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A Risk and Prevention Counselor Training Program Model: Theory and Practice

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Abstract

The need for training mental health counselors in risk and prevention is presented, and justification of the development of an innovative and integrative prevention training program is offered. Theoretical underpinnings that connect the counseling discipline to the field of prevention are described. A risk and prevention training model from Harvard Graduate School of Education is presented as a case example that illustrates the integration of prevention practices into a counselor training curriculum. Prevention research initiatives are described as vehicles for interactive learning and training. Challenges and future opportunities for programmatic implementation are reviewed with attention towards systematic planning and program design.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education & Human Services, Villanova University, St. Augustine Center, 800 Lancaster Ave., Villanova, PA, 19010, USA

    Michael J. Mason

  2. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA , USA

    Michael J. Nakkula

Authors
  1. Michael J. Mason
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  2. Michael J. Nakkula
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael J. Mason.

Appendices

Appendix

  • Harvard’s Risk and Prevention Curriculum

  • Child and Adolescent Counseling Licensure Track

  • (Actual sequencing and content varies somewhat from year to year)

Year 1, First Semester

  • Core Course in Risk and Resilience

  •     Presents theoretical and empirical models on the development of risky behavior and resilience, and applied initiatives for preventing risk and enhancing resilience

  • Child or Adolescent Practicum Course, I

  •     Includes emphasis on preventive and developmental interventions, particularly for school settings

  • Individual Counseling

  •     Integrates traditional counseling models with preventive and developmental concepts and interventions

  • Introduction to educational and social science research

  •     General introduction to research methods; serves as foundation for understanding risk and prevention research models

  • Research Experience in Risk and Prevention, I (optional)

  •     Hands-on research experiences with faculty studying risk and prevention issues

Year 1, Second Semester

  • Child or Adolescent Practicum Course, II

  •     Emphasis on linking actual school- and community-based training practices to counseling, prevention, and developmental theory presented in Practicum I

  • Preventive and Developmental Group Counseling

  •     Integrates preventive and developmental interventions within traditional models of group counseling, particularly within school settings

  • Cross-cultural Counseling

  •     Emphasis on contextually based risk and resilience as a context for culturally sensitive counseling

  • Childhood Trauma

  •     Explores forms of interpersonal, community, and societal trauma that forms the basis of many individual risk-taking patterns and psychosocial pathology

  • Research Experience in Risk and Prevention, II (optional)

  •     Continuation of Part I, emphasis on analysis and reporting; results presented in year-end student poster session or colloquium presentations

Year 2, First Semester

  • Advanced Practicum/Internship, I

  •     Intense interactive seminar, with emphasis on intervening in more serious risks and working systemically; case presentation and feedback format

  • Inventing the Future—Making the Transition from School to Career

  •     Applies models of career development to K-12 education settings and the transition from school to college and career

  • Legal and Ethical Issues

  •     Basic counseling ethics are presented in first-year practicum courses; more advanced legal and ethical concerns are presented here

  • The Problems Kids Have

  •     Child and adolescent developmental psychopathology course, focused on the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of serious mental health challenges

Year 2, Second Semester

  • Advanced Practicum/Internship, II

  •     More in-depth continuation of Part I

  • Psychological Assessment

  •     Focuses on assessing social and psychological challenges that place children and adolescents at personal and educational risk

  • Psychology of Early Childhood (for childhood-focus)

  •     Examines early childhood development as context for social and school success and challenges, and precursor to longer-term developmental prognoses

  • Adolescent Development

  •     Explores identity-based and related developmental issues that create both risks and opportunities for young people in an outside of school, with implications for how counselors can interact with teachers to promote healthy development

  • Social and Ethical Development

  •     Explores the social and ethical development (moral development) as contributors to risk and resilience, and introduces school-based programs for promoting such development as a protective factor

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Mason, M.J., Nakkula, M.J. A Risk and Prevention Counselor Training Program Model: Theory and Practice. J Primary Prevent 29, 361–374 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-008-0148-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-008-0148-6

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