PROFESSIONAL COUNSELLING (Semesters 5 & 6): Professional Integration Labs

Each semester, we host six (6) Second-Year Professional Counselling Professional Integration Labs scheduled outside of regularly scheduled class hours. As we have two (2) statutory holidays in the semester, our online Second-Year Professional Counselling Professional Integration labs will serve as attendance Professional Integration Labs. Attendance at these labs will supplement missed attendance in Full-time Second-Year Professional Counselling courses that are affected by statutory holidays. See relevant holidays and designated lab dates below:

August 3rd - BC Day

September 7th - Labour Day

2-hour (providing 0.5 class attendance) Professional Integration lab dates:

• Tuesday, July 21st, from 2:00-4:00 pm (Elective)
• Thursday, July 23rd, from 2:00-4:00 pm (Elective)
• Tuesday, August 4th, from 2:00-4:00 pm (Professional Integration)
• Thursday, August 6th, from 2:00-4:00 pm (Professional Integration)
• Tuesday, September 8th, from 2:00-4:00 pm (Professional Integration)
• Thursday, September 10th, from 2:00-4:00 pm (Professional Integration)

All Times Shown in Pacific Daylight Time (Vancouver)

To understand our Attendance Policy & Professional Integration Lab offerings, please see the Student Hub on Moodle.

About this event

Rhodes semesters move quickly, often with very little downtime in-between. Students have shared that this pace makes it harder to fully absorb and integrate everything they’re learning - the theory, the skills, and the personal growth that shape them into confident and integrated, professional helpers.

To support this, we now offer Professional Integration (PI) Labs outside of regularly scheduled classes. These sessions provide intentional space to meet with peers in your program stream/semester, reflect on your experiences, and connect the dots between coursework, your personal journey, and your professional development in the coaching, counselling, and wellness fields.

Where a statutory holiday interrupts/affects a regularly scheduled class day, Professional Integration Labs will be assigned to "make-up" for attendance for the affected course.

What to Expect

Facilitators will:

• Create a reflective and supportive space to pause from the pace of coursework.
• Invite you to step back and integrate your learning across classes and personal experiences.
• Encourage dialogue and connection, rather than content review.
• Help you link insights to your personal and professional growth.
• Support you in seeing the bigger picture of your development as a practitioner.

How They Work

Format: 6 2nd Year Counselling PI Labs offered intermittently throughout each semester. For courses affected by a stat holiday, PI make-up Labs will be scheduled within 1–2 weeks after each statutory holiday. Attendance: Labs count toward attendance in each student's course impacted by statutory holidays (April 3, April 6, and May 18). There are specific make-up labs assigned to count towards attendance for each statutory holiday (each providing 0.5 attendance time for the 'missed' class day).

Why Join?

PI Labs go beyond attendance! They are a chance to:

• Network with students from other cohorts who may become future colleagues or referral partners.
• Exchange perspectives and practice professionalism, empathy, and peer support.
• Build community and form long-lasting friendships and professional connections.

Each lab is two hours long. Students can attend any or all sessions. Each lab is structured but also features organic space to address individual student needs.

Students can expect each lab to be facilitated with the following approximate schedule: Welcome & Framing • Briefly introduce the purpose of the lab: a space to integrate classroom learning into professional identity. • Acknowledge that participants are from different cohorts and stages; emphasize that the session is about shared themes relevant to all practitioners. • Invite each student to share (in 1–2 sentences) what they hope to get from today’s lab.

Mini-Lesson / Concept Spotlight • Facilitator introduces a universal theme relevant to professional life. • Keep the teaching brief, focusing on: o Core concept (theory or skill) o Professional relevance (why it matters in practice) o Reflective prompt (how it connects to students’ current stage of training)

Guided Reflection • Students individually write or journal in response to reflection questions connected to the mini-lesson. • Prompts should allow students to ground the concept in their own experience, regardless of training stage.

Group Engagement • Options: o Large group dialogue: Facilitator facilitates an open discussion of student reflections. o Small group breakout: Students share insights with 2–3 peers, then return to the full group. o Skill practice: If appropriate, students pair up and practice a short counselling skill connected to the theme.

Integration & Application • Facilitator helps students identify: o How today’s theme shows up in their coursework and client/practice work. o One specific action, mindset shift, or experiment they want to try before their next class.

Closing • Round of final reflections: “One takeaway I’m leaving with is...” • Facilitator thanks and reminds participants that labs are an ongoing space for integration, and encourages ongoing reflection.

Dates:

TUESDAY, July 21st, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT This lab is an elective and does not count towards attendance professional integration.

THURSDAY, July 23rd, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT This lab is an elective and does not count towards attendance professional integration.

TUESDAY, August 4th, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs professional integration for the Monday, August 3rd missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.

THURSDAY, August 6th, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs professional integration for the Monday, August 3rd missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.

TUESDAY, September 8th, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs professional integration for the Monday, September 7th missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.

THURSDAY, September 10th, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PT This lab is for 2 hrs professional integration for the Monday, September 7th missed class, due to the statutory holiday when there is no class.

REGISTRATION:

Registration is required and closes 15 minutes before the start of the event. Ticket Tailor will send the event Zoom link upon registration and 3 days/1 day/10 minutes before the session.

WHO CAN ATTEND:

Rhodes students enrolled in our 2nd Year Counselling courses (Professional Counsellor Diploma program). Students who are currently in their 2nd Year semesters. Students who have passed these semesters are also eligible to attend.