How might you facilitate an initial counseling session with this young woman?
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Critical Incident Discussion (Chapter 18)
General Instructions
Throughout CO547 students will engage in discussion with classmates in response to a
collection of critical incidents included in the course text.
Pedersen, P.B., Lonner, W.J, Draguns, J.G., Trimble, J.E., & Scharron-del Rio. M.R. (2016),
Counseling Across Cultures, Sage Publications, Inc.,
ISBN- 9781452217529
The specific critical incidents used in the course are provided below, followed by a sample rubric
that is used to evaluate student engagement for each discussion. The rubric used for each
discussion is aligned to the appropriate CACREP standards listed for data collection purposes.
Critical Incident
Critical Incident 18
Imagine that you are a school counselor in an urban center. A concerned teacher at your school
has referred a 17-year-old female student to you because her behavior has become withdrawn
and her grades have been consistently dropping over the past few months.
The referring teacher, who leads the school orchestra, had noticed that the student, a second-
generation immigrant from a Middle Eastern background, did not attend orchestra practice for 3
consecutive weeks and asked the other students if anyone knew the reason for her absence. In
private, one of her friends disclosed that the young woman has been having family problems
because her parents found out that some of her classmates were dating boys from another
school and that as a group they had all been spending time together. Although the girl herself is
not in a relationship, after finding out that she was unsupervised in the company of young men,
her parents have stopped allowing her to go to extracurricular activities and outings with her
friends. They also now drop her off at school and pick her up every day, and they will not let her
answer phone calls from her friends. This situation is obviously negatively affecting the student’s
well-being as well as her school performance.
Discussion Question
How might you facilitate an initial counseling session with this young woman?
CACREP Standards: 2F.2.c, 2F.2.d, 2F.2.g, 2F.2.h
Scoring Guidelines
Points available: 100.
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Component Unacceptable Acceptable Target
Reflection on the topic Incomplete summary
and response; or a
response that lacks
thoughtfulness or
reflection.
(0 points)
Complete summary and
response that shows an
adequate level of
reflection.
(25 points)
Complete, well-formed
summary and response
that shows a thoughtful,
reflective, in-depth
analysis of topic.
(50 points)
Professional
presentation (grammar,
mechanics, spelling)
Writing involves many
errors (more than 3).
(0 points)
Writing involves few
errors (no more than 2).
(10 points)
Writing is free of all
writing errors.
(20 points)
Responses to
classmates
Participation is
inadequate; no evidence
of initial thread
monitoring; responses to
classmates lack
adequate critical thinking
and analysis; responses
do not provide adequate
assistance to colleagues.
(0 points)
Participation is
somewhat limited;
monitoring of initial
thread is evidenced by
thoughtful responses to
some posts; responses
to classmates show
adequate critical thinking
and analysis; responses
are professional and
provide adequate
assistance to colleagues.
(15 points)
Participation is
representative of
consistent review of
classmate thoughts;
monitoring of initial
thread is evidenced by
thoughtful responses to
all posts; responses to
classmates show clear
evidence of critical
thinking and analysis;
responses are
professional, thoughtful,
and provide constructive
assistance to colleagues.
(30 points)
- Critical Incident Discussion (Chapter 18)
- General Instructions
- Critical Incident
- Critical Incident 18
- Discussion Question
- Scoring Guidelines
