Review the Needs Assessment Worksheet and consider the requirements for this Assignment.

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Please no plagiarism and make sure you are able to access all resources on your own before you bid. Main references come from Balkin, R. S., & Kleist, D. M. (2017) and/or American Psychological Association (2014). Assignments should adhere to graduate-level writing and be free from writing errors. I have also attached the resources given to complete the assignment. Please follow the instructions to get full credit. I need this completed by 10/20/19 at 5pm. You will complete the worksheet attached.

Assignment – Week 8

As a counselor, you will individualize services for clients. It is important for you to understand how to conduct a needs assessment to help you know how to create new services that will meet the needs of your clients or the clients of an agency. Keep in mind that a needs assessment and program evaluation are not synonymous. A Needs Assessment will show you what services are needed for your clients, while a program evaluation will tell you whether services that have already been delivered were effective for your clients. You will dig deeper into program evaluations next week.

For this Assignment, you will review a case example of a needs assessment and make a recommendation for program development based on the data that was collected.

To Prepare

  • Review the Needs Assessment      Worksheet found in the Learning Resources, and consider the requirements for this Assignment.
  • You may work independently or form small groups of no more than three people. If you choose to work in small groups, you may use the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra “Live Meetings” tool found in the left-hand navigation of the classroom to collaborate with your group in a synchronous way. Once you access the “Live Meetings” tool,      use the “Sessions Help” feature in the top right-hand corner to guide you through setting up your session with your group if you choose to do so.
  • Review the Needs Assessment Worksheet and consider the requirements for this Assignment. Specifically:
    • Review the case study.
    • Answer all the questions in the worksheet.

Assignment

Imagine you are a task force or part of a task force charged with making a decision about the development of a new program. Your job is to review the data that was collected and complete a Needs Assessment Worksheet that will help you determine whether a new program should be developed and for which populations it will be helpful.

· As an individual part of a task force or in your small group task force, complete the Needs Assessment Worksheet.

Note: Please include your name on the worksheet in the section if you worked individually or include your name along with the names of the group members if you worked as part of a group.

Required Resources

Astramovich, R. L. (2011). Needs assessment: A key evaluation tool for professional counselors. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/resources/library/VISTAS/2011-V-Online/Article_41.pdf 

Ellison, M., Mueller, L., Smelson, D., Corrigan, P. W., Torres Stone, R. A., Bokhour, B. G., & Drebing, C. (2012). Supporting the education goals of post-9/11 veterans with self-reported PTSD symptoms: A needs assessment. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35(3), 209–217. doi:10.2975/35.3.2012.209.217

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Harrar, W. R., Affsprung, E. H., & Long, J. C. (2010). Assessing campus counseling needs. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 24(3), 233–240. doi:10.1080/87568225.2010.486303

Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Document: Needs Assessment Worksheet

Required Media

Laureate Education (2017h). Needs assessment [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: This media program is approximately 5 minutes.

Accessible player  –Downloads– Download Video w/CC Download Audio Download Transcript

Needs Assessment Worksheet

Name of Student: Names of Group Members:

 

 

 

 

Read the following case study, review the data set, and answer the subsequent questions:

Case Study: Laurie is a professional counselor who works for a community mental health center in a rural area. In consultation with her colleagues, Laurie has identified 14 adolescents who currently participate in outpatient individual services who could potentially benefit from services specific to sexual abuse. Laurie would like to develop a psychotherapy group to meet the needs of teens who have been sexually assaulted as an alternative or enhancement to individual therapy.

In an effort to establish services that will best meet the needs of the clients, Laurie has conducted a Needs Assessment. She will present her findings to the mental health center administrators as evidence to support her program proposal. Analyze the following data and determine whether enough evidence exists to support the development of the psychotherapy group.

Survey

After securing parental permission, adolescents were asked to answer the following questions. Results for each question are included.

