Counseling and School Psychology Information Sessions

For prospective students

July 31st 4pm

To sign up, contact amy.cook@umb.edu

:: Family Therapy

Capstone Experience

Purpose

The purpose of a capstone experience is to evaluate students' ability to integrate their course work with their clinical experiences into a unified working approach to multiple human systems.  Since the focus of family therapy is contextual, students must demonstrate an awareness and responsiveness to client populations and their social contexts.  Students will also be required to demonstrate their competence and skill in advocating the urban mission of the university and the Family Therapy Program (FTP). The Capstone Experience Portfolio includes:

  • The Portfolio Collection

  • Clinical Case Analysis

  • Future Plan for Professional Development

Students will submit these documents compiled in a capstone binder to their advisor during the final semester prior to graduation. Copies of the materials and recommendation by advisor will be kept in a locked student file in the department.  Students should keep copies for their own records. Material should be placed in a three ring binder with labels and a table of contents. Students will include an introduction to the collection. Professional recommendations for students will be made based on the portfolio documentation and in a collaborative discussion.

Students and their advisors will both acknowledge with a signed agreement that the portfolio and the recommendations reflect students' progress and future goals.

 

Portfolio Collection

Students in the FTP are required to maintain a portfolio throughout their educational experience.  A portfolio is defined as a collection of work that documents students' competency, throughout their education as a part of the culminating capstone experience.  Portfolio documentation will include:

  • Course content: Students are required to maintain a 3.00 grade point average or they are placed on probation for two semesters.  During their probationary semesters, they have the opportunity to raise their overall GPD to 3.00

  • Sample of papers and exams written

  • Curriculum Vitae or Resume

  • Portfolio Narrative: A document narrating students' accomplishments, learning-process, and needs. 


Clinical Case Analysis

The final semester prior to graduation, each student will present a comprehensive case analysis to demonstrate the integration of skills and competencies in the areas of clinical work, ethical behavior, theoretical knowledge, and cultural sensitivity and awareness that are acquired during a student's enrollment in the FTP.

Each student will provide the following materials, in duplicate, which will be evaluated by at least two faculty members within the FTP:

  • A Videotape of a Full Interview with a couple or family in the context of live supervision and/or therapy session, this videotape must be of a full interview with the student as a therapist taking full responsibility for the session.

  • A Letter of Consent from the client/family and supervisor authorizing use of the videotape for the purposes of a capstone experience must accompany the videotape. Included in the letter of consent must be a statement notifying clients that their names will be disguised in any written material to protect clients' confidentiality.

  • A Full Written Transcript of the session must accompany the videotape. Names and location should be disguised to protect clients' confidentiality.  Note: the transcript should include line numbering, a feature in any word processing that will make easier to quote or refer to segments of the clinical interview in the written analysis segment.

  • A Written Analysis of the following issues:

  • The therapeutic setting, the population, and approach to supervision for the clinical case

  • Referral concerns

  • Client/family history and background issues affecting the therapeutic work with the client/family

  • Theoretical and methodological approach to the therapeutic process

  • Ethical and legal considerations confronting you, the student, and the client/family, including a statement about couple and family therapy professional procedures used to protect clients' confidentiality

  • The effects of the student's person and identity (e.g. values, biases, attitudes of the therapist) upon the process of the videotaped session

  • The impact of the significant relationships between personal, professional, and societal dimensions



Future Plans for Professional Development

  • Narrative paper describing future plans

  • Letter to prospective employer

  • Vitae or Resume

 

Capstone Binder Contents

  • Identification Cover and Table of Contents

  • Introduction and Portfolio Narrative

  • University Transcripts

  • Sample of Papers

  • Other Supporting Material (i.e., Supervision Forms)

  • Clinical Case Analysis

  • Consent Forms

  • Clinical Transcript

  • Future Plans Narrative

  • Letter for Prospective Employer

  • Vitae

  • Videotape


Evaluation Criteria of the Capstone Project

The following criteria will be used to evaluate the final documentation:

  • Knowledge of the theoretical and professional frameworks that support family therapy practice

  • Clear demonstration of the ethical and legal dimensions of their work

  • Awareness and responsiveness to cultural, socioeconomic, and racial diversity of students' work, and the impact of their work on behalf of clients

  • Evidence of personal awareness about their impact and influence on the relationship that exist between themselves their clients' lives, their work environment, and their learning experiences

  • Coherence and integration of theoretical and experiential components of the final documentation

  • Written documents are presented following professional and academic standards, including grammar,
    citations, numbering, coherence, and clarity.

Students must submit to their faculty advisor the final document as listed above.  The report must be typed and double-spaced.  This entire documentation must be submitted to the advisor no later than April 1st of the student's last semester.

The advisor and one other faculty member will evaluate the documentation presented by the student.  The advisor will select another faculty member in the FTP to review the documentation.  Based on their evaluation, students may either receive a pass or fail.  If there is a difference of opinion between these two faculty members then a third faculty will be asked to review the materials.  Faculty will evaluate documentation no later than April 15th in order for the student to resubmit the written analysis of the case.  The resubmission must be returned to the student's advisor no later than April 21st in order for a student to meet requirements for graduation.