Doing well while doing good is a challenge. Whereas some kind of help is the kind that helps, some kind of help we can do without. Gaining wisdom to know the paths of skillful helping of self and others will be the focus of this two-credit intensive course. We will explore knowing who we are, identifying caring as a moral attitude, relating wisely to others, maintaining hope and trust and working together to make change possible.

In this course participants will gain the skills necessary to establish a therapeutic relationship that will facilitate the collection of relevant and accurate information about a client’s specific strengths and needs. This skills-based approach will offer tangible techniques that can be employed in a range of different practices, including active listening, reflection, empathy, reframing, brainstorming, reality testing and motivating. We will focus particularly on developing trust and rapport through skillful communication and interviewing techniques.

People socially labeled as “different” in the U.S. often have negative experiences of human service professionals and systems intended to help. We will use critical theory – ideas related to power, privilege and oppression – as a perspective from which to think about self and identity in hierarchical systems, and about positive ways to relate to diverse people. Personal stories, writings and perhaps art and videos by people who are deaf, disabled or chronically ill will anchor our work.

This course will provide participants with an introduction to testing and measuring theory and its use in the construction and interpretation of instruments used to assess such psychological dimensions as attitude, intelligence, achievement, ability, interest, development and personality. Participants will explore types of validity and reliability, and their application to test interpretation and construction. Participants will emerge from this intensive weekend with an enhanced understanding of the appropriate uses and limits of psychological testing.