1. Age

2. Gender

3. Interest in Group Therapy

 

Participant # Age of Child Gender Interest in Group Therapy
1 15 F Yes
2 10 M Yes
3 13 F Yes
4 12 F Yes
5 10 F Yes
6 14 F Yes
7 17 M No
8 16 M No
9 12 M Yes
10 11 F No
11 15 M No
12 9 F Yes
13 11 F No
14 16 M No

 

 

4. Rank the TOP THREE issues that you feel would be most important to you in a therapy group

1. Anger Management

2. Stress Reduction

3. Coping Skills

4. Assertiveness Training

5. Alcohol and Drug Prevention

6. Peer Pressure

7. Grief

8. Self Esteem

9. Recovery from Sexual Abuse/Assault

10. Communication Skills

 

Participant # 1st Choice 2nd Choice 3rd Choice
1 9 2 3
2 3 8 9
3 7 8 9
4 5 9 3
5 6 9 10
6 9 7 8
7 9 3 2
8 2 9 8
9 8 6 9
10 3 9 8
11 9 8 3
12 4 6 10
13 8 2 9
14 10 9 3

 

 

 

 

 

What is the purpose of Laurie’s Needs Assessment?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

What is the population of interest and who are the stakeholders for this Needs Assessment?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

Compute the mean age of all proposed participants in the psychotherapy group.

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

What percentage of adolescents expressed interest in the proposed psychotherapy group?

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

Based on the data provided, how did teens rank the topics presented as possible options for the therapy groups? What topics were identified as the top three ?

 

 

Based on the information provided, what evidence exists that supports establishing a Sexual Abuse psychotherapy group? Is there other information that is missing that could be useful to make this decision?

 

 

 

 

  

1.

 

2.

 

3.
 

In your opinion, did Laurie’s approach to data collection address the purpose of the Needs Assessment? Why or why not?

Research Consumer Article Modification

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PSY 201 – General Psychology

Research Consumer Paper

One of the main objectives of this course is to learn how to be a wise consumer of psychological research. This research consumer paper will put you in the consumer role and give you practice understanding and communicating clearly and effectively about psychological research. This paper will focus on intelligently critiquing media coverage of scientific research.

For this paper assignment, you will be reading a set of two articles. The set consists of an original peer-reviewed journal article and a media report covering the research.

Gesturing and creativity

Peer-reviewed journal article: Kirk, E., & Lewis, C. (2017). Gesture facilitates children’s creative thinking. Psychological Science, 28(2), 225-232. Free pdf of journal article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CE0fB6xYoa0u4WRmRs0hGUWOruN9tWho/view?usp=sharing

Media report:

https://www.ozy.com/acumen/why-wild-gesticulating-could-indicate-genius/75182

 

Paper Specifics

Carefully read the original peer-reviewed journal article and evaluate the quality of the coverage in the media report. Your overall goal is to use your scientific thinking skills to answer this question: Is this journalist’s claim an accurate representation of the original article, or is it misleading to people?

Your paper should be approximately between 500 – 700 words long and include the following components, in this order. Please use headings to separate the different sections.

Summary of original peer-reviewed journal article

1. Briefly summarize the key aspects of the empirical journal article. What were the main

variables? What was the key finding or findings? What theory do the findings support?

Summary of media article covering the research

2. Briefly introduce and summarize the journalist’s story. Identify and classify any claims that the journalist makes in the headline or in the body of the article. For example, did the journalist make causal claims, correlational (association) claims or descriptive claims? Explain your reasoning.

See Next Page for More

Critique of media article covering the research

3. In light of your understanding of the study as described in the peer-reviewed journal article, analyze and critique the journalist’s coverage of the research. In this section, try to make at least three significant points. Use the following questions as a guide:

• What did the journalist get right?

• What did the journalist get wrong, and why?

• What might the journalist have said differently?

• Were any causal claims made by the journalist accurate? (Apply the information on correlation vs. causation we learned in class).

• Did the journalist focus on the same key finding as the scientists did?

