approaches and/or crisis management approaches in the treatment plan. Components of the treatment plan flow logically from the case scenario and are appropriate for the student’s recommendation for level of care (outpatient, inpatient, IOP).

The student developed clinically relevant long-term goals appropriate to the presenting problem(s). Components of the treatment plan flow logically from the case scenario. The student outlined at least two short-term objectives for each goal using behaviorally measurable language. There is at least one intervention for each objective. The student developed clinically relevant interventions based on the objectives delineated. Includes a description of how the student would help the client to understand and gain access to relevant community resources