Advanced Skills with Individuals in Child and Youth Care

This course focuses on the development of skills in work with individual children and youth. Students are required to apply theories and strategies of counselling in a laboratory environment.

Course Content

The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:

• Children, youth and parents deserve non-judgmental respect, understanding and appreciation.
• Child and youth care professionals emphasize the importance of building and maintaining relationships with children, youth and families.
• Individual lives are understood within a developmental ecological context and the strengths of the individual are emphasized.
• Empathic communication with the individual creates an understanding of their life.
• Reciprocal case planning including goal setting, evaluation and clear thorough client reports support individuals through the change process.
• Child and Youth Care Counsellors utilize a strength-based approach to family assessment and intervention.
• Child and youth care professional practice includes awareness of self in relationship and an application of theory from an ecological, developmental and behaviour change counselling perspective to meet client needs.
• Competent practice with individuals is an ongoing development and is enhanced by practice, mentoring and ongoing professional development.

Methods of Instruction

• Lecture
• Discussion
• Practice

Means of Assessment

This course will conform to Douglas College policy regarding the number and weighting of evaluations. Typical means of evaluation would include a combination of:

• Written assignments
• Case evaluation
• Testing
• Group presentations

This is a graded course.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. be reflective and self aware in professional child and youth care practice
2. develop and maintain professional caring relationships that aim to understand, validate and be responsive to the individual
3. demonstrate use of basic and advanced helping skills as a child and youth care professional within the helping process
4. from a child and youth care perspective, apply theoretical orientations appropriate to client need including:
   • developmental theories
   • change theories
   • ecological, systemic perspectives
   • family theories
   • counselling theories
5. write a client report which includes:
6. presenting problems and strengths
7. an assessment of needs and assets
8. goal setting
9. an intervention plan
10. evaluation strategies

CYCC 3621 and CYCC 3341

Below shows how this course and its credits transfer within the BC transfer system. 

A course is considered university-transferable (UT) if it transfers to at least one of the five research universities in British Columbia: University of British Columbia; University of British Columbia-Okanagan; Simon Fraser University; University of Victoria; and the University of Northern British Columbia.

For more information on transfer visit the BC Transfer Guide and BCCAT websites.

If your course prerequisites indicate that you need an assessment, please see our Assessment page for more information.