RP 400 Essentials of Distance Education

This course is often the student’s first opportunity to try a distance learning format. It is designed to aid the student through his or her distance education journey. It will help the student know what is expected for distance learning and aid the student in finding the answers needed to accomplish this goal. Finally, this course will prepare the student on how to begin college writing.

FL 600 Evaluation of Families

This course will cover psychological problems and social relationships within the family as well as mental health status. Students will receive training in family assessments and will become acquainted with various procedures for evaluation and research.

CP 666 Advanced Case Studies

The student will be required to analyze and critique transcripts of a variety of cases. This course is suggested for current practitioners only.

FL 601 Constructual Marital Therapy

This is a comprehensive approach based on various theories and concepts of practice. Defined as a covenant marriage, it explains what is required in a state of marital development. Clear guidelines are described in the choice of techniques to be used. Starting with a clear definition of a working marriage, students will explore misconceptions and confusion experienced by couples.

AD 681 Chemical Dependency and Intimacy Dysfunction

In this course, experts answer pressing questions about the relationship between chemical dependency and intimacy dysfunction and treatment for individuals and families.

AD 682 Addictive Behaviors

The natural history and social etiology of addictive behaviors are examined thoroughly.

FL 604 Solutions for Sexual and Relationship Problems

This approach based on Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) encourages the student to apply techniques related to fulfillment and choice. Although based on Neurolinguistic Programming, prior knowledge of NLP is not necessary.

PY 604 Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth

This course will demonstrate ways in which you can reach a higher level of self-understanding, thus a greater capacity for empathy, by confronting and solving your problems. The student will find valuable insight into the nature of relationships;, how to recognize true compatibility, and how to distinguish dependency from love.

PY 605 Dream Therapy

This course will examine the academic and scholarly history of Dream Therapy, and review the latest scientific and psychological theories of the universe of dreams. The majority of the course is devoted to the development of techniques for lucid dreaming through experiential exercises. The student will gain a mastery of academic, scientific, and psychological concepts of dreaming.

PY 606 Practical Approaches to Common Mental Disorders

The student will learn how to recognize and treat the mental disorders most often encountered in daily clinical work. This course attempts to bridge the gap between cognitive behavioral approaches and ego psychological interpretations. Disorders are seen as emerging out of the individual’s struggle with self and environment. These techniques are not mutually exclusive but are interactive and geared toward creative change and alternatives. The specific disorders covered include depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, eating disorders, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress syndrome, sexual dysfunction, and schizophrenia.

PY 608 Death, Dying and Bereavement

One of the most difficult times in an individual’s life is the time of death. This course explores surviving the death of a loved one. It is about understanding and coping with loss. This course is both for the bereaved and the helping professional and it combines supportive personal case histories with step-by-step approaches to recovery.

RP 600 Data Gathering and Analysis

This course focuses on data collection from the standpoint of knowledge dissemination and utilization. This focus requires students to understand the process of data gathering from the perspectives of research and development, social science, and problem formation and solution. This course also reviews statistical inference and description. These competencies are addressed by topic in the course presentation.

RP 601 Research Methods

This is a survey course on research in the managerial, natural, and social sciences. It focuses on the whys and hows of doing research including the areas of experimental design, data collection, types of data analysis, and presentation of results. While we explore the kinds of analysis data are subjected to and when each kind is most useful for enabling us to draw reliable conclusions, there is no actual statistical analysis in this course.

RP 602 Professional Publishing Methods

Publishing one’s work in books, journals or magazines can boost one’s career, but having an advanced degree does not guarantee that a person will be published. In this course, the student will learn how to develop ideas for publication in books, professional and popular journals, how to sell those ideas to editors, and how to write books and articles in plain and readable, yet interesting, English.

RP 605 Research Project

The Ph.D. candidate will demonstrate, using standard research methods, new knowledge in a field of study that represents his/her degree path. A Précis, outlining the topic and a specific problem to be solved, must be submitted to the candidate’s committee for pre-approval. Depending on the nature of the research, the candidate will be required to prove or disprove a stated solution or theory through documented research, data gathering, and data analysis. A summation of the findings must be submitted in written form. The written research project will be included in the candidate’s dissertation as an appendix, with its own bibliography.

AD 690 Clinical Training: 1,000 – Hour Externship

The student will be required to document 1,000 hours of applied clinical observations and experiences to demonstrate knowledge in the field of addiction counseling at the Ph.D. level.

TH 610 Ph.D. Dissertation – 25,000 word minimum

Upon completion of the required credits of core curriculum courses at the 600 level, the student will prepare a 25,000-word dissertation in a publishable format following Westbrook University’s published guidelines. The dissertation will reflect the student’s theoretical and practical understanding necessary for their field of concentration. The dissertation will reflect the student’s newly acquired direction in his / her techniques and a presentation of a preferred approach in the field. Findings will be based upon the core curriculum of the course, however, the student will have ample latitude in using other sources as well. The goal of the dissertation will be for the student to bring in his contributions to the field of their concentration. The required research project will be an addendum to the dissertation.