• Did the journalist accurately describe the procedures of the study? Did the journalist leave details out?

• Rephrase or rewrite parts of the journalist’s article to be more accurate, if appropriate (NO DIRECT QUOTES – We seldom if EVER use direct quotes in scientific/technical writing).

Your paper should be typed, double-spaced and submitted to Moodle by 11:55 p.m. on the date indicated in one of the acceptable formats (.pdf, .doc, docx, .rtf).

Grading Guideline

Grading Category Percent of Grade
Research Summary

Accurate, concise, non-plagiarized summary of the key points of the original empirical article. Includes the main variables, the key findings, and the theory the findings support.

 

  

30%
Media Summary and Classification

Accurate, concise, non-plagiarized summary of the key points of the original empirical article. Includes the main variables, the key findings, and the theory the findings support.

 

  

15%
Media Critique

A thoughtful analysis and critique, containing at least three significant points, of how well the journalist covered the research. Student also used excellent critical thinking in the analysis.

 

  

30%
Grammar/Punctuation/Style and Clarity

Writing was clear, concise and organized, with very few grammar/punctuation/style errors. Direct quotes from research article are avoided.

 25%

Discuss key developmental markers or characteristics for that age group

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400 word essay

 

Your job for this discussion board is to choose a developmental period and design an app that would apply to them. It could be a game, a self-help app, a parenting resource app, etc. For your discussion thread:

· Describe your app. What is the purpose? How does it work?

· Identify the target audience for your app (i.e., who you would want to buy/download it).

· Discuss key developmental markers or characteristics for that age group (include textbook citations).

· Discuss the key developmental period or elements that this app will address, using citations from your textbook to support the need for your app.

Practical Book Review

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This Practical Book Review provides an opportunity for you to reflect on, respond to, and evaluate the ideas, concepts, and techniques in Petersen’s (2015) Why Don’t We Listen Better? based on your own life experiences and ideas from other course texts, and apply these to your interpersonal communication context. Begin the body of your paper with a brief introductory paragraph, then organize your review in 3 sections, using the headings Response, Critique, and Application, following the specific directions provided below. Your review must be well written and organized, free of grammar and other writing errors, and formatted according to current APA style. A title page and a reference page are expected, but an abstract is not needed. Also, you may use the first-person pronoun.

Response

Articulate a personalized response that demonstrates meaningful reflection on the core content. Describe insights you gained about your own communication skills, strengths, weaknesses, and habits. For example, what concepts and principles were especially enlightening to you? Were you reminded of any past conversations? Did you identify with any of the communication traps? Your response should be between 400 and 500 words.

Critique

Evaluate the book from your own point-of-view and based on its intended purpose. What did you identify as its most valuable contributions? Did you find any of the concepts unclear or insufficiently developed? Also, compare and contrast 3 of Petersen’s ideas with related concepts articulated in Stewart’s Bridges Not Walls as well as in France & Weikel’s Helping Skills for Human Service Workers (and list these texts on the reference page along with the Petersen text). How are the perspectives of the three authors similar and/or different? Briefly analyze and discuss the relative strengths of each. Your critique should be between 700 and 800 words.

Application

Looking forward, apply what you have learned to your own interpersonal arena. Articulate the changes you need to make in light of the information gleaned from the content. Describe the specific strategies and techniques that you will implement in order to enhance your interpersonal communication—both personally and professionally—and how you plan to do so. Your application should be between 400 and 500 words.

APA Format

1600 Words

3 Scholarly Sources:

 

Petersen, J. C. (2015). Why don’t we listen better? Communicating and connecting in relationships (2nd ed.). Portland, OR: Petersen Publications. ISBN: 9780979155956.

Stewart, J. (2012). Bridges not walls: A book about interpersonal communication (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN: 9780073534312.

France, K. & Weikel, K. (2014). Helping skills for human service workers: Building relationships and encouraging productive change (3rd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publisher Inc. ISBN: 9780398081089.