About the Course

Online Syllabus - Coping with Difficult People

 

Contact Information

Marshall Chatwin
105 Laureles Grade, Salinas, CA 93908
Phone: (831)484-1360
E-mail: mchatwin@ultimanet.com

Access to Website Online - Class Information and Assignments
http://www.ultimanet.com/~mchatwin/CopeMenu.html

Course Description and Course Goals
This course is designed for those who want to learn to communicate more effectively with difficult people. It presents skills needed to deal with others in pressured situations. It teaches techniques to avoid getting caught up in defensiveness and demonstrates how to merge into a conflict situation and lead it toward purposeful objectives.
 
Course Content Summary
The course content, drawn mainly from psychology and from communication, covers the following topics: communication processes, obstructive messages and game playing, basic communication skills, the COPE procedure (techniques for keeping your cool under fire, merging and managing the situation, and communication strategies), and the application of effective communication and coping skills to specific situations.
 
Student Performance Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
1. Recognize statements and actions that are likely to provoke difficult behavior in others.
2. Use selected basic skills of communication such as paraphrasing, asserting, and questioning.
3. Apply specific communication strategies for dealing with difficult people types.
4. Describe techniques to maintain emotional control under pressure
5. Identify the short and long term goals appropriate for dealing with people in a specific situation.
6. Apply skills which promote merging with and managing conflicts.

Assignments: To complete the course you must do all 30 lessons including the writing assignments and a final application paper. Assignments due on a weekly basis.

As you read the lesson material you will find a number of text boxes where you are asked to type your responses to various questions. Do not send your text box responses to me. These activities are designed to help you learn the material.

Minute Papers: At the end of some of the lessons you are asked to send me a "minute paper." These reports are to be at least one or two paragraphs in length and should briefly explain the most important idea or the most useful point you got from the lesson.

Evaluation Components: There are 16 skill practice assignments, an application paper, and seven "minute papers." All these are to be submitted for evaluation and grading.

The percentage of the final grade for each report is figured as follows:

Late Policy: Late assignments will not receive credit unless there are dire extenuating circumstances. Be on time, don't wait till the last minute, start on assignments early to allow extra time for interruptions, but accept the penalty if you miss it. You can make up some points with an extra credit activity.

Extra Credit: You may make up one missed assignment or two minute papers by completing either of the following activities: (1) Locate five Internet sites that relate to some aspect of the course. Email these to me with a brief description of the site and an explanation (three or four sentences) explaining how the info at the site relates to what specific aspect of the course. (2) Read one of the resource books and write a three page paper explaining what you learned from it.

Reading Material: All required reading material for the course is made available at the class site. No textbook is required.

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Online course developed by Marshall Chatwin, PhD, updated January 2008.