Reflective Essay: Student Guide & Self-Assessment Rubric Lev…

Reflective Essay: Student Guide & Self-Assessment Rubric Level 5 Certificate in Couple and Relationship Therapy Use this rubric to guide your writing and self-assess your work before submission. Word count: 3000 | Total marks: 100 | Pass mark: 50% Grade Boundaries: Below 50%: Refer (discussion with tutor, max two resubmissions) 5159%: Pass 6069%: Merit 70%+: Distinction Section What You Should Include Self-Assessment (tick when done) Comments/Notes Introduction (10 marks) Brief overview of your experience on the course, the purpose of the essay, and how youll structure it. Changes to Contracting & Assessment (15 marks) Describe what changes youve made or plan to make when working with couples/relationship clients, and why, using theory from the course. Understanding the Role of Relationship Therapy (15 marks) Reflect on what youve learned about the therapeutic relationship itself as an entity and how it differs from individual therapy work. This should include how the role of a relationship therapist would differ from that of an individual therapist. Use of Theory & Interventions (20 marks) Explain which models and techniques youve found useful, and how youve applied or will apply them with clients. Personal Impact (15 marks) Reflect on how the course has affected you personally. Consider your patterns, insights, and how these influence your therapeutic stance and personal experience of relationships. Challenges & Future Learning (15 marks) Identify any difficulties or gaps in your learning and explain what further steps you will take to address them. Conclusion (10 marks) Summarise your key learning and intentions for your continued development as a couple therapist. 10 Winter 2025 couple / relationship course handbook Successful Writing Tips Higher marks will be awarded where the learner shows understanding of the theories covered in the course, recognises how the models illuminate their own personal process, and describes how the learning from the course will specifically be applied in practice. Merit and Distinction students will show meaning-making from the theory learned, with evidence of critical thinking, incorporation into existing ways of working and personal reflection. In particular: Be specific about the personal impact on you from the course learning. It is too general to say that you have learned how ones own patterns show up in ones marriage. Specific reference would be to say that you recognise your own attachment style as avoidant, seeing how this shows up in your marriage as a behaviour of leaving the room whenever a relational conflict emerges, but that the course has given communication skills of mirroring/validation/empathy which will in future help you to stay in the room in an effort to seek conflict resolution. Give definitive details about how you plan on integrating the course learning into your practice. Saying that you will be updating your client contract is too little detail. A definitive detail would be to write that you will be updating your client contract to include a clause that each person covered by the contract must attend the session for it to proceed as planned. Say what resonates with you from the models taught on the course: How the theory makes sense to you in explaining relationship difficulties. In what ways do you recognise yourself in the models taught? How will you explain to clients the relevant theory for their relationship difficulty under discussion?