About this course
Year 1 · CWW curriculum · Course ID CWW-05
In this course you will plan a small, collaborative change without turning a community conversation into diagnosis.
CWW curriculum overview · My Progress
Before you begin
Complete the entry orientation and supervisor agreement, and study the units in order. Your Year 1 demonstration must be approved before you advance to Year 2. If you have equivalent prior learning, your Shihan will document the decision. Completing this course does not establish external professional registration; external credentials and legal authority are verified separately.
What you’ll learn
1. From a concern to a goal
Invite the person to describe the change they want and why it matters. Translate the concern into an observable, achievable step together. Explore practical barriers such as transport, cost or time before assuming a belief is the cause. Diagnostic frameworks are covered as topics for study, not as authorization to diagnose.
- Establishing a Therapeutic Alliance: Learn to build trust and rapport with clients using empathy, active listening, and clear boundaries. Example: Practicing reflective listening in role-play scenarios.
- Decolonizing Assessments: Understand the assessment techniques created by others you will be exposed to. Example: The use of the DSM-5 framework and cultural formulation interviews.
- Collaborative Treatment Planning: Develop SMART goals and select interventions tailored to client needs. Example: Co-creating a treatment plan with a client using CBT worksheets.
Practice activity: Use a fictional case about missing a community activity to distinguish personal preference from a structural barrier.
2. Choosing an experiment
Discuss options, ask permission before offering an idea and select a low-risk experiment within your role. Specify the action, support, date and how the person will know whether it helped. Compare counseling theories at an introductory level, but do not claim competence to deliver a clinical treatment from this course alone.
- Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions: Apply techniques from CBT, psychodynamic, and humanistic therapies. Example: Guiding a client through cognitive restructuring for anxiety.
- Navigating Ethical and Professional Issues: Understand confidentiality, informed consent, and ethical decision-making. Example: Analyzing a case study involving dual relationships.
- Fostering Cultural Competence: Integrate multicultural perspectives and adapt interventions for diverse clients. Example: Modifying assessment tools for cultural relevance.
Practice activity: Write a one-week experiment with a fallback when the original action is not feasible.
3. Reviewing the result
Review the person’s own experience and the agreed indicator. If the action did not happen, explore what made it difficult without blame. Adapt the plan rather than treating noncompletion as resistance. Record the original and revised plans so the learning is visible.
- Promoting Client Self-Reflection and Resilience: Encourage self-assessment and lifelong learning in clients. Example: Using journaling and mindfulness exercises to enhance self-awareness.
- Evaluating and Adjusting Interventions: Use outcome measures and feedback to refine counseling strategies. Example: Implementing session rating scales and adjusting plans accordingly.
Practice activity: Role-play a review where the person chooses to stop the experiment.
Study resources
The unit notes above and the lessons below are your study guide. Your Shihan can arrange access to the original Change Processes in Counseling syllabus and any separately licensed readings. Paid external books or courses are not included automatically, and practical demonstrations are arranged with your Shihan.
Next step: work through the lessons below in order, then complete the assignment at the end of the curriculum.