Part A: 10-minute Transcript of a 30-minute face-to-face counselling
session
– Part A: Written report based on transcribed counselling skills
exercise –
– Part B: Written reflective report
Part B: Written reflection on your counselling skills based on the
transcript
Assessment Brief
Program
Bachelor of Applied Social Science
Subject
Applied Counselling 2
Subject code
COU203A
Name of assessment
Assessment 3: Counselling skills exercise and written reflective report
Length
2000 words
Learning outcomes
addressed by this
assessment:
Submission Date:
A, B, C
End of week 11, Sunday 11.55 pm
Part A: 10-minute Transcript of a 30-minute face-to-face counselling
session
Assessment brief
summary:
–
Part A: Written report based on transcribed counselling skills
exercise Part B: Written reflective report
Part B: Written reflection on your counselling skills based on the
transcript
Total marks
40
Weighting
40% (Counselling skills 20%, Written reflection 20%)
Students are advised that any submissions past the due date incur a 10% penalty per day, calculated
from the total mark e.g. a task marked out of 40 will incur a 4-mark penalty per day.
Please note: You must attempt all tasks in a subject to be eligible to pass the subject.
For more information, please refer to the Academic Progression Policy on
https://www.torrens.edu.au/policies-and-forms
COU203A – AB3, Skill Exercise
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Assessment Description:
Part A: 10-minute transcript of a 30-minute face-to-face counselling session
Word length: NO WORD LENGTH / NOT APPLICABLE
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate the application of appropriate counselling skills
and techniques that you have been exposed to in this unit.
Make a recording of a face-to-face counselling session of 30 minutes in duration. Transcribe 10
minutes of the recording and submit as an appendix to the assessment. Appendices are not
included in the word limit. You will need to ensure that the transcription provides adequate material
to answer this part of the question. The transcription does not need to be consecutive. Please
record the starting time and ending time of each element of the transcription.
While this may be a real-life situation or a role-play scenario, the client should not be a
member of your family nor a very close friend.
Please note counselling demonstrations may be done virtually with both participants not in
the same location. Skype or Zoom can be used to set up, schedule and record the session.
The recorded session should be uploaded to BlackBoard to be marked.
Part B: Written reflection on your counselling skills/techniques base on the transcript
Word length: 2000
The purpose of this part of the assignment is to demonstrate an ability to reflect on and assess
your counselling skills and yourself as a therapist, including the ability to identify areas for
improvement. Using examples drawn from a transcript of your counselling session you must
demonstrate the use of generic skills in combination with one of the therapies studied in this unit.
Please ensure that:
The ability to open the interview is demonstrated
The ability to assist client to explore the issue, set goals and determine course of action is
demonstrated
The ability to apply person-centred skills demonstrated
In addition, this assessment requires you to critically evaluate your skills by addressing the
following:
Where, in hindsight, do you feel you could have done or said something differently to be
more effective, with examples of what you might have said or done differently?
Provide a brief outline of how you might continue to work with this client in future sessions.
The 2000-word reflection needs to be in academic essay form and fully referenced (see below). It
should include references to theories that you translated into practice in the session.
COU203A – AB3, Skill Exercise
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Grading Matrix
Counselling skills
Max. in
Your
category
points
Ability to open the interview demonstrated
5
Ability to assist client to explore the issue, set goals
and determine course of action demonstrated
5
Ability to apply person-centred skills demonstrated
10
Total:
20
Comments:
Reflective report
Reflection on the application of counselling skills and on
the self as therapist
Links to theories and concepts, including number and
Max. in
Your
category
points
10
5
choice of appropriate references
Word count, readability, and consistent use of the
5
appropriate referencing system (APA Version 6)
Total:
20
SUM
40
Comments:
COU203A – AB3, Skill Exercise
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Referencing
The work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We
recommend you work with your Academic Writing Guide to ensure that you reference correctly.
You will find a link to this document on the main page of every subject in the ‘Assessments’
section. Correct academic writing and referencing are essential tasks that you need to learn. We
recommend a minimum of ten references.
References are assessed for their quality. You should draw on quality academic sources, such as
books, chapters from edited books, and journals. Your textbook can be used as a reference, but
not the Study Guide and lecturer notes. We want to see evidence that you are capable of
conducting your own research. Also, in order to help markers determine students’ understanding
of the work they cite all in-text references (not just direct quotes) must include the specific page
number/s if shown in the original.
Researching: You can search for peer-reviewed journal articles, which you can find in the online
journal databases and which can be accessed from the library homepage. Reputable news sites
such as The Conversation, online dictionaries, and online encyclopaedias are acceptable as a
starting point to gain knowledge about a topic. Government departments, research institutes such
as the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), international organisations such
as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and local not-for-profit organisations such as the Cancer
Council are also good resources.
Formatting: The assessment MUST be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. Other
formats may not be readable by markers, and students may be asked to resubmit. Please be
aware that any assessments submitted in other formats will be considered LATE and will lose
marks until it is presented in Word.
Plagiarism: All sources of information need to properly be acknowledged. Please refer to the
plagiarism website on Blackboard. By clicking the ‘Upload this file’ button you acknowledge that
you have read, understood and can confirm that the work you are about to submit complies with
the Flexible and Online plagiarism policy that is available on the Torrens University website. Like
other forms of cheating plagiarism is treated seriously. When lecturers suspect plagiarism, they will
complete an Academic Integrity form and send it to the AI officer who will then contact students
and ask them to prove that it is their own work.
Word Count: Marks will be deducted for failure to adhere to the word count – as a general rule
you may go over or under by 10% than the stated length.
Late Submissions: Students are advised that any submissions past the due date incur a 10%
penalty per day, calculated from the total mark e.g. a task marked out of 30 will incur 3 marks
penalty per day.
No submission: Students must attempt all tasks to be eligible to pass the subject.
More information can be found on the Think Education and Torrens University websites.
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