Unit Outline

This unit explores current thinking and strategies around dealing with issues of adjustment to change. That change includes changes involving loss, grief and trauma. Death and bereavement will be addressed including dealing with grief as a natural process and with more complicated grief. Non-death losses are also addressed such as divorce, unemployment, disability, chronic illness, infertility, and aging. The second half of the unit will also look at the serious change that trauma can bring - common trauma responses, post-traumatic stress, large scale trauma such as natural disasters, and some models for effective treatment of trauma.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Identify and articulate the challenges of coping with life events and the diversity and variability of experiences of change, loss, grief, trauma and the meanings attached to them.
2	Demonstrate an understanding of key theories related to change, loss, grief or trauma.
3	Respond constructively to the change experiences of others through the application of the understandings gained in Learning Outcomes 1 and 2.
4	Identify and articulate key themes in the understanding of the nature of trauma and of trauma responses and its assessment.
5	Assess and intervene appropriately in the aftermath of the experience of trauma.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	KHA501

Alterations as a result of student feedback

In response to the feedback from previous student cohort, no changes have been made in relation to content or adjustment to assessment.
As always, the teaching team will greatly appreciate your feedback both informally during the delivery of the unit in 2025, and formally through the University of Tasmania’s Unit Survey following your completion of the unit.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Change Case Scenario.	Week 6	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Trauma Case Scenario	Week 11	40 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5
Assessment Task 3:	Discussion Board Participation - submission of best 3 discussion posts	Week 12	20 %	LO1, LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Practice Skills Log Sheet	Week 14	0 %	LO1, LO5

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Change Case Scenario.

Task Description:

You are to come up with a simple scenario that involves some adjustment to change issue or significant life event.
Issues covered could be death and dying, bereavement, other change issues such as divorce/separation, illness, injury, unemployment, disability, infertility, ageing and so on.
Provide an analysis and treatment suggestions.

.

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 6

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Articulation of scenario that demonstrates understanding of change	LO1, LO2
2	Knowledge and demonstrated understanding of relevant symptoms	LO1
3	Knowledge demonstrated of the area chosen including literature and research that is relevant	LO2
4	Treatment suggestions (including the use of client-friendly explanations)	LO3

Assessment Task 2: Trauma Case Scenario

Task Description:

You will be provided with a scenario that depicts a trauma case presentation. You will be asked to assess the scenario and provide a response to the following:
• Describe what indicators that you would look for that may suggest that the client is suffering from PTSD (this does not need to be a formal assessment)
• Develop a treatment plan for your client.
• What general issues do you face in working with a client with a traumatic history? What might be the specific issues you as a counsellor face in working with a client with this history of trauma?

Task Length:

1500 words

Due Date:

Week 11

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Overview of topic including overall breadth of paper	LO1, LO4
2	Presentation of the problem	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
3	Construction of treatment plan	LO3, LO4, LO5
4	Awareness of doing no harm and the therapeutic relationship	LO3, LO5
5	Application of appropriate Literature	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Discussion Board Participation - submission of best 3 discussion posts

Task Description:

Participation in weekly discussion questions related to the weekly discussion topic. Each week, a reading and discussion question will be posted on MyLO. You must engage in online discussion to enhance learning and sharing of knowledge on the selected topic.

You must complete at least 7 out of the 12 discussion tasks to pass this task. By the due date, you must select your three best discussion posts for submission, Discussion posts are to be uploaded in a word document to MyLO.

Discussion posts will be graded on the integration of ideas, the application of learning from the subject content, and self-reflection.

Weekly discussion post participation
Submission of x 3 posts Week 12

Task Length:

1200 words (final word document submission)

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

20 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Active participation in discussions and demonstration of knowledge	LO1, LO2, LO4

Assessment Task 4: Practice Skills Log Sheet

Task Description:

During semester you are required to participate in practical skills workshops and other interactive tasks. You are required to keep a log sheet of your practice skills hours for each unit. Participation in practice skills hours is an important part of the requirements for an accredited counselling course.

You are required to undertake a minimum 10 hours of counselling practice skills aligned with accreditation standards and 2 x minimum 100 word reflections. One of these reflections must focus on your role play experiences. The other reflection must focus on your experiences of group interactions within the workshops or live online discussions.

Further information regarding how to log your practice skills hours and what tasks you may include in your log sheet will be provided via MyLO at the beginning of semester.

Completed log sheets will be submitted at the end of semester for each unit you complete.

This task is a HURDLE task which you must pass in order to pass the unit.

Task Length:

Minimum 10 hours of counselling skills practice aligned with accreditation standards and 2 x minimum 100-word reflections.

Due Date:

Week 14

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply knowledge and counselling skills to address client needs.	LO1
2	Engage reflective skills to critically evaluate your own counselling knowledge and counselling skills.	LO5

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There are no required texts for this unit. Weekly readings will be available via the reading list. Throughout the course, additional readings may be added as they become